May 2015

, , , , , , ,

Finding the ‘perfect’ CRM is only half the battle for your non-profit organisation

 

Customer Relationship Management System CRM in word tag cloud

Has your non-profit acquired a new constituent relationship management (CRM) or supporter relationship management (SRM)? Did the process seem difficult? I hate to tell you, but that was the easy part. Now comes the hard part – implementing the CRM/SRM.

Most organisations do not realise they will need to review their business processes inside and out. Why? Some processes will need to be reshaped simply because they will not “fit” inside the new CRM/SRM. Other processes are antiquated and need a “remodel”. And, others have not even been invented yet within your organisation.

Most CRM/SRM suppliers will work with organisations to implement the new software in a sequential order, such as:

  • Security
  • Data conversion
  • Supporter management
  • Gift management
  • Event management
  • Other

It is best practice for organisations to develop a policies and procedures document in parallel with anyProcedures Folders Meaning Correct Process And Best Practice CRM/SRM implementation. The supplier may provide some documentation, which you will enhance for this added purpose. The policies and procedures document should be a living document, which you will make available to your end users in electronic format. This is a document you will maintain moving forward. The manual should never be “put on a shelf” and left unattended. Instead, your subject matter experts should keep the policies and procedures manual up to date any time a new procedure is developed or an existing procedure is enhanced. It is like cleaning a room in your home. Once it is clean it is easier to keep it clean than it is to start from scratch again.

Implementing a new CRM/SRM does not happen overnight and, in fact, the process from start to finish takes months. The length of time the process takes depends on a number of factors:

  • How well organised is your organisation going into the process?
  • How well developed and established are your existing processes?
  • How clean is your data?

Is your organisation in a transitional or maintenance frame of mind?

The CRM/SRM implementation is ripe with opportunity. Use the process as a renaissance for your organisation. Do not leave any stone unturned. Push the process, the supplier, and your team to truly transform your organisation.

Purchasing a CRM/SRM may be the single largest investment your organisation makes. Maximise the investment by doing it right.

, , , , , , , ,

Professional development opportunities galore

Snip20150518_3We live in a country where fundraisers do not lack professional development opportunities.

The Fundraising Institute Australia (FIA) Education program offers a host of courses. The 2015 semester II brochure just arrived in our letterboxes and is rich with new courses, as well as well the standard FIA courses – Fundraising Essentials, Certificate in Fundraising and Diploma in Fundraising. New course offerings include Data Analytics for the Empowered Fundraiser, Digital Storytelling for Fundraisers, Fundraising Change Leadership, and I Gave at the Office – Workplace Giving Masterclass.

The FIA courses are taught by dynamic, experienced, and diverse fundraising professionals such as Kathy John/RobeJohn, Shanelle Newton Clapham/Parachute Digital, Nigel Harris/Mater Foundation and Peter Dalton/fundraisingfutures, and Bonny Bayne and Rachael Beckett/Charities Aid Foundation (CAF). These talented professionals offer a wealth of experience as part of the content they deliver throughout the semester.

Register for these courses today. FIA is able to offer these courses in cities across Australia if we support our professional fundraising organisation.

 

, , , , , , , , ,

A stack of mail in the United States

MailI have not lived with my parents since 1983. I last lived with them in the US state of Wisconsin before I went away to university. My parents now live in New Mexico and have since ~1987. I visit them twice a year since moving to Australia – usually in May and December.

Each time I have visited them over the last 7 years, my mother has told me that I have “mail waiting” for me. It started with a piece or two, but it amounted to more that 20 pieces of mail this month.

The interesting part of the May mail stack is there were only two pieces of mail from charity. Those pieces came from a conservation group and they were premium packs – address labels! If I want to, I could send lots of letters out with my parents return address! The remainder of the mail was for mobile phone offers (3 pieces), catalogues for clothing (3 pieces), replacement windows (3 pieces), life insurance (5 pieces), and blank cheques from my United Airlines credit card encouraging me to transfer balances from other cards (6 pieces).

You might suggest 20 pieces of mail in ~4 months is not a lot. You are right. Nonetheless, 20 pieces at an address I never lived, in a state I have only spent short holidays in, is quite puzzling.

, , , , , , , , ,

The Joys of Moving

to moveI am moving house. Where am I moving? I do not know.

Sounds unsettling? It is!

I have simply not had time to find a new home and I needed to vacate my current place due to a pending sale of the unit. The removalists showed on Saturday, packed my belongings, and loaded them onto a truck…to storage.

But, there is so much more to a move. Because I do not know where I am moving to, I had to complete a Mail Hold Service with Australia Post. When I determine where I am moving to, I will complete a Mail Redirection. As you know from my previous posts and articles in F&P Magazine, no charity I support has performed data hygiene since my last move and I know this because Australia Post continues to forward my mail sent to my former Sydney address. It will be interesting to see if charities find me now!

, , , , , , , , , , ,

What have your volunteers done for you lately?

Group of people saying ThankWhat have your volunteers done for you lately? Wrong question. What have you done for your volunteers lately?

It is National Volunteer Week in Australia. Every organisation needs to assess what it is doing to recognise volunteers and volunteers need to think about what organisations are doing to recognise the time they give to those organisations. Volunteering Australia gives us 101 Ways to Recognise Your Volunteers including 13 key ideas to celebrate National Volunteer Week

  1. Give a certificate to commemorate anniversaries of involvement.
  2. Take photos of volunteers ‘on the job’, imprint a ‘Thank you’ message and frame them – then give them to each volunteer.
  3. Hold special ‘thank you’ or social functions in honour of volunteers.
  4. For long-standing volunteers, collect coins in the amount of hours contributed, place them in a vase tied with a royal blue ribbon and present to them at a special afternoon tea.
  5. Have a morning tea with testimonials to the volunteers from recipients of services.
  6. Give them a mug with logo or ‘thank you’ motif.
  7. Create bookmarks for the volunteers with an acknowledgement of appreciation for work contributed.
  8. Hold a BBQ for your volunteers.
  9. Run a Volunteers Breakfast.
  10. Give a pat on the back: Trace your hand on plain paper and cut out. Write, ‘Here’s a pat on the back for _________________. Thanks for all you hard work.’ Invite staff or anyone else that has contact with the volunteers to make one in recognition of the service of particular volunteers. Hang them all together for visual impact.
  11. Create Volunteer buttons and pins
  12. Arrange discounts for your volunteers at local shops.
  13. Celebrate formal recognition events such as International Volunteer Day and National Volunteer Week with dinners, teas, dessert buffets, etc.

Some might seem basic or a little hokey; however, at the end of the day, isn’t it about taking a minute to say thanks and trying to be creative enough that the volunteers accept your thanks with appreciation for being recognised. Too few organisations take the opportunity to say thank you. It might be too late to action many fo these ideas this week during National Volunteer Week. But, what about hand written thank you note or simply a personalised mass Email sent to volunteers with a big “THANK YOU”?