02/04/2020

By Mohona Dutta | Reading time 7 mins

Benefits of Microsoft Dynamics 365 For Non-Profits

You may start thinking whether nonprofits do really need a CRM solution? The answer is almost always a ‘Yes!’. Whether it’s a big conglomerate or a small firm or an association, a CRM helps a company manage its contact details, strengthen their relationships and foster new ones.

 

There are times when organizations within the nonprofit sector aren’t always certain if it’s the right fit for them. They’re not into sales or selling a product, so why an investment in CRM should be made?

 

While their usability may not appear applicable from a nonprofit stance, CRM capabilities are in fact extremely valuable for mission-driven establishments.

Benefits of Microsoft Dynamics 365 for nonprofits - AhaApps

From maintaining relationships with clients/donors to segmenting benefactors by issue and interest areas, tracking membership activities, and streamlining the donation/grant process, CRMs give nonprofits the power to manage their data confidently and efficiently.

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 solution has been designed keeping the challenges and business structure of such nonprofits in mind. It has proven itself to be the most successful system which is depended upon by numerous nonprofits across the globe.

 

So, why are not-for-profit organizations turning to Microsoft Dynamics 365? Let’s discuss a few of its benefits.

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Centralizing information:

A lot of nonprofits use Excel spreadsheets to store, update and manage contact data. The problem is that storing data in different sheets, handled by different people, can result in incomplete or outdated data, and makes tracking historical data nearly impossible.

 

This creates a circle of confusion and donor/benefactor data goes haywire. Sometimes the right individual is missed out on an important email blast. Dynamics 365 helps nonprofits to store all that data in one, organized place, which can be easily viewed, updated and managed by more than one team member.

Listing different contact types:

We all know list segmentation is an intimidating task especially when data is outdated, inaccurate, and/or not in the same format. Dynamics 365 ensures that the quality of data is good, and it can easily filter your lists by the predetermined criteria.

 

You can then section contacts by, for example, constituent type, interest area, location, and then export the list to your outreach campaigns.

Understanding your audience:

With Dynamics 365, you can keep track and record the activities of your audiences. By analyzing your donor’s actions, such as the events they’ve attended or the most recent volunteering campaign they signed up for, you can get a comprehensive view of your target audience’s behavior.

 

This information will provide the insight to custom make a relationship-building strategy that best suits your different audiences.

Managing your donors:

Donors are important for a nonprofit, we don’t have to emphasize that. They are the people who help nonprofits achieve their missions. It becomes extremely important for you to keep up with the donors and keep them updated with the general tidings of your association along with making the world a better place.

 

Dynamics 365, featuring Office 365 and PowerBI helps connect managers and fundraisers with donors and help drive contribution. Tracking incoming funds and pledges are made easier with Dynamics CRM.

 

Once all the related information updated in the system, CRM automatically shows the charts and graphs helping you to visualize how close are you to your fund-raising goals. It is also beneficial in zeroing into the areas that need improvement.

Integrating seamlessly:

One of the best things about Dynamics 365 is its ability to integrate seamlessly with your in-house systems. This capability eliminates the need to switch from one application to another. For example, you can export the required information straight from Dynamics 365 to Excel.

 

It also integrates with Outlook, which enables you to automatically generate and send emails to contacts in your database.

Volunteer tracking:

We know the relevance of volunteers in a nonprofit, they are the ones who give their time and effort to support a nonprofit’s cause. They are unbelievably valuable, and it’s essential that anyone who contributes to a nonprofit should be carefully managed and supported.

 

You can maintain a log of hours and activities completed by the volunteers. The schedules of volunteers can also be viewed and tracked easily with Dynamics CRM, which in turn helps you to create reports on the total hours volunteered and the number of projects completed.

Budget-friendly:

Dynamics 365 is a budget-friendly solution for nonprofits. It isn’t a secret that they run on strict expenditure guidelines and in such conditions a solution that can help them run their operations without draining their pockets is a blessing.

 

Microsoft always had a philanthropic outlook and with its cost-effective and discounted Dynamics 365, they have proven it once again. There are no infrastructure costs to account for and no hidden hardware costs; everything is managed and updated at Microsoft’s end, which means that organizations without a dedicated IT department can stay online and up to date without spending a fortune on maintenance and repair costs.

To sum up:

Nonprofits have an intricate operational structure. There are times when individuals associated with nonprofits have found themselves juggling between several spreadsheets to try keeping a track of current and potential donors, sponsors, events, volunteer timesheets, etc. And their calendars might be filled with reminders to check several items off their lists.

 

It is needless to say that a nonprofit organization has to work in a synchronized manner in order to sustain and keep working competently for its mission. The importance of ensuring an efficiently working organization becomes principal especially due to the fact that resources available for such organizations are very scarce.

 

As such investing in software that can take a load off from their shoulders while being pocket-friendly is something to look for. And Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 has been able to do that for quite some time.

 

At AhaApps, we have been working with nonprofits and we are constantly looking for chances to add value. This is predominantly important since most nonprofits work within stringent budgets, and technology is usually a big expense they cannot afford.

 

However, with the right technology, they can save money. Our mission is to open gateways through technology, in a manner they can comfortably afford, get their returns on investments on time while helping mankind.

 

Connect with us to know about Dynamics 365 and its numerous features.

Author’s bio:

Mohona is a Content Writer for the Marketing team in AhaApps since 2019. When she is not busy attending to her creative, technical side, she likes to binge on sitcoms on Netflix. She loves writing poems and reading short stories when she wants to break away from the humdrum of life.

The Need For Dynamics 365 In Non-Profit Organizations

From overseeing grants, and drawing in with benefactors, Dynamics 365 gives nonprofits the tool to achieve more.