[HANASHIR:9607] RE: synagogue software

[allenderl <allenderl...>]

Yes, you can build your own, but you get what you pay for.  Synagogue 
software is expensive because the market is relatively small and the 
software does a complicated job. When you build your own software you'll 
have to rediscover all of the issues other people have already 
solved.  Moreover, what happens if the employee who put together the 
roll-your-own database leaves?  In the large majority of cases "off the 
shelf software" is cheaper in the long run.

Admittedly, I make a living as a custom software developer, so I should 
argue for building custom software, but rather than hiring me it would be a 
lot cheaper to buy the off-the-shelf software.  (Full disclosure:  I focus 
on building educational software for kids now, but I have built numerous 
custom accounting packages in the past.)

Suppose you find a guru to build your software and then they leave?   Do 
you have the programming capabilities to calculate Yarzheits?  How about 
keeping accurate track of who paid dues and how much?  Will you have an 
accurate list when it is time to send those oh-so-important donation 
letters to your congregants?  How will you make sure that Marilyn and Henry 
Cohn can be found under Marilyn's maiden name Freed?

Can you make due with MS Access or another db?  Yes, if you have the right 
dedicated person and the operation is small and uncomplicated.  A one 
hundred person congregation, yes, you probably don't need the 
software.  You can start with such databases.  I can assure you, though, if 
you have a congregation big enough to support enough full time staff to 
roll your own -- then you probably have a complicated enough operation to 
fully justify one of the packages -- and you may be wise to do so.

I can't tell you which synagogue package works best for you, even if I had 
looked at the packages recently, I wouldn't know what your synagogues needs 
are.  But I did a search on the web and some recommendations can be found 
at the  United Synagogue website: http://www.uscj.org/item104_472_476.html

All my best,
Laura Ferguson
allenderL (at) acm(dot)org


At 10:58 PM 8/21/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>Yes. A knowledgeable staff member or congregant with the skills & ability 
>to use MS Access or a similarly powerful Database management tool is all 
>you really need. And then you can really customize it the way you need it.
>
>Adrian
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Adrian A. Durlester, M.T.S.  - adrian (at) durlester(dot)com
><http://www.durlester.com/>http://www.durlester.com/
>Director of Education, Beth El Hebrew Congregation, Alexandria, VA
>Evening Program Chair, CAJE 26, Aug. 5-9, 2001, Colorado State University
>Conference Chair, CAJE 27, Aug. 4-8, 2002, Trinity Univ., San Antonio, TX
>List-Owner for hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org; Co-Owner for L-Torah (at) 
>shamash(dot)org 
><http://uahc.org/hanashir>http://uahc.org/hanashir
>Editor, Bim Bam (for Torah Aura Productions) 
><http://www.torahaura.com/>http://www.torahaura.com/
>-----Original Message-----
>From: owner-hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org [mailto:owner-hanashir (at) 
>shamash(dot)org]On 
>Behalf Of BellaSings (at) aol(dot)com
>Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2001 8:22 PM
>To: hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
>Subject: [HANASHIR:9600] synagogue software
>Shalom all,
>Any suggestions or comments about Synagogue software programs?
>
>Thanks,
>Bella

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