As a nonprofit leader, your mission is unique, attracting a loyal member base. The people who join your organization are your lifeblood – they share a passion for your purpose, and they contribute their resources to help you accomplish it. Because past involvement with a nonprofit is the best indicator of future involvement, growing your membership is vital for fulfilling your mission and keeping your business running.
But managing relationships with members and other constituents is complex. Nuances abound. You require systems and software that consider these distinctions.
THE NONPROFIT DIFFERENCE
When it comes to constituent relationship management (CRM), choose a Below are designations to look for when selecting the right CRM for your agency.
Relationships are prioritized. The customer is the biggest difference between your mission-driven organization and the profit-obsessed company down the road. Your diverse base of members and influencers fuel your work. Your CRM must create campaigns that are personalized, contextual, and content-rich to ensure you are speaking the language of your people.
Information is maximized. Data tells you about the people you serve and those you’d like to reach. Use the information at your fingertips to create stakeholder personas and more smartly promote your mission to your customer. Empower your teams with intelligent analytics to predict member needs—and meet them with customized attention that builds loyalty while growing revenue.
Processes are streamlined. Test the CRM before you purchase it. Try a demo, or ask for a free trial run. Ensure the software integrates seamlessly with your existing financial management systems, allowing you to track all member correspondence, marketing, and events in one place.
Vendor considerations
When you start shopping for a CRM, you will quickly realize that the vendor space is crowded. Use the above list to weed out the B2B suppliers, and vet the remaining pool with these insights:
- Look for a vendor that is committed to the nonprofit space and will be around in 10 years and longer. There are copious start-up software suppliers. Small- and medium-sized nonprofits will do well to align with a longstanding vendor that has a proven and reputable track record.
- Many nonprofits don’t care about being in the IT game; rather, they want to spend their time and energy on the things that are near and dear to their mission and core expertise. If this is you, choose a solution built and run completely in the Cloud – the vendor will take care of solution management and support.
- Be clear about the need you wish to solve with a CRM, whether it’s tracking member behavior or increasing retention. You don’t need a CRM platform with extra bells and whistles that you won’t use. You do, however, need a solution capable of integrating with and optimizing the existing accounting and marketing systems within your agency.
As you set off on your nonprofit CRM search, consider , a supercharged version of Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM designed for member management.
“With a Microsoft Gold Competency, BroadPoint Engage combines world-class software and domain expertise with unique functionality that makes the solution look, feel, and act specially for the nonprofit and association space.”
Could BroadPoint Engage be the CRM of choice for your organization? today to learn more.
