Importacular vs. ImportOmatic

Susan Chomsky

Hi, I am looking for feedback for users of Importacular and ImortOmatic with RE integration. When importing gift/constituent data is one better than the other? Does anyone use both? Why do you prefer one over the other? Our web re-design includes new giving pages that coordinate with ImportOmatic but I see RE has a plug-in for Importacular as well. I really appreciate your feedback. Thank you.  

Mirijam Marx

Hi Susan,


I don't have experience with ImportOmatic (other than a brief shadowing session for gift import), but my guess is that they are not too different. I spent quite some time a few months ago investigating into both Importacular and ImportOmatic. Importacular is easy to download and activate, so I spent quite some time testing out if and to what extent Importacular would meet our requirements. Any gaps or "clunkyness" I found I tried to investigate for ImportOmatic, and I didn't have a single occasion where, based on the feedback I got, ImportOmatic seemed to trump Importacular.


There are a couple of things about Importacular and Zeidman Development though which very much endeared me and ultimately drove our decision, and so far I haven't been disappointed:

 - they have a more transparent and flexible "pick and mix" payment model than ImportOmatic, and leave it up to you whether you want consultancy along with the product or not (Omatic did sort of want to force consultancy onto us). In our case, because some of the basic Importacular "modules" are free to use forever (e.g. Bio1/2 and Single Gift Imports), and we can choose on a granular level between yearly and monthly subscriptions (e.g. if we do a one-off activity and just need the "module" for a couple of weeks), Importacular comes about 30% cheaper for us than ImportOmatic would. That said, we are on RE7, I heard that ImportOmatic is free for use on NXT, so this could be an important point for making a decision (although this may just be a rumor!)

 - the full functionality is available for trial on production, and forever on test, so a really good opportunity to assess the solution against your requirements

 - they have documentation freely available (albeit a couple of years old, but still useful), and are very helpful and quick in answering questions

 - they have a fairly agile release cycle, and constantly fix issues and update functionalities. They are also quite open to receiving input from you and, if it is feasible for them, to bring updates in based on your requirements.


Hope this helps, 

Kind wishes,


Mirijam

Susan Chomsky

Mirijam Marx:

Hi Susan,


I don't have experience with ImportOmatic (other than a brief shadowing session for gift import), but my guess is that they are not too different. I spent quite some time a few months ago investigating into both Importacular and ImportOmatic. Importacular is easy to download and activate, so I spent quite some time testing out if and to what extent Importacular would meet our requirements. Any gaps or "clunkyness" I found I tried to investigate for ImportOmatic, and I didn't have a single occasion where, based on the feedback I got, ImportOmatic seemed to trump Importacular.


There are a couple of things about Importacular and Zeidman Development though which very much endeared me and ultimately drove our decision, and so far I haven't been disappointed:

 - they have a more transparent and flexible "pick and mix" payment model than ImportOmatic, and leave it up to you whether you want consultancy along with the product or not (Omatic did sort of want to force consultancy onto us). In our case, because some of the basic Importacular "modules" are free to use forever (e.g. Bio1/2 and Single Gift Imports), and we can choose on a granular level between yearly and monthly subscriptions (e.g. if we do a one-off activity and just need the "module" for a couple of weeks), Importacular comes about 30% cheaper for us than ImportOmatic would. That said, we are on RE7, I heard that ImportOmatic is free for use on NXT, so this could be an important point for making a decision (although this may just be a rumor!)

 - the full functionality is available for trial on production, and forever on test, so a really good opportunity to assess the solution against your requirements

 - they have documentation freely available (albeit a couple of years old, but still useful), and are very helpful and quick in answering questions

 - they have a fairly agile release cycle, and constantly fix issues and update functionalities. They are also quite open to receiving input from you and, if it is feasible for them, to bring updates in based on your requirements.


Hope this helps, 

Kind wishes,


Mirijam

Thank you  Mirijam. The info you shared is very helpful. We are leaning towards Imoprtacular (we are on RE7, too) but need to assess it with whatever software is decided on for our web update. I really appreciate your insightful review.  ~Susan

Jennifer Lange

Mirijam Marx:

Hi Susan,


I don't have experience with ImportOmatic (other than a brief shadowing session for gift import), but my guess is that they are not too different. I spent quite some time a few months ago investigating into both Importacular and ImportOmatic. Importacular is easy to download and activate, so I spent quite some time testing out if and to what extent Importacular would meet our requirements. Any gaps or "clunkyness" I found I tried to investigate for ImportOmatic, and I didn't have a single occasion where, based on the feedback I got, ImportOmatic seemed to trump Importacular.


There are a couple of things about Importacular and Zeidman Development though which very much endeared me and ultimately drove our decision, and so far I haven't been disappointed:

 - they have a more transparent and flexible "pick and mix" payment model than ImportOmatic, and leave it up to you whether you want consultancy along with the product or not (Omatic did sort of want to force consultancy onto us). In our case, because some of the basic Importacular "modules" are free to use forever (e.g. Bio1/2 and Single Gift Imports), and we can choose on a granular level between yearly and monthly subscriptions (e.g. if we do a one-off activity and just need the "module" for a couple of weeks), Importacular comes about 30% cheaper for us than ImportOmatic would. That said, we are on RE7, I heard that ImportOmatic is free for use on NXT, so this could be an important point for making a decision (although this may just be a rumor!)

 - the full functionality is available for trial on production, and forever on test, so a really good opportunity to assess the solution against your requirements

 - they have documentation freely available (albeit a couple of years old, but still useful), and are very helpful and quick in answering questions

 - they have a fairly agile release cycle, and constantly fix issues and update functionalities. They are also quite open to receiving input from you and, if it is feasible for them, to bring updates in based on your requirements.


Hope this helps, 

Kind wishes,


Mirijam

I have only used ImportOmatic and I LOVE IT!!!! I will not work in RE without it.

IOM is complex and needs some time to train and learn (I taught myself with the manual and a few insights from a prevous user) and then used help a bit. They have training - I'd recommend you purchase it.


We IOM a LOT!!!! Vol hours go onto time cards, new gifts into batches, I can look for dupes, I can update addresses, I can add Actions and Appeals and Packages all at once. I love when the mail house gives me back an NCOA list and IOM updates 400 addresses with two clicks. My mailings went from 100+ returned per 10,000 sent to 2 returned per 10,000 sent. ALL IOM!


Happy to talk if you want to call.

Laureen Mendelero

Jennifer Lange:

Mirijam Marx:

Hi Susan,


I don't have experience with ImportOmatic (other than a brief shadowing session for gift import), but my guess is that they are not too different. I spent quite some time a few months ago investigating into both Importacular and ImportOmatic. Importacular is easy to download and activate, so I spent quite some time testing out if and to what extent Importacular would meet our requirements. Any gaps or "clunkyness" I found I tried to investigate for ImportOmatic, and I didn't have a single occasion where, based on the feedback I got, ImportOmatic seemed to trump Importacular.


There are a couple of things about Importacular and Zeidman Development though which very much endeared me and ultimately drove our decision, and so far I haven't been disappointed:

 - they have a more transparent and flexible "pick and mix" payment model than ImportOmatic, and leave it up to you whether you want consultancy along with the product or not (Omatic did sort of want to force consultancy onto us). In our case, because some of the basic Importacular "modules" are free to use forever (e.g. Bio1/2 and Single Gift Imports), and we can choose on a granular level between yearly and monthly subscriptions (e.g. if we do a one-off activity and just need the "module" for a couple of weeks), Importacular comes about 30% cheaper for us than ImportOmatic would. That said, we are on RE7, I heard that ImportOmatic is free for use on NXT, so this could be an important point for making a decision (although this may just be a rumor!)

 - the full functionality is available for trial on production, and forever on test, so a really good opportunity to assess the solution against your requirements

 - they have documentation freely available (albeit a couple of years old, but still useful), and are very helpful and quick in answering questions

 - they have a fairly agile release cycle, and constantly fix issues and update functionalities. They are also quite open to receiving input from you and, if it is feasible for them, to bring updates in based on your requirements.


Hope this helps, 

Kind wishes,


Mirijam

I have only used ImportOmatic and I LOVE IT!!!! I will not work in RE without it.

IOM is complex and needs some time to train and learn (I taught myself with the manual and a few insights from a prevous user) and then used help a bit. They have training - I'd recommend you purchase it.


We IOM a LOT!!!! Vol hours go onto time cards, new gifts into batches, I can look for dupes, I can update addresses, I can add Actions and Appeals and Packages all at once. I love when the mail house gives me back an NCOA list and IOM updates 400 addresses with two clicks. My mailings went from 100+ returned per 10,000 sent to 2 returned per 10,000 sent. ALL IOM!


Happy to talk if you want to call.

 

Jennifer does the imported file start out as a csv file?