How to convince your boss to invest in a CRM
Helen Packer | 6 January 2021 | Blogs
You might be ready to take the leap and invest in a CRM for your charity, but that doesn’t mean everyone else is on board. If your senior leadership isn’t bought in, you’ve got a problem. Here are some points that might help you get through to management.
A CRM saves time
The more time you’re spending trawling through emails to work out when you last spoke to *that* donor, the less time you have to actually get them over the line. From sending mass emails to generating invoices to running reports, CRMs can speed up your admin tasks, giving you more time to focus on the job you were hired for. Although a CRM can be a big investment, when you view it in terms of time saved, that cost can seem a lot more reasonable.
Understand your donors better
It’s hard to analyse data when it’s all over the place. By storing all of your donor information in a CRM, you can easily see the bigger picture. You can review your donors’ demographics and their giving patterns. Once you know this information, it’s much easier to personalise your communication with them and make the next ask.
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SEE ALSO: Why improved data management should be your 2021 New Year’s resolution (4 January 2021)
Avoid a GDPR scandal
To be data compliant, you need to be organised. A CRM can store consent data so you know exactly who wants to be contacted and how – and who you shouldn’t contact under any circumstances. Similarly, if someone asks to see all the data you hold on them (which they legally can), it’s going to be much easier to do this if it’s all in one place.
A CRM is useful for the whole team
Rally your colleagues together to help your senior leadership understand how you’ll all benefit from a CRM. As well as recording donor information, CRMs can help your marketing function by streamlining mass and personalised communications. A CRM can also hold all your organisation’s income information, meaning less strain on your finance team for constant updates.
- How to give you charity CRM a Spring clean (26 January 2021)
- Beginner’s guide to CRM systems for charities (6 January 2021)
About Helen Packer
Helen Packer has a background in communications, digital marketing and branding, specialising in the not-for-profit sector. She is particularly interested in international development, human rights and foreign policy. Helen is currently completing an MA in International Journalism at City, University of London. Contact: [email protected].