Microsoft CRM – A necessity for Not for Profits and Charities to get ahead
Competition is as fierce in the Not for Profit sector as it is in profit making organisations. Taking a more strategic approach, faster service and payment methods and better donor engagement is key.
Microsoft CRM is at the very heart of these benefits of better communications and client and donor engagement as well as speedy resolution of questions and requests. CRM must be implemented and used effectively, otherwise it will not generate the outcomes that it was meant to achieve.
Every charity will have a mailing list that they will send communications to. CRM systems provide a platform to market, manage and engage with your contacts; clients, donors, suppliers, and so on… Every communication or conversation is tracked in CRM, which enables your teams to quickly and professionally answer queries or provide the answer to the needs of that caller. This then provides information for targeted marketing efforts – speaking to the right people about what will interest them and ensuring they choose to stay subscribed to your newsletters.
The concept of CRM is fairly simple; by streamlining processes and automating some back office functions, it becomes harder to differentiate and offer a better service and retain clients, donors, sponsors…
Introducing a good CRM solution and process should not impact the personal touches that your charity provides. CRM’s aim is to help to understand your contacts and people as individuals. When there are so many contacts in your database it’s hard to know what they like, what triggered them to donate, how do they like to be contacted and important times for them – birth dates, what they like to do and so on.
Using CRM will ensure that clients are called once about any one campaign, that you know when they last volunteered or donated, and to track emails to see what generated a response. Managing relationships through CRM will allow communication to flow both ways and ensure that the contacts voice is heard.
By building up member profiles charities can assess the true value that it is providing and receiving from the various audiences. The key is to ensure that every interact includes relevant, targeted messages.
Microsoft CRM – Not for Profit and Charity can help to generate real benefits and savings.
Delivering a CRM strategy is an evolving activity and as one piece of the strategy is completed, another begins enhancing the first and growing the capability of the system. CRM is a big consideration and needs time to plan and work with good, experienced suppliers at delivering a solution that is right for your charity.
CRM only works when the whole organisation is committed to it so it needs to be considered as a new way of doing things, and ensuring that the users are on board to the idea.
Using Microsoft CRM not for profits and charities can offer a true view about the relationships you are managing through it. Integrating a CRM strategy involves a lot more than installing front office applications. Information is what drives any organisation, and CRM will only be successful if it forms part of a larger network, with all the information and people on board necessary for it to succeed.
CRM cannot be ignored. Microsoft CRM can be the key to meeting and exceeding your charities goals and targets.
To find out more about Microsoft CRM and how it will work for you and your not for profit organisation, call Caltech CRM on 01924 507 280 www.caltech.co.uk
Email George@caltech.co.uk
To see our case study library of charities using Microsoft CRM visit our website @ www.caltech.co.uk or email George@caltech.co.uk
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