We actually had data scattered across five different platforms, none of them were integrated. I came on and have a pretty strong background in CRM. So first things first is let’s get on a common platform. That’s we’ve got to have the data talking to each other. Who are our Read More
We actually had data scattered across five different platforms, none of them were integrated. I came on and have a pretty strong background in CRM. So first things first is let’s get on a common platform. That’s we’ve got to have the data talking to each other. Who are our prospects? Who are our donors? And how are we going to nurture them that through various channels to become donors. So that was our first big goal. So that’s why we ended up getting DonorPerfect because we really wanted to bring everything on onto one platform. He didn’t want silos of data. And they needed to interact, needed to have some form of marketing automation component to it. So Smart Actions was a very appealing tool for us to use. Price, just being frank, price was a big consideration. But just ultimately, we wanted to, to utilize the tool that we could see working for us, versus creating more work. So that’s really why we landed on DonorPerfect. The implementation process was pretty seamless. We, you know, we’re coming up on year end. So doing this transition, kind of at our peak time, where a majority of our gifts come in, was a little nerve wracking, because you never know. And we had a very seamless year end, all of the data converted very accurately, the team was amazing, just in terms of identifying what were our needs. How did this data need to translate the software we were coming from? We created all kinds of crazy workarounds. So it wasn’t a a to a field transfer. So really working through what, what is the best solution for the workarounds that we had created? And how is that going to translate into DonorPerfect, so really having the foresight to talk us through that process and help us understand how that was going to come over? Really setting those expectations helped us once we got into the platform, to know where to find the data and how it was going to work for us. Our organization is very relational. And there’s a pretty strong loyalty to who who we are from our donors. But part of the reason that we brought on a database versus doing what we’ve always done is because we want to grow. And so really helping us to, to further our message to be able to capture communications through email marketing, through Constant Contact, which we’re using very faithfully. So we utilize those methodologies, we also utilize print, we have a very strong response to print campaigns, we have quarterly newsletters, as an example is one of our top five funding resources or funding channels. So being able to track that was really important to see how effective we’re being. We have strong events, we have a couple of really big auctions. And that’s another one of our top revenue, income streams. And so being able to even measure gifts and kind which we had never really been able to track before. So tracking those individuals as donors was kind of a new concept, because we didn’t have the capability to do that historically. But now we can we can treat those donors as donors, though, they’re giving in kind gifts. The system is working for us versus us having to manage the system. Having a good understanding of what your needs are, is really important, because we were able to really identify our priorities. It was like, there was no question hands down that DonorPerfect was the platform for us for a number of reasons. We literally did side by side comparisons of three different platforms. We’ve kind of boiled it down to top three, and some looked prettier, and some had maybe one component that was great. But DonorPerfect was the whole package. And when we were able to see the three side by side, there was no question and even honestly, like I said earlier price. The pricing was I was blown away by how DonorPerfect is working with us in comparison to some of the other organizations that we took, took a look at that quoted us 10s of 1000s of dollars. And we that’s just not something we’re willing to invest in. That’s, you know, we’re helping kids in Haiti. You know, when it all came down to it, we felt like DonorPerfect was more of a partner across the board, not only from the capabilities but even from the pricing standpoint, they wanted to really make sure that it was economically affordable for our organization and other organizations like our so that we could continue to do the work we do
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