Looking for specific features of web software

[SandboxGeneral]

I have a customer of mine who has some specialized needs and I am not able to find any software that can meet them.

Currently they are using Joomla software, which I do not care for at all and isn't meeting the needs. Some of the things they want are:

• Online nominations & elections for various association offices
• Ability to send mass mailings to paid up members (not all registered members are paid up) along with PDF attachments
• Fill out (automatically) registration cards and email them
• Online billing (invoicing) for member sign-ups and renewals
• Automatic ability to remind members when their membership is about to expire

Those are the main things we want to do, in addition to the normal website stuff like posting articles & having a forum etc...

Can anyone recommend something that could potentially fit those needs?

[ct2k7]

I don't think there is an generic piece of software that fits all of the bills here.

I would assume also, by online billing, you're offloading the payment system to an alternative provider.

[SandboxGeneral]

Originally Posted by ct2k7

I don't think there is an generic piece of software that fits all of the bills here.

I would assume also, by online billing, you're offloading the payment system to an alternative provider.

Right, PayPal is what we're using and it's fine. I doubt there would be an all-in-one solution for our needs, but am hoping for something close.

[jsm4182]

I've done most of those things with drupal, and can think of some ways to handle the others with drupal. Most of it would be using ubercart, an ecommerce module.

You're probably not going to find an out of the box solution that handles all those things, it would probably be starting off with one of the major CMSs, and installing some pre made plugins and writing some custom plugins.

[SandboxGeneral]

Originally Posted by jsm4182

I've done most of those things with drupal, and can think of some ways to handle the others with drupal. Most of it would be using ubercart, an ecommerce module.

You're probably not going to find an out of the box solution that handles all those things, it would probably be starting off with one of the major CMSs, and installing some pre made plugins and writing some custom plugins.

With a cursory glance at Drupal, it looks promising. I'll read more on their site about it later today.

[SandboxGeneral]

Anyone familiar with Civihosting?

I just purchased a VPS with Civihosting plus CiviCRM and Drupal. It looks like what I may need to satisfy my customers needs, especially since they're a non-profit, professional government association which is what this CiviCRM seems to be geared towards.

If anyone has any experience with CiviCRM and/or Drupal, would you mind sharing your experiences and tips?

One thing I do like about this company is that they're based out of Bloomfield, Michigan, which is within easy driving distance of me. Which means if I ever had a serious problem with them, I can go see them in person and hopefully come to a resolution. That is way better than getting a support tech from a country where English isn't their first language.

[grizfan]

For your mass mailing needs, look into Mailchimp. they even have a free option for lower volumes, and Mailchimp offers some excellent integration options with many CMS systems, including Drupal.

[SandboxGeneral]

Originally Posted by grizfan

For your mass mailing needs, look into Mailchimp. they even have a free option for lower volumes, and Mailchimp offers some excellent integration options with many CMS systems, including Drupal.

Cool, thank you for the tip. Would you know if MailChimp can discriminate? Meaning, we can send mail to members who are paid up currently, but leave off members who are not current on their dues?