DonorWorks and CDM+ FAQ

What is CDM+?

CDM+ is a sister product to DonorWorks that is also developed, sold and supported by Suran Systems, Inc. CDM+ offers complete data management for non-profit, faith-based, and for-profit organizations. Learn more at www.cdmplus.com.

How is DonorWorks different from CDM+?

Branding

DonorWorks and CDM+ have distinct product names, websites, and contact information for support and sales. DonorWorks uses a green theme and CDM+ uses red. CDM+ offers rotating logos while DonorWorks' logo is static.

Terms

Both DonorWorks are CDM+ allow customizing Terms to adapt the software to fit your organizations culture and practices. DonorWorks changes some of the standard CDM+ terms to align closer to non-profit organizations.

Membership Tab

Individual Records in CDM+ includes a Membership tab for tracking member involvement and key dates related to a person's involvement with the organization. These fields use religious names such as Baptism and Confirmation, but can be easily renamed to track other relevant information.

Class Attendance

Both DonorWorks and CDM+ allow attendance tracking for events and groups (lists). CDM+ offers additional attendance tracking on a class. These classes are often for religious instruction (Sunday School) but can track any meeting. Classes are tracked on the Membership tab, and because this tab is not available in DonorWorks, Class Attendance is not available in DonorWorks.

Class attendance tracking can also be achieved with group (list) attendance tracking.

Preaching Aids

CDM+ offers a simple record structure to track worship services and other events. These worship schedule records are for information-tracking only and do not connect with any other part of CDM+.

Media Ministry

CDM+ offers a record structure and reporting system to produce labels for physical media used to distribute recorded services. This feature is considered legacy due to the prevalence of streaming media.

How is DonorWorks the same as CDM+?

Other than the differences listed above, DonorWorks and CDM+ are identical. They use the same code built by the same developers and testers. The same support and sales teams assist clients of both products. The same bugs and enhancements affect both products. DonorWorks Mobile and CDM+ Mobile are also built from the same code and use the same terms and branding as the desktop software to differentiate the products.

Here is an example of the same window in DonorWorks and in CDM+.

Constituent Records (DonorWorks)

Individual Records (CDM+

Why isn't there complete documentation for DonorWorks?

Because the two products are nearly identical, CDM+ documentation is completely usable for DonorWorks. Simply adapt the terms per the table above to reference menu items, windows, and reports in DonorWorks.

If the CDM+ terms are a better fit for your organization you can easily change your DonorWorks database to use them by logging into DonorWorks and going to System Preferences → Terms.

Why develop two products?

Suran Systems, Inc. was founded in 1987 and debuted with our CDM+ product. In 2006, Suran Systems, Inc. acquired DonorWorks from StarSoft Technology with a goal of expanding into the non-profit market. In 2012, Suran released DonorWorks 9.0 which used the CDM+ foundation. Suran has developed and released CDM+ and DonorWorks updates in tandem since then.

Will Suran continue to develop both DonorWorks and CDM+?

In 2020 Suran began the process to sunset DonorWorks and migrate our existing DonorWorks clients to CDM+. DonorWorks clients represent 3% of our active user base, and there is 100% compatibility between the two products. DonorWorks 11.1, released Fall 2020, was the final version of DonorWorks. All DonorWorks clients must migrate to CDM+ before they can continue to receive new product updates.

Per our standard support policy of supporting the current and most recent versions (CDM+ 12.0 and 11.2 as of December 2021), DonorWorks 11.1 and earlier are no longer supported. DonorWorks clients should move to CDM+ as soon as possible to receive software updates and support.

Any prospects interested in purchasing data management software for their non-profit are encouraged to purchase CDM+.

Why is Suran sunsetting DonorWorks?

While maintaining both products does not require an excessive amount of work, there is a measurable cost to Suran to develop and support both products. Focusing on CDM+ alone will benefit development, support, and marketing, which then benefits our clients.

We also want to provide a complete and consistent experience in support, training, and marketing. Expanding the offerings for CDM+ and then repeating those efforts for DonorWorks is not a smart use of our resources when the products are virtually identical. However, we want to ensure all our clients benefit from our work to expand documentation, training, and marketing. Moving our clients to CDM+ solves this challenge effectively and is a win-win for Suran and our customers.

How do you switch from DonorWorks to CDM+?

Contact Suran's sales team at 800-327-1476 or sales@donorworks.com to discuss a move. We will give you updated pricing and arrange a time for the transition. You will lose no data and will not have to learn any new skills. Once transferred, you will simply open CDM+ instead of DonorWorks and use the program as you normally would.

If you've just moved from DonorWorks to CDM+ you may need to follow our guide for Migrating from DonorWorks to CDM+.

At first, switching to CDM+ from DonorWorks will only be available to DonorWorks clients using Data Hosting or enrolled in DonorWorks SAAS. Eventually, switching products will be available for self-hosted users. Switching may be a great time to consider moving to the cloud, and depending on your current plan, you may be able to switch to CDM+, move to data hosting, and still reduce your overall cost.

Could you switch from CDM+ to DonorWorks?

Switching to DonorWorks from CDM+ is not possible. However, a "Non-Profit" custom version of CDM+ is expected that will default to the terms listed above and hide the Preaching Aids and Media Ministry features.

Will Suran continue to develop DonorWorks Mobile?

No, DonorWorks Mobile 2.2.x is the last version of DonorWorks Mobile. However, much like the desktop version, CDM+ Mobile and DonorWorks Mobile are virtually identical, sharing common code and functionality. 

If you use DonorWorks Mobile, switching to CDM+ will not affect your workflow in any way. CDM+ Mobile will support your custom terms and existing devices can be configured to use CDM+ Mobile with the same provisions you created in DonorWorks.

CDM+ Mobile 2.3 was released October 2020 and added speed enhancements, Mobile Receipts for expense reporting, and a number of bug fixes. To take advantage of these new mobile features, switch to CDM+ today!

What are the advantages of switching to CDM+?

1. It is quite possible that switching to CDM+ will reduce your annual or monthly support fees.
2. Using CDM+ also allows access to Engage, Suran's online portal for donations, community involvement, registrations, billing, payroll, and more.
3. Suran's marketing website and documentation is geared towards CDM+, though this content applies equally to DonorWorks with some accommodation for terms.
4. Our annual users conference and other training opportunities are geared towards CDM+, though this material is equally useful for DonorWorks with some accommodation for terms.
5. CDM+ users will begin to receive new features and service in 2021 that will be unavailable until you switch to using CDM+.

What are the disadvantages of switching to CDM+?

You may find a few terms that do not reflect your organization's culture. The good news is that these terms can be easily renamed in your database.

What if I don't want to use "church" software?

While the majority of our CDM+ clients are churches, we have a variety of non-church customers using CDM+, including non-profits, businesses, government agencies, and other non-church religious organizations. CDM+ is not inherently "church software," but works well for any organization to manage their daily operations, especially organizations based on membership or donation-driven financial support. Because of this reason, the CDM+ product, resources, and Suran personnel strive to use language that is accommodating of all organizations.

Still, we recognize the majority of our CDM+ clients are religious organizations. By using CDM+ you may be exposed to some material that mentions religious activities. We never want to assume any particular practices or beliefs and we actively work to avoid offending any clients. But, religion can be a controversial topic, so switching to CDM+ may increase your exposure to religious terms like "worship" or "ministry." Should you take offense at any marketing material, feature, or other communication from Suran Systems, Inc. please contact us to discuss your concerns. We want to hear them and work to be inclusive of every organization and human being.