# How to convince your boss to invest in a CRM

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2021/01/06/how-to-convince-your-boss-to-invest-in-a-crm/
- Published: 2021-01-06T13:55:32+00:00
- Author: Helen Packer

**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**](https://fundraising.co.uk/2021/01/04/why-improved-data-management-should-be-your-2021-new-years-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](https://fundraising.co.uk/2021/01/26/how-to-give-your-charity-crm-a-spring-clean/)(
   26 January 2021)**
 * **[Beginner’s guide to CRM systems for charities](https://fundraising.co.uk/2021/01/06/beginners-guide-to-crm-systems-for-charities/)(
   6 January 2021)**