Good/simple/cheap multi-user CRM for events? Or roll my own?
April 13, 2023 10:00 AM Subscribe
I have a small group (5 people) that is starting to throw events. We need a simple and cheap way to keep track of who we've invited and what their responses are, in a way that lets us all add/change data remotely, from our phones. What are my options?
Our needs are relatively straightforward; basic CRUD on a bunch of simple records. It's frustrating looking for a solution because it seems sooo accessible given what I know about the underlying tech possibilities.
Some things I've looked at:
- Airtable. Their mobile interfaces AFAIK are not usable for this, so folks would need to update on a bigger screen which for now is not going to work.
- Airtable + Glide (or similar). Seems possible but can get expensive and is a lot of work to get on its feet.
- Monday.com – too expensive for what we need.
- Roll my own? I'm good enough with tech to do something here, if I were given enough guidelines; I've thought about making a Glitch.com app but there's a lot of unknowns in there for me (especially multi-user).
Are there options I'm missing? How do others manage this these days?
Our needs are relatively straightforward; basic CRUD on a bunch of simple records. It's frustrating looking for a solution because it seems sooo accessible given what I know about the underlying tech possibilities.
Some things I've looked at:
- Airtable. Their mobile interfaces AFAIK are not usable for this, so folks would need to update on a bigger screen which for now is not going to work.
- Airtable + Glide (or similar). Seems possible but can get expensive and is a lot of work to get on its feet.
- Monday.com – too expensive for what we need.
- Roll my own? I'm good enough with tech to do something here, if I were given enough guidelines; I've thought about making a Glitch.com app but there's a lot of unknowns in there for me (especially multi-user).
Are there options I'm missing? How do others manage this these days?
I think using "CRM" as your search word may tilt your results toward pay services on a larger scale than you need.
You might try some of the various apps/services listed as "RSVP trackers." I don't have any personal experience using them, so I cannot recommend a specific one, but using that as your search start may yield good results.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:23 AM on April 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
You might try some of the various apps/services listed as "RSVP trackers." I don't have any personal experience using them, so I cannot recommend a specific one, but using that as your search start may yield good results.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:23 AM on April 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
I guess you can always use eventbrite? Or RSVPify?
posted by kschang at 10:25 AM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by kschang at 10:25 AM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
Or use a Google docs spreadsheet.
posted by mhoye at 10:35 AM on April 13, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by mhoye at 10:35 AM on April 13, 2023 [10 favorites]
I agree the CRM search term is probably leading you down a path of paid options marketed towards business consumers.
On that note, my large employer uses Eventbrite quite regularly for large gatherings, virtual and IRL.
posted by cgg at 10:49 AM on April 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
On that note, my large employer uses Eventbrite quite regularly for large gatherings, virtual and IRL.
posted by cgg at 10:49 AM on April 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
Seconding a simple spreadsheet if you are just talking about a couple columns of contact info and a Yes/No option. Try it out to be sure it can handle your data size.
posted by soelo at 10:52 AM on April 13, 2023
posted by soelo at 10:52 AM on April 13, 2023
How many invitees are you typically dealing with? I'd second using something like Google Sheets if the list isn't enormous. Google Sheets on mobile isn't awesome, but I think it could be usable for up to a couple hundred rows / handful of columns.
posted by sriracha at 10:53 AM on April 13, 2023
posted by sriracha at 10:53 AM on April 13, 2023
Response by poster: Yeah the mobile interface is what I'm concerned about with google sheets. From my exploration for instance there's no easy way to search for a record, the scrolling means you lose context when moving to the right making it easy to update the wrong record, etc. It seems quite fiddly and prone to errors, though I'm open to advocacy for the interface if anyone feels strongly about it!
We have about 100 invitees for this event, although our potential pool of folks to draw from is probably about twice that. So let's say trying to manage 200 records?
posted by wemayfreeze at 10:59 AM on April 13, 2023
We have about 100 invitees for this event, although our potential pool of folks to draw from is probably about twice that. So let's say trying to manage 200 records?
posted by wemayfreeze at 10:59 AM on April 13, 2023
Frozen columns and a filter would probably deal with that decently in Google Sheets, I think- just how simple does it have to be?
posted by sagc at 11:35 AM on April 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by sagc at 11:35 AM on April 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
HubSpot's free CRM allows up to 1,000,000 contacts. It's probably not the best possible option but they do have a mobile app.
posted by colourlesssleep at 11:45 AM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by colourlesssleep at 11:45 AM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
I don't know the scale of your events of what kind of events you are throwing which makes it difficult to suggest a more targeted CRM but if they are smallish events and you are just starting - what about Paperless Post?
posted by ichimunki at 11:57 AM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by ichimunki at 11:57 AM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
Have you looked at Notion.so? It's similar in ways to Airtable but I find its mobile app to be pretty usable for the use case (I think) you're describing. I hate entering data on a phone but I find Notion way less painful to use on mobile than Google Sheets.
It's very flexible and seems slightly cheaper than Airtable. It also allows up to 10 collaborators on a page under the free plan and up to 100 guests if you have one paid user ($10 monthly).
posted by jzb at 12:10 PM on April 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
It's very flexible and seems slightly cheaper than Airtable. It also allows up to 10 collaborators on a page under the free plan and up to 100 guests if you have one paid user ($10 monthly).
posted by jzb at 12:10 PM on April 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
Search in Google Sheets is just "Find and Replace" from the three dot menu at the top right. I have a file with 100 rows and I just tested it. It found the same word in 4 different rows, I just had to use the arrows to move between them. And Yes, freezing the first row and the first column or two (if you have id and name for example) will make things easier.
posted by soelo at 1:52 PM on April 13, 2023
posted by soelo at 1:52 PM on April 13, 2023
Sort of separate from the app issue is if you are checking people in at the time of the event, are you still using a tiny phone? Can someone print out the list on paper for the actual day? Sort alphabetically if possible and print one sided if the check-in line gets long so more than person can be admitting people.
posted by soelo at 1:54 PM on April 13, 2023
posted by soelo at 1:54 PM on April 13, 2023
Purely FYI, I use Trello for various purposes that I don't think it was explicitly designed for. I believe it's 10 "boards" for free, and you can have multiple "lists" per board, and lists contain "cards". On the "back" of the card (i.e., what you see when you click it) you can have checklists, links, images, etc. I use the Android app also. FWIW.
posted by forthright at 2:56 PM on April 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by forthright at 2:56 PM on April 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
Zoho.com CRM used to have a usable free tier, and it was pretty damn cheap after that. haven't looked at it in a while though.
posted by COD at 4:19 PM on April 13, 2023
posted by COD at 4:19 PM on April 13, 2023
Response by poster: Update: we used google sheets, it was fiddly as all heck and a pain to manage, but it did get the job done. Next time around we're definitely exploring better options for this! That said, the party was incredible :)
Thanks all for the thoughts!
posted by wemayfreeze at 11:19 AM on May 16, 2023
Thanks all for the thoughts!
posted by wemayfreeze at 11:19 AM on May 16, 2023
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kschang at 10:20 AM on April 13, 2023