Certification - October 2008 - (Page 26)

IT CULTURE Managing Relationships in the Nonprofit Realm PAUL hAGEN AND ChRIS BERNARD During the past few years, nonprofits have found increasing benefit in implementing CRM software solutions that help them manage business relationships. Managing relationships is a critical part of doing business for any organization, whether it’s a commercial enterprise or a nonprofit. But while customer relationships are the primary concern for companies, the networking web is large and diverse for nonprofits. First, there’s the population the nonprofit serves. Then there are the donors that fund the programs. Additional funding sources, such as grantors, government programs or agencies and other partners also play key roles, as do the volunteers whose footwork helps carry out the organization’s mission. Clearly, constituents are the lifeblood of a nonprofit organization. For example, consider Goodwill Industries. Some of Goodwill’s constituent groups donate material goods or money, buy items online or in brick-andmortar retail stores, receive training and services or job placements, advocate within businesses for job placements, advocate for donation drives and more. Due to this complexity, reliable, thorough and easyto-access information about an organization’s relationship with each constituent allows nonprofits to be more savvy about growing and strengthening connections — and regularly taking advantage of them for fundraising, mobilization, awareness and other support. However, tracking the activities of donors and volunteers can present a challenge. After all, a nonprofit’s relationships with constituents can be varied. For example, a person may donate money, volunteer time, buy a T-shirt online and then attend a seminar — four separate interactions with the same nonprofit. Different staff members or departments may track each interaction, unaware of the others. To tackle the challenge of consolidating constituent data into one place and making systems work together, many nonprofits recently have turned 26 CERTIFICATION MAGAZINE October 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Certification - October 2008

Certification - October 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Data Stream Virtual Village Tech Careers Dear Techie Troubleshooting Academic Connection What We Like Look Ahead Elect IT: Technology and the Democratic Process Managing Relationships in the Nonprofit Realm Interface VoIP Technician: Answering the Call of the Network Inside Certification Ad Index Endtag

Certification - October 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.