CiviCRM is not your average CRM you’ll find searching on Google. What do I mean? It isn’t like other proprietary CRM’s where you put down your credit card and start using in some fashion. It’s an open source CRM that allows flexibility and control over how it is deployed.
You get to make decisions, yay! And this is a central to part of its strength. Possibly scary too, but let’s leave that for another day.
Flexible, customizable, “you could totally do that” type of vision is right there.
But hold on, because this also requires some patience!
Are you taking the long-view on what this tool will do for you? If you’re focused on the outcomes you’re really after…increased donor retention and commitment, moving people from interested on-looker (subscriber) to committed member than the process is a means to the end, NOT rushing to get a box checked off that you have a CRM.
The latter sounds like a recipe for “buyer’s remorse” if you ask me.
You know how easy it is these days to get literally whatever you think you want. It’s right at the tip of your fingers.
Case in point: there are “leaders” that are more caught up in building their LinkedIn profile resume than real-world results. Adding a bullet point of “Successfully migrated to Salesforce…” could just vanity signal not an outcome driven decision.
Bottom line, once you set aside the “getting started” right now mindset versus a carefully planned approach you’ll be in the right place to make an informed decision on your CRM of choice.
Like buying a house, you don’t rush into making an offer without assessing your budget, the size, layout and style of house you want, and the neighborhood you and your kids want to live in. A CRM is a lot like a digital house: a cornerstone asset you are building for the long-haul.
(Let’s leave all the NY and CA people moving to FL here buying without seeing a house, but that’s another topic.)
Taking “too long” is entirely subjective. It’s like a lot of things in life: a balance. One that should prioritize your top line goals not only removing some short-term pain.
Here’s the deal:
In reality, “too long” is probably code for only needing a “single function tool” or “one-off project” you have to fulfill. And if that may be the case, then maybe CiviCRM isn’t the right tool for you at this point in time. And that is perfectly OK.