by Cloud for Good Blog | May 5, 2015 | Blog
This is a cross post from the Cloud for Good blog. If your organization is like most of the millions of non-profits operating today you are concerned about increasing your access and engagements within your constituent base. Inevitably, while developing a strategy to engage your constituents on multiple levels and manage those relationships, you have asked yourself: “Should we start using a CRM tool?” Before discussing best practices, or if your organization should implement a CRM solution, lets first answer the question: What is a CRM solution? Constituent relationship management (CRM) is software that makes it easier for organizations to maintain relationships with supporters/stakeholders (donors, foundations, volunteers, clients, etc) by doing the following: Track the relationships with individual supporters and donors. Target and/or customize appeals, invitations to events, etc. Targeted appeals based on personal interests. Post on-line acknowledgments. Record all communications and transactions. Strengthen connections. Offer insight by aiding you to evaluate your approaches and results. As a former Program Manager and eventually a System Administrator for an upstart nonprofit, I was directly involved in the decision making process when determining if we should implement a CRM solution. During that time I was able to experience the pitfalls and hurdles that need to be overcome when deciding on implementing a CRM. In my current role as an Account Executive at Cloud for Good, I get to regularly interact with organizations that are trying to decide if it is the right time to implement a CRM solution. These experiences have added a new perspective for me and allowed me to identify some of the key questions that an organization needs...
