Tag: crm

The Insight from Insight

Post author By actually
Post date December 4, 2019

*** update ***

I’m talking at the CIOF Insight conference on the 24th April 2023 about reporting and online donors. The insight conference is definitely one of the big conferences for database and insight people in the not for profit space, I always leave with great ideas of things that we can help fundraisers do more with less.

Last week I attended the Institute of Fundraising Insight Conference. This conference marked 10 years of the group being set up and was very well attended.

From the sessions that I sat in on I felt that this was the place that the cool kids were hanging out and most of the sessions left me buoyed and excited with what was possible and where, as a sector, we are heading. I still have my hang ups about the sector, in so much as Data People are still not seen in all organisations at senior leadership levels and I think they should be to enable the voice of the data to be heard but everything that I saw said that there is appetite for this now.

So with this in mind, here are my key takeaways:

Tags Charities, Conference, crm, Future, Insight, Insight Conference, institute of fundraising

Fundraising Databases Training

Why CRM systems fail!!

Post author By actually
Post date March 11, 2015

Following on from my previous post about how to healthcheck a CRM system, I wanted to share with you why I think people either love or hate their CRM systems. In most cases its not because one system is better than the other, though there are some systems that don’t fit the not for profit market, it is because users have either bought into the system and can see the benefits or they can’t.

I tell this story a lot but it is one of my most vivid memories of when I started working in the sector. I remember a member of staff, who in the run up to the London Marathon was struggling under the burden of paper that was printed out and then manually entered into the CRM system. It was taking about 3 out of the 5 days in the week to process this data. Now, this wasn’t because the CRM system was rubbish or even that the person didn’t know better, but more because the person who was spending their day wrapped up in paper wasn’t aware of the different things that their CRM system could do.

It was a lack of training.

Tags crm, Database, SalesForce, thankQ, The Raiser's edge, training

Fundraising Databases General

How to review your CRM System

Post author By ant
Post date February 10, 2015

Now you are back in the swing of things, the January blues have faded and you are looking forward to your new goals for 2015, it is the perfect time to think about checking that your CRM system is in good shape to help you achieve your targets.

CRM systems need love, care and attention, if you are going to get the best from them and keep them accurate. This is essential to make it easy for all your staff to use, update and understand the data.

databasecartoon When I visit charities as part of my consultancy work I often find that their CRM systems are organic beasts. With changes in staff or business processes or sometimes both, over time, what used to be a lean and relevant system with clear procedures has become increasingly a long winded process that doesn’t easily meet the needs of the organisation’s current objectives.