The
Impact of the New CRM Systems on the Fundraising
Database Market: A 5 part series
Monday January 23rd, 2012
For the last few
years I have written about the “new”
generic CRM systems (e.g. Microsoft CRM, Salesforce
etc) and their potential as a fundraising database
for charities. Now, for the first time, I feel
these systems have far more potential to challenge
the dedicated (“traditional”) fundraising
packages in the domain of fundraising and membership.
I thought it would therefore be a useful time
to review the impact which these systems are having
on the fundraising software market in a bit more
depth. So I have written a 5 part series starting
today... Read
more...
Infographics:
can you produce them directly from a CRM database?
Monday
January 16th, 2012
Everyone loves a
good infographic. And the source of infographics
– the data – will very often come
from an organisation’s (CRM) database. And
although lots of good databases can produce useful
reports and graphs, I don’t know of any
which are used in the charity sector which can
produce infographics direct from the database.
(I know one who considered it: Lamplight Database
Systems posted a blog last year with a few ideas:
) Now there may be good reasons for this lack
of CRM database functionality... Read
more...
The
Successful Spend Ratio on Database and CRM Projects
Tuesday
January 10th, 2012
Successful database
projects are 50% about people, 30% process, and
20% technology: so why do so many projects have
such a high budget on technology and such a low
budget in comparison on people and processes?
Read
more...
Is
a CRM/Database supplier more important than the
software they sell?
Tuesday
June 14, 2011
It is a question
that has often been asked over recent years: when
buying a new database, is the supplier or the
software more important? How much credence should
one give the possible suppliers? How critical
is the software and technology in comparison?
Read
more...
It's
not the technology that's difficult, it's Everything
Else
Tuesday
June 7, 2011
I recently visited
a comparatively small charity who wanted to extend
the use of their fundraising database beyond the
fundraising and marketing department. It soon
became clear from our meeting that there was no
problem with the technology in terms of doing
that, they have a good fundraising package and
it can certainly manage the other departments’
requirements. But what was also evident quite
quickly was that the main problems with the project
would be the non-technology aspects... Read
more...
What
Should be in a Business Case for CRM software?
Friday May 27, 2011
Many charities do
not create a proper business case before procuring
a new database. And by a business case, I don’t
simply mean a few bullet points which show why
a new database is needed – I mean a comprehensive
document, structured in an appropriate way which
addresses all aspects of a business decision.
If you do this, then you will be far more likely
to succeed: you will understand your key requirements,
success criteria, user involvement, constraints,
risks and more; and when the project is completed,
you will be able to measure its success against
the criteria laid out in your business case. So,
what should a full business case encompass? Read
more...
Lessons
Learned from Implementing Single Supporter Systems
Monday
May 16th, 2011
I have helped implement
and been the project manager on a number of Single
Supporter Systems over the last few years and
this post is about some of the lessons I have
learned from doing so. I have split the post into
2 parts because there is quite a lot to say although
I can sum up my lessons learned thus: it’s
the people and processes which are the difficult
parts, the technology is the simpler bit. Although
do note I said simpler, not simple… Read
more...
9
Guaranteed Ways to Improve the Use of Your Database
Thursday
April 14th, 2011
Each of the following
processes will improve the use of your database
- really! Some are simpler than others, some are
free and some definitely require investment, some
require technical skills and some just need a
new business approach. But they are guaranteed
to bring you benefits if you don't already follow
such practises or you haven't implemented such
functionality. And you can quote me on that! Read
more...
The
Raiser's Edge: Why does one person like it and
the next hate it?
Tuesday July 13, 2010
I have recently been
talking to several charities who use The Raiser's
Edge. And it seems to me that whenever you gather
together a group of fundraisers, throw in a few
charity DBAs (and a pinch of technology consultants),
and start talking about The Raiser's Edge, then,
almost inevitably, some of the group will sing
its praises and others will slate it and tell
you it’s rubbish. But why? It’s the
same software being used at the different charities
(possible version differences aside), with the
same functionality (modules aside) and surely
all organisations could use it the same way? So
why then, if one person loves it, does the next
person find it just doesn’t work for their
charity? Read
more...
Selected Previous Blog Posts:
Could
your new database replace multiple existing databases
in your organisation?
(Jan 2012)
What
Makes a Great Database Manager?
(June 2011)
Getting
Discounts on CRM Software: It's Usually Good News
But Be Careful...
(May 2011)
Free
eBook: How to Interview and Employ a Great Database
Manager (April 2011)
Fundraising
Software for Arts Organisations: What Can You
Buy?
(April 2011)
Should
I Use The Cloud for my Charity's CRM Applications
in 2011?
(January 2011)
How
to Consider All Costs in Database Procurement
(January
2011)
End
Thought for 2010: Keeping it Vanilla
(December 2010)
How
to Stop Duplicates from Getting into Your Database
(December
2010)
Top
50 Database Procurement Tips for Charities
(November
2010)
If
You Can't Get the Data Out...
(November 2010)
A
CRM Database Doesn’t Mean You Can Now Do
CRM
(September 2010)
Can
I Use Microsoft Access for my Fundraising Database?
(September
2010)
The
3 Most Important Things To Do in a Data Migration
Project
(August 2010)
Top
10 Benefits of Project Management (July 2010)
16
Ways to Improve User Buy-in (July 2010)
How
England Could Have Won the World Cup if Only They
Had Used a Fundraising Database (July 2010)
Why
Free Software Doesn't Mean Zero Cost (June
2010)
Or
just visit
the blog to access all previous posts
|
