Opportunities & Challenges of the Cloud in the Not for Profit Sector

Silverbear (http://www.silverbearmembership.co.uk) hosted a complimentary seminar on Wednesday 12th July in London, focused on helping Not for Profits make the most of their fundraising and membership techniques.

The seminar, called "Opportunities and challenges of the cloud in the not for profit sector" discussed the rewards of cloud computing and how it could be used to help improve membership communication and engagement, whilst simultaneously cutting expenditure and improving effectiveness and control.

The Youth Hostel Association (YHA), a Silverbear customer, presented their story of how they’ve used Silverbear Membership software to help boost donations, increase the number of volunteers, extend account management, and enhance the member experience.

A guest speaker from Microsoft also talked about the benefits of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and their impending appealing pricing policy for Not for Profit and Charitable organisation's. The new pricing option means that world-class CRM solutions are now available via the web, enabling companies to take membership and fundraising management to a further point, whilst cutting costs.

The seminar tried to help Silverbear, Microsoft and delegates to really appreciate the problems and opportunities that were facing Not for Profits. The important problems were determined as:

- Increasing overheads
- Reduced giving
- Increasing customer expectations
- Dropping membership numbers
- Inflexible legacy systems and procedures
- Online & social media

With the strategic drivers for change being:

- Integrated online strategy
- Personalisation 3.0
- Developing digital relationships
- Personalised benefits statement

Advancements in Technology and Social Media
Everyone is talking about ‘the cloud’ but what do they really mean? The swing from established software models to the Web has steadily gained momentum over the previous 10 years. A basic advantage of moving toward cloud computing is that you eradicate the need to have to manage both hardware and software, which will become the responsibility of the software vendor. In order to give the maximum level of service to all their stakeholders, Not for Profits have to make their business applications more mobile and collaborative.

As YHA said in their presentation, their targets were to:

- Concentrate on customer service
- Develop their commercial services and offerings
- Improve their levels of connectivity - starting with systems, yet ending ultimately with customers
- Become more flexible, to be able to adapt to our times

Most of these goals may be accomplished by including cloud computing and digital marketing. YHA told a story about how Microsoft had studied a total of 30 billion instant messages sent by more than 250 million people in June of 2006, and determined that we are in fact, all linked by only 6.6 levels of separation. Bearing in mind this study was completed in June 2006, a month before Twitter was even launched and when Facebook had only 12 million users (compared to more than 500 million at the moment). So we can appreciate how tightly people are now associated and how technology and social media is enabling people to become more engaged and associated with each other, brands and Not for Profit organisations.

This amount of social media connectivity is only going to become more important in the future, and an important message coming out of the seminar was that social media isn’t going to go away so associations need to recognise this and embrace it, including it in part of their long term targets and tactics. CRM (Customer Relationship Management) solutions and cloud computing will play a key role in being able to accomplish this.

Cloud Computing
Hayley Bass, UK CRM Product Marketing Manager at Microsoft gave an interesting presentation about Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and the way it enables businesses to:

- Grow their organisation
- Save money
- Drive innovation
- Increase efficiencies

Cloud computing means that associations only pay for what they use. These costs are often lower and more predictable, which accelerates the time in which Return on investment is accomplished. The nature of cloud computing also means that Not for Profits get the benefits of a more rapidly deployment, zero maintenance problems or costs, better software security and superior reliability and fault-tolerance. Furthermore, cloud computing lets associations use the latest software from any location (internet pending) and at any time, giving a superior level of flexibility and control to their workforce.

She very much emphasised that there is little point in having the software unless you understand what you wish to achieve in your organisation. This related back to the previous goal of the seminar which was to really pinpoint what the common difficulties and stumbling blocks Not for Profits are currently experiencing. However, as YHA said, CRM solutions are the engine room of change where customer engagement is concerned, it’s imperative to understand what is actually needed and how it will fit into the organisation in question.

When investing in a software solution, it's essential to invest in a systems and solutions architecture that has a comprehensible and built-in cloud strategy. Plan for your future and minimise your risk by making your investment with technology that is tried, tested and trusted.

Silverbear Membership Management software is part of the range of solutions from Silverbear Ltd. Used within societies and membership organisations throughout the UK, it supports businesses to build, define, examine, inform and communicate with existing and potential members.

Silverbear is helping membership organisations on a daily basis. For more information on Silverbear Membership Management solution and the benefits of membership software, visit their website at www.silverbearmembership.co.uk, email membership@silverbear.co.uk or call 01483 301 333.