Non-Profit Fundraising with Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Unlike their for-profit neighbors, organizations dependent on donors are very much driven by sudden and unexpected needs. Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is also an effective non-profit fundraising software tool. By using Microsoft CRM’s special functions for campaigns, publicly funded organizations can rapidly track donations in real-time, and then monitor and respond to campaign feedback.

And thanks to Microsoft Dynamics CRM’s Quick Campaigns function, setting up an ad-hoc fundraising effort doesn’t have to be difficult or time-consuming. It will be your non-profit solution to your fundraising challenges.

How might this work in a real campaign for a community-based charity raising money in response to, say, a building damaged by a storm? The Quick Campaigns feature can be triggered from several places, but you’ll most likely do this from Marketing Lists.

After selecting Marketing Lists in the Navigation Panel, the Quick Campaigns button appears at the top menu bar. Once clicked, a wizard pops-up, guiding you through a straightforward process. You can choose from several different channel options–email, phone, or fax.

Phone campaigns are very effective so let’s assume you choose the phone channel. In this case, you would enter the agent script in the pre-configured Phone form. The Phone form also includes a Notes area. Leave that blank since this is where your agents will record results of conversations–in terms of commitments or future follow-up plans.

The progress of Quick Campaigns can be monitored as agents make calls and populate the Phone form. To do this, simply navigate to the Marketing area from the Navigation Pane, and then click on Quick Campaigns to bring up the active campaigns. There’s a Campaign Responses section, which can be viewed by campaign managers when they click on their specific campaign.

Quick Campaigns may not be the answer to a more specialized kind of fundraising project. For that you’ll need to learn how to do form customizations and workflows.

But for many non-profit fundraising projects, out-of-the-box Microsoft Dynamics CRM might just be the right non-profit fundraising software solution.

MIG & Co. – MIG is a Professional Consulting Firm that specializes in the implementation of business management software solutions including Customer Relationship Management. We automate business processes to ensure our customers work efficiently. Mig & Co. is a New York City based Microsoft Dynamics Gold Partner, primarily serving New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

by MIG & Co., New York Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner