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4 Ways For Non-Profit Organizations To Improve Community Outreach With CRM Software

As with any other type of organization, non-profit organizations can benefit significantly from using CRM software. Last month, we covered ways in which these organizations can increase their stakeholder management, particularly as it relates to current donors.

But the possibilities don’t end there! Customer Relationship Management software can be a powerful tool for your organization in more ways than one. Keep reading to learn about 4 ways in which non-profit organizations can improve community outreach with CRM software.

The Importance of Community Outreach

Any nonprofit organization knows community outreach is a crucial part of your business goals. By getting in touch with your community, you don’t just seek to gain new donors – you also gain acceptance within your community that will benefit your organization far beyond the financial support.

Ultimately, nonprofits serve a public need. That means they should be connected closely with the public, particularly with the public directly surrounding them. Community outreach thus helps integrate your business practices more closely with your organizational mission, helping you gain support both financially and emotionally.

Of course, that outreach can be a complicated process. Fortunately, a variety of tools can help you ease that process! Among them is your CRM software, which can help your community outreach in 4 ways:

Monitor the Conversation:

Do you know what your local community is saying about your organization? If you don’t, you have no way of joining in the conversation and providing outreach where it’s needed. Monitoring social media networks like Twitter and LinkedIn helps you understand the ongoing conversation about your organization, providing you with the opportunity to jump in where it’s needed.

Emailing Updates:

Chances are that your local community will only care about your non-profit organization if it seeks to engage in activities and events actively. So why not let them know about it? Email integration allows you to send messages directly to members of the community, allowing you to highlight your participation in the next fair, local food drive, or other social events.

Anyone can send emails, but emails created in your CRM will come with a few powerful advantages. First, they automatically comply with the CAN-SPAM Act, which means you know they will be legal and remain outside your audience’s spam folders. Second, you can personalize them according to the individual attributes of contacts already in your system, which helps you create emails that seem less like spam and more like actual conversation starters.

Automate Your Messaging:

Your CRM software also enables you to send automated responses to specific actions your stakeholders take, which can play a crucial part in the conversation you have with your community. Say you hold a local food drive and create a sign-up page on your website for volunteers. Thanks to these automated responses, you can be sure that each volunteer receives the pertinent information (not to mention a hearty Thank You) for signing up. For instance, you could use pre-designed fundraising email templates integrated into your CRM software. These email templates can then be customized and sent out to potential donors. It’s an efficient way to streamline your fundraising initiatives while maintaining consistency in your communications. Additionally, it eliminates the need to recreate every email from scratch, saving valuable time and effort.

Integrate Your Calendar:

Your local community probably has a calendar of events that marks its major functions throughout the year. So why not integrate that calendar with your business practices? CRM Calendar integration is generally meant to make sure your business Google or Outlook calendar is part of the CRM, but it can be used for other purposes as well. Syncing your local community calendar, for example, ensures that you are always aware of current events and have plenty of time to integrate them into your outreach strategy.

With community outreach being as important as it is, having software by your side that helps you in this important process for non-profit organizations is absolutely crucial. Fortunately, CRM software can provide just that! Contact us to learn more about the many benefits of a CRM for your organization.

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About the author

Muskan Ghai specializes in contact management, customer relationship management, workflow management, and business analytics. Her insightful writing illuminates these topics, inspiring strategic thinking. Her Zoology Honours degree from University of Delhi enhances her analytical prowess, enabling her to offer clear and impactful insights to her audience.