Categories
Fundraising Databases Insights

The Engaging Networks Integration Tool for Charity CRM systems

In the dynamic landscape of charity data management, having tools that streamline operations with precision and compliance is now a necessity. Actually Data are thrilled to introduce our bespoke Engaging Networks Integration tool, designed to revolutionise how your charity integrates with your CRM system with your online engagement tools.

Take your first step towards a more efficient, effective approach to digital advocacy, fundraising and engagement by exploring the key features and benefits that make this tool an indispensable asset for your charity.

Key Features

Bespoke Data Transformation

  • Tailored Functionality: Created exclusively for your charity, the tool seamlessly transforms Engaging Networks data into a CRM-friendly format, tailored for your instance of your charity’s CRM system.
  • One-Click Operation: Simplify data imports with a one-click mechanism, eliminating the need for continuous development or third-party intervention.

Enhanced User Experience

  • User-Friendly Interface: Accurately code Engaging Networks pages for a cohesive data integration experience.
  • Empowering your team: Users retain control over the data transformation processes, easily accommodating changes in internal protocols.

Seamless Integration

  • Streamlined Processes: Leverages your CRM’s inbuilt import tools, ensuring a smooth and seamless data integration process.
  • Flexible Data Management: Enables you to continue to adapt data as internal processes and policies change, without requiring additional development.

Robust Data Handling and GDPR Compliance

  • Data Security: Utilizes Microsoft Excel, empowering you to govern data storage and processing, ensuring stringent adherence to GDPR and data handling protocols.
  • Integrates with your Tech Stack: By working through Microsoft Excel, the tool offers a familiar environment for staff to work in, within a program you likely already work with.

Innovative Reporting and Analytics

  • Insightful Analytics: Complemented by Actually Data Analytics, it provides data-driven reports on supporter engagement, offering insights into the efficacy of your online initiatives.
  • Strategic Adjustments: Helps you identify areas that require change, further optimising your charity’s online engagement strategies.

Customisation and Scalability

  • Customised Solutions: Tailored to meet the unique needs of you charity, offering flexibility as you import and report on your activity.
  • Significant Scalability: With a one million row import limit, the tool can accommodate a substantial number of daily transactions, far exceeding most charity’s requirements.

Responsive Customer Support

  • Personalised Support: Enjoy the peace of mind and consistency of interacting with your own Account Manager, who will also be the person who implemented the system for your charity.
  • Minimal Learning Curve: With an easy-to-use interface and training provided as you implement the tool, users will be able to effortlessly generate files and import Engaging Networks data into your charity CRM system straight away.

Benefits

1. Time-Saving

Automate the cumbersome task of data transformation and integration, freeing up your team to focus on core charity data activities or larger strategic projects.

2. Cost-Effective

By reducing the need for third-party developments and continuous adaptations, it serves as a cost-effective solution for data management.

3. Enhancing Data Accuracy

The tool ensures precise data coding and integration, enhancing the accuracy and reliability of your CRM database.

4. Strategic Decision Making

With data-driven reports, the tool aid you as you make informed strategic decisions, helping boost your charity’s online engagement and success rate.

5. GDPR Compliant

By offering control over data storage and processing, it assists charities in adhering to GDPR guidelines.

6. User-Friendly

Designed with a user-friendly interface, it facilitates a hassle-free user experience, requiring minimal user training.

Investment and Support

To foster a seamless transition into a more structured and efficient data management regime, the Engaging Networks Integration Tool is priced as a one-off cost. This investment guarantees a system tailored to your charity’s specific needs, with the potential to significantly streamline your operations.

If  your charity requires further developments or changes, we are here to assist at a standard day rate. Our team is committed to supporting you in enhancing the tool’s functionality to meet your evolving needs.

Case Studies

Here’s a link to a case study for Refuge where we talk about integration to Blackbaud’s The Raiser’s Edge

Here’s a presentation that our CEO, Anthony, delivered at the Engaging Networks conference that talks about the integration work in more detail. Making Sense of your data

Get In touch

If you’re ready to start your CRM Integration journey, why not get in touch for a call to discuss your requirements in more detail.

Categories
People

If everything is important then nothing is

Patrick Lencioni’s quote is excellent. I see a lot of database managers, no, a lot of people in the industry struggle with this.

But I believe it is true. There is a lot of discussion about multitasking or task switching and how women are better at it than men. However, I believe that making a list of everything you’re doing and then attempting to figure out how to make that list more manageable will only help you get things done.

The difficulty in managing multiple tasks is usually due to the number of moving parts and interdependencies. As previously stated, I would make a list of the projects, going old school if necessary and writing it down on a piece of paper with a pen! Then you can figure out when things need to happen.

The key to all of this is managing expectations; whether you’re a consultant or an employee, you just have to be honest and tell people what you’re thinking. To be fair, I write this from a position of frequently getting myself into hot water over this. Anyone who has worked with me knows that I try to do too much, and I recently found myself in front of a client and friend, anxious and concerned about their project due to time constraints, the work that is required, and letting them down.

As obvious as it is, burning the candle at both ends cannot be sustained indefinitely. I’ve seen people working a frightening number of hours during lockdown just to keep things running while all the extra work, not business as usual, was being added. If this continues for an extended period of time, two things are likely to occur: people will become disinterested in their jobs, or they will be forced to take time off.

My suggestion would be as follows:

  1. Return to pen and paper and make a list of everything that needs to happen.
  2. Communicate this effectively to the team working on it as well as the larger stakeholder who is requesting more work. Sometimes stakeholders will come to an agreement and re-prioritize.
  3. Make a list of at least three things you’ll accomplish that day. Also, make sure that no single day has more than three tasks to complete. I don’t mean trivial tasks like making tea or doing the dishes; I mean tasks that require your full attention.

If your list cannot be broken down into three things that you can accomplish in a day, then your list-making process needs to be reviewed. Here’s an example of how to break down the list.

Problem: My database needs to be cleaned; this will take months, and I’m not sure where to begin.

This could be divided into the following areas of my database that have the greatest impact on users:

  1. Contact Types / Constituent Codes – Who are my stakeholders
  2. Action Types / Communication Types – What do I talk to them about
  3. Attributes / Profiles – Do some of these options need turning off

With those three things in place, many of your users will notice an improvement fairly quickly.

It’s the same with website or integration projects: break them down into something manageable or achievable so that something gets done, and if it can’t be done on time, explain it as soon as you know you won’t meet a deadline so stakeholders can make alternative plans.

Finally, why three? There’s a great piece here about how we are taught and given three options at a young age, read more about the power of three – https://www.businessinsider.com/using-the-power-of-three-to-your-marketing-advantage-2013-5?r=US&IR=T

If you have a different approach to dealing with the day-to-day challenges of managing a team and multiple people wanting multiple things at the same time, I’d like to hear about it.

Categories
Fundraising Databases

Engaging Networks Integration

Tired of manually transferring data from your Engaging Networks platform to your fundraising CRM system? Working with Actually Data as your Engaging Networks partner can help to streamline this process, saving you time and effort while allowing you to focus on what’s most important – your fundraising efforts.

Our experienced data professionals have extensive experience with Engaging Networks integration and can collaborate with you to develop a customised solution that uses Power Query as the ETL tool. With our assistance, you will be able to transfer data between your Engaging Networks platform and your CRM system easily and seamlessly, ensuring that your data is always up to date and accurate.

However, the advantages of working with Actually Data do not end there. Actually Data Analytics, our sister company, can assist you in visualising your Engaging Networks data using Power BI. You’ll be able to quickly and easily understand your data and make informed decisions about your fundraising efforts with interactive dashboards and reports.

We can provide training and support in addition to data integration and visualisation to help you get the most out of your Engaging Networks platform. We’re here to help with campaign setup, reporting, and any other aspect of your Engaging Networks usage.

Don’t waste time manually transferring data between systems; instead, work with Actually Data as your Engaging Networks partner to regain control of your data today. Please contact us to learn more about how we can assist you.

Categories
Fundraising Databases

An Excel spreadsheet is not a database

For some time, I’ve been giving Charities guidance on procuring new CRM database systems, mainly in the fundraising area. I’m sure if you’re reading this, you have an idea of what a database is but just to be clear. Databases are a central repository for structured data. Normally they would have some type of validation (checking) on the data that you put into it. This is one of the main reasons why Excel spreadsheets are not databases! Excel can be used to collect data or maintain lists of data but very rarely do you see Excel spreadsheets that make sure that the right type of data is in the right cell or have special forms that let you enter data in a structured way.

So why do you need a database, you could just use a spreadsheet. For everything that is in this post there are of course exceptions or ways around what I’m suggesting.

Here are my 5 main reasons why I think every charity should have a database:

1.Collaboration

When I mention collaboration it can scare lots of people about who has access to “their” data. First thing that I suggest is that the data is the asset of the organisation, not your personal data, that’s something completely different and you having your own set of data means that a supporter is probably not getting the best from your organisation. Always put yourself in the position of the supporter/beneficiary – they have a relationship with the organisation and probably with you as an employee, but you should only ever use one voice when you speak to them. This is only possible when all data is in one place. The organisation has one version of the truth, this can never be a bad thing. Yes there will be some data that the supporter may not want you to share across the organisation, but sharing is caring. A database lets multiple users access it at once, something that is much harder in Excel and almost impossible beyond 2 users. 

2.Legislation

From a legislative process, having your data in one centralised accessible place is a good thing. First of all if your supporters are multi-faceted, you’ll know. Otherwise you’ll have to look through paper files / Excel spreadsheets or other places that you have data as both paper and electronic data are governed by the Data Protection Act. The other thing to think about here is that legislation is not just about the Data Protection Act, there’s also your requirements around PCI-DSS Compliancy, Gift Aid and privacy and electronic communications (PECR).

3. Consistency

Now here’s some stuff that you can do in an Excel spreadsheet but can be easier when you’re using a database. Think of things like titles in an Excel spreadsheet. Some people would put Mr or Mr. or leave it blank or put something else. Database consistency should help with things like drop down lists and options. Like I said this can be done with data validation in Excel but this won’t do formatting validation as easily. Some examples:

  • what do postcodes look like?
  • historically Towns were required to be in Uppercase by Royal Mail (now it isn’t required to be upper case)
  • Telephone numbers, if you’re using a system that recognises telephone numbers does it needs to have its international dialling codes how does it cope with spaces.

These things are things that should be picked up by a decent CRM system. In a perfect world there would be an internal description field set up for things like drop down lists so you know what type of data values you’re expecting in here for example Marathon Runners and their estimated completion times what would this look like in your database 3h 45, 03:45 hours, 225minutes

Obviously thought needs to go into how to structure your profiles/attributes when you set up your CRM system.

4. Efficiency

Why do users like Excel spreadsheets – because they are easy, we’re all comfortable with them. Most people can copy and paste from or to them. We know how to find and filter the data and get what we want from it. An Excel spreadsheet works with Microsoft Word so sending letters or printing labels is easy.

All of this ease has to migrate to CRM systems. Data collection shouldn’t be tedious, forms should be simple and easily understood, ideally self-populating where possible e.g. My gender is most likely male as my title is completed as Mr, this doesn’t mean it can’t be changed but it should be capable of working out the default which could be overwritten if needed. The same when processing income, I know that the last thing that you received was this appeal therefore when I process income, I should be able to guess that you’re responding to this. I shouldn’t have to retype all of the information again if it’s already in the system.

The one thing that is my biggest bug bear is users who are re-keying electronic data because import processes are too laborious or complicated. Importing data of any kind shouldn’t be difficult it should be as simple as a copy and paste into a template that does all the heavy lifting for you.

5. Measurement

Finally, there’s no point capturing data if you can’t report on it and count your successes. Yes of course you can do reporting in Excel but you’d have to create your own reports. Most of the CRM systems come with a number of reports as standard like income reports, new donors’ reports. Some of the new CRM systems are doing more intelligent reporting with things like letting you know that you’ve not been in touch with key supporters, reminders around when to get in touch with a supporter for their birthday, the anniversary of their gift, their potential change in taxpayer status. All of which help you craft your message at the right time to the right people.

So these are my 5 top reasons about why choose a database over a spreadsheet. What are your reasons for using a database?

Lastly, please don’t think that a database is out of your reach, there are solutions to fit all budgets, teams, processes. The key with all of it is keep it simple to get started and build on that once you’re up and running.

Actually Data can help you with embarking on a project like this, if you’d like to talk through how we can help, let’s grab a coffee.

Categories
Fundraising Databases Training

The art of CRM project management

Project management is one of those terms that is banded around the sector as just part of everyone’s role. Whether you’re an events fundraiser, a major donor fundraiser or a database manager and its true there is project management that helps all of the people in those roles succeed, but most times its silo’d. There’s no cross team working unless its writing a piece for comms or digital to help promote the cause or event.

I find a lot of charities think that the project management of a new CRM system is something that can be “tacked on” to someone’s day job not realising the amount of effort required and communication skills needed at all levels within the organisation as well as talking to vendors and potentially other contractors to do the things that you need.

I do a lot of project management as part of my implementation roles and always find it interesting the perception of what “good” looks like. I always say when starting projects that you will start off liking me, you’ll get to UAT and be a little bit overwhelmed and then once you see how a  will change your work be on the happy curve again.

But essentially, CRM project management is about a journey. Most people who are implementing a new CRM system are either doing it and not wanting to change or excited about the change and the new possibilities. Wrapped up into this is the change management piece and collaborative working across all teams who will use the new system. In my view this should be everyone who is a touch point with a supporter, from CEO to the receptionist as its really important. All good organisations charity or not base their work/products/service on data as well as other things but data is at the heart or should be.

So back to the difference between day to day project management and CRM implementation project management, a CRM implementation has a lot of moving parts and should have lots of collaboration within the organisation as you define best practice and a common understanding. There’s a lot of potential data sets that will be unearthed that should be in the CRM but never made it for whatever reason and then there’s the cultural change for the organisation.

Like I’ve said previously, the best CRM system in the world is only as good as the people who use it and the data that they put into it. But now more than ever it’s important to ensure that your organisation has one version of the truth.

So with these three things the key is to:

  • Know what go live looks like (I personally recommend going live in phases so if you need web/events/volunteering/ as part of go live, when is that going to happen, you probably want to try and stagger how people need to take on that knowledge of the new product
  • Understand that people have day jobs, if a project can be delivered in 4 months that’s great but real life will I guarantee get in the way, most of my projects at best go live after 6 months but more realistically end up somewhere closer to 9 months – again the key here is making sure you know what number 1 looks like.
  • Communication and collaboration – put time in people’s diaries for show and tell or key business changes, its key in getting buy in and making sure that your users (or even better super users) are on board with how it will work
  • Book out time for familiarisation sessions let people play with the product and give them the support that they need. A good project manager is 70% counsellor and 30% doing or managing the doing
  • As project manager you don’t have to know how to do everyone’s job, make sure you have key people (Super users / Champions / Heroes / Knowledge Managers / Wizards) whatever you want to call them, they are the people who know their job
  • Make sure you share the knowledge, its key in keeping everyone on track, a folder on a server, a group in outlook, a simple project management tool, make sure it forms part of your meetings. It’s key to share this knowledge with the leadership team as well as your Super users and champions

It’s a journey, in my view it’s a fun journey as you come out as a better organisation after you’ve done it, but it is hard work and on top of day jobs can be very frustrating.

I hope that this has helped and if it is a bit overwhelming for you or your team drop us a note and we’ll talk it through with you.