Benefits of CRM for Charities
Why do charities need a CRM system?
Building strong relationships with donors, volunteers, and community members is essential for charities. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software helps charities manage crucial relationships as well as streamline operations and enhance their impact. While CRM has traditionally been associated with for-profit businesses, it’s a powerful tool for nonprofits eager to grow, engage their supporters, and achieve their missions effectively.
In this blog, we’ll explore the benefits of CRM systems for charities, key features to look for, and a real-world example from UK charity, Canal & River Trust. So, if you’re a charity in need of a CRM platform, keep reading for expert tips!
Benefits of CRM for Charities
Unlike for-profit businesses who use CRM systems to manage their customers and leads, charities employ bespoke systems to manage volunteers, donors, and fundraising activities. Despite the differences in design, the benefits remain similar, it’s all about improving communication and automating manual processes.
1. Better Donor Management and Retention
With a tailored CRM system, charities can keep detailed records of donor interactions, preferences, and donation history, making it easier to personalise communications and nurture relationships. By understanding donor behaviour and engagement, charities can develop targeted campaigns and retention strategies to keep supporters engaged and committed.
2. Automated Workflows
From sending thank-you emails to donors to scheduling follow-up calls, charities can automate routine tasks through CRM software to free up staff time and minimise the risk of human error. This allows teams to focus on more strategic activities and provides a smoother experience for both staff and supporters.
3. Improved Communication
Nonprofits can streamline communication across various channels, ensuring that messages to donors, volunteers, and stakeholders are consistent and timely. By keeping all communication records in one place, the organisation can maintain a cohesive approach to messaging, strengthening relationships and enhancing trust with supporters.
4. Accurate Reporting
CRM systems provide comprehensive reporting tools that help charities track key performance indicators, such as fundraising success to volunteer engagement. Accurate, real-time reporting enables teams to monitor progress, evaluate impact, and meet compliance requirements.
Key Features of CRM For Charities
Now that you know the benefits, what’s next? You might be searching for the right CRM solution, but before you begin, it’s important to identify the features your system needs.Whether you’re a large, established nonprofit or a small charity seeking an affordable solution, the best CRM systems for all charities include the following features to help manage every aspect of your organisation:
A customisable CRM enables charities to create workflows, reports, and data tracking systems tailored to their specific goals. Every organisation is different, making it crucial to implement a solution that is both scalable and bespoke to your charity’s needs. That’s why we recommend choosing a flexible solution like SugarCRM.
One of the most essential features for charities using a CRM is effective donor management. A robust CRM enables charities to maintain comprehensive records of all donor interactions, contributions, and communication preferences. With tools for segmentation and communication, charities can strengthen relationships, monitor donor engagement, and boost retention through targeted, personalised outreach.
Fundraising and campaign management are key aspects of every charity. CRMs support these efforts by enabling charities to plan, track, and analyse campaigns effectively. From event-based fundraisers to multi-channel initiatives, a CRM provides valuable insights into donor participation and helps optimise future campaigns based on past performance.
Not all charities need to utilise volunteer management tools, but for some nonprofits, it’s an essential part to their processes. CRM tools track volunteer activities, hours logged, and skill sets while helping match volunteers to suitable roles, manage schedules, and even automate communications, ensuring that volunteers feel valued and engaged.
For charities relying on grants, a CRM can track grant applications, deadlines, and reporting requirements in one place. This ensures that staff stay on top of grant deadlines, manage compliance, and maintain accurate records for reporting purposes, simplifying the often complex grant management process.
If your organisation uses other software applications, a CRM system that integrates with popular tools amongst non-profit companies —such as Slack, QuickBooks and Mailchimp —creates a seamless workflow. This connectivity improves efficiency, ensuring that data flows smoothly across all parts of the organisation, reducing duplicative efforts and enhancing data accuracy.
Look for a CRM solution with a reliable and knowledgeable team of experts who can help implement, configure, and train your entire team on the platform. Many CRM software providers have a network of designated partners who specialise in implementing the CRM solution and customising it to suit your charity’s unique needs.
A lot of CRM systems don’t come out-the-of-the-box with everything a charity needs, but when you choose a platform that’s bespoke, you can build the platform to suit your needs, or even hire an expert to do the building for you.
Let’s see a real-world example…
Canal & River Trust: CRM for Charities Use Case
The Canal & River Trust operates 2,000 miles of Canals & Rivers across the UK. With 1,800 employees, the charity implemented SugarCRM to manage all aspects of its organisation. However, their needs were a bit more complex.
They needed to manage their various departments and activities including:
- Supporter Care
- Customer Service
- Education, Community Engagement, and Arts
- Fisheries and Angling
- Volunteering
- Statutory and Voluntary Funders
enable.services, SugarCRM’s EMEA Partner of the Year 2024, helped them meet these goals. Now, the UK charity uses Sugar to manage volunteers, fundraisers, events, customer service, and lots more. As both the CRM and the charity’s needs continue to evolve, the Canal & River Trust is continuously adding new sections, tools and integrations to their system with the support of enable.services.
Watch as we chat with Roy Gibson, CRM & Data Outcomes Manager at the Canal & River Trust, as they explain what the charity utilises SugarCRM for including integrations and adoption hurdles.
Are you a charity looking to implement a CRM system, or perhaps you need extra support with custom configuration. As a SugarCRM Elite Partner, enable.services has worked with charities across the UK to support their goals and build a CRM system that’s bespoke to them. Explore our Sugar support services or contact us using the form below to start your CRM journey.
