We have had an increasing number of small charities and voluntary organisations asking questions and expressing an interest in knowing more about CRM’s. A customer relationship management (CRM) system can include your members, clients, donors, volunteers, partners, or just generally anyone who you want to make aware of your work and services, such as commissioners, trusts, funders or any other relevant contacts. Actually, the term stakeholder might be a more fitting expression to use. The system can segment audience members so that you can easily keep track of all the information you need to know in order to sufficiently maintain suitable and relevant details and interactions with your stakeholders, while also monitoring the impact of different engagements.
As a donor having made several donations, have you ever received another letter treating you as a new opportunity for enrolment? As a supporter or a service user, do you find that you are often given the same old information repeatedly? Or, as a volunteer, do find that some of the messaging which relates to activities that you are interested in seem to be missing you out? A CRM can keep key information about an individual or organisation in a single location. This can then be structured in a useful manner to allow operational staff more flexibility when managing how and with whom they engage, as well as the engagement outcome. It can help with communications in many other ways too!
The choice of a CRM system is a massive task and can be overwhelming, so deciding which software is best for your organisation can’t just occur from one quick conversation or a recommendation from a similarly functioning charity. It’s important to take the time to fully understand your organisation’s needs, learn about what each different system can offer and think through what you want your CRM system to do for you by considering your organisations current operations, scale and plans for the future.
Superhighways gave a useful webinar on behalf of Charity Digital. It is well worth an hour of your time if you are new to CRM systems and thinking of investing in one.