Much has been said about the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to transform how charities work and improve their efficiency. However, while the hype around AI is very real, it is not the cure all for everything. Unless basic systems are set up, documented, and properly maintained, very little is to be gained by employing AI in the first place.
Take, for instance, CRM systems. Research from Blackbaud found that just a fifth of charities say they are getting the most out of their CRM system. Put another way, 80% of organisations are missing the opportunity to get more from a system they already use, which is profound, as this is often their main system for keeping track of donors, volunteers, fundraising, and much more.
Salesforce, for example, is used by many organisations in the nonprofit sector to help create tailored, targeted fundraising appeals and to maintain regular contact with their donor base. But for Salesforce’s CRM to work at its best, charities must make sure the data they have entered in the first place is accurate and maintained regularly.
Doing this manually takes time and considerable effort – and, crucially, can lead to mistakes. By taking advantage of Salesforce’s extensive automated features, clever functionality, and core database model, much of the time spent on ’cleaning up’ data can be alleviated by utilising the system properly. Furthermore, data collection and automation platforms such as Cognito, GiveWP, Form Assembly, Zapier can be easily integrated with Salesforce to create a seamless flow of information that provides far more efficient management of data for your charity – making it easier to understand your supporter base and find answers to pressing conundrums, like where are donors commonly falling off from.
Alternatively, Salesforce provides native functionality that can even eliminate the use of these other platforms and save the extra expense and technical skills requirement to support them. This is particularly helpful for charities lacking the time and resources to dedicate to learning the ins and outs of new platforms – a challenge that many are facing in 2025. Advances in digital technology mean that choosing the right tool for the right task is daunting, simply because there are so many out there.
Fortunately, support is available to help charities with this process and it does not break the bank.
Overcoming the resourcing challenge
Charities can access Salesforce at a discount through the Power of Us program which provides 10 free licenses for eligible organisations.
However, actually making use of the system is where the challenges begin. Only 15% of charities say they have adequate internal resources to support their digital strategy. And systems like Salesforce require more than someone who just ’knows about computers’ to get the most out of the system.
Thankfully, there’s an easy solution to this skills deficit and that’s by using an external resource like a Salesforce Partner who specifically works with non-profits.
One such organisation is Systep, a highly–regarded Salesforce partner based in Bristol, with extensive experience working with charities and excellent testimonials. Founded in 2021, they since have helped a number of non-profit organisations, including The Diana Award, through their consultancy, implementations and most importantly, their Managed Service offering.
Systep’s Managed Service packages are offered at a discounted non-profit rate on a fixed monthly cost with no setup fees and with packages as low as 10 hours per month.
Indeed, trying to keep pace with digital advances can be difficult for charities. It means that the sector is often steps behind where it could be with the right expertise on hand. Bringing on board managed service providers, who are solely dedicated to managing your platforms, ensures that charities can reap the full benefits of the technology they invest in, without having to spend time they don’t have becoming familiar with their myriad intricacies.
Discovering new opportunities with existing technology
Charities are literally inundated with technology offerings claiming to solve one requirement or another. Ultimately what often happens is charities end up with multiple apps that may or may not communicate effectively with their core CRM like Salesforce.
In the worst case scenario, data which was thought to be integrated properly turns out to not be updating at all or leaving out key bits of information and ultimately jeopardises the ability of the charity to properly function.
For example, a charity using a fundraising platform that has not been properly integrated Salesforce and automation tool Zapier cannot benefit from the automatic creation of contacts, donations, and engagement opportunities, with data instead spread between two CRMs.
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