InformationWeek

October 16, 2000

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CRM Becomes A Charitable Application

Canadian united way group turns to customer-management software to lower costs

Continued....page 3 of 3

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So how did United Way of Greater Toronto fund this initiative? "We leveraged the generosity of the community," says King, who estimates that the organization has received about $2.3 million in donations from technology partners. Deloitte Consulting, which already had established a consulting relationship with United Way of Greater Toronto last year, brought Delano to the table. Delano's contribution includes training and consulting time as well as its $300,000 application development platform. United Way of Greater Toronto also has partnerships with US Interactive Inc., which provides Web-design services; PSINet, which provides hosting services; and IBM Canada, which donated hardware. Also, A.T. Kearney, a local consulting company, pays King's salary.

With all those pieces in place, United Way of Greater Toronto is poised to use technology at a level unusual in the nonprofit sector. Contrary to popular perception, however, nonprofits aren't always lacking in technology expertise, says Jayne Cravens, director of the Virtual Volunteer project and owner of Coyote Communications, a communications consulting company for nonprofits. Instead, Cravens says, the real problem is that their internal communications aren't managed well enough to take full advantage of technology.

E-mail is an especially underused application, Cravens says. "E-mail is still the killer app. It's the best way to reach people," she says. But many non-profits hesitate to use E-mail because they worry about distinguishing their messages from unsolicited E-mail.

King agrees about the need for care in using E-mail. "We want to be careful with people's E-mail addresses," he says. "We don't want to overuse our connection with them."

With that in mind, United Way of Greater Toronto wants to continue aggressively using its E-CRM application in new ways. King also plans to make United Way @ Work available to other United Ways in North America, likely by partnering with an application service provider.

King also helped initiate a click-and-give program (www.clickforunited way.com). When site visitors click a button (limited to one click per user per day), business sponsors donate. ClickforUnitedWay.com is being tested in Canada and could soon be extended to United Way organizations in the United States.

Click-and-give sites represent a unique way nonprofits use technology. However, Cravens says she has mixed feelings about these programs. "They could create the feeling that 'Hey, I can solve homelessness by clicking.' " She thinks the best click-and-give programs encourage visitors to take the next step--to volunteer, learn about the organization they're supporting, or write political officials.

The nonprofit sector is getting adept at adapting private companies' strategies. For example, one reason companies tout CRM technology is that call-center employees can use customer information to upsell or cross-sell products. King has created an analogous upselling process in United Way @ Work based on United Way of Greater Toronto's special recognition programs--for example, the Leadership Giving designation for donors of $1,000 or more. "If you've pledged $950, the system will provide information about the $1,000 level," he says, admitting he tries to provide the information tactfully. Still, he says, "we can do it online, where we couldn't on a piece of paper."