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<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Navigation: LICENSE INFORMATION > Software Licensing and Evaluation |
Starting with version 2.70, all versions of DONATION except for the legacy Lite version have software licensing built into them.
What this means is that when you first install DONATION, or first upgrade an earlier version to version 2.70 or later, it will start out as an Evaluation version of the program. This evaluation period will expire in 30 days (though your data will still be there!). There is a 30-day grace period in which you can continue using the program after that.
The Evaluation version always starts up on the Evaluation and Licensing window of the program. As long as your evaluation period and grace period have not yet expired, you can click the Continue button on that window to continue on into the program, and use all features (except for creating real receipts, as mentioned above).
The Standard version is actually free, and can be used indefinitely as an Evaluation version, if you have no more than 50 donors with donations in the current year's data. The only other limitation in that case is that you can only have one database for one organization. (See Switching Databases to understand what is otherwise possible.)
If the Evaluation and Licensing window is not coming up when you start the program, you get to it with the Tools ⇒ Request or Install License Key menu option.
Extending your Evaluation Period
The Evaluation and Licensing window that comes up when the program is an Evaluation version tells you how many days you have left in your evaluation period. If your evaluation period and grace period have 14 or fewer days left in them, and you need more time to decide on whether to purchase DONATION, you can click the Request Key for Extension of Evaluation Period button. That brings up an email, addressed to Software4Nonprofits.com, requesting a 30-day extension. Please fill in the reason for your request, then send the email. (Note: Until you only have 14 days left, this option is not displayed.)
Note: The email request will not appear in your email program's Sent Mail folder.
You should receive an email response, generally within 2 business days, but usually much sooner. This response will explain what to do. Basically, the email contains a key, consisting of numbers and letters. In the Evaluation and Licensing window, click the Install Key for Extension of Evaluation Period button. That brings up the Install Evaluation Extension Key window. You will need to copy the key out of the email you received (by highlighting it with your mouse and pressing Ctrl+C, i.e. hold down Ctrl and press C) and paste it into the entry field in this window (by pressing Ctrl+V). Click the Accept Key button, and it should extend your evaluation period by another 30 days.
Obtaining a License Key for the Program
In order to have DONATION stop being an Evaluation version, you need to make an Annual Fee payment to Software4Nonprofits.com and install the License Key that that entitles you to in the Evaluation and Licensing window. After doing this, that window will no longer come up every time you start DONATION, and all of the features of DONATION will be available.
You are entitled to receive a License Key for your organization if you paid for DONATION within the last 12 months prior to your request for the Key.
For links to make a payment by credit card, or from your bank accounts, please contact us.
Assuming that you are entitled to a license key (and a payment has already been received and acknowledged by Software4Nonprofits), if you have at least version 4.04 of DONATION and an active Internet connection, normally when you start the program it will detect that you have a license key available, and prompt you to automatically retrieve it. You will not have to follow any of the further instructions in this section (the next few paragraphs up to the next heading).
If that does not happen, you can instead click the Request License Key for your Organization button in the Evaluation and Licensing window. After asking you a question about whether you have paid in the last 12 months, that normally brings up an email, addressed to Software4Nonprofits.com, requesting the license key. If desired, you can add any further comments to this email, then send it. (If you have not yet paid, it gives you options on how to do so.)
Note: The email request will not appear in your email program's Sent Mail folder.
You should receive an email response, within 2 business days, but usually much sooner. This response will explain what to do. Basically, the email contains a two-line key, consisting of numbers and letters. In the Evaluation and Licensing window, click the Install License Key for your Organization or Install Updated License Key for your Organization button. That brings up the Install License Key window. You will need to copy the two-line key out of the email you received (by highlighting it with your mouse and pressing Ctrl+C, i.e. hold down Ctrl and press C) and paste it into the entry field in this window (by pressing Ctrl+V). Click the Accept Key button, and it should install your license key, and change DONATION from an Evaluation version to a full version, and/or update the email support and upgrades eligibility date.
DONATION is Subscription Software
Any users of the OnDemand version of DONATION, and users of the Standard or Local Network versions who have make a payment in 2022 or later, are using subscription software. As such, the program requires Annual Fee payments if you wish to keep using it in each successive year, since you are getting continued value from it.
The only exceptions to that are the legacy Lite version, and Standard version with up to 50 donors with donations, which are free.
The subscription payments for the versions other than Lite or free Standard are actually enforced by the program, for all users of the OnDemand version, and all users of the Standard or Local Network versions who have paid in 2022 or later and also upgraded to Release # 5.00 or later of DONATION. For all of those users, the program will start warning you as you get to the end of your 12-month payment period, and will stop working when it expires (after an extra 30-day grace period). It will start working again when you pay your Annual Fee again and get an updated license key, and your data will of course still be there!
License Keys are Connected to Organization Names
Your license key is partly based on your Organization Name. If you change the name of your organization in the Maintenance ⇒ Organization Info window, the program will give you a couple of messages telling you that it is inserting that new name into your license key file. Please also email us to inform us of any significant changes to your Organization Name, for our records.
If you use Database ⇒ Switch Databases to create or switch to additional databases for other organizations, or Backup/Restore ⇒ Restore Database to restore a database with a different organization name in it, you may need to obtain another license key for the different organization names. There is no additional charge for maintaining databases for more than one organization on the same computer. (Users of the Standard version will have to pay at the Local Network version rate if they have more than 5 databases, though they do not have to switch to that version.)
If you need to move the program to another computer for the same organization (or, for instance, rebuild your computer after a hard disk crash), you can use the same license key for that other computer. The same applies if you use DONATION on two computers, and transfer your database between computers. If you no longer have the email containing the license key, just request it again.
Eligibility for Upgrades and Support / Annual Payments
When you make your Annual Fee payment, you are then eligible for upgrades or support for one year from your payment date, which is the date we received your cheque, or the date you paid online. If you pay before your support expiry date, the new expiry date will be a year from the current expiry date. The expiry date for your eligibility for upgrades and support is part of the license key that you install. To see your expiry date, use Tools ⇒ Request or Install License Key. It will be displayed in the window that comes up.
After making any payment, or being informed for any other reason that your eligibility period for support or updates has been extended, if you have at least version 4.04 of DONATION and an active Internet connection, normally when you start the program it will detect that you have a license key available, and prompt you to automatically retrieve it.
Otherwise, you can use the Request License Key for your Organization button on the Evaluation and Licensing window to request an updated key. Installing this updated key will inform the program that your eligibility for support and updates has been extended appropriately, and will allow it to accept updates.