Ask the expert: Keith Collins's answers

Keith Collins is a Systems Director of non-profit CRM consultancy Purple Vision. He has experience in senior management roles within the non-profit sector and as a consultant with a leading CRM software provider. Below are his answers to NCVO members' questions on charity CRMs.

CRM systems and collaborative working

I manage a project to help six South London Councils for Voluntary Services explore whether they can achieve greater efficiency savings and provide a more effective service to their front-line groups by sharing back-room office functions like ICT, Finance and HR.
 
Databases are proving to be an area that in the short-term is impossible to explore in this way because each is working to a different timescale for when they renew their database and some have just invested significant amounts of money in systems which will lead to greater divergence between them. One of the problems is that they do not share a common view on what is the most important data to collect and what they need their databases to do for them.
 
Do CRM systems offer potential for increasing collaborative working, or are they also very specialist? Are there any obvious reasons for using CRM across a partnership in such a setting as I describe?
 
I'll answer the second question first, if I may – yes, I think there are reasons why using one CRM system across these six organisations might be a good idea. Those reasons are likely to include a) cost effectiveness and b) the ability, once implemented, to report and analyse on similar issues and questions across these six organisations, all of which I assume offer a similar service.

As to the first question, in my experience CRM systems can indeed offer tremendous potential for collaborative working. However, although they offer this opportunity, even within a single organisation collaborative working using a CRM system is often difficult to achieve – often because the CRM project itself doesn't have a clear mandate or 'terms of reference' that is sufficiently holistic or inclusive - therefore the cultural issues between and within departments and teams are never properly challenged or addressed.

CRM is much, much more than just software – CRM is a philosophy, a way of working that should incorporate people, process and technology. However, that sounds complicated so CRM system vendors try and make it seem like their software can just 'fix' your problems for you without you even trying!

Given the experiences of trying to make CRM work across a single organisation, the challenge you'd face to try and make it work across six - albeit similar - organisations is significantly greater.

If you want to take this forward, my recommendation would be to initially spend some time with a select group of senior people from each organisation and explore the business case for any such project – what might be the benefits, risks and costs of adopting a single CRM approach across these six organisations?

I'd then think it'd be good to conduct a feasibility study to try and find out whether any of your peer organisations have undertaken a similar project – and what you can learn from their experiences.

Only once you get a feel for what you might be undertaking would I then think about developing a project, and a Project Board to govern the project and define the scope – which would then give you the opportunity to define your requirements in more detail before embarking upon a formal, tender-led procurement process.

In your particular case, the challenge is in defining, governing and managing a project well – the technology part will then be a lot easier.

Developing the CRM for more targeted communication

I started with a development charity six months ago as their Consumer Marketing Manager.  One of my main tasks is to develop the use of our CRM system in order to be able to send targeted comms to various segments.  We have an unusual mechanism for fundraising so our CRM is purely for engagement and spreading the word. Main problems are below:
 
- we hold minimal data beyond basic contact details (meaning segmentation is difficult)
- our reporting capabilities at the moment are extremely limited (a legacy of not having the above)
- we have numerous internal contact data sources
- our electronic comms (dotmailer) are not interface with our CRM system (iMIS)
 
The job of fixing this is bigger than just one man but any suggestions of low cost solutions/quick wins would be much appreciated!

My recommendation would be to conduct a 'systems healthcheck' – this might be done by someone internally, if there's someone that knows iMIS well enough, by a well-briefed consultant from ASI Europe, or by an independent consultant – if you can find one that knows iMIS (not as easy as finding an independent Raiser's Edge consultant!)

This healthcheck should look at your business processes and system configuration across the following areas – and perhaps others:

• Fundraising strategy – is your fundraising strategy reflected in the various fundraising/marketing coding and hierarchy in iMIS? Getting this right would aid reporting no end.
• Supporter data – are your key supporter codes reflective of your key stakeholder groups – again, having coding systems that are simple and well-structured will really help reporting
• Financial processing – are your donations and other payments being managed and recorded well using iMIS? If you're just recording contact details, but not donations, and don't know how much money your donors have given you, then that's a clear problem that's easy to solve!
• Reporting – are you making use of all the reporting tools in the system, or do your team lack skills in the key areas? I often work with organisations that have bought software with great reporting tools – but the staff don't actually know that they are there, or what they do! Again, you might be able to get more out of your software without having to pay a penny more!

External data sets – are there sets of external data – spreadsheets of event invitees, trust applications etc – that could readily be imported into iMIS so that you get closer to one single supporter view? Again, this might just require some consultancy to import this data into iMIS, if you haven't got those skills internally.

Software issues – are there bits of kit from ASI Europe that you should consider buying? Is there an integrated e-communications tool that, whilst it might require some initial investment, would provide much better integration with iMIS than dotmailer? Again, it doesn't cost anything to draw up a quick specification of your needs, and then to engage with your software supplier to see what your options are.

So, I'd start with a healthcheck – which should provide a focused, prioritised list of actions and 'quick wins' that could then help ensure you get more out of your existing system in the short-term.

Upgrading an Access database

We are a small membership organisation (approximately 1,000 members) needing to upgrade our Access database (on a budget of £5 - 10K). We need to upgrade our membership database, we're also looking to update our website. There are lots of solutions out there (eg Dynamics). Are there any you would recommend?

I think it's always wise to resist the temptation to think about software packages and suppliers until an organisation has spent some quality time thinking about, and documenting, what their project is, and what their requirements – both now and in the future – are likely to be.

For even a small organisation that thinks it's needs are very simple, I'd recommend adopting a formal project-based approach to their project. Our 'Enlightened Procurement' methodology – from our website at http://www.purple-vision.com/resources.asp gives more detail, but essentially the process includes:

1. A senior group – a 'Project Board' – agreeing and documenting the terms of reference, including the scope, success criteria, budget, timeframes and government of the project
2. A group of users identifying the business requirements for each of the in-scope areas and documenting these
3. The drafting and issuing of a formal tender or 'Request for Proposal' document to prospective suppliers
4. A formal procurement process - the receipt of tender responses, tailored software demos, client reference site visits etc

This might seem like a lot of hard work, but from experience it can help ensure that any project is widely understood, and focussed on an organisation's long-term requirements.

I'll resist the temptation to talk about suppliers – except to say that there are two types of CRM systems – software that has been written specifically for the non-profit sector (including Raiser's Edge, ThankQ, ProgressCRM, Care, Integra, Advantage Fundraiser, Donor Strategy, iMIS, CiviCRM) and more generic CRM software that can be/has been adapted for the non-profit sector (including Microsoft CRM – the basis for Touchstone's 'Charity Point' and Salesforce).

For your project, it's too early to start recommending solutions – but once you get into identifying what your project is and what your needs are, then some will start to emerge as more likely choices.

Good luck with your project!

Where to begin with a CRM -project?

I work for a multi-purpose venue and our "CRM" currently consists of thousands of different Excel sheets, all capturing slightly different information (from only an email address, to full monitoring info).  We need to collect data on young people taking part in our facilities, hirers (both shows and events such as weddings), and audiences.  I have secured a small amount of money in my budget for a CRM this year but really don't know where to start, how to evaluate different quotes and information, or where to find out which companies I really need to be speaking to.  I have been in contact with similar organisations to see what they do but everyone is different.
 
I am not panicking as much as this sounds (honest!) but would be really grateful for any advice and reccomendations.  Particularly if anyone knows of any trade-fairs where I could see more than one system at a time.

My recommendation would be to take several steps back, and stop looking at systems! At present, I feel you're looking at software packages, without really having any context within which to compare and evaluate them. This is the gap you need to fill.

My recommendation would be as follows – as I think it's always wise to resist the temptation to think about software packages and suppliers until an organisation has spent some quality time thinking about, and documenting, what their project is, and what their requirements – both now and in the future – are likely to be.

For even a small organisation that thinks it's needs are very simple, I'd recommend adopting a formal project-based approach to their project. Our 'Enlightened Procurement' methodology – from our website at http://www.purple-vision.com/resources.asp gives more detail, but essentially the process includes:

1. A senior group – a 'Project Board' – agreeing and documenting the terms of reference, including the scope, success criteria, budget, timeframes and government of the project
2. A group of users identifying the business requirements for each of the in-scope areas and documenting these
3. The drafting and issuing of a formal tender or 'Request for Proposal' document to prospective suppliers
4. A formal procurement process - the receipt of tender responses, tailored software demos, client reference site visits etc

This might seem like a lot of hard work, but from experience it can help ensure that any project is widely understood, and focused on an organisation's long-term requirements.

As you go through this process, it's then fine to start engaging with suppliers again and finding out what's out there – as long as your purchase is managed within a formal process that enables you to evaluate the different options on your terms, and based upon your requirements.

Hope that helps.

What you can do next:

• Interested in discussing CRM -systems? Join the NCVO ICT (information and communication technology) group