Charity run
Howard Lake | 1 May 2012
Charity CRM |What to look out for when it comes to choosing the best charity Customer Relationship Software
Many charities might not require the full features that most CRM software provides. Medium and large charities, however, definitely will if they want to manage their organisation in an efficient manner.
As these charities handle large amount of money ether contributed by donors or raised through fund raising activities, an efficient method needs to be in place to keep track of it all. Specialised software for charity and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has been around for some time and those who use CRM software to manage their charities are able to provide a better service to the beneficiaries of the charity, Why? Because it allows the charity to keep up to date with every amount raised and spent allowing the charity to really streamline its operations. However before purchasing any king of CRM software it is important to have a look at some of the features.
These are some of the major factors to look for when you are ready to buy your charity content management relationship software. Keep in mind that the type of software you purchase or the package, should depend on the size and requirements of your organisation. Don’t buy expensive and complicated software, if you don’t have the staff for training or the charity is very small and can get by with less robust software. Always scale up your software as the charity grows. You may not have the funds to maintain the software and to bring in someone to train staff on the use of the software. This expense maybe too much for your small charity to handle. So tailor the charity management software to fit your organisation’s budget and database size.
When buying your software look out for these key features. You should have modules that could handle donor contributions and donor contact information all under the same module. Additionally, any CRM or Customer Relationship Management software should provide the charity with one centralised place, where all the information on donors and supporters are stored. This leads to greater efficiencies between different branches of the same charity and cuts out data redundancy. It will also improve efficiency and effectiveness of the organisation to get projects completed and help attracting new members and volunteers. Additionally Charity customer relationship management software systems can handle allocation of funds, grants and other services and keep track of them.
It should also allow quick retrieval of information in report form so that there can be a speedy and comprehensive look at the organisation’s funds and projects by donors, directors, staff and any regulatory authority should they request to do so at any time.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.