 Nonprofits are no strangers to resource constraints, but fragmented technology stacks—scattered CRMs, disjointed databases, and siloed tools create avoidable bottlenecks that drain time, money, and trust. When systems like fundraising, volunteers, and membership management operate in isolation, teams waste energy navigating chaos instead of advancing their mission. Here’s how disconnected systems hold nonprofits back—and why complete integration isn’t just a luxury, but a necessity for nonprofit organizations.
The Problem with Siloed Systems Without true integration, nonprofits grapple with systems that “talk past” each other. Data lives in spreadsheets, email threads, or outdated databases, forcing staff to manually hunt for answers. Picture a fundraiser sending a letter to an old address because the last update was in the volunteer system. Or a grant writer missing a deadline because the program team’s impact metrics weren’t synced to their calendar. These aren’t just hypotheticals—they’re daily frustrations that erode donor trust, strain teams, and jeopardize funding. Disparate systems create:
How Disconnected Tools Hurt Key Nonprofit Functions Volunteer Management: Inefficiency Drives Burnout Without integration, volunteer coordinators juggle multiple platforms to post opportunities, track hours, and communicate. The result?
Impact: Burnout for staff, disengagement for volunteers. Fundraising: Strained Donor Relationships When donation platforms, email tools, and CRMs don’t sync, fundraisers operate blind:
Program Management: Undermining Your Impact Story Disconnected program data makes it impossible to prove outcomes:
Membership & Communications: Alienating Your Base When membership databases don’t sync with outreach tools:
The Ripple Effects of Disconnection The consequences of fragmented systems go beyond operational headaches, they affect missions at their core, holding nonprofit organizations back and lowering the impact each dollar has:
Ready to stop losing hours (and funding) to siloed systems? Schedule a free nonprofit vision consultation with InfoGrow today to discuss how your organization can:
Schedule your free nonprofit vision consultation today!
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 If Dynamics CRM feels more like a burden than a solution, you’re not alone. Many businesses invest in Dynamics expecting it to be a magic fix, only to find themselves frustrated with low adoption, bad data, and inefficiencies. When this happens, the blame often falls on the software—or worse, on the team responsible for implementing it.
The Real Reasons CRM Fails Over the years working with organizations to get more out of their Dynamics investment, almost every CRM failure shared a few common themes: Resistance to Change CRM isn’t just a new system—it’s a shift in how people work. When organizations fail to prepare employees for change, resistance builds. Teams revert to old habits, find workarounds, or ignore the CRM altogether. Successful adoption requires clear communication, phased rollouts, and ongoing reinforcement to ensure lasting change. IT teams work hard to configure and support CRM systems, but technology alone can’t drive success. Without the right planning, training, and alignment, even the best CRM will fail to deliver. Lack of Buy-In Lack of support from users can stem from many sources, but at its core, it comes down to change resistance. People are naturally hesitant to adopt new systems, especially if they don’t clearly see how those changes will make their jobs easier. If users aren’t shown how the CRM will save them time, reduce effort, or improve efficiency, they’ll be reluctant to embrace it. Additionally, introducing too many changes at once can feel overwhelming, leading employees to push back or revert to old habits. Minimal or One-Time Training Many businesses treat CRM training as a one-and-done event, leaving users to figure out the system on their own. But as features evolve and teams change, CRM proficiency declines. Without ongoing, role-specific training, employees won’t fully leverage the system, leading to inconsistent usage, frustration, and eventually, abandoning the system entirely. No Clear Processes A CRM is only as good as the workflows behind it. Without structured, documented processes—such as how leads are entered, tracked, and followed up on—data becomes inconsistent, and the system loses value. IT can build a technically sound CRM, but without alignment between sales, marketing, and leadership, it won’t deliver meaningful insights or efficiency gains. How to Fix the Problem Here’s the truth: Dynamics CRM struggles are rarely about the technology itself. More often, they stem from people issues—lack of strategic planning, poor change management, insufficient training, and misalignment between teams. CRM should be treated as a business strategy, not just a software implementation. To truly succeed requires: Proactive Change Management CRM adoption requires more than just flipping a switch. Leadership must actively address resistance, communicate the benefits clearly, and involve key stakeholders early in the process to create a sense of ownership. Planning your rollout is crucial to minimizing disruption and keeping resistance low—gradually introducing changes allows teams to adapt, provide feedback, and build confidence in the system. A User-Centered Approach Instead of forcing CRM as a top-down directive, engage teams in shaping how the system works for them. Gather feedback, streamline workflows to reduce manual entry, and ensure the CRM enhances—not disrupts—their daily tasks. When users feel heard and see how the CRM improves their daily work, they are far more likely to embrace it—turning the system into a valuable tool rather than a frustrating obligation. Ongoing Training CRM isn’t a one-time setup; teams need continuous education to stay engaged and maximize its potential. Regular training, role-based learning sessions, and quick-reference guides help reinforce adoption over time and ensures that teams are capable of using the system to its full potential. Expert Support A CRM isn’t just about software—it requires the right strategy. InfoGrow helps businesses implement CRM in a way that aligns with their goals, ensuring a structured rollout, hands-on support, and expert guidance every step of the way to drive long-term success. Learn the Truth About CRM. Download the 17 CRM Truths Every IT Director Must Know Today! Want to understand more about why CRM struggles persist—and how to fix them? Our guide, 17 CRM Truths Every IT Director Must Know, reveals the core issues that sabotage CRM success and offers actionable solutions to turn things around. Click here to get your copy today!  When creating and maintaining a sales process, many businesses focus far too deeply on their current state, challenges, and goals. This is obviously an important piece of the puzzle, but there is often little thought into what will happen to these processes as they scale.
It seems strange to say, but growth can cause a lot of problems for your business if you aren't prepared. What works on a list of 50 people might take too much time to do with 500. In today's article, we will discuss some common challenges we see businesses face as they begin to grow, how you can spot these issues before they occur, and what to do about it. Common Challenges Too much manual work Often, the most obvious problem we come across is everyone doing too much work! Now in most cases, a lot of work being done is a good sign. But when that work is manually updating information in spreadsheets, comparing multiple lists to get a full picture of a customer, and constantly switching between applications, there isn’t much time left to focus on strategy and execution. Think about your sales/lead management processes step by step. Consider the amount of personal input required for each of the steps, are you doing the same thing without much thought every time, or does this step need a bit of personalization to be effective? Steps that are very similar or the same every time can likely be automated, freeing up time to focus on those where a personal touch matters and adds value. Misalignment with Other Departments The second issue we often discover is a misalignment with other departments within the business. This is a bit harder for an organization to spot as at a top level, departments are obviously working towards the same goal: the success of the company, so they are aligned, right? Alignment is much deeper than just having the same goal, it starts from the planning stage and extends to how information is stored and what is being done with it. The most common cause of this misalignment is data silos, when different departments, units, or sometimes even people have different databases they work out of, with no communication between this data. Even with the perfect plan that takes everything into account, unexpected things will happen, and disconnected databases will at least cause a slowdown to compare information, and at its’ worst, cause miscommunications and lose opportunities for your business. Not Leveraging Technology Effectively Businesses often invest heavily in their technology, but not nearly as much in the plan behind it. Having a detailed plan and clear goals for your technology is crucial for achieving true, sustainable growth. Technology like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are not just magical tools that inherently improve your sales process. Instead, they are platforms that allow for more streamlined and efficient operations, but only when used correctly. CRM systems, for instance, offer a centralized place to store customer information, track interactions, and manage leads. However, without a well-thought-out strategy, these systems can quickly become underutilized repositories of data. It's essential to define specific objectives and workflows that align with your business goals to leverage the full potential of your technology investments. This includes regular training for your team, continuous evaluation of the system's performance, and making necessary adjustments to stay agile. In essence, technology should be seen as an enabler rather than the solution. By integrating it thoughtfully into your sales process with a clear roadmap, you can enhance your team's productivity, improve customer relationships, and ultimately drive growth that is both scalable and sustainable. What Can You Do? The only way to find and fix these issues is to take a step back and evaluate how your processes and technology align with business goals and objectives. Continuous analysis and improvement are critical as your business grows. A growing business needs processes that evolve with it, ensuring sustainability and scalability. By regularly reviewing and refining your processes, you can identify inefficiencies, adapt to changing market conditions, and maintain a competitive edge. Take the first step towards transforming your sales processes and achieving your business goals. Reach out to us today and let us guide you to sustainable success. Together, we can turn your challenges into opportunities and your aspirations into achievements. Contact InfoGrow today to learn more.  Grants can be a major source of funding for any nonprofit organization, however the discovery and application process for these grants can be a little intimidating for a smaller organization. Here are some tips and great resources you can check out to help you in your search for grants.
...if your account managers are following your sales process?  Most software ROI calculations are built off of two tenets: sell more or cut costs. The problem that most organizations run into is that they have no solid numbers to address either; “sell how much more”, or “save how much time” can be elusive concepts.
I suggest that there are three fundamental business objectives that sales, marketing, and service must focus on and can be used to justify a Dynamics CRM system: 1) find more customers like our best ones, 2) keep the ones we want, and 3) increase profitable transactions.  No Longer Just a Sales System
CRM software (Customer Relationship Management) has evolved to support organizational business goals across the enterprise; sales, marketing, customer service, relationship building, field service and project management. For non-profits the utilization reaches beyond these areas to include membership management, fundraising, variance in quality, case worker scheduling and volunteer management. A well-implemented Dynamics CRM will focus users on achieving the business goals, both with processes and behaviors monitoring. While a poorly implemented deployment will waste time and money and cause needless frustration for your employees, partners and customers. Why the focus on implementation and not the software?  As we determine the deployment requirements for Dynamics CRM, one of our first discovery questions we ask for is a copy of the sales process. It is still quite surprising how many organizations do not have a documented process. We are often told that sales process is something that “all the account managers know”. Sometimes there might be an elaborate Visio diagram tucked away, out of sight, generated by a previous VP of Sales, which outlines an unusual number of steps, however, today no one on the sales team is aware of or following. Even when a sales process is unearthed, quite often there is no role for marketing in the process.
According to Objective Management Group http://www.objectivemanagement.com/ 92% of the companies whose sales force they evaluate have ineffective, incomplete, non-existent sales processes, or sales processes that their people don’t follow.  The COVID-19 pandemic has had a staggering impact on us all, affecting everything from the way we do business to the way we grocery shop. Unfortunately, it’s no secret that the negative impacts of COVID-19 disproportionally affect vulnerable populations including the elderly.
Flaws in hospice care, home health care and nursing home care are not new, but the pandemic has certainly magnified shortcomings to a shocking degree More than a fifth of the deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. are residents of nursing homes. That is an estimated 150,000+ deaths so far. How can administrators fix health / hospice care problems?  There are three types of Microsoft Dynamics CRM failures that I have encountered:
Notice what I didn’t mention – Picking the wrong CRM system. Very seldom does a Dynamics 365 CRM project fail because the wrong CRM software was selected. Especially when that software is Microsoft Dynamics 365, one of the most modern and versatile CRM solutions on the market today. The problem I see most often is that Dynamics CRM has been implemented as a technology project and not as a change management effort.  Dear Bob, As a national sales manager, I have a full-time job already. While recognizing that using a CRM is an evolving tool where users need to be given direction and and behaviors that I want must be monitored, I am just not finding the additional time in my day. I tend to only focus on how Dynamics is working just before each quarterly sales meeting. In that sales meeting, I bark out directives on how we are going to start using the tool more effectively. What should I be doing different? - Jon Dear Jon,
Your first step is to change your mindset about how you and your team use Dynamics CRM. It is not an add-on task for you or your team. Rather it is your primary sales process and management tool. Bob, We deployed Dynamics CRM about four years ago, and frankly I don’t think we have moved the needle in the last few years to get enough value out of the tool. What should we be doing different? - Jake Dear Jake,
Deploying and using CRM is a moving through a maturity process. The first step is understanding that you need a phased plan – a roadmap. Your plan must have measurable milestones. With everyone in the organization having the ability to visualize the key KPIs en route, and make adjustments in the roadmap as needed.  Bob, Is there a way in Dynamics 365 connect a survey tool to our CRM contact data and use a workflow to send out an email survey in follow-up to customer service calls? - Mary Ann Dear Mary Ann, Absolutely, in fact there is a better way. Your Dynamics 365 Online application delivers with a module that you can use not only for case follow-up but other surveys that will help you understand customers’ needs and if you are measuring up to their expectations. Dynamics 365 Customer Voice is a much overlooked, but highly effective application that ingrates with your CRM contact data. What questions can you use to help determine if a client needs their CRM Refreshed?
A good starting point for a conversation is asking the CEO/Owner how well is their current CRM system telling them:
 Covid-19 has amplified inequalities in our communities and around the world. As the demand for nonprofit services grows significantly, resources and funding are tightening up. For many nonprofits, there has never been more pressure to find ways to do more with less – increase the scale of your operations, improve efficiency, and protect your beneficiaries’ and donors’ data. During a period when many organizations are still struggling to overcome the challenges of the pandemic, some cloud providers are reducing their cloud grant for nonprofits. For example, AWS is currently offering $1,000 (USD) in cloud grants, down from $2,000 (USD).
Microsoft is positioned to play an important role in addressing this pressure and unlocking new opportunities for nonprofits. Microsoft offers a $3,500 USD annual Azure grant to eligible nonprofit organizations – currently more than 3x what AWS offers. Microsoft Azure helps nonprofit organizations reduce costs, manage infrastructure constraints, enhance your organization’s security posture, and scale up or down based on your needs. In addition to the grant, there are several tools and offers that can help nonprofits make the most of Azure:
Get started with your Azure grant today. Bob, I need to flush out the details of our customer's sales process with their team, how do I get started? Jack, National Sales Manager Jack,
It is great that you are thinking about getting everyone rowing in the same direction. Establishing sales stages and writing out clear definitions of what is expected to happen in each stage provides everyone with a common language for discussing opportunities in the pipeline. It will cut down deals getting lost and account managers “blowing smoke” about closing statuses. 
Bob,
We have been so focused on getting Dynamics right for our sales process that we have neglected our service side. What is the best way to bring their calls, request for returns and quality issues, tracked in a separate system, into a company-wide view of the customer? Gabrielle Dear Gabrielle, It’s good you are thinking along the lines that there is value in having one-view of your relationship with a customer. Too often I see account managers needing to chase down customer services issues before a client call, or that service is fixing an old product, or worse yet, a competitive product, that if sales knew they would want to replace 
Our clients don’t have time to waste in today’s fast-paced marketplace. To stay agile, with your help, they are adopting new business models, enabling remote work, and looking to you for solutions.
You can help their sales and marketing teams optimize processes, transform insights, and enable remote collaboration with Dynamic 365 CRM and InfoGrow’s guidance. What Customers Are Saying 
New capabilities available now in Microsoft Fundraising and Engagement
I am excited to share new capabilities available now in Fundraising and Engagement, part of Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit, to help nonprofits across the globe exceed their fundraising goals, serve more beneficiaries, and deliver more effective programs. 
Bob,
I keep seeing notices about Power Apps and really not grasping what value they might add to our use of Dynamics. Might you explain and provide some examples? Judy Dear Judy, Microsoft has provided a suite of apps, services, connectors and data platform that all make up the bundle called PowerApps. These apps are part of the Microsoft Power Platform, that includes PowerApps, Power BI and Power Automate. Dear Bob, Where can I get the latest insights as to what changes and enhancements are coming down for Dynamics 365 CRM? - Jackie Dear Jackie,
We maintain a video library on our website - check out the Dynamics 365 CRM Coming Soon tab. 
Dear Bob, I have a client asking me what is difference between a free CRM system and Dynamics? Since free is always good - how do I provide him with guidance? -- Phil, MSP Dear Phil,
For getting started, the simple answer is that any CRM will do. A CRM system is like a young child. At first, the focus is just getting the child to talk and walk. Long term, however, you want them to mature, learning and do more. As your client moves to do more, mature with their CRM system, that is where a basic tool and more advance tool quickly separate.  Dear Bob, My CFO is asking if our Dynamics CRM deployment was worth the cost. We are in year three of our use of Dynamics and I was not here for the decision to purchase. How do I respond? -- Jack, New Sales Manager Dear Jack,
Since you were not part of the decision process it will be difficult for you collect all of the deployment cost to build your case. I therefore suggest using a combination of the following approaches: 
Dear Bob, We are an IT Services company. I have a client who uses Dynamics 365 CRM - but they're really frustrated with the tool. I would like to help them but the whole CRM business model is not a good fit for us. I also don’t want to lose my relationship with the client by just passing them off to anyone. However, I know that if I don’t take action soon the client will go out on their own looking for help, which might cut me out altogether. What options do I have? -- John Dear John,
A majority of CRM referrals that we get from our IT Managed Service partners are existing Dynamics 365 CRM users who are stuck and highly frustrated. They are not getting the results they expected, and your client’s problem can easily cause you grief. |
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