In the CRM world, we’re kinda obsessed with efficiency. Automate this, remove manual work that. But just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
Ask yourself: are there times when the allure of maximum efficiency makes you feel a bit myopic?
Look, efficiency can give you the “I’m getting more stuff” done than ever feeling. There is an exhilaration to the moving fast. I get it with the AI rage and all. I get caught up in it too.
(If you want to go deeper on this topic, check out this Ted Talk by, “Why we should control the speed of life” by Kathryn Bouskill.)
A great example of the efficiency trap is donor appreciation and retention.
It’s standard to automate CiviCRM donation receipts and thank-you emails —it’s efficient but does every donor actually feel acknowledged? Probably not.
And as I mentioned in the Making auto-renew membership the default post, sure doing that will yield more donors renewing. But that doesn’t mean you replace what formerly was a reminder CTA to renew with nothing.
I’ve been a member of orgs that only make real human, personal contact with their members when it’s about time to renew.
Well, actually let’s rephrase that.
After I haven’t responded to the 3 email reminders and a text message, I then get a personal call kindly nagging me to renew.
C’mon, your donors are smarter than this.
Here’s the deal:
Be human. To build relationships you need to match human needs with human actions. Your CRM can help you find and understand their relationship to your organization, but you still have to put in the work.
Take a friend of mine. Each time she has someone contribute to her local city council political campaign, she sits down and writes handwritten letters thanking them in an authentic way. No doubt, she is brilliant at the art of giving real thank-you’s and making people feel heard. To be sure, this is only the first step in what should be an engagement journey to connect with your donors.
Your CRM technology should help you cultivate relationships by freeing up time for meaningful and human engagement—not just to check tasks off.
Being efficient is good, but effectiveness—actually achieving meaningful outcomes—is what matters most. Apply this test next time you say, “we could automate that”.