Membership ManagementMany associations and membership organisations are taking a leaf out of the commercial sector’s book and replacing their traditional membership databases with web based CRM systems that can help them manage their donor and partner relationships more productively and efficiently.

However, the same problems and pitfalls of CRM implementation apply whether you are a membership organisation or Enterprise company. The difference is that an expensive CRM implementation, which does not provide the expected or promised results, is potentially devastating to membership organisations with tight budgets and for those that rely on member donations to continue their work. Every penny has to be spent wisely and the best return on investment gained.

The majority of CRM implementation problems arise when stakeholders and CRM project leaders in the organisation don’t spend enough time defining what they actually want from CRM – or even what CRM means.

To help, our CRM experts have created a Practical Guide with four top tips detailing what every association and membership organisation should be considering before embarking on a web based CRM implementation. These include:

  • Decide what CRM means to you – It is vital that you find the right combination of CRM and membership management features for your needs – but have you actually defined what CRM means to your organisation?
  • Consider the benefits – There are many benefits of CRM for associations and membership organisation, not least in the increased productivity of employees, who are free to concentrate on delivering the best possible service to your members without having to rely on disparate information sources, which are likely to exist in a complicated mixture of digital and physical media.
  • What are your specific requirements? – What do you need your CRM and membership management to do?
  • Choose the right CRM partner – Having identified your need for CRM, you need to identify the system – and supplier – with the qualities to meet that need.