28 April 2009
Major IRIS research shows that organisations are turning to the
latest technologies to help them evaluate suppliers and solutions
and that better system integration is demanded.
A new survey into how not-for-profit organisations select major
solutions and what factors are most important for them, confirms
2 important trends.
Firstly, more and more organisations are turning to the latest
technologies to help them make informed decisions and evaluate
potential suppliers. Although, word of mouth recommendation is
still considered an important influence along with visibility of
the organisations using the system, the Internet has become an
equally important research tool with organisations happy to conduct
their own investigations, with Google emerging as their search
engine of choice. Websites and enewsletters are also shown to be a
critical part of the selection process.
Secondly, organisations are increasingly looking for better
integration between their websites and back office systems to
provide the efficiencies so badly needed in today’s cost constraint
environment. Of those that took part, 74% responded that their back
end office systems do not link to their websites; a requirement
that could be influencing a healthy number of organisations
(26%) to confirm that they are actively looking for a new CRM
system with web integration and online fundraising at the top of
their wishlist.
According to the survey carried out by leading not-for-profit
software developer, IRIS, many CEOs, Financial Directors and
Trustees see the Internet and innovations in technology as the key
to winning new supporters, maximising fundraising and communicating
better with existing donors. From the information collated from a
series of face to face interviews, respondents are looking for
cost-effective software solutions that integrate and have the power
to run personalised fundraising and marketing programmes.
When asked to rank price, ease of use, functionality, reputation
and aftercare support in order of importance, ease of use came top,
followed by functionality and then by price. Reputation and after
care support were found to be the least influential in the
selection process.
Simon Fowler, MD of IRIS NFP Solutions said “Not-for-profit
organisations are increasingly using the Internet to research and
interact with brands and, in turn, are realising that they need to
make their own websites a highly engaging and personal experience
in a bid to encourage supporter loyalty.”
Overview: the research polled 108 respondents
in the first 3 months of 2009 in face-to-face interviews at a
series of industry specific (ie not-for-profit) conferences.
Key findings
- 89% said they would use online search engines to research
potential software solutions
- 74% said that their websites do not link to their back office
systems
- 44% said they would employ an IT consultant when researching a
database supplier
- 75% said they would use Google as their search engine
- 31% prioritised ease of use when looking for a database
solution
- 29% said functionality was their priority
- 22% said price was their priority
- 11% said the supplier’s reputation was priority
- 7% rated aftercare support as their priority
- 26% said they are actively looking for a Customer Relationship
Management/ Membership Management system