CRM enDEAvors:
A New Era in Constituent Management
New information on the training page.
In May 2024, a CRM Selection Committee was formed with a goal to research and recommend a new CRM solution to the Senior Vice President for DEA. Since then, the Committee met to gather, define, and review requirements, define use cases, review integration needs, and collectively support this change.
Why a New CRM Solution and Why Now
Our current CRM “BBEC” has served us well, but as our fundraising and engagement efforts continue to grow and evolve, we recognize the need for a more robust, automated, and integrated solution. We also face a significant, 40% price increase with Blackbaud in the coming years. The new CRM will allow us to:
- Improve mobile functionality
- Increase staff autonomy
- Reduce redundant processes
- Enhance data visualization
- Simplify our tech stack
This will enable us to serve our staff and constituents more effectively and efficiently.
The Selection Process
We received proposals from Ellucian, Kindsight, Affinaquest, and Salesforce. After reviewing the proposals, we conducted on-site demos with Kindsight and Affinaquest to assess each solution’s fit with our needs. Ultimately, we recommended Kindsight’s Ascend due to its:
- Constituent portal (event management, documentation management, alumni engagement, online giving)
- AI functionality
- Staging table for records and gift data
- Security features
- Mobile application
- Native integrations with event management, online giving forms, and reporting solutions
We are excited about the future and the opportunities this new CRM will bring to our organization.
