Non-Profits Need Better Constituent Management to Stay Connected with Volunteers and Donors
If you volunteer or donate to a charity, you’ve probably experienced this at least once: You get a call soliciting donations and two days later get another call from another person soliciting for donations to the same organization or cause. Or how about this? You volunteer a lot of your time at one particular organization, but it seems nobody from that organization knows your name, much less that you are a repeat volunteer.
While you’re aware that giving your time or money is not about you but about the cause you’re supporting, it still stings to feel like you’re not known in some way. If you run or work for a non-profit, it’s the last thing you want to do to your donors or volunteers.
Other non-profits are competing for those donors and volunteers, so it’s critical for you to maintain positive relationships with yours while at the same time making sure you are utilizing that time or those dollars wisely. The problem is that most non-profits don’t have to tools for proper non-profit constituent management.
It’s more likely that each department or even individuals within departments are using spreadsheets, email, outdated contact management systems or even apps they’ve gone out and found on their own to do their job. The problem with this is that it is impossible to see all the information about your constituents in a single, centralized location, preventing you from effectively engaging with them
The solution: A non-profit constituent management solution that provides a 360-degree view of everyone
The key is to find a solution that pulls all that information together under one umbrella, unified so that you can instantly know everything relevant about your constituents, from their name and address to which events they’ve volunteered for or the last time you contacted them and what you talked to them about. Only then can you properly manage your constituents, at a proactive, personalized level that you would never dream of having the time or resources to do without the right supporting technology.
Imagine being able to reach out to a volunteer with every piece of information you need to have a productive conversation that benefits you and strengthens your relationship with a valued resource:
“Hello, Jasmine. This is Petra from the shelter. How are you today? I just wanted to reach out and say thank you so much for helping us out last Saturday with distributing holiday meals. I thought you’d like to know that we served more than X families in just 4 hours! It was amazing, and we couldn’t have done it without you. It helps so much that you have experience with organizing assembly lines–the group was made more efficient with your guidance, so please accept our sincerest thanks. I also understand that you donate regularly, which is so appreciated. Every dollar makes such a difference. Finally, I wanted to let you know that we are planning a food drive in January. After the holidays, giving tends to slow down, so we need to rebuild our supply for the tough winter months ahead. Do you think you might be able to join us again? If so, I would love to connect you with James, our distribution coordinator because I think your talents would be very helpful in that area…That’s great! If it’s ok with you, I’ll have James reach out to you. I show that this is the best number to call, or would you prefer email or other? Ok, great. Thank you so much for your time and for your ongoing support. Have a great day!”
That’s what a centralized non-profit constituent management solution can do.
Constituent Management provides the foundation for all areas that advance your mission, including volunteer, donor, and member management, fundraising & engagement, finance & accounting, and even participant and case management, as many non-profits have participants/clients who also volunteer.
Choose the technology you need to advance your mission
Constituent management is only one area that can benefit from a technology solution. But technology costs money and takes time and resources to implement, and often even the most full-featured software solutions often don’t have everything you need to address all your challenges.
Microsoft and partners who implement their technology that work with non-profits understand this problem, so we addressed it with the Advancing Your Mission approach to non-profit technology solutions, powered by Microsoft Dynamics 365, the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Nonprofit accelerator, and the Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit.
Advance Your Mission Your Way with HSO's Solutions for Non-profits
HSO's Advancing Your Mission approach to technology provides a connected, flexible platform that lets you decide which functionality you need based on your priorities, budget, and time frame, while providing you with a foundation to easily add more functionality when you’re ready.