Fundraising & alumni CRM vs Excel: Why you should consider investing in software

Don’t get us wrong: we love a well-formatted spreadsheet. But when it comes to the debate between a fundraising & alumni CRM vs Excel, we will always be #TeamCRM. Why? It comes down to functionality. As your giving programme grows in size and complexity, Excel simply doesn’t have the tools and features you need to scale effectively, and that can: 

• Increase the risk of human error: Mistakes happen, especially when donor information and donations are logged by hand. A misformatted cell or a misplaced zero may seem small - but could end up costing you dearly.  
• Limit real-time collaboration: Even with a shared file on OneDrive or Dropbox, syncing issues and network glitches make it hard for multiple people to work on the same file effectively.
• Slow down your reporting processes: Even if you’re a master in pivot tables, turning years of donor information into accessible reports takes up time your team may not have, leaving you to make important strategic decisions in the dark.
• Silo your workflows: Excel will always work in isolation from other apps and operating systems. This means you have to transfer and log information manually - increasing the time taken and margin of error. 

This doesn’t just make it difficult to manage and build donor relationships. Weak information management systems can erode donor relationships and undermine your fundraising practice as opportunities to maximise income are lost.

Find out more about our fundraising & alumni CRM

Even if Excel is working for you, a fundraising & alumni CRM will always be a great way to elevate and scale your work. 

Imagine what you can achieve when your team discover the benefits of: 

Detailed and centralised donor profiles

Picture this: donor and alumni profiles with organised tabs and plenty of space to store the essentials - from name and contact details through to personal interests, donation history and engagement records. All available in one central, secure hub that’s quick and easy to search.

You answer a call from a long-time donor wanting to increase their Direct Debit. In just a few clicks, you’ve got their profile and engagement history in front of you, so you can pick up the conversation where it last left off. 

Email and communication tracking

Unlike Excel, a fundraising & alumni CRM automatically logs donor interactions (think emails, calls and event attendance). With the right third-party app you can even check if they’re opening your newsletters! This helps build a 360-degree view of donor activity so that you can provide a seamless, and highly personal, service.  

Donor attrition is starting to rise, and you want to re-engage supporters who’ve gone quiet. With your new CRM it’s easy to pinpoint donors who haven’t opened an email or made a gift in the past year - so you can start creating a plan of action. 

Donor segmentation and personalised communications

Say goodbye to clunky filters and hello to powerful multi-criteria search tools that make it easy to segment and group your donors. Create personalised messages and targeted appeals quickly that speak directly to their needs, interests, and giving potential.

You’re running a regular giving campaign and want to target donors who have given more than once. In just a few quick clicks, you can pull a report of potential prospects and start creating a highly personalised campaign. 

Real-time campaign management 

As donations come in, event sign-ups grow, and emails are opened, your CRM will capture the results instantly. This makes it easy to see who’s responding and which segments are performing best - surfacing the information you need to evolve campaign tactics as you go. 

Your latest alumni appeal has just launched, but the response rate isn’t as high as you’d hoped. With real-time data at your fingertips, you can quickly identify which segments aren’t engaging and adjust your messaging mid-campaign to turn things around.

Dedicated reporting and analytics

A fundraising & alumni CRM comes with built-in reporting and analytics tools that Excel just can’t match. Instead of wrestling with complex formulas, you can generate accurate, real-time reports quickly, and bring key information like donation income, attrition rates, and campaign performance to the fore.

Your Board has asked for an update on income and key trends ahead of their meeting. In minutes, you generate a clear report showing income totals, top-performing campaigns, and areas for improvement - no spreadsheets needed.

A dedicated event planning hub

Where your previous event plan would have been spread across multiple spreadsheets, your new fundraising and alumni CRM has a dedicated “hub” that brings every aspect of your event management together, from budget planning to registration and follow-up.

You’re getting ready for your next big alumni event and need to share some last-minute information with attendees. Using your new CRM, you can quickly pull a report of registered people and get personalised updates out in no time.

Integrations with broader operational systems

Finally, because your CRM integrates with other tools like payment gateways, your website and email marketing platforms, it’s easy to streamline workflows across departments and keep payment and donor information up-to-date.

You’ve just launched a new online giving page and want donations to flow directly into your CRM. With these integrations, payments, donor details, and email confirmations all sync automatically - no manual updates needed.

Sound good? That’s because it is. Together all of these features create a one-stop shop to streamline and optimise your alumni and donor management, making it easier to:

• Build better alumni relationships - Accurate, up-to-date donor information and personalised communications make it easy to get to know your donors and connect with them in a meaningful way.
• Improve donor retention and engagement - Regular, personal and efficient communications are the foundation of a five-star donor journey and will keep your donors engaged and coming back for more.
• Optimise your fundraising campaigns - Evidence-based decisions will help make sure you plan and evolve campaigns based on what you know works, not on what you think works.
• Future-proof your fundraising strategy - Use key data and insights to identify trends, re-engage lapsed donors, identify potential major and legacy givers, and grow your fundraising in the future. 

And of course, one of the biggest benefits of choosing a fundraising & alumni CRM vs Excel is time. By streamlining and optimising your workflows you will save valuable hours, which can be reallocated to different priorities - like planning your next campaign or event.

Switch to a new alumni CRM

Once you understand the benefits, the only thing left to do is start laying the groundwork for the transition. Not sure if now is the right moment? If any of the following situations sound familiar, it might be time to start building your business case!

1. Your alumni and donor lists are growing fast

It’s getting harder to keep your Excel spreadsheets up-to-date, with errors, omissions and duplications creeping in more often than not.

2. You’re losing track of donor engagement histories

Your information management system has more holes than a sieve and maintaining accurate, complete donor histories is a time-consuming struggle.

3. Event and campaign management feels chaotic

Managing events means juggling at least three different spreadsheets - one for the project plan, one for the budget, and one for registrations and attendees.

4. Reporting and insights are time-consuming

Getting a clear view of income trends and patterns is like navigating without GPS: you’ll get there eventually, but not without taking a few wrong turns. 

5. Team collaboration is inconsistent

Team members have to wait for others to log off or close a shared file before they can work, and you’ve lost one too many sets of changes along the way.

6. You're planning to scale up your fundraising or alumni strategy

Targets are rising, and you need your team and strategy to rise with them - scaling effectively to drive both organisational and institutional growth.

Discover how an alumni CRM can enhance university fundraising

In the debate between CRM vs Excel, a specialist fundraising & alumni system will always come out on top – offering tools, features and functions that will help your institution future-proof its fundraising and alumni giving. 

If you’re thinking about making the switch, speak to a member of the team today.