CRM For Nonprofits: 6 Best Features and Why You Need It
Unlike what most people think or believe, running a nonprofit organization is not easy. The reality is that you need to keep track of all donors, members, and volunteers. Moreover, you also need to constantly track all the donations.
One of the best things you can do for a nonprofit organization is to start using a CRM software to manage all the activities effectively and manage all your resources wisely.
Why You Need To Use A CRM For Nonprofits
There are many reasons why you should consider using a CRM for nonprofits. Here are some of the most important ones:
Client Management
When you run a nonprofit organization, you know that you need to manage different relationships with your constituents, like volunteers, members, and donors.
If you use a CRM system like Flowlu, you’ll not only be able to manage these relationships more efficiently, but you’ll also be able to retain more members. They can either be willing to support your organization financially or they may be interested in doing some volunteer work. No matter what, this kind of system can be a great asset.
Keep Track Of Your Marketing Efforts
Even though marketing is a priceless tool for all types of businesses, it’s even more important for nonprofits. The truth is that it can be hard to get more people involved in different activities such as fundraising and events, among others. But more than this, you need to keep track of the efficiency of these activities, and it’s always a good idea to estimate the involvement of your teammates. This is something that you can easily do with a CRM program like Flowlu.
Financial Management
If you’re running a nonprofit organization, you know that you need to keep track of all donations. This means that you need to find a CRM system that integrates with payment solutions and a wide range of accounting applications. Such a system can help you smoothly manage cash flow, plan budgets, and invoice clients
6 Best CRM Features for Nonprofits
Even though there are many CRM systems available on the market, most of them aren’t tailored for nonprofit organizations. You may find some systems that are specifically designed for larger companies, others for smaller companies, and some that are specific to a particular industry. While choosing a CRM for nonprofits, you should carefully look through all the features to understand if this specific tool suits nonprofit organizations.
Some of the features that CRM systems for nonprofits need to include are:
Project Management
When you run a nonprofit organization, one of your most important goals is to spread the word about it. So marketing campaigns are crucial. But, at the same time, you need to keep track of all the campaigns that you run to make sure that they are delivering the results you want.
Even though you can do this manually, you probably don’t have a lot of time to do it on your own. What’s more, you may be missing some important data. This is why you need to consider starting to use a CRM system like Flowlu.
With the CRM, you’ll be able to not only track your marketing campaigns but also create and manage them effectively.
Lead Management
In order to succeed with your marketing campaigns, it’s important that you manage your leads properly. The truth is that while some leads may be ready to contribute to your nonprofit right now, others may take some time. The way you approach them needs to be different.
The best way to keep track of all your leads and prioritize them according to your specific criteria is by using Flowlu. With the drag-and-drop feature, it will be easier than ever to manage your leads. You’ll see immediate results in your marketing campaigns.
Communication Tools
As the responsible person for a nonprofit organization, you need to be constantly in touch with your constituents. Although this isn’t a difficult task to complete, it may take you some time, not to mention that you need to somehow and somewhere store how each one of your constituents prefers to be contacted.
When you are using a CRM system like Flowlu, you can even automate some of these messages. One of the main benefits of using our cloud-based system is that you can store information regarding how each constituent prefers to be contacted. No matter if the constituent prefers to be contacted by phone or email, you can do so directly via the CRM. But more than this, all communications will be stored with each one of your constituents. This way, when you want to reach out to a specific constituent, you have all the previous communication between you and him, which will make your job easier.
Knowledge & Document Management
Keeping track of and managing your constituents also implies that sometimes you may need to store and organize some of their information. For example, a constituent may have moved to a different home, may have switched jobs, or you may want to add their contributions to fundraising or other activities.
Again, changing all this information up until now may have been difficult. However, when you’re using a CRM system like Flowlu, you can easily edit all the information you need with just a couple of clicks. It’s that easy and quick.
Finances & Invoicing
When you are running a nonprofit organization, you are the one responsible for keeping track of all the financials. Even though you may already be using accounting software, when you’re using a CRM system for nonprofits, you’ll be able to keep track of all the financial activity within the organization. From the cash flow you have available to the donations you got, and where the money is being spent on.
With this information, you have a better idea of how your nonprofit organization is doing. This will also allow you to make better decisions in the future. For example, you may notice that you need to come up with an event to raise money.
Task Management
One of the main difficulties you may experience when running a nonprofit organization is keeping yourself organized. With so many things that you need to do all the time, it may be difficult to prioritize, and you may even become overwhelmed.
To prevent this, you can use a CRM system like Flowlu to help you set up tasks and prioritize them. You may even use our platform to get real-time notifications. You may even define that you only view the notifications that actually require your action.
To Sum Up
Despite what most people think or believe, using a CRM system for nonprofits is crucial. Time is always short as well as resources. So, the better you manage both, the more efficient you and your nonprofit organization will be.
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. It is a system that helps businesses manage their interactions with customers. CRM systems can help businesses track customer contact information, sales leads, and customer support tickets. They can also help businesses automate tasks, such as sending follow-up emails and scheduling appointments.
Nonprofits need CRM to help them manage their relationships with donors, volunteers, and other stakeholders. CRM systems can help nonprofits track donor contact information, track volunteer hours, and manage fundraising campaigns. They can also help nonprofits automate tasks, such as sending thank-you emails and scheduling meetings.
Some of the best features of CRM for nonprofits include:
- Donor management: CRM systems can help nonprofits track donor contact information, track donations, and send thank-you emails.
- Volunteer management: CRM systems can help nonprofits track volunteer hours, assign tasks, and send thank-you emails.
- Fundraising management: CRM systems can help nonprofits track fundraising campaigns, send out donation requests, and manage donor relationships.
- Reporting: CRM systems can generate reports that show how well a nonprofit is doing in terms of donor acquisition, volunteer retention, and fundraising.
When choosing a CRM for your nonprofit, it is important to consider the following factors:
- The size of your nonprofit
- The industry you are in
- Your budget
- Your specific needs
