Techno-activism: let’s bring it on!
Non-profit leaders and info-tech users and providers,
At some point I’ve talked with all of you about implementing membership databases, online member registration, email lists, and other constituent relationship management (CRM) tools for non-profits and social activism in the past weeks or year. Some ideas have been batted about, and I thought I’d bring you up to speed.
Green Wheels has been working to create mechanisms to allow members to sign-up easily online and pay for membership, and then for us to be able to maintain membership records, email lists and more — bringing it all into one integrated system.
This is an invitation to talk about CRM for your organization in hopes that there may be opportunities to collaborate in the future. Green Wheels has recognized the need to streamline our membership so we spend as little time as possible dealing with the logistical parts of managing membership, so we can focus more on, and have the tools to effectively communicate with and leverage our membership. That’s what everybody wants to do, right?
Here’s the backstory:
I talked with Shannon Tracey of Baykeeper and Democracy Unlimited about the idea of using FileMaker, which is what Baykeeper and the NEC are already using. It is crucial to have a database running on a server so multiple people can access it, and also allow it to be plugged into websites. Unfortunately, the price tag for FileMaker Server Advanced is $2,500, and, unlike many other software publishers, FileMaker/Apple does not give away licenses through TechSoup (not very cool, in my opinion). FileMaker does offer very small volume licensing discounts for non-profits.
While $2,500 is not an unreasonable price to pay for truly essential software, Green Wheels cannot afford this cost, and so we’ve looked elsewhere.
What I’ve implemented is a free open-source web-based CRM application called CiviCRM. It was recently given a high rating in the “2007 CRM Satisfaction Survey”.
It has it’s rough edges, but also has some impressive features. A new version is imminent, and it is my hope the software will continue to improve.
Here’s what we’re using CiviCRM for, and what we hope to use it for in the future:
- The Green Wheels sign-up form handles credit-card processing automatically. They receive automatic thank-yous, and I can configure the application to send people automatic membership renewal reminders by email. The sign-up process also asks them other questions about subscription preferences and gift premiums (and then manages this information for us so we can send out receipts for tax-deductibility at the end of the year).
At any point, folks can log in again to renew their membership or change their email subscription preferences. We even hope to set up groups so folks can choose which emails they want to receive by topic. Folks will also even be able to register for, and pay for events — the whole process will be managed automatically.
It’s far from a perfect solution, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will prove to work well for us. I make so secret of the fact that I’d like other groups to adopt CiviCRM as well, or at least to collaborate on CRM decisions an implementation projects because we could all learn a lot from each other — shave the sharp edges off learning curves and leverage all our individual efforts. Many local groups are standardizing on Drupal as a content management system (Green Wheels, Redwood Tech Consortium, Focus the Nation, HCOAG, Humboldt LAFCo, Prosperity!, etc.) — some folks are even using the guide I created for green-wheels.org to get help with other Drupal installations and it would be great to see something similar happen with CRM.
In short, my door is always open.
aaron :: Jan.01.2008 :: Humboldt County, Information tech :: 1 Comment »
