CRM

So You've Finished Your CRM Implementation. Now the Work Begins...

Stephen Rockwell — Mon, 09 Oct 2017 19:33:59 +0000

Congratulations on completing your CRM implementation! For all the work you've done to date, I have some perhaps sobering news: The work is just beginning. Such a statement may seem a bit daunting given all the work that you and your organization have done to date. You had to sift through the myriad of options and balance the interests of different stakeholders to select a new system. You implemented the new system migrating the constituent data, trained your staff on how to use the new system, and sent your first communications from the system.

nonprofit technology

CRM

Nonprofit CRM Profiles - Salsa

Stephen Rockwell — Sat, 04 Jun 2016 20:23:08 +0000

If you have worked with a progressive activist organization over the last ten years, you have likely touched Salsa in some way. Salsa is a story like so many other tech firms before in which underinvestment diminishes the product over a period of time. I do not have the full story about the company dynamics, so I will not speculate as to the reasons why the product has been allowed to languish, but languish it has.

Nonprofit CRM Profiles - Salesforce with Nonprofit Starter Pack (NPSP)

Stephen Rockwell — Sat, 28 May 2016 12:57:04 +0000

This is the first of a series on evaluating the various nonprofit Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) systems.

Salesforce is a major player in both the corporate and nonprofit CRM space. For over a decade, the Salesforce foundation donated their product to nonprofits and many organizations took them up on their offer to some degree. There are poorly implemented nonprofit Salesforce instances and absolutely game changing Saleforce implementations and everything in between. My evaluation is based on having implemented salesforce over a dozen times over the last decade.

How to Conduct a Nonprofit CRM Selection Process

Stephen Rockwell — Tue, 24 May 2016 18:39:56 +0000

Constituent engagement is the lifeblood of most nonprofit and civic organizations. Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) consists of the people, systems and processes that allow organizations to build growing networks of deeper relationships. Selecting the right CRM system (the database, communications tools, and analytical reporting capabilities) is a vital activity that many nonprofits go through every 4-5 years as the CRM market changes with new capabilities to engage constituents and track interactions.

constituent engagement

The Role of the Online Community Manager

Stephen Rockwell — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:41:53 +0000

Over the last couple of months, I have seen more and more job postings from innovative nonprofits that are hiring for online community manager positions. This is a welcome sign that we are fast reaching an inflection point in the adoption of 2.0 technologies. Whether creating new positions or adjusting current positions, nonprofits are adjusting their human resources to meet the growing demands of building online community.

There a number of skill sets that one ought to look for when hiring the online community manager:

online community manager

Review of VTiger Open Source CRM

Stephen Rockwell — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 00:50:06 +0000

I've recently had the opportunity to install and work in Vtiger, an open source source CRM system. VTiger is a split of the more well-known SugarCRM. SugarCRM has a community version of its software that is open source, but it doesn't include all the feature that you find in the commercial version. This seems to be a major sticking point for those seeking a full featured open source CRM.

Out of the box, vtiger provides much of what you would get in a "out of the box" salesforce.com installation. Some features include:

CRM

Vtiger

More Options on the CRM Front

Stephen Rockwell — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:26:56 +0000

In nonprofit technology circles there are only a handful of of options for keeping in contact with constituents. Those options include a spreadsheet in its most simple form to a much more sophisticated database and communications system from a private vendor. Amongst the private vendors there has been considerable consolidation with the Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) marketplace. The options usually discussed revolve around the following solutions: