The most important component of running a nonprofit organisation is to be able to build strong relationships with people, which is why it might be wise to invest in a software solution for managing your customers’ data and consistently keeping in touch with them. A secure cloud-based CRM system can help with achieving that and more, bringing all your admin operations into one place! In today’s article we are discussing three essential components to look for in a CRM:

Contact Management

A software solution for collecting and storing your members’ contact information is vital for the success of your organisation. Having a CRM tool allows you to centralise your data, access it from anywhere and manage it more efficiently. Creating groups and segments is one excellent way of managing different tiers or types of members. In addition, the system allows you to run custom reports to see your members involvement with your organisation, add private notes to individual or household profiles, and see the history of communication, making it easier to understand your members and how to best serve them. Finally, a CRM also works as a project management system that allows you to create task lists, set up reminders and build workflows to keep your processes well organised and make sure no important deadlines get forgotten and no one falls through the cracks.

Communication Tools

Communication in the context of not-for-profit organisations can serve multiple purposes, such as growing a community of supporters, advocacy, or fundraising. To save time, it is a great idea to utilise the communication tool in your CRM that gives you an opportunity to send out bulk emails. You no longer need to email every person individually - the email service inserts the right salutation and sends it to your entire membership with just one click. Alternatively, you can email a segment of your audience keeping your communication more relevant. Some CRM tools now provide you with beautiful and customisable templates for emails and campaigns to keep your communication on brand. However, the most important feature is access to analytics where you can check how many people read your emails and what links they click on, which helps create better content for your communication emails. Consistently keeping in touch with your stakeholders is paramount, and a good CRM can help you not only design, but also automate your communications, making the whole process more efficient.

Finance Tracking

Depending on the type of your organisation, you might need tools to help manage the collection of donations or pledges, produce statements and invoices, and generate reports. The easiest way to do it is to keep using your CRM since all information on your donors’ profiles is already there. The reporting tool comes in handy here as well, helping you discover lapsed members or donors and get them back into the system. One important aspect to consider here is integration with leading payment gateways and accounting software that will help with both processing payments and keeping records of all transactions (which will be needed at the end of the financial year). 

In conclusion

Using outdated means of managing data (such as spreadsheets or Word documents) can be time-consuming and prone to human error. It could be equally challenging, costly and inefficient to maintain several different systems that require integrations. The answer lies in finding one software - a complete community management system that does not require juggling multiple tools. This is exactly what infoodle is - the perfect solution designed to fit the needs of nonprofits of all sectors and sizes. It provides undeniable benefits, such as building stronger connections with stakeholders or maintaining revenue streams.

Watch a demo on our website or contact our product experts to find out how you can effectively manage your membership with only one system that is safe, reliable, intuitive and available anywhere from any device.