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So if you're involved with a nonprofit or maybe an advocacy

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group, you know what it's like, that constant juggle, managing

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donors, keeping track of volunteers, sorting out events,

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memberships, it's, uh, it's a lot.

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It really is.

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Sometimes it feels like you're drowning in spreadsheets.

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Exactly.

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More time on admin than the actual, you know, mission.

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Okay.

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Before we really dive into a solution for that, just a quick

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shout out to our supporter, safeserver.de.

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They're the experts who handle hosting for exactly this kind of essential

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software we're discussing today.

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And they can really help you with your digital transformation.

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Super important support.

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You can find out more at www.safeserver.de.

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Honestly, their support makes these deep dives possible.

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Definitely.

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Okay.

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So let's get into it today.

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We're looking closely at something called CivicRM.

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Right.

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CivicRM.

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It's an open source system and it's specifically built to help, well,

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all those groups we mentioned.

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Yeah. Nonprofits, NGOs.

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If you've ever felt that admin burden just crushing your mission, this is a,

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this is definitely for you.

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We're going to unpack how it helps literally thousands of groups get organized.

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And our goal here really is to give you a clear sort of beginner friendly view

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of CivicRM.

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We'll break down what CRM even means for a nonprofit, why open source is such a

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big deal here, and really connect the dots on how it helps groups focus on their

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purpose, not just the paperwork.

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It's about understanding why it's, well, a bit of a game changer.

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Okay. Perfect. So let's start with basics. CRM.

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Usually customer relationship management.

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Right. The standard definition.

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But you hinted customer isn't quite the right word for nonprofits.

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So how does CivicRM change that?

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Yeah, that's, that's really fundamental. See commercial CRMs,

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they're all about sales leads, customer journeys. Right.

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CivicRM is built around constituent relationship management. So for you,

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if you're in a nonprofit, your constituents, they're everyone.

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You're donors obviously, but also your volunteers, your members,

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people who come to events, your advocates online.

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It's a much wider net.

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All community.

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Exactly. CivicSRM is designed from the ground up to understand and

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really nurture those specific kinds of relationships.

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It's about building that community, keeping people engaged,

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organizing everyone who supports the cause.

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It's just a different mindset than sales.

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That makes total sense.

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It's about connection, not just transactions.

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Precisely.

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So thinking practically, what are the core headaches it solves?

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If you've got this system, what does it actually do for you day to day?

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Well, the big thing is centralization.

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It pulls everything together.

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Imagine one place, right?

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Where you track all your communications with people, manage all your donors,

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one-time gifts, monthly pledges, the whole lot.

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Handle your event signups, manage memberships and renewals.

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It's built to automate a lot of those repetitive tasks.

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Like fundraising admin.

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Exactly.

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Fundraising admin, grant tracking, maybe volunteer hours, sending out targeted

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emails based on, you know, who's done what.

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It just streamlines so much of that.

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It's a load off.

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A huge load, frees up staff and volunteers.

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Right.

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Which sounds amazing, but you mentioned open source.

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Now nonprofits range from tiny local groups to huge international NGOs.

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What's the real benefit of open source here?

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Isn't it sometimes, well, harder to manage?

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That's a really good question.

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And it gets right to the heart of civiserum's impact.

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Okay.

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So open source means a few key things.

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First, the software itself, it's free, like properly free to download and use

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under a license called GNU AGPL3.

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Okay.

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Free is good.

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It is.

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But that license is important too.

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It basically guarantees the software stays open and community owned.

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No one company can just take it over and lock everyone in.

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Ah, right. So you get transparency.

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Transparency, yeah.

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You can see the code, you get incredible flexibility to adapt it and crucially

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big cost savings over time because you're not paying those endless license fees.

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No vendor lock-in.

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Exactly.

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It's genuinely community driven, developed by the nonprofit world for the nonprofit

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world.

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So it's not just about the money saved, though that's huge.

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It's more about control, alignment.

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That's a great way to put it.

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The insight is open source frees you from a software company's priorities.

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The community decides what features get built, what gets fixed based on actual

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mission needs, not just the latest commercial fad.

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Your tech stays aligned with your purpose, future proof in a way.

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OK, let's talk scale then, because this isn't some tiny project.

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The numbers you shared are, they're huge.

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They really are.

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Over 11,000 nonprofits using it.

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That's significant penetration.

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It is.

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And think about the activity within those installs.

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Like the 24 million event participants registered.

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Yeah, or over 116 million donations processed and managing, what was it?

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Over 189 million contacts globally.

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Just massive numbers.

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And what's fascinating is how that translates into real power on the ground.

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OK, give us an example.

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Well, take MAF Norway.

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They used Civis ERM to completely automate their fundraising processes.

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Think about the time that saved.

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It wasn't just about being more efficient.

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It meant their team could spend more time actually talking to supporters,

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delivering programs, you know, the mission stuff.

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Right. So it becomes less of a database, more of an operational engine.

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Exactly. An operational backbone.

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It lets groups put their resources, people, money back into their core purpose

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away from just shuffling paper.

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And is that backbone flexible?

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I mean, can you just plug it into what you already have or do you need a whole new

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setup?

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Oh, incredibly flexible. That's a major strength.

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How so?

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Well, you can run it as its own standalone thing, a PHP web app if you want total

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control.

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OK. But for a lot of groups, the magic is integrating it with their website, CMS,

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like WordPress, WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, even backdrop CMS.

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You embed Civic CRM right in there.

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So it's seamless for the user, like signing up for an event on the website just

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goes

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straight into the CRM.

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Exactly. Unified experience and another big plus hosting freedom.

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You're not tied to one company's data center.

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You choose where you host it.

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That's huge for data control, data sovereignty,

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especially for international groups or those with strict privacy rules.

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Absolutely. You own your data fully.

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That freedom sounds great.

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But what if you're listening and thinking, okay, sounds powerful,

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but maybe too techie for us? Are there easy ways in?

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Definitely. That flexibility covers getting started too.

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Good.

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If you've got technical folks, sure, download it, install it, host it yourself,

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fine tune everything.

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If not, then there's this whole ecosystem of expert partners all over the world.

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They handle the hosting, setup, customization, support.

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They get you going quickly, like a supported service. Exactly.

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And there's even something called Civis RM Spark,

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which is like a super quick, pre-configured, secure hosted start.

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So options for everyone, basically beginner to expert. Pretty much. Yeah.

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There's a path for you, whatever your tech level now for slightly more technically

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curious. You mentioned it's a PHP application.

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We looked at the GitHub repo, Civic, Civic Chrome core.

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Lots of activity there. Over 660 stars, more than 840 forks.

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That feels like a healthy sign for open source, right? Oh, absolutely.

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Those aren't just numbers. They show a really vibrant, active community.

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Developers are interested. They're contributing or using it. It's alive.

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And that community, how does it actually work?

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Because 441 contributors to just the core app.

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That's a lot of cooks. It is. And that's the beauty of it.

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It's this huge, diverse global group effort. So it's not just code.

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Not at all. There are busy forums where users help each other out, share tips.

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There are chat channels for developers working together and the documentation

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docs.civicrm.org is massive and constantly updated by the community.

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Driven by users for users. Exactly.

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It's that spirit of sharing knowledge, collective improvement.

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Everyone benefits when someone adds something new or fixes a bug.

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Proprietary software often struggles to match that pace of community driven

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innovation.

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OK, so let's say this deep dive has someone interested, maybe for their own group.

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Maybe they just want to get involved.

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What are the practical next steps?

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How do you plug into this ecosystem?

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Loads of ways. Got questions.

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Hit civicrm.stackexchange.com.

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It's like a dedicated Q&A forum.

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Really helpful. OK.

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Want to network, learn more, look for events.

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Civic Camp EU 2025 is coming up.

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Things like that are great for connecting.

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And if you want to give back?

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You can donate directly to the project,

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become a supporting member,

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or even have your organization become a partner.

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All that helps fund development and shape where it goes next.

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Right, because it is still evolving.

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It's not finished.

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What's been happening lately?

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What should people know about recent developments?

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Oh, it's constantly moving.

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Just back in August 2025, we saw the six point five release.

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OK. And importantly, a security release alongside it,

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updating several versions that shows that ongoing commitment

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to stability and critically keeping things secure.

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Which is vital when you're handling donor data.

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Absolutely. So for you as a user, these regular updates mean

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you're always getting improvements, bug fixes and those essential security patches.

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Your data stays safer. The system runs better.

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So it's not just background noise.

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These updates translate into real benefits.

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Totally. New releases often bring cool new features, too.

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Like there's a new extension called Systopia Event Invitation,

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giving more options for event outreach.

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And you keep seeing new case studies pop up how groups like the Tor project

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are using CIVICERM, even contributing back to it.

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It shows it's a living thing, adapting to what users need.

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It stays relevant.

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OK, so let's try and wrap this up.

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What's the main takeaway here? I think for someone listening,

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what does this all mean? CIVICERM.

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It really stands out, doesn't it, as this powerful, flexible,

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community led open source option? It really does.

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Ideal for any nonprofit NGO advocacy group that wants to,

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well, get their house in order, connect better with their supporters

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and focus more on the mission. Yeah.

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This deep dive hopefully gives you a solid starting point,

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a shortcut to understanding this really critical tool

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for organizations making a difference.

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And maybe it leaves you with a question to think about in this digital age.

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How much more impact could your organization have

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if you really embrace tools like this open source tools built by your community

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for your mission instead of trying to squeeze your work into generic,

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often expensive commercial boxes? That's a powerful thought.

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Something definitely worth considering.

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OK, that brings us to the end of this deep dive.

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A huge thank you again to SafeServer.de for their support.

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Yes, thanks SafeServer.de.

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For expert help with software hosting, digital transformation,

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all that good stuff, do check them out. www.safeserver.de

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Really a fantastic resource. Definitely worth a look.

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And if CivisRM itself has caught your interest,

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the place to go is their website civisrm.org.

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Yep, civisrm.org.

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You can explore the documentation, maybe even spin up a demo and see it for

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yourself.

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Until next time, keep learning and keep making those connections.