Nonprofit organizations require handling a lot of tasks and managing different types of relationships from volunteers to donors. Considering all the tasks from keeping the data updated to effectively managing the financial transactions, nonprofit management takes a lot of time and effort. Getting help from a nonprofit CRM is an effective step for nonprofits, so, let’s learn more about the essential features of nonprofit CRM, and how you can choose the right CRM for your organization!
5 Essential Features of Nonprofit CRM
There are several features offered by nonprofit CRM options out there, and every nonprofit organization has varying needs for sure. However, some essential features should always be included in the software regardless of which option you choose. Let’s see 5 of these essential nonprofit CRM features in detail:
1. Contact Management
Nonprofit organizations involve many contacts including donors, volunteers, and sometimes employees. The whole contact management process from collecting donor information to updating them regularly is easily handled by nonprofit CRM. You can export and import data, and search with Raklet’s customizable filters to organize the information.
2. Communication tools
Another essential feature of a nonprofit CRM is offering effective communication channels to the organization. You can reach your donors and volunteers with custom announcements or send mass emails and newsletters. SMS communication also has customizable options to personalize and reach them faster. Moreover, you can let your volunteers create customized profiles, participate in categorized forums, and use the private messaging option.
3. Donation channels
As a vital part of a nonprofit organization, handling donations and online payments should be included in the nonprofit CRM. You should be able to offer secure and easy donation channels for your donors to contribute to your cause. Raklet has the Shopify integration to ensure safe payment transactions with options of different banks and international transfers. Moreover, you can track your donation progress for a specific goal with Raklet’s fundraising thermometer.
4. Event management
Bringing your contacts together and reinforcing your nonprofit’s cause requires creating events and handling the whole process from registration to check-in and attendance. Nonprofit CRM’s event management feature will have everything you need in one place whether your events are virtual or face-to-face. With Raklet, you can design different ticket types, collect payments, and track attendance.
5. Analytics
Lastly, an effective nonprofit CRM should have analysis tools and reporting mechanisms to track your organization’s progress towards the goal and the effectiveness of your strategies. Raklet offers a wide range of formats for generating reports from volunteer engagement to donation rates. Moreover, reports for mass emails are also available with data on delivery, opening, and clicking rates.
Choose the right nonprofit CRM for your organization
In order to automate some tasks and have all the processes running smoothly in one place, choosing the right nonprofit CRM is a crucial step. As seen above, an effective CRM should include the essential features, and you can pick and choose more features to customize and fit your organization’s needs. Let’s go through the steps to choose the right nonprofit CRM!
Firstly, you should have a clear idea of your needs, aims, and expectations from a nonprofit CRM. You can choose to organize a strategy meeting or get input from your volunteers and donors. Next, you should create a guiding list of the features that your organization needs from a nonprofit CRM. Being more specific and goal-oriented will ease the process. Lastly, search through the nonprofit CRM options and compare them to see which one covers your needs the best with affordable pricing options.
As a nonprofit CRM option for your organization, we recommend Raklet, an all-in-one nonprofit management software that includes all the essential features we have mentioned so far. Moreover, there are over 4,000 integrations and additional customizable features such as digital membership cards. You can explore all of these features in detail.
Now, it’s your turn!
Now that you have learned the essential features of nonprofit CRM in detail and the steps to choosing the right one for your organization, it is time to make a decision! If you would like to use Raklet, you can book a free demo to learn more about our features in one-to-one calls!
If you would like to read more about nonprofit organizations, check out other related articles from our blog:
