Loren Friesen knows intimately the challenges of installing and maintaining heavy-duty software.

As a former financial software-installer turned fundraiser, Friesen didn't want to deal any longer with traditional software packages that were demanding on his time working as executive director of the Newton Community & Healthcare Foundation, a Kansas-based nonprofit that establishes permanent endowments to serve the healthcare needs in its community.

So when it came time to update his donor database software, Friesen began to consider eTapestry, a donor database management software accessed through the Internet.

"I spent 18 years in software design on mainframes. I've spent lots of all-nighters installing software in various places," Friesen said. "When these guys said, 'We'll take care of that for you,' I said 'Sign me up.'"

Because eTapestry is accessed through the Internet, it doesn't require new hardware, new servers, or the installation of software and upgrades. All upgrades are made offsite by eTapestry.

Friesen still had a couple of upgrades of his donor database system, Fund Master, sitting unused in an office drawer. Friesen said he didn't bother with the installation upgrade on features he didn't use. It also become clear the company that purchased Master Software, the developer of Fund Master, was no longer issuing upgrades.

Friesen's interest in eTapestry began with his first conversation with eTapestry CEO Jay Love at a conference in 1999. Love is the former CEO of Master Software, which developed Fund Master.

Jay's involvement with Fund Master gave me confidence in eTapestry," Friesen said. "This isn't a new group that is trying to add donor-tracking software to their existing products and don't know the issues. This is a piece of software created by developers who understand donor tracking."

Friesen calculated the risks of signing on with eTapestry versus the risks of investing thousands of dollars in a system that might not work well with Newton Community & Healthcare Foundation.

"We thought, 'we'll try it for a year and if it doesn't turn out, we'll move the data elsewhere without spending $15,000 to $30,000 to buy the software and upgrade our computers,'" Friesen said. "Every thousand dollars you can save on software is money you can do something else with. As fast as software changes, I know traditional software purchases are often not worth anything in three years."

Friesen said he likes eTapestry's economical pay-as-you-go approach, which allows him to take advantage of the most advanced upgrades without paying extra or installing them himself.

"There are lots of new features that have come on since we signed on," he said. This includes a feature that allows a company's employees to make biweekly payroll deductions in batch so the foundation doesn't have to re-key every donation.

"All the power that one can conceive is there," Friesen said.

Founded in September 1999, eTapestry is the first fundraising application service provider (ASP), a company that rents its software to customers and delivers it on the Internet. eTapestry is less expensive and more versatile than traditional fundraising software applications. It is used by nonprofit organizations of all types and sizes.

For more information about eTapestry software, visit www.etapestry.com.