As Donman moves into official replacement by the iMIS Engagement Management System, many NFPs are taking the opportunity to investigate more suitable CRM alternatives for their organisation.
Instead of automatically migrating to the new iMIS EMS, organisations are pausing to consider the current technology landscape that includes dozens of CRM platforms on offer.
At SalesFix, we consulted with a number of customers weighing their options and compiled a list of the most common considerations for an NFP when deciding to migrate their CRM.
1. Be prepared to rethink (and improve) your business processes.
For NFPs, CRM systems are a cornerstone of an organisation’s operations – in fact, entire organisations run on the CRM’s functionality to accept donations, process payments and maintain critical donor data. Standard operating processes, resource allocation, and even staffing decisions are dictated by the capabilities (and constraints) of the CRM system.
But what if you could design your CRM system based on your ideal processes and available resources? Take the time to objectively think through your procedures, and ask yourself whether they can be improved. Are there manual tasks your staff are undertaking that could be automated?
When SalesFix helped a legacy Donman customer migrate to Salesforce, the customer had the opportunity to completely redesign their regular donation processing.
2. Trim the (data) fat
Remember those well-intentioned custom data fields you included when you first implemented your CRM? Are they actively being used and updated? Preparing for a data migration is a perfect opportunity to spring clean. Take a look at the way your donor data – demographic, payment, and historical – is being used. Are there any fields that are completely obsolete or redundant?
In some cases, you may be able to drastically reduce how much data you keep. As a rule of thumb, payment histories more than five years old aren’t much use in predicting future donation trends. Some CRM tools can help you optimise payment histories with calculated fields. For example, Salesforce provides an out-of-the-box solution that summarises life-time giving for each donor, including dates of first and latest donations. Instead of migrating years of donation data, a simple automated field can provide all the information you need.
A note on payment details: If you’re planning to migrate CRM systems, chances are you’ll need to migrate payment gateways, too. But, who handles the payment detail migration – you or the gateway? Find out in our full white paper “Migrating from DonMan.”
3. Embrace the flexibility of the latest CRM technologies
With such a wide variety of platforms that can be customised to your every specification, choosing a new CRM can be daunting. The lack of boundaries and constraints can feel overwhelming, and you may not know where to begin. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for organisations to be flexible and creative – those that have adapted quickly have survived. If your CRM has you backed into a corner and doesn’t allow you to quickly pivot, will your organisation be able to weather a future storm?
If you’re not sure where to start with your CRM migration, consider engaging an implementation specialist. At SalesFix the solutions we put together are specific to your organisation. We consider what you’re looking to achieve and design a solution for that. Instead of starting from scratch and bearing the burden of unlimited possibilities, we will present the best suited option to you and regularly pulse-check your needs.
