Non profit CRM

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CRM Readiness – how ready is your non-profit organisation?

A robust CRM is not for every non-profit organisation because not every organisation is ready to transition to a robust CRM. In terms of CRM readiness – how ready is your non-profit organisation?

One way to determine if your organisation in ready to adopt a new CRM is to create an assessment of such readiness. An assessment can be done by creating a scoring mechanism against four key areas:

  • Senior Management Engagement.
  • Organisation Strategy.
  • Processes and Procedures.
  • Training and Support.

Define each area by suggesting what would determine a perfect score for each of the four areas. Create a metric of 0 – 5 and score each of the areas. Ask a group of individuals to participate.

Defining CRM Readiness

  • Senior Management commitment to the project.
    • Your leadership team understands adopting a CRM is a long-term objective.
    • Your leadership team understands the CRM requires continued investment.
  • Matchback to organisation strategy.
    • Adoption of a CRM is part of the organisation’s current strategic plan and goals.
    • Investment in a CRM is key for your organisation to achieve other strategic objectives.
    • Your leadership understands the CRM is a critical factor in achieving organisation goals.
  • Documented processes and procedures.
    • Your business processes and procedures have been reviewed for best practice.
    • Departments within your organisation understand the business requirements which need to be delivered in your future CRM.
    • Processes and procedures are documented and ready for realignment in a new CRM.
    • You are open to realigning your current practices to match the adopted CRM.
    • Your Information Services department is willing to participate and engage in the CRM process.
    • While you have their agreement to participate, your Information Services department is willing to allow subject matter experts (SMEs) to drive process improvements across the business.
  • Ongoing training and support.
    • Budget has been allocated for ongoing CRM training and support post Go live.
    • Position descriptions have been developed for parties who will be responsible for ongoing maintenance and management of the CRM post Go live.

Scoring your organisation 15-20 suggests you are CRM ready. Scoring lower than 15 suggests you have areas of concern and you may wish to resolve those areas before you determine your organisation is CRM ready.

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Another difference between US and AUS fundraising

fsuLast week, I blogged about a few differences between US and AUS fundraising. In the blog post, I discussed some key areas where the US hospital was far more aggressive than Australian non-profit organisations.

Yesterday, I received an eMail from Florida State University (FSU) asking me to donate long-term appreciated stocks. Appreciated stocks are securities which are worth more than their original purchase price. Gifts of securities are quite common amongst donors to charities in the US. Donors are encouraged to donate because of the tax benefit to the donor. Donor’s may gain a tax benefit equal to the full market value of the securities.

It is rare I hear about gifts of securities amongst even the largest of non-profit organisations in Australia.

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Why are BPay and PostPay not widely used by charity?

careflightYou and I have the opportunity to use BPay and PostPay™ daily to pay our mortgages, rent, utilities, and credit cards. Yet, why are BPay and PostPay not widely used by charitable organisations across Australia?

I received the Christmas Appeal from CareFlight recently and noted an ability to give a donation by BPay on their response device. I also received one from Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children, which contained BPay.  Their biller code and my reference number are printed prominently on the response device. Easy, convenient, and part of a menu of options to give quickly. But, this is not the norm. Most non-profit organisations lack this convenience payment facility for their constituents.ridbc

What are the reasons BPay and PostPay™ are not widely offered?

  • Lack of internal knowledge to create a BPay and PostPay™ process.
  • Organisation’s CRM is not capable of producing a BPay or PostPay™ number for each constituent.
  • It goes in the “too hard” basket.

Let’s take them in order:

  • Creating a BPay number for your organisation is as easy as contacting your bank to find out the required makeup of the BPay sequence to match your bank.
  • While at it, acquire the configuration makeup for PostPay™ from Australia Post.
  • Once you have the required makeup, the next step is contacting your CRM supplier to find out if they have written a customisation to do the following:
    • Create a BPay and PostPay™ number for every constituent in your current database (using a batch or bulk facility).
    • Create the same for new constituents upon saving the new record in the CRM.
  • If your CRM supplier has created such a customisation, acquire it for your organisation and ask that it be configured to meet your bank’s required standards.
    • Remember, charitable organisations utilise a variety of financial institutions and your bank will not necessarily have the same BPay configuration as another organisation. Thus, the supplier needs to configure the customisation to meet your bank’s requirements.

Action BPay and, if appropriate for your organisation’s supporter base, PostPay™ for your next appeal. At a minimum, BPay ought to be part of the menu of options a donor or prospective donor has to support your charity.

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Nonprofit technology transitions face many risks

Risks exist in every project and may be managed through a coordinated effort. Nonprofit CRM projects are no exception and can contain a multitude of risks. Mitigating risks is paramount as part of any CRM project. I recently was asked to surface the top reasons Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) project fail. I came up with hundreds of reasons, but I narrowed them to a list of 10 “theme” areas.

Investing in a new CRM solution is exactly that – a large investment of funding and of time. It may be the single largest investment for a non profit organisation. Imagine investing a lot of money and energy into a CRM project and the outcome is not what you had hoped to achieve. Or, imagine the project fails. It’s a terrible shame when CRM projects go off the rail. And, they do not need to. Solid management on the part of the charitable organisation and the supplier ensures a successful outcome.

Why do CRM projects fail?

  1. Purchasing the new toy. Implementing technology for the sake of something new. People within your organisation may believe your non profit organisation has to have brand name solution X because it is the newest technology or because the CRM parent company has a convincing and aggressive marketing campaign.
    • Big deal. You did not buy an iPad the minute the device hit the market, right? Instead you took time to understand the product and to let others test the product before you adopted it. Do the same with any CRM solution and the associated supplier.
  2. Senior level engagement team members are not engaged.
    • Project sponsors are critical to any CRM project. Project sponsors are the project “owners” and ought to sit at the highest level of your organisational hierarchy. These should be the individuals who control the purse strings and the strategic direction of the organisation. Project sponsors are not project managers. They are part of the steering committee, are well informed, and have oversight at the 36,000 foot level.
  3. Timing is everything. Is your non profit ready for a new CRM? Is this the right time to change something as large as the CRM? Is the entire organisation ready to make a change.
    • Change management is not only about bringing people from point A to point Z, but it is also about understanding whether your organisation has an appetite for change at the outside of the project.
  4. A lack of strategic direction.
    • Ensure you agree on the strategic goals for the CRM. For example, is your mandate to find a CRM to fit the entire organisation or simply the fundraising department?
  5. Business understanding. Understanding your business and the requirements of your departments begins well before the implementation of any CRM.
    • Requirements gathering start well before deciding the “right” solution for the charity. In fact, requirements gathering happen at step one. Always understand your business before even going out to market to examine solutions to fit. I call this the homework stage. Do your homework and you will pass the exam. Learning requirements after signing to purchase a CRM or during the implementation is too late.
  6. Organisation-wide means organisation wide.
    • There are plenty of CRM solutions in the market focusing on fundraising operations. There are not many with an organisation-wide focus. Sure, you can create workarounds and try to put a square peg in a round hole. But, you want to find a solution, which may be used by your services arm just as easy as it may be used by fundraising. Creating one source of truth, organisation-wide, ought to be a goal at the outset.
  7. Lack of process change.
    • Documenting your AS IS business processes at the outset becomes a necessary exercise for your orgnaisation and for any supplier to ensure you understand how business occurs in your existing CRM and so you understand the potential for change. Thereafter, keeping an eye on the AS IS processes, or the origination, helps you understand the TO BE state, or the destination.
  8. Budgeting for human capital. Do you have the right people in the right positions budgeted for the right amount of time for the course of the project?
    • You likely need to supplement existing staff so you may continue business as usual and accomplish the CRM project at the same time. Plan for staff absences, staff departures, and other issues to come along the way. This is a long project and things happen over the course of 6-12+ months.
  9. Product does not meet requirements.
    • No product is perfect, even though a supplier’s sales team might lead you to believe their product could power the next space shuttle. Hopefully you performed due diligence in searching for a product and you are entering the relationship knowing the products benefits and deficiencies. Why didn’t you know this before you got married to the supplier? Think of this as dating. We date people for a reason – to get to know them and to determine if they are the “right fit”. If we marry the person, we know their strengths and weaknesses prior to marriage (and they know ours!). Likewise, you should know the supplier’s gaps and the product’s gaps prior to signing any agreement. There will be surprises, which surface in the implementation. Lessen the surprises by doing your homework in advance.
  10. Scope creep/waste. There is a risk when no one is keeping an eye on the finances.
    • Your supplier will likely have a bank of hours to spend on the project. You need a project manager who will monitor the spend and ensure your dollars are spent on the tasks which matter most and which gain you the outcome you desire.

Keeping your eye on this top list and others will ensure you have a successful outcome with your CRM project. These are your responsibility, not the responsibility of the suppliers in the market. As non profit managers we should own them.