Celebrating 20 Years

Twenty years ago, CiviCRM appeared in the wild as an open source option to large proprietary CRMs in the nonprofit sector which was dominated by legacy desktop applications and a handful of online systems.

We emphasize the word ‘option’ above because the CRM landscape at the time was, to say the least, rather sparse.

Twenty years ago, nonprofit organizations had few good options to engage constituents in what we know now was a rapidly evolving environment, technologically speaking. Postal mail was still the dominant form of fundraising. Yeah, those were the days.

But, 20 years is a long time in internet years (and dog years!).

Fast forward to today and things have changed dramatically. The nonprofit CRM space is so crowded today that it makes the cereal isle at the local Piggly Wiggly look like a desert. Venture-backed companies with slick, often nonsensical web 2.0 names seem to appear every day promising a revolution in software for nonprofits.

Just as it was when it was first launched, CiviCRM is the only true open source CRM for nonprofits. However, in lieu of being one of only a handful of options, it is now the principle alternative to proprietary systems powered both by big tech and by little VC-funded-tech (that hopes to one day be big tech).

CiviCRM continues to evolve and improve as a product while maintaining its deep feature set focused on nonprofits. 

CiviCRM’s adoption is dispersed, growing and helping organizations address real problems all over the world, resulting in both multilingual support as well as an inherent flexibility that allows it to adapt to a large set of use cases.

This, combined with a trend toward alternatives to big tech, has resulted in increased engagement and interest in open source applications like CiviCRM.

It might have taken 20 years, but better late than never!

For twenty years, CiviCRM has maintained a consistent open source ethos. Its software is AGPL licensed and is free to download, use, modify and redistribute. There are no gimmicks or pricing schemes or community versus professional licenses. There is just CiviCRM. Perhaps more than any other reason, this stability has empowered CiviCRM to continue to mature relatively unhindered.

For twenty years, CiviCRM has benefited from a diverse, passionate community of nonprofit professionals, talented developers and tech-savvy users. Their contributions have been borne from real needs from organizations all around the world working to solve real problems. Their support as partners, contributors, members and sponsors has sustained the project and kept the servers running.

For twenty years, the CiviCRM project has been shepherded by a dedicated Core Team that, above all else, has remained focused on CiviCRM’s original mission; to ensure that all organizations, regardless of size, budget or focus, can have access to a world-class CRM. Even in open source land, there are too many examples of projects imploding, licenses changing, and financial interests perverting the direction of the software. Not with CiviCRM.

We are truly grateful for all of the effort that has gone into CiviCRM and into sustaining the project for 20 years. It’s an amazing achievement that speaks to both the need in the market as well as the absolutely incredible community that powers CiviCRM.

Not only is it an impressive feat to continue to be the #1 Open Source CRM for Nonprofits for going on 20 years, it’s one we’re celebrating with a keen eye toward the future. As a product, CiviCRM is more stable, more flexible and more feature-rich than ever.

And, while we could be wrong, it feels like the need for CiviCRM today is perhaps greater than it has ever been. Organizations all around the world need an alternative to expensive proprietary systems and all the conflicting interests that come with them. More than ever, CiviCRM can meet their needs. That is worth celebrating!

On behalf of the CiviCRM Core Team, thank you to the founders of CiviCRM Dave Greenberg and Donald Lobo. Thank you to the earliest team that supported them and helped shaped their vision.

Thank you to the contributors that have sustained and developed CiviCRM over the years.

Thank you to the many financial supporters; the members, the partners, the donors and the sponsors, for keeping the lights on and the servers running.

Finally, thank you to the users around the world that put CiviCRM to the test each and every day, and use it to make a meaningful impact.