Focus On: DRM: Mastering the Virtual Handshake

Are you leveraging e-mail and your Web site to develop new and repeat donor relationships? Can you measure the retention rate of your current donors? Do you have processes in place to communicate with donors at critical stages of their life cycle?

Where should you start to apply DRM? The correct answer is not “all of the above.” Choose only two areas, at most, to focus on initially.

While driving with your learner’s permit, you’ll only be accomplishing a few simple goals. But by the time you’ve completed those goals, you’ll have a much better feeling for what your long-term needs are.

Your next project should be to assemble a complete plan for all the goals you want to accomplish. For example: Are you ready to invest in a system that will require significant training for every employee, or do you need something that works quietly in the background with relatively few changes required in the day-to-day routine of your staff? What is your software budget? How will you prioritize all the goals of your DRM plan? When do you expect a payoff — six, 12, 18 or 24 months?

Choose your partner
Most organizations will choose to work with an outside partner both during and after the DRM learner’s stage. Don’t expect every vendor to be supportive of the learner’s approach. Most companies prefer to have long-term projects with a guaranteed budget. Make sure you partner with a company that is committed to piloting DRM through the learner’s stage without a long-term contract in place.

DRM involves so many specialized areas that it’s tempting to select a variety of firms to help you. But selecting too many vendors leads to steeper learning curves, miscommunication and no accountability for a single vendor. The best approach is to choose a single vendor who is not biased (i.e., not trying to sell you a particular piece of software — but who wants you to choose the right solution for your organization); can give you advice and expertise related to sales, service, marketing and technology; and can implement projects for you.