Frequently Asked Questions
What is Akubo?
Akubo is an easy to use web-based database for managing contacts, donations, sales, tasks, marketing and fundraising campaigns, email marketing, snail mail and more … all together in one place.
Who is Akubo?
Akubo is owned and operated by Percworks, Inc., a small innovative tech company in Howard County, Maryland.
Akubo originally started as an in-house project developed in partnership with Tapulanga Foundation and Percworks in mid-2007 to create an easy to use database we can access from anywhere using any computer. In early 2008 we started offering Akubo to other small organizations that were looking for an easy to use online database.
Established in 2003, Percworks serves more than 1,500 customers providing computer tech support, consulting, training and web applications development services. Robin Abello, founder of Percworks, brings more than 15 years of experience in commercial web hosting & applications development and designing & buildling scalable network infrastructures.
What can we use Akubo for?
Akubo can be used in various ways depending on your small organization’s needs.
For Small Business:
- Contact Database
- Sales and Leads management
- Email and snail mail marketing
- Print mailing labels & envelopes
- Contact activity tracking
- Tasks management
For Non-Profits:
- Fundraising and Marketing Management
- Donor, Volunteer and Staff Database
- Track your pledges and donations
- Email and snail mail campaigns
- Print mailing labels & envelopes
- Tasks management
For Associations and Churches:
- Member Database
- Contribution, dues and gifts tracking
- Email and snail mail communications
- Print mailing labels & envelopes
- Member activity tracking
- Tasks management
What are the benefits of using Akubo vs. other web-based databases?
Akubo is especially designed for small organizations so it’s affordable, easy to use and less complicated than other web products designed for medium and larger organizations. We also designed it to be a turn-key database solution so you can be up and running within 2 minutes.
What are the benefits of using Akubo vs. desktop-based databases?
- Web-based databases can be used from any computer whether it’s a PC, Mac or Linux.
- There is no need to install from a CD or download the software.
- No yearly purchase (and installation) of upgrades.
- No worrying about backups.
- It works from any location so if you’re at Mom’s and you didn’t bring your laptop, just use her computer to access your Akubo database. If you’re travelling, just go to a local cafe or library and use their computers to access your Akubo database. And if you’re on the road with your iPhone or your Blackberry, you can access your Akubo database.
– And if you want multiple users to access your database, Akubo is already built for that. With desktop-based products you’ll have to setup a network, possibly even a database server, and it becomes even more complex if you need to share access across a WAN (wide area network), setup firewalls and VPNs. Akubo was initially built for a small non-profit that has volunteers and staff working from Asia and North America, so it works just as well for teams that are spread across geographical locations, or teams that are in the same office.
Why is Akubo designed especially for small organizations?
We have a special affinity towards small organizations because we are a small business ourself and the non-profit we initially designed Akubo for is also a small organization. Small organizations (especially those with less than 10 employees) have a very important role in most economies and are generally the top job providers.
Employees and owners generally wear different hats in a small organization so we designed Akubo to be simple and easy to use, yet powerful and flexible enough to serve the growing and often changing needs within. Small organizations also have a general desire to forge long-lasting relationships with their customers and clients and Akubo’s goal is to help build those relationships and create the building blocks for effective and responsive customer support and communications.
Does Akubo work from any computer?
Akubo works from a computer web browser so it doesn’t really matter if you’re on Windows, Mac or Linux. We’ve tested this on Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, AOL Explorer, Opera and Google Chrome.
How many login user accounts can we create? How many contacts can we store on Akubo?
- Akubo Pro 10 — up to 10 login user accounts and 10,000 contacts
- Akubo Pro 5 — up to 5 login user accounts and 5,000 contacts
- Akubo Basic — up to 2 login user accounts and 2,000 contacts
If you need to have more than 10,000 contact and/or more than 10 login user accounts, contact us and we can review your requirements.
How much does Akubo cost?
See our pricing page.
What kind of technical support do you offer?
Technical support via email is included in your Akubo account.
Can we import (transfer) our contacts data from our email accounts and/or Outlook or similar software?
You can import your contacts from Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail / Windows Live and AOL.
You can also import your contacts data from Outlook (or similar software) by exporting your contacts list into a csv file. Once it’s in csv format, you can easily upload and import your data into your Akubo account database.
For other types of data, contact us for customized data import (transfer) services.
How often are our Akubo records backed-up?
Your Akubo records are backed up everyday and these are done onsite and off-site for redundancy. You also have the option of downloading regular backups of your Akubo data in CSV (viewable via Microsoft Excel) format.
Can we restrict access to our Akubo account beyond usernames and passwords?
Yes, you can further restrict access to your Akubo account by IP addresses. You can specify specific (or a range) of allowed IP addresses and denied IP addresses.
5. EMAIL
You can enter more than one email address in the same email address box and just put a comma between the email addresses.
No, Akubo will only send the email once to the same email address.
You can only attach 1 file. But instead of attaching files, one option is to use document links on your email. By doing this you can essentially include links to multiple documents on your email.
Here’s how to use document links instead of email attachments:
a) In the compose email window, highlight the text (e.g. Click here to download the flyer) then click on the link icon (looks like a chain)
b) Click “Browse Server”
c) Clcik on the “Files” folder on the left column and click on Upload and browse your file on your computer, click Open and wait for the file to be uploaded.
d) Once you see the file uploaded to the “Files” folder, double-click on the file and click OK.
e) Repeat the steps to add more document links to your email
We suggest using document links instead of sending a large files as an attachment (see the steps above for using documnet links instead of email attachments).
Note that there is a limit in the size you can upload onto Akubo. If you reach that limit, you can either upload your file onto your website and use the link (URL) to that file on your Akubo email, or use a service like Dropbox (www.dropbox.com). Dropbox allows you to put files in a public folder and Dropbox gives you a link/URL that you can include in your Akubo email.
Yes, you can print your email. At the compose message screen, there is a printer icon among the document formatting icons.
6. SUBSCRIPTION AND PAYMENT
Yes, check payments are accepted for yearly subscriptions.
No, this service is free. However, Akubo subscribers pay fees to the merchant account provider (e.g. Paypal, others).
Yes, Akubo offers an onsite training package (cost will vary depending on location and number of participants). Please contact us for more details.
To keep our software subscription costs low, we encourage using our email support (support@akubo.com) from 9 AM to 5 PM EST, Monday to Friday. But on special cases (which we determine on an as-need basis) we can do a phone support call with you.
We primarily offer email support with a quick turn-around for support questions. For more urgent matters that may require phone support, you can send us an email asking for an immediate call-back and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Akubo Premium – up to 100 login user accounts and 100,000 contacts
Akubo Pro 10 – up to 10 login user accounts and 10,000 contacts
Akubo Pro 5 – up to 5 login user accounts and 5,000 contacts
Akubo Basic – up to 2 login user accounts and 2,000 contacts
If we notice you’re going beyond your limits, we will send you a notice to do an upgrade. The limit for Akubo Basic is 2,000 contacts if you go beyond that the next step is Akubo Pro 5 (up to 5,000 contacts). Or you can also request for an upgrade anytime.
You can cancel your Akubo account by sending an email to support@akubocrm.com with the following info -last 4 digits fo the credit card you used to pay for your Akubo subscription (only needed if you paid by credit card), and you phone number. After we receive your request, we will verify your request via email or a phone call and you will receive your pro-rated refund for the months remaining in your subscription (monthly subscriptions are not eligible for refunds). Refunds checks will be sent by mail within 4 weeks after your account has been cancelled.
Your database will be terminated 6 months after you cancel your account.