Most NGOs and Nonprofits avoid such tools as CRM. It is a common delusion that customer relationship management (CRM) software is used in a business sphere where different organizations build connections with their clients and customers. But you do not have a need for it if you do not work with customers in a traditional sense. This is not entirely right.

Do not let the word “customer” in CRM abbreviation mislead you. Even if you work with donors, volunteers, and other givers you should consider them as your clients. In the past, most of the patrons and supporters used some personalized messages in any sphere – whether it was professional or personal life. Nowadays, donors want to be not just ATM replacement, but to get personalized communication with true efficiency. Using CRM can help NGOs and Nonprofits to make communication more relevant and sustainable with the audience. The more you know your donor, the more value you can get.

CRM software will help organizations track, collect, and manage important data about givers, volunteers, staff members, and projects. Such authentic relationships will help NGOs and Nonprofits to build trusted and more engagement connections.

Here are at least 6 reasons to use CRM if you are a Nonprofit or Non-Governmental organization:

1. All your data stores in one place

Using CRM organization will help to collect all information in one place. It means you can plan activities and fundraising operations not just due to the strategy, but you will see the whole picture saturated with data and competing choices. All information will be at your fingertips. You can have access to the necessary contacts and last updates from any device in any part of the world.

2. Process automation

Automate all the processes that can be automated. This is the rule which helps you reduce time for managing tasks and daily routine. Key automation actions include general emails, sending the marketing and follow-up emails, calls, leads & fundraising tracking, etc. With the process automation, your prospect receives an email or other notification just in time including personal history relationship with your organization. Meanwhile, all you need is to collect all the necessary data to plan your next activity or follow-up.

3. Manage fundraising and the donor history

One of the main benefits of using CRM is the capability to maintain how much you have spent on membership dues, donations, events, etc. With this tool, you will have access to all your contributions and cash flows. If your Nonprofit or NGO keeps in constant touch with more than a hundred people (philanthropists, service recipients, other givers, and stakeholders), it is time to move from running multiple spreadsheets to a single database.

4. Maintain events

With the CRM you can plan events that span multiple sessions, days, and locations. You just create your event or meet-up and manage it due to the functionality of your software. Many CRMs allow you not just to manage events, add participants, but can also extend your maintenance by creating a personal schedule or speaker’s profile, using a built-in QR scanner for check-ins and payments. Furthermore, you will get reports in the form of graphs about the progress of your event.

5. Advance internal communication

The low level of communication between employees and departments makes the company’s work inefficient and leads to failures of major business processes. As a result, the profitability of the business decreases. CRM system allows organizing effective interaction and exchange of information with everybody, involved in the process.

6. Make plans for the future

It is impossible to increase the profitability of the organization without an in-depth analysis of supporter information, their value, and profitability, identification of bottlenecks in the company’s business processes, analysis of the fundraising system. CRM can give statistical information and conduct complex data analysis necessary for making strategically important business decisions.

There is a thought that using CRM needs extra cost, or you have to be technical savvy, or there is no CRM software for the NGOs and Nonprofits needs. But it is not true. There are a lot of tools that were made special for such organizations. Some of them are paid, others – not. All you need is to choose the most suitable for your exact purpose and leverage your organization to a brand-new level.

Read also: How do NGO’s & Nonprofits deal with COVID-19 these days?