With more and more businesses choosing to adopt Dynamics 365 as their main central CRM system, it comes as no surprise that not for profits and charities are following suit and choosing it as their preferred CRM software to implement. Granted, there are several bespoke CRM charity solutions available currently, however there are many reasons as to why charities side more towards large-scale CRM platforms that are adopted by commercial organisations. In this blog article, we will focus on providing you with 7 reasons why not for profits and memberships choose to adopt Dynamics 365.
Reason 1: Regular updates and improvements
One of the main reasons behind the increases in not-for-profits making the switch to Dynamics 365 is the fact that it enjoys continual updates & improvements, with updates released twice a year. We have found that many charities have had their fingers burnt by adopting a niche solution and then finding that it doesn’t have regular updates or investment. With technology growing at a rapid rate, being on a slow platform will increase the risk of your business falling behind the expected standards required with modern day technology. This stores up future problems, as a lack of development to the interface and user experience could stop business processes being improved.
Reason 2: Keeping tightly knit with Microsoft products
It goes without saying that most businesses are using Office 365, even more so charities, who are feeling the full benefits of discounted licenses or even better still free versions. One of the biggest and best strengths of Dynamics 365 is the fact that it seamlessly integrates with Office 365 applications which are already been used, such as Outlook. Better still, Dynamics 365 is developed using the same Microsoft user interface which provides a greater familiarity and ease of adoption for your staff.
Furthermore, charities can also gain great value from the following benefits:
- Dynamics 365 seamlessly integrates with Microsoft SharePoint to give charities extra storage capabilities which allows them to easily store documents and makes them much more efficient.
- By using Outlook, it will give you access to Dynamics 365 add-ons, which make it easy for staff to keep an eye on emails from within their CRM and access data through Outlook avoiding the need to login to another system.
Reason 3: Can easily integrate with other third party solutions
As well as the ability to integrate with other Microsoft products, Dynamics 365 can easily work with other applications. This allows your employees to continue to use third party products that they are familiar whilst allowing all data to be recorded in one place.
Better still, the full integration of data can help to boost efficiency and supporter engagement as well as providing a greater visibility of your business.
Reason 4: Comprehensive reporting and visibility of supporters
Dynamics 365 can help charities to build a comprehensive view of their supporters by cataloging interactions, activities and contacts, allowing you to understand how people interact with your charity. This means that data is gathered at all the interactions you have with your individual supporters.
Reporting is a major part of Dynamics 365 and one of the main reasons why organisations select this system. When organisations open up Dynamics 365 for the first time, it will almost immediately change their perception on reporting and how simple it can be to extract and present the data that you need. An activity that in the past took hours, if not days, to complete can now be pulled together with a simple click of a button. This is largely in part to Excel and PowerBI in addition to the ever useful Advanced Find feature which allows any user to create views and reports to present to their colleagues.
Reason 5: Comprehensive Support
You will find that Dynamics 365 is a widely used CRM solution with a substantial user base not only in the not-for-profit sectors. With this in mind, it makes it simple for organisations to share knowledge with other companies, attend events & workshops as well as give access to a whole host of resources such as blogs, articles & how-to's.
Comparing this to bespoke solutions which are lacking in adoption and resources, finding a suitable CRM partner to support it can be extremely challenging. This is where Dynamics 365 can help as there are Microsoft Gold partners, such as Advantage, that can help you with your CRM solution through various support packages, giving you that peace of mind and flexibility if you have any problems or issues.
Reason 6: Easily scalable as you grow
Let’s face it, the main purpose of 99% of charities and memberships is to expand their reach, secure more supporters and grow. This highlights the importance of having a system that can grow with you, whether that’s more employees accessing the system or more supporters and donations coming your way.
It's important not to choose a system that does the complete opposite and is largely unreliable.
The good thing about Dynamics 365 is that it can be used by both small and big organisations. Better still, it can provide a greater flexibility so that volunteers who only need the system to add data could achieve this via a customer data entry screen that integrates with the CRM, without needing another license.
Reason 7: Licensing Discounts
Last but certainly not least, charities can qualify to receive a 70% discount on their CRM licensing for all their licenses with Microsoft. This can translate into a significant discount and give not-for-profits and charities an extra incentive to make the switch to Dynamics 365 as they will be gaining the same software and benefits as other businesses at a much lower cost. Also, one of the other benefits of going with Dynamics 365 is the fact that the pricing for licenses is clear and concise. You will see that the cost is the same per user per month and various licensing levels are given so that each employee can have the best possible level that they need – only paying for what they need.
A key strength over one of the other main CRM providers Salesforce is this clear pricing. Salesforce are renowned within the sector to have a hidden and unclear costing structure which means that licensing costs can quickly spiral out of control if not managed correctly. Furthermore, any additional functionality in Salesforce will also involve an extra cost which remains unclear until you are further down the CRM roadmap with them. You can read our comparison between Dynamics 365 and Salesforce here.
It’s always a difficult decision when it comes to selecting the right CRM that best meets your requirements, so you should consider all the options as each platform will have both pros and cons. In light of the fact that each charity and membership body will have some must have core requirements, there will always be a few bespoke requirements and different priorities. It goes without saying that Dynamics 365 has numerous benefits which is part of the reason as to why this particular sector is keen to adopt Dynamics 365 – a trend that we fully expect to continue for the foreseeable future.
If you are looking to discuss all the tailored Dynamics 365 solutions that we have available then please call our team of CRM experts today on 020 3004 4600 or fill in our online contact form.
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