In this blog we delve into the essential features to look for in CRM software tailored for charity use. 

Charities are different to businesses. While that’s obvious to people inside of charities, it doesn’t seem to be so obvious to others. 

That means that the tools you use need to be right for the job. For example, you don’t write letters in Excel. A CRM is one of the vital tools for non-profits. And it needs to reflect the important uniqueness of being a charity. 

All software has a story behind it. A set of expectations about who is using it and what they want to accomplish. Sometimes it’s really obvious because it’s in the name: Salesforce, or Word. If you have a salesforce then Salesforce might be a good match. But you probably wouldn’t use it to design houses. 

Here are our top 5 features that your charity CRM should have as part of it’s DNA. The story of your software ought to reflect you and your work. So these are features that should be baked in, foundational. 

1 – The Basics – store what you need about people 

The set of data that charities typically have to collect about people is pretty specific to the work that you do. If you work in health, you probably have details of conditions, GP and medication. If you work with young people it’ll be carers, and schools and so on.  

Your commitment to social justice likely means that you are collecting and monitoring a range of demographics to make sure you’re reaching all those that need your support. 

On the other hand, you probably don’t need fax numbers or job seniority. Make sure that your CRM lets you capture and report on what you need, and that you don’t have to wade through fields that aren’t relevant.    

2 – Outcomes: the bottom line for charities 

The bottom line for charities is changing lives, one way or another. You need the money to do so, but you don’t measure success in terms of sales and profits. So your CRM needs to breath impact, not profit.  

How do you collect, track, and report on the difference you make? Can you see it, and use it day-to-day to support your work?  

Many of the charities we work with use a rich mixture of outcome frameworks – for example Outcome Stars; health oriented ones like Core or WEMWBS; or a whole range of other specialised tools or their own internally developed ones. They typically need the flexibility to use these measures in combination and the reporting on these is different to other types of data, looking at distance travelled. 

These kind of impact measures are complex and quite unlike other types of data. Your CRM needs to know about this and reflect it in the software: it’s not the sort of thing you can easily bolt-on without tying yourself in all sorts of knots.  

3 – Links To Your Website 

Every system (pretty much) has an API (Application Programming Interface) these days. But the small charities we work with don’t have programmers to make use of them. So although an API is nice, much more useful is copy-and-paste links to your website. Accepting referrals online and creating event listings should be quick and easy to set up. 

Because who has the time to enter data manually that could readily be typed in directly? 

Ideally you’ll also be able to collect impact measures online, just as quickly and easily. It’s all more convenient for your service users and massively reduces your admin burden.  

4 – Super flexible reporting 

You have (or would like) a range of funders supporting your work. That gives you the resources you need without being overly reliant on one funder (who don’t like being overly relied on).  

The downside is that they all have different reporting requirements. And of course they change as time goes on. One funder is focused on people in a particular area, or of a particular age, and is only funding one of your services. The next has set targets for how quickly you’ll respond to new referrals and needs that data. And so on. 

So the reporting in your CRM needs to be made of rubber. If the data’s going in, you’ll need to be able to filter it and add it up in a ton of different ways, and you definitely want to avoid having to do it by hand in Excel. 

Ideally your CRM will let you create template reports for the things you do regularly, but still give you the ability to run ad hoc reports whenever. And without charging you more to do so. 

5 – Easy to use 

OK so easy to use isn’t exactly a feature. But it is a requirement for many because you may have lots of staff and volunteers, with varying skills sets, that need to use it. The less time they can spend figuring out how to use a system, the better. 

There are a few things to look for that all contribute to ease of use: 

• Does it look familiar? Logos and colour schemes can help with this. And copying can be good too – how navigation works, icons used and so on. 

• Is it accessible to people using it in different ways? Can your visually impaired volunteer do their work easily? 

• Does it use your language? Charity law refers to “beneficiaries” but our customers use a whole range of different terms for the people they work with. Can your system speak your language, or does everyone using it need a mental translator to figure it out? 

At Lamplight we use a six point framework as we think about the user interface design. We look for: 

• Discoverable – can you find what you need? 

• Understandable – does the interface make sense to you? 

• Affordances – do buttons look buttoney, for example? 

• Predictable – does it behave as you expect, or do you get little unpleasant surprises? 

• Efficient – does it minimise the number of clicks (or interactions) to get to where you need to be? We prioritising the common tasks here. 

• Responsive – does it tell you what’s happening when it’s working? 

6 – Predictable pricing that works for charities 

This one also isn’t so much a feature of the software, but it’s an important consideration when choosing a provider. Most charities have short-term funding – 3 years is a luxury – and little certainty. So, it’s very hard to invest for the longer term because up-front funding isn’t often available, and funding horizons are short.  

Subscription software is now everywhere compared to when we started 20 years ago. We adopted it because we recognised that most charities couldn’t afford to invest tens of thousands of pounds up front. 

The downside of subscription pricing is that you don’t know what might change in the future. So take a look at the pricing history of your subscription software.  

Selecting the right CRM software for your charity is essential to managing relationships, optimising operations, and driving your mission forward. Investing in a feature-rich CRM tailored to the unique needs of nonprofits will empower your team to work more efficiently and focus on what truly matters: making a positive impact. As you evaluate potential solutions, prioritise the features that align with your goals to ensure long-term success and sustainability. 

Photo by Monster Ztudio