Why work with me? Let’s get to a short list of key advantages and differentiators. Don’t hesitate to reach out for a free consultation if you have questions. Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to empowering your non-profit forward.
An Integrator: your co-pilot
What I uniquely bring to the table is an “Integrator” focus. I am the glue between your non-profit and the technology you depend on. This role is optimizing your systems to reach your goals by implementing best practices, proper training and managing the direction of your CRM build out as your organizational needs change. CiviCRM can do so much out of the box! Navigating the tools available and configuring your CRM properly is your first stop to creating a solid foundation.
The advantage of a one-person or smaller shop means there is efficiency and more “bang-for-your buck”; you will work directly with the person doing the work. With that said, when a development project is needed, I’ll bring in the right people and project manage the request straight thru completion. The Civi community works together and there are several partners that I engage with to deliver the solution you need. Keeping developers developing and not working on lower-level tasks at higher rates, can save you money. I don’t have overhead.
CRM Administration – familiarity and understanding of needs
The benefit of an integrator is that I can also serve, to the extent your organization desires, as your CRM administrator. By working alongside you on critical fundraising campaigns and other day-to-day like work, you’ll have a co-pilot who is acutely aware your expectations and processes. In essence, how it should work.
This leads to the beauty of open-source software like, CiviCRM. You can, with a combination of effort and funding, make it do what you want. Which leads to the next benefit, “Scoping out development projects”.
Scoping out development projects
At some point, you may want to extend your CRM beyond what is possible today. Or, you have a unique customization to implement. Understanding the goal and subsequent feasibility is essential to avoiding excessive costs and poorly planned projects. Trust me, in CiviCRM you’ll have at least 3 ways to implement a solution! And yes, there likely is a best option.
In any feature request, it will boil down to 3 routes:
- Configuration: Realizing this is a configuration issue, not a development job. May only take 30 minutes.
- Enhancement: Extension or customization exists. May need some small enhancement(s).
- Development. There is a feature that can be incorporated into an existing tool or it’s not there at all. It may be thousands of dollars that requires a discovery budget to accomplish what you want.
Work with me to get you down the right path quicker, and save much needed time and headaches. If you decide to “shoot from the hip” you could be creating technical debt by a poorly implemented solution (hack or otherwise). Short-term gain, long-term pain. Is a cornerstone of your organization, your CRM, worth gambling with? Of course not.
The open-source community is full of passionate, dedicated people who build on the work of others in pursuit of a full-featured product to help you do more good. By not-re-inventing from “scratch” you take advantage of this community and give back at the same time. A win-win.
Optimize with your Budget in Mind
By using the first-level of support of an integrator, your costs are reduced, potentially up to 50%. It’s rare that I do an audit of a system and find that there are no meaningful ways for it to be improved. It’s that relatively low-hanging fruit you should always knock out first. Together, we’ll adopt a culture of continuous improvement, taking advantage of new features and opportunities.
Flexible arrangements
Over 11,000 organizations use CiviCRM and their arrangements and desires vary considerably. I’ll work to deliver results and value for your organization that fits where you are at. Consider the 4 scenarios below:
- You don’t have the in-house expertise necessary so you just want to outsource CRM-related work
- You want to put your staff on a roadmap to self-sufficiency
- Your staff is being overworked and you want to augment your team
- You are looking for contract-to-hire option as a CRM Administrator. Test drive me and let the results do the talking. No strings attached.
Ready to get started? Let’s have a free consultation and drill down on how to achieve your most pressing goals.
