There are a lot of project management software solutions out there because let’s face it, we need them! But having another stand-alone tool that may or may not integrate with your other systems is fortunately fast becoming a thing of the past. For those in the nonprofit sector seeking to embrace (and demand!) a single source technology solution for all of your organization’s operational workflows, project management is at long last becoming recognized as an equal among other mission-critical functions such as email marketing, and event management. As such we are now starting to see project management modules coming standard within CRMs, and it is an expectation worth having. This is because when all your project by project activity is centralized, you can easily collaborate with team members and stakeholders as well as leverage information stored across modules to inform reporting and keep things both related and organized. This kind of approach is the key to successful project outcomes and the reason why every industry has come to expect it as a bedrock tool.

But for nonprofits that might have considered a project management tool in the category of luxury items, we thought we would offer some insight into what to look for when evaluating a project management solution:

  1. Is it collaborative internally and externally? All staff, project partners, vendors, and other stakeholders should be welcomed to the project with a simple invite. If project management is a module within your CRM, you can create users with limited roles so they only have access to the specific project they are involved with.
  2. Can you communicate within the boundaries of the project? With so many emails, phone calls, and chats among project collaborators, communication is far more efficient and organized when it is all captured within the confines of the particular project. Rather than searching through your inbox and voicemails, you should be able to find any related communication with ease and engage in a closed conversation from within the project.
  3. Every project should have a story – but only one please. Often called “Feeds,” this is the area of your project management software where you can see all the activity related to a project as it happens in an unfolding timeline. This is a dream in the “objective version of events” department, ensuring transparency throughout project phases and a historical reference should it be needed.
  4. So, where are we? The ability to track milestones is another key to successful project management. These are the key indicators of progress and benchmarks against which adjustments and refinements can be made in managing stakeholder expectations.
  5. Who is doing what? Assigning project specific tasks is another critical function of project management. This ensures coordination and accountability and keeps everyone working in concert. Tasks should have status updates, notes, and owners, as well as a comments section to post updates on revisions, etc.
  6. Pretty please. As with all things, your project management module should have a friendly, intuitive interface that new users invited to the project can acclimate to quickly, so if you are considering a stand-alone product, take a test drive first.
  7. Project-specific calendars. Seeing a visual of tasks and activities happening on a weekly and monthly basis gives a full overview of events without cluttering your other organizational calendars with information that is only project relevant.
  8. Project-specific reporting and dashboards. These tools add another layer of value and give users both scheduled reporting options so project aspects like budgeting updates or associated campaigns can be shared among stakeholders, (including boards and committees that may not be invited into the CRM project space). Dashboards offer at-a-glimpse reference visuals for all project activities and progress in real time, catching each user up as soon as they enter the project module.
  9. Document storage per project. Another key to any great project management software as the ability to have contracts, invoices, and any other related documentation in a centralized, shareable space is what allows organization and collaboration to flow into efficient execution. Within some CRM’s you can integrate with Google Drive or similar, but its best to have that storage built in already.

For nonprofits, in particular, a project management solution is not only an effective internal coordination tool, but it can also dovetail to augment your CRM’s program management module and be used in tracking projects related to your programs (it’s also another reason why a customizable program management module should be part of your CRM, but that’s a blog for another day). And if your financial software is part of your CRM, well, you can imagine the possibilities – your CFO will love you everytime he or she doesn’t have to track down a receipt or invoice, or you yourself to determine what program a project related income or expense is associated with. So embrace project management software for the gains it brings and come to expect it as part of your CRM – power to the user!

For more information on how Nonprofit Vertical Source CRM can empower your nonprofit, click here.

Here’s a quick video introduction to Nonprofit Vertical Source CRM’s project management module: