Drupal is a content management system (CMS). Functionally, this means that Drupal allows you to build a website for folks to view. However, it is only really accessible by developers that can build on Drupal, meaning a lay individual can’t leverage Drupal to build a site on their own. Drupal is flexible, allowing developers to create a wide variety of designs and pages.
In contrast, NationBuilder is the world’s first leadership software, providing everything you need to lead your organization, including a website, a database, all your communications tools, including email, social media, and text, as well as financial tools you need to accept donations. Full integration of all these tools in one platform improves your insights into the impact you’re having, and helps you to take action on those insights from within the software. For many Drupal users, NationBuilder replaces their website, and also their email provider, email marketing system (such as MailChimp), and their database, as well as, potentially, other tools they need to run their organization.
The NationBuilder website is easy to create, update, and add on to overtime by an average user. All NationBuilder websites features responsive design, which allows your website to adapt to any size screen or device, as well as pre-designed action pages built to engage visitors and convert them into advocates, supporters, recruiters, customers, donors, or fundraisers.
You can collect event RSVPs, sell tickets, post petitions, accept donations, manage memberships, process invoices, crowdsource ideas, and more, on your NationBuilder site. And when any action is taken on your website, the information on that individual is immediately tracked in your people database, as is interation with you via social media. You can even target people for email, text blasts, phone calls, or in-person meetings based on past actions they’ve taken or demographic information. Additionally, visitors can login using email, Twitter, or Facebook automatically.
Drupal sites are generally quite expensive, since you have to engage a developer / designer, or a firm to design and build your site custom for your organization. Additionally, most organizations need to keep Drupal developers on retainer for the entire time they keep their website, in order to maintain it, add new content, update headlines, upload new content, and other tasks that prove difficult for average users and administrators. Web hosting is an additional cost that needs to be coordinated separately.
Website functionality is included with NationBuilder’s standard pricing, beginning at $29 / month, and was designed to be easily created and updated by average users. Pre-designed themes mean that, in most cases, no website designers are required to get a beautiful, high-impact website up and running fast. For customers that do choose to enlist a designer for more advanced, customized theming, NationBuilder maintains a list of certified NationBuilder architects that can be of service.
Do you want to keep your site?
For customers that already have a Drupal site they love, folks can create an action center on NationBuilder or link to “action pages” on NationBuilder, designed to engage your supporters more effectively, and take advantage of all of NationBuilder’s features while keeping your main Drupal site.