Blackbaud CRM caters to nonprofits for various fundraising requirements through customer relationship management features, data analytics, and other data-driven services that will allow organizations to curate meaningful and successful volunteer events, even if they’re based on virtual volunteering ideas.
Blackbaud aims to help nonprofits create efficient communication and fundraising strategies and allows them to develop the best methods to implement them. Let’s take a look at how the service aims to help organizations.
What are the Characteristics of Blackbaud CRM?
- With the integration of this tool, organizations can work on strategically approaching individuals, past partners, and other collaborators. The platform helps you build efficient communication channels leading to healthier relationships and organizational growth.
- Organizations can use the volunteer management Blackbaud CRM tool to customize it for their requirements and CRM needs for different areas of operations. It allows them to develop more focused solutions for nonprofit growth.
- Organizations can use the service to coordinate volunteers for different responsibilities and communicate their workflow with the platform’s help. It allows nonprofits to streamline departmental communication and build multidimensional relationships.
- The platform also supports smartphone use, allowing organizational users to make changes or essential updates.
What are the Key Challenges of Integrating Blackbaud CRM?
- The platform is rigid and does not offer much flexibility for further integrations with other CRM platforms that an organization may be using. Users may be required to maintain two separate CRM integrations instead of having the opportunity to manage everything in one place.
- It is challenging to get the hang of the CRM platform, so organizations will have to spend a good chunk of time training employees to use and handle the software efficiently. It may also take up higher costs that a company may not be willing to take on to provide training.
- The CRM platform has complexities that need continuous focus to run every part, making it difficult to make the most of it without dedicated employees. Similar to training, organizations may be required to have staff members solely to manage this application. Again, this may lead to higher costs for a nonprofit if they do not have the means to take up new employees on board.
- The platform isn’t as user-friendly as organizations would hope. It has complexities that require understanding how to use and navigate the application, provide user access, manage reports, and more, thus making it difficult for nonprofits to make the most of it from the beginning.
- Blackbaud, as a CRM platform, needs flexible payment options and support as nonprofits may have to go out of their way to integrate options only for the use of the application.
- It may be difficult to produce efficient results from different queries, which may take up more time and effort than what an organization can provide in its routine for CRM operations.
Solutions to Blackbaud CRM
- While the platform has extensive features that nonprofits can benefit from, it is difficult for early-stage organizations to implement a costly and complex application. For such instances, they would need CRM software that is easy to integrate and will have to opt for alternatives to Blackbaud.
- It may benefit nonprofits to integrate flexible CRM platforms that offer more flexibility for supporting other software. Organizations may have multiple operations that need better CRM and hence require two platforms to connect.
- Nonprofits may also prefer applications that are easy to understand and use for CRM requirements. Not all organizations will have the time to dedicate to complex platforms and need easy-to-understand alternatives for such instances.
- It will benefit nonprofits to choose Blackbaud only if they are prepared to fully dedicate time and energy to implementing the platform. Organizations must have the necessary resources available to allow them to reap the fruits of Blackbaud.
Blackbaud CRM could perform efficiently for a nonprofit’s various CRM requirements. The platform has extensive features that will support an organization’s operations and generate the needed solutions for long-term organizational growth. However, like most things, Blackbaud also has challenges that may be tricky to navigate.
Endnote
Blackbaud is a complex platform requiring organizations to have dedicated resources to make the most of this application. While it may be suitable for well-established nonprofits, early-stage ones may have difficulty investing in the software for its best results. It will be challenging for them to understand the application and train employees to manage it effectively.
The entire process may be expensive, and many early-stage nonprofits may not have adequate funds to support it. Hence, integrating alternatives that will provide relevant results is an excellent way to manage CRM operations and allow organizations to work towards implementing advanced platforms.
