HubSpot is a powerful all in one marketing tool and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) that nonprofits & charities are taking advantage of worldwide. It takes those random notes, emails, spreadsheets, and contacts, and organizes them. It’s not just an address book but really helps you treat each individual as the individual they are. A critical factor in any successful communication or fundraising effort. Listed below are 7 reasons I believe HubSpot would be the best CRM tool your nonprofit or charity should invest in this year.
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Time is something most of you do not have lots of. It is super valuable and better spent doing the great work your nonprofit is doing. If your contacts and your communication with them isn’t organized and easily accessible you waste so much time trying to figure out where to start. This means you end up ignoring people that did want to engage with you, potentially even donate. With Hubspot you are able to efficiently show where each individual and/or organization you are talking to is at and who you need to get back to. You can be in and out in no time and can spend less time clearing up miscommunication.
The R in CRM stands for relationship and that’s the backbone of what HubSpot is. A strong relationship is one that is personal and specific. Something you just can’t get from a broad social media post. When looking at a contact in HubSpot you are able to see your entire relationship history with them. Every email, note, or any important info you would like to add. You can be as specific as you want so that next time you go to talk to them you share relevant information and/or testimonies with them. This all shows that you know them and truly care about them; not just another donation.
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Most nonprofits depend on donations and grants so being accountable to how that money is spent is a must. Especially when spending money on marketing. This is not only internally with your team but also with those that gave you the money. Measuring that feedback clearly is one of the biggest challenges in marketing and this is where Hubspot truly shines. With it’s all in one products you can clearly track and communicate with people from their first point of contact all the way to whatever your goals are. Something you can also clearly report on. So whether it be an advertising spend, blogs, or social media posts, knowing where your investments are working and are not working is pure gold.
Ok so this is my personal favorite and easily the most underutilized strength that HubSpot can offer you. While your content may be king, context truly is queen. Knowing where and who you are communicating to should shape your messages. Just like how I communicate to my wife in private is different then a complete stranger on Instagram. Most of our digital marketing is done in mass with little ability to do that really well. HubSpot on the other hand is leading the way with its Smart Content. This Smart Content can live in your emails, on your web site, and even landing pages. Depending on how well you and your HubSpot account knows the person viewing the content it can change it to be more appropriate. Take this recent example I executed with a nonprofit donor campaign. They were able to send out one email to their entire donor list. Though if the recipient was a major and long term donor the copy of the email changed to really emphasize their greater contribution. You could do this on your web site by changing images and content on the front page for the same donors to encourage advocacy. Our content is often stale and we do our audience a disservice by giving them all the same static experiences.
I have been using HubSpot for over a decade now and have primarily used it with volunteer nonprofit organizations. In organizations like that the people using tools like HubSpot often don’t have backgrounds in Marketing or systems. They are just people who are passionate about their cause and are willing to help however they can. It seems like every week there is some new hot app or web site that can help transform your business. Though for me the best tool is the one that real people like you will use and love to use. Not the programmers and tech people that built them. HubSpot is incredibly user friendly and easy to get started on. They even have a completely free online HubSpot Academy where you can take all kinds of video courses on HubSpot and Marketing and Sales strategies.
Ok maybe I should have started with this one. But yes you read that right it is a 100% free CRM for nonprofits. I am still blown away myself by how may features they are just giving away. You can create and manage all your contacts, connect your email, send newsletters, manage tasks, and even create a full website. Though the most exciting Free tool that they recently rolled out is Marketing E-mails. This will mean that you can send beautiful emails with your latest news to customized lists of people that you create. For those of you that know Mailchimp it is like that only built inside your CRM in a far more powerful way.
Now while HubSpot is a Free CRM for nonprofits it is also built to grow with you. So if you are no longer a newbie, and are finding it challenging to scale to the next level, HubSpot has a bunch of different paid plans. These plans can unlock all sorts of amazing automation and marketing features that once again keep you doing what’s most important to you. I have had the privilege of helping dozens of nonprofits grow into HubSpot’s professional offerings.
So if you are wanting to take your marketing and to see sustainable growth let me know by filling out the form below. Seeing it is free you really have nothing to lose. Also while Hubspot does not advertise nonprofit pricing they do give some of the most generous discounts in the industry. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE. Also before connecting with Hubspot feel free to reach out to me and I can help you negotiate and navigate the best price with the HubSpot team.