Thinking of changing your software - then read on

Advances in technology are providing Not for Profit organisations with ever feature rich software enabling them to service their supporters, members and donors much better and more efficiently.

It is now a given that the NfP CRM will fully integrate with the organisation’s website providing a far better “customer” experience. In recent years this has been extended to mobile computing and, of course, to social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

Whilst there has been some rationalisation of suppliers within the sector there are still a dozen or so quality providers of dedicated Not for Profit software packages. However take care when offered a product that can “do it all” from hitherto unknown suppliers who are viewing the sector as a target market for their CRM development platforms e.g. Microsoft CRM. These are excellent products but they are NOT packages specifically designed for the sector, by sector specialists, and undertaking a project will inevitably involve “redesigning” the system from the ground up with all the consequent costs and time. In addition you will have a system specifically designed for your organisation (good perhaps) but only at the time you designed it. Any enhancements will be down to you to fund and will use your intellectual capacity as theirs may be very limited in this sector.

Packaged software is now truly comprehensive in its functionality and has the backing of staff with a wealth of Not for Profit experience plus you get “free” upgrades and access to software that is used by several hundred other, like-minded, organisations which can feed into its development. Sometimes an organisation is so diverse that it needs the bespoke solution BUT in my experience this is very rare.

Specifying the precise organisational needs and then objectively choosing the best software is still an essential component of a successful project BUT, and this has always been the case, a real commitment to the implementation is essential if the business system is to be implemented successfully. Such projects need a commitment from the very top of the organisation as these are not “departmental” (finance, fundraising or membership) systems but organisation wide business systems. I use the words “business system” to avoid the terms IT Project or Computer Project as this completely misses the impact of such a system.

In addition to top level commitment it is essential that ALL potential users are involved in the specification and implementation of the project and this will require excellent project management from within the organisation. A lack of commitment and user consultation will inevitably result in a poor implementation at best and commonly a failed project. Choosing the software is just the beginning of a lot of hard work!