Project Assurance
Independent advice and support during a CRM implementation.
You’re planning or you’ve started your CRM implementation – congratulations! You have your internal team and your implementation partner. But have you done a CRM implementation before? How will you know if you are on track, if your implementation partner is doing all they should/could be doing? Do you know what the key pitfalls might be? Are there any budgetary issues on the horizon?
Or maybe your project manager needs some support and advice. I have project managed many CRM implementations – I know how tough it can be!
I can help you in a cost-effective manner by providing Project Assurance. This might range from two days a month to two days a week – it depends on your requirements, how long your project/programme is, and how I can best provide added benefit for you.
Examples of my Project Assurance services:
- Attending regular team meetings to provide input, feedback, challenges.
- Reviewing outputs and requirements from project artefacts: Discovery documents, sprint plans, ADO/Jira tickets, documents, project plans, risk register etc.
- Reviewing and providing input into “Key Areas of Concern”; for example: data migration (getting your source data into your new system), data integration (on-going data imports from JustGiving, fulfilment houses etc), marketing and selections, reporting, and direct debit processing.
- A ‘sanity check’ against work/recommendations from your implementation partner. Although I am not an in-depth technical expert in the same way as your partner is, I know systems such as Dynamics 365, Salesforce and Blackbaud well enough to understand the structure, possibilities, concerns etc, and I understand fundraising requirements and what fundraisers and directors want and need.
- Highlighting risks (or opportunities).
- Reviewing progress/outputs vs expected benefits.
- Attending specific sprints, playbacks and discussions on specific items of importance.
- Attending project meetings such as Sprint workshops/reviews.
- Attending project boards/steering committees.
- And, of course, supporting your project manager.
System Reviews
Independent advice about your existing database or CRM system
You already have a fundraising/membership database or CRM system, but you’ve been told “it’s not good enough” or “you must buy a new system”; or you’re just not sure if you’re getting the most out of it.
I can do a review of your current system, and the wider “CRM environment”, to help you decide what you should do. This is because almost inevitably, any issues or concerns that you do have will not be solely about your database. You also need to consider your internal data team, business processes, data, governance, associated software, IT infrastructure and so on. Or maybe your users’ or your organisation’s fundamental requirements have changed since you bought your current system.
My review will provide a report which will identify what areas of your organisation and overall “CRM environment” you need to review regardless of which system you have; and also review the database as well so you can tell if that system does have fundamental concerns which mean you might want to look at replacing it. What is good about your current setup, what is not so good, what are the key issues, what options do you have and what are my recommendations. You will also have the opportunity, after reading my report, to have a meeting with me to discuss the outcomes.
CRM System Knowledge
I am system agnostic when it comes to recommending CRM systems. The most important thing for me is that I am an Independent CRM Consultant, and my knowledge and experience should be appropriate for most CRM systems and fundraising/membership databases.
However, I do have a wide experience of using and helping implement a range of solutions including the following: Dynamics 365, Salesforce, The Raiser’s Edge, Blackbaud CRM, thankQ, CARE NG and others. And I have done system reviews on multiple other software packages and solutions.
I have have experience of and/or worked on projects with multiple CRM implementation partners on Dynamics and Salesforce.
Contact Me
Email: ivan@itforcharities.co.uk
Phone: 07968 588628
