A “CRM” is a technology platform that helps you manage your relationships with current and future donors, volunteers, and constituents. A tool like this is incredibly powerful because it houses all the data your organization needs to make the right business decisions and set the appropriate goals to promote growth. As an organization invested in developing social good, it goes without saying that relationship building is the cornerstone of everything you do. To nurture relationships well, you need to pull the right information from your CRM. However, beware, you will run into obstacles if your CRM doesn’t contain all the information you need. For example, are there data fields you wish you had in your accounts that simply don’t exist? You will also hit bumps along the way if you don’t know how to report on and analyze the data in your CRM. Plus, your data needs to be structured well to make reporting easier for you.
Why Ask These 7 Questions in the First Place?
When choosing your CRM, you’re making an enormous decision in organizational strategy. The tool you decide to use as your CRM that will need to be used for many years to come. As with all important decisions, you need to have a clear picture of what your organization’s needs are now and what they will be in the next few years before taking action.
The best way to start looking at what your organization needs is by candidly answering the following seven questions.
- Does our database support all of our reporting needs?
- Does our database integrate with other tech tools we’re currently using?
- Is our database costly to manage and maintain?
- How is our data synchronized?
- Do we have consistent data standards between our technology platforms?
- Do all the departments in our organization use the same database or work in silos from each other?
- Is our resource development team limited by a lack of information in their database?
Diving a Little Deeper into Your Answers
When answering each of the 7 questions, you may notice two themes that arise in conversations:
1. Having consistent data, and
2. Maintaining low internal costs.
Both of these themes are common challenges for charities and nonprofit organizations. As you tackle each question, consider how your answer impacts data consistency across your organization, and what the costs involved are.
I have noticed that organizations are happier and more successful overall when their data is organized and shared consistently across all staff and departments. Additionally, maintaining consistent data should not increase operational expenses for an organization. If having reliable data is costing you a lot, it should raise a red flag. A good CRM system is one that is built with your industry needs in mind, and thus, doesn’t cost a lot to manage.
"Maintaining consistent data should not increase operational expenses for an organization. If having reliable data is costing you a lot, it should raise a red flag."
Having Consistent Data
The roots of your CRM system are your data. You need to have all the essential data that pertains to your specific industry needs in your CRM. If your CRM wasn’t designed and created for the nonprofit industry, then you risk having a CRM platform that doesn’t house all the technical specs that you need to do your job properly. Different CRMs may claim to work the same way, but they ultimately don’t all have the same functionalities. I have seen some organizations use more than one CRM. Having more than one CRM per organization often happens when one department prefers one tool, and another department likes to use a different tool. While in the short term this might seem like the right solution, having two CRMs for one organization leads to an increase in unreliable data.
Data governance may quickly become a challenge for organizations with multiple CRMs because it can be quite complex to keep information updated on various platforms at all times. For example, some CRM systems may allow you to key in an email without a “.” or an “@” sign, while others will not. These inconsistencies in data standards will generate errors that need to be handled via special data handling processes. If there is no alternative and your organization must use two CRMs, it’s best to forego manual updates and instead update data with a bidirectional synchronization tool that will create a bridge between platforms and share data in real-time.
Choosing the Right CRM Strategy
This webinar will help Development Teams, Back-Office Teams, and Executives evaluate the differences between using Andar/360 as their CRM, using Salesforce as their CRM, or using both options concurrently.
We will discuss the data management opportunities available and uncover the pros and cons of each one.
Maintaining Low Internal Costs
Maintaining a CRM can be very costly. The cost I am referring to is not only financial; it comes in other forms. Staff frustration with the operation of the CRM, donor trust, and donor retention are a big expense that can result from an improperly managed database.
Donor loss can occur at a rapid pace when the information in your database is wrong. Donors will lose their trust in you if you communicate with them when they have asked you not to, or if you address them by the wrong name because one database is updated, and the other isn’t. An example (which is surprisingly common) is sending a mailing after a spouse has passed away, and the letter is returned with a note saying that you were notified last year that the spouse was deceased. The emotional scar that an action like this leaves on your donor will undoubtedly tarnish your carefully nurtured relationship with them.
"If there is no alternative and your organization must use two CRMs, it's best to forego manual updates and instead update data with a bidirectional synchronization tool that will create a bridge between platforms and share data in real-time."
If your organization isn’t using a bidirectional synchronization tool to update data in many systems, there will be costs associated with the process you use. Middleware and third-party developers can be expensive to employ. Plus, the time it takes internal staff to update data comes with a price tag on it -- always keep in mind that time has a cost tied to it.
Storage space can be quite expensive. There are double the storage costs involved when you use more than one CRM platform. Having the names, phone numbers, and addresses of all of your contacts in more than one place may not seem like a lot, but when you have thousands of accounts, your storage needs will quickly accumulate.
Which is the Best CRM Platform for My Organization?
Answering this question will take a lot of research and careful planning. I hope the 7 questions I’ve shared above will help you organize your thoughts and provide a starting point for your analysis. As you answer each question, consider the impact your answer has on 1. Data Consistency, and 2. Maintaining Low Internal Costs. The technology platform you decide to use should free up time to focus on the tasks at hand that matter and empower you to focus on your mission of developing social good in your community.
What functionality does my CRM have?
This webinar will help Development Teams, Back-Office Teams, and Executives evaluate the differences between using Andar/360 as their CRM, using Salesforce as their CRM, or using both options concurrently.
We will discuss the data management opportunities available and uncover the pros and cons of each one.