A Brief History
"I believe that spending all day in a place where people smile and laugh and feel good about themselves is a blessing that ripples across the world."
Gene Weinbeck, Founder and retired CEO, Lead Developer
Founded in 1983 as Professional Support Software, the company has grown and evolved from a local computer-consulting and custom-software firm into FundRaiser Software, "home of the FundRaiser Family of donor management software for nonprofit organizations", with clients and users around the world.
FundRaiser began as so many small businesses do: from sheer necessity and on a shoestring. My wife and I had moved from the eastern seaboard to a small town in south-central Missouri on the promise of a job, which came true, but then dissolved after a few months. A long job-hunt later, I decided to take matters into my own hands and find a niche which needed filling. Since personal computers were finally reaching even the middle of the country, and I had some experience in the field, that seemed to fit the bill.
The first two years were largely taken up with designing and writing one local client's custom software, and then I went on to other consulting and programming clients in an ever-widening geographical area. The program that eventually evolved into FundRaiser Professional was originally a custom program for a local politician's campaign fundraising efforts. In the first two decades after its birth, FundRaiser added two "sibling" programs, FundRaiser Select and the baby of the family, FundRaiser Basic. In its third decade now, the family continues to grow with FundRaiser Spark, which nicely fits between Basic and Select, and Online versions of all four. We also have a Donor and Volunteer Portal for website integration with FundRaiser.
As the FundRaiser programs have gained users and gained in sophistication, the consulting and custom-programming efforts of the original company dwindled until about 1993 when the entire focus of the company became the FundRaiser programs: improving them, marketing them, and supporting them.
In 2010, I began to want to take a less active role in running the company, and I gladly passed FundRaiser to the capable hands of Autumn and Joshua Shirley. They continue the work my wife and I began, taking it farther, yet retaining the supportive environment we created for both our staff and our customers. I am still active as part of the software development team, and on a consulting basis for Autumn and Joshua.
It has always been my belief that prompt, friendly, and expert technical support is vital to the users of any software. It was my intention from the beginning to supply just that to my clients. When I retired from the position of CEO, one of my main objectives in choosing new leadership was to make sure that this continued. According to FundRaiser users, we have been successful in that endeavor. Most new clients are simply amazed by the patience and friendliness of our support staff.
FundRaiser has been growing for over two decades now, and we have big plans for the future, helping nonprofits with affordable donor management software that they can grow into, accessible and friendly tech support, and a continually improving family of affordable products.
FundRaiser Software is family-owned. While it's now more than just "Mom 'n' Pop", it's still a friendly group of people to do business with. Come join us. You'll find it an enjoyable experience.
