Have you moved to a new CRM and everything is not as it should be?

Have you moved to a new CRM and everything is not as it should be?

by | Mar 9, 2022 | Sustainable Fundraising

As an Australian NFP, you’re likely well-aware of the need to manage your donors in a way that is cost-effective, and sustainable. A CRM system, but more so, the underlying strategy and cost-effective way of managing your assets, is often seen as the solution.

The success rate for a CRM migration is widely reported, and ranges from somewhere between 18% and 69%. Said otherwise, implementing CRM successfully is something between a fair bet and a strategic disaster. For better or for worse, over the last few years, a trend of perpetual CRM migration has emerged in the Australian NFP industry, with our numbers suggesting that at any time, up to 1 in 3 charities are planning or executing a CRM re-platform project.

Does this sound like you? Leave a comment below and let us know how you’re feeling about this!

With CRM vendor’s promoting promising results, this seems like a great idea. However, what is often neglected before, during, and after the migration is the integrity of your data. A CRM is only as good as the data that sits behind it and if your data is not in good shape (poor structure, duplication, incorrect contact details), it will result in your CRM not performing to it’s potential. This is not good news for the recipients of your marketing campaigns – your donors – and is the last thing you need in the current climate is to annoy and potentially lose donors.

The solution?

Marketsoft – the engine which powers LemonTree – has 34 years of experience helping both commercial and charity sectors ensure their data is of the highest quality before, during, and after CRM implementations.
There are three components we consider:

  • CRM Migration – ensuring the donor information that lands in your new CRM is cleansed and structured for success.
  • CRM Management – maintaining your view of donor as well as connecting it to the systems which drive donor value.
  • CRM Execution – adopting a mindset of continual improvement in the way that CRM is acted upon.

Marketsoft, sits at the cross-section of marketing, digital, and IT, having worked alongside the likes of American Express, 3M, Adobe, NSW Government, and many more over the last 3 decades. Marketsoft have taken these learnings and helped charities such as Jewish House, Dementia Australia, and Royal Hospital for Women, solve strategic and organisational challenges; allowing them to leverage and improve their donor data.

If you’d like to build value for both your donors and your cause, Hamish Martin, can help you learn more about Marketsofts CRM solutions! 

E: hamish.martin@marketsoft.com.au

Marketsoft is a proud member of:

Learn more – www.marketsoft.com.au

Good News for Charity Mail

Good News for Charity Mail

by | Mar 1, 2022 | Sustainable Fundraising

FIA has worked collaboratively with Australia Post over many years, advocating for the needs of the charitable fundraising sector and have been successful in helping to achieve temporary rebates for qualified Charity Mail campaigns to support fundraising organisations. The rebates were provided to assist charities with their fundraising, lowering costs and encouraging them to undertake additional mailing activity to help supplement income from fundraising activities which have been impacted by COVID-19. 

Recognising the financial challenges charities are still facing, Australia Post will provide a postage rebate of 10% on any incremental Charity Mail activity undertaken from 1 April to 30 June 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. The 10% rebate applies to the incremental Charity Mail volume achieved from 1 April to 30 June 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, adjusted for:

any Charity Mail volume shortfall that occurs in the following quarter ie, 1 July to 30 September 2022 compared to 2021 and any applicable credit claims in those periods.

The rebate is only available where Charity Mail volumes have been lodged on the charity’s own charge account both last year and this year.

Charities wanting to be considered for this initiative need to apply by 31 May 2022 by sending an application to charitymailchanges@auspost.com.au  

On behalf of the entire sector, FIA appreciates the ongoing support of Australia Post.

Original source – https://fia.org.au/good-news-for-charity-mail/

Good news indeed and well done to FIA for their continued discussions with Australia Post.

It may be a small saving, however every 10% counts. Most fundraisers would experience when preparing forecasts and ROI calculations for direct mail, particularly for acquisition, the numbers and business case can be challenging, so these incremental cost savings are all important.

We are seeing that diversification of fundraising channels and activities is a common strategy across many charities, so again when comparing ROI across the channels and activities, every 10% counts to keep as many of these open as a viable opportunity.

Protecting your donors and your sustainability, our conversation with FIA

Protecting your donors and your sustainability, our conversation with FIA

by | Jul 11, 2019 | Donor-centricity, Sustainable Fundraising

Many of us work in this sector to make a positive impact on society. But has the nature of fundraising in today’s digital world led to a proliferation of communication and around privacy concerns that sometimes challenge our core beliefs?

Have the negative experiences of our overseas counterparts; the rise of “leaking donor bucket” syndrome; – and the declining ability to acquire donors via traditional channels got you wondering where things have gone awry; what can we learn; and what can we do differently?

On our mission to create more sustainable giving practices in Australia, these questions and concerns are certainly at the forefront of our minds here at LemonTree Fundraising.

That’s why we recently sat down with the FIA’s Head of Code and Regulatory Affairs, Scott McClellan, to discuss best practice donor protection and others trends across the industry. Some really interesting market research was discussed and some powerful areas of focus resulted from our conversation. 

Handling Donor Preferences

Earlier this year FIA’s Code Authority commissioned mystery shopping of 30 FIA organisational members to assess their compliance with the Code. Donations were made in April via telephone and website.

To date no breaches of the Code have been recorded. Nevertheless, the monitoring found that most charities that received the unsolicited donation by telephone did not take the opportunity to ask the donor about their preferred method for receiving future communication.

By contrast, a clear majority of charities contacted via their website did enable the donor to choose their preferred method of future contact.

Similarly, receipts sent to donors generally had no option for the donor to alter their communication preferences. While there is no requirement to provide a communications preference choice to current donors, it is considered best practice to regularly offer it in the context of donor care.

Scott also mentioned “a current focus of Code monitoring is the treatment of donors who may be in vulnerable circumstances. This is a tricky area, demanding compassion and good judgement from fundraisers. The Code itself requires fundraisers, when they identify such a person, not to accept a donation.”

FIA has published a practice note to help members identify donors who may lack capacity to make a decision to donate due to their vulnerability.

Communication Compliance

Other topics discussed with Scott, included the changes we are seeing in the awareness of and preparation for the governments Digital Platforms Enquiry, Consumer Data Rights and Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

As these privacy-driven controls begin to tighten, both the FIA and LemonTree Fundraising have observed mixed views across fundraising on high vs. low frequency of communications and which is in the best interests of the donor.

Interestingly, in what appears to contrast the increasing privacy-driven compliance measures, Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has declared overall communication complaint levels from Australian consumers are in decline. However this could be due to the mass reduction in telemarketing of the financial sector, as opposed to changes in fundraising telemarketing practices.

What did we conclude?

Protecting vulnerable people is getting better and easier with the ability to apply ‘vulnerable propensity’ scoring across your donor base and equip your donor support team with a flag on your CRM for the next time they communicate with a potentially vulnerable donor.

When it comes to the frequency with which you communicate with your donors, one size does not fit all. It’s no longer enough to be compliant with government and industry regulations; you need to be compliant with your donors. Begin capturing communication preferences on your donors as part of your opt-out process. Often they are more frustrated, rather wanting to stop giving completely.  Check out our LemonTree Fundraising preference/opt-out capture page as an example.

Finally, conversations increase learning which leads to change. We each play a part in the future of the fundraising industry; it’s important that we continue to share our experiences and learnings so together we can create more sustainable giving practices in Australia. We look forward to continuing our conversations with Scott and the FIA and encourage each of you to tap into your passion for social good and contribute to the discussion. Comment below or reach out to Scott at smcclellan@fia.org.au or myself joel.nicholson@lemontree.com.au directly.