Recognizing this, FileMaker, Inc., offers several low-cost options to nonprofits. Therefore, proprietary DBMSs are often priced beyond the budget of many nonprofits and libraries.

If your present systems are causing frustrations like these, it might be time to consider FileMaker Pro, a database management system (DBMS) that allows you to create your own databases define all your databases’ fields and tables define the attributes of these entities and declare the relationships between them create the default forms and reports that guide data input and data retrieval to and from your database create secure web interfaces to your databases (to choose a few examples, FileMaker Pro provides templates to help you create event registration forms, surveys, and feedback forms) track key data metrics and communicate about them with colleagues, funders, and other stakeholders using standard and custom reports.įor the most part, database applications are complex, robust, and difficult to develop. When exporting XML from FileMaker Pro, I have the option of using an XSL stylesheet, but I don't know how to create one (and tutorials I've found seem vague or assume I already know things that I don't).Databases, Organize and Manage Data, Databaseĭoes your organization maintain several database systems, each built by a different vendor, consultant, or employee? Do these systems communicate poorly with one another, or not at all? If an active supporter's address changes, does someone have to log on to the member management system, the donor management system, and the volunteer management system to update each one separately? Do you have multiple applications all sharing access to the same data? Are you collecting mountains of data in multiple systems but finding it difficult to extract aggregate, summary information you can use to inform your organization's decisions?

FileMaker Pro exports the XML in a slightly different format than the already-established XML structure in the InDesign document. I use XML to feed data to an InDesign template, and am in the process of switching from an older, simpler setup (mapped cells in an Excel spreadsheet) to FileMaker Pro.

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