Lately we've been talking to a number of small not-for-profit and for-purpose organisations that are looking to upgrade their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) capability. Most organisations have heard of the major players in the CRM market, such as Dynamics 365, Salesforce or HubSpot. However, one option many organisations aren’t aware of is Microsoft Power Apps. In this blog we explain the differences between Dynamics 365 and Power Apps, and look at when you should consider implementing a Power Apps CRM.
Dynamics 365 and Power Apps – what are they and when should you use what?
The Dynamics 365 suite of products are first-party apps created by Microsoft using the Power Platform, including Power Apps, Power Automate and Power BI. They are pre-made solutions designed to support specific business processes. For instance, Dynamics 365 Sales is a CRM designed to support organisations in the sales process. Other modules such as Marketing, Customer Service and Field Service provide additional functionality to support activities such as customer segmentation, marketing campaigns, case management and product warranties.
Power Apps is built using the same underlying Microsoft technology as Dynamics 365 and easily integrates with other Microsoft applications, such as Outlook, Teams and SharePoint. Power Apps shares many of the useful features of Dynamics 365, but has the advantage of significantly lower licensing costs.
Power Apps is ideal for small organisations that need to capture information but don't need all the bells and whistles of a full-featured CRM application
While Dynamics 365 Sales is well suited to supporting organisations that follow the traditional sales process (capturing and qualifying leads, sending quotes, creating orders and issuing invoices), Power Apps enables the development of custom solutions tailored to organisations’ unique requirements. This makes Power Apps a good fit for not-for-profit organisations, many of which don’t follow a typical sales process, but still need to capture information about their clients, services, donors and volunteers. A further advantage of a Power Apps CRM is that organisations can start relatively quickly with a small, simple setup, and add further functionality as the organisation grows.
What is Microsoft’s Nonprofit Accelerator?
To support not-for-profits, Microsoft developed the Nonprofit Accelerator – a collection of pre-built CRM components specifically designed to help not-for-profits deliver their programs and measure their impact. By leveraging the Nonprofit Accelerator, organisations can quickly implement a CRM to support activities such as volunteer and donor management, fundraising, program delivery and impact tracking.
Eligible not-for-profits can also access free and discounted Power Apps licensing. Further details can be found in our Microsoft licensing guide for Australian not-for-profits & charities.
How can you get started with a Power Apps CRM?
At Motive Consulting we have experience implementing customised Power Apps CRM solutions for not-for-profits. Get in touch to find out how we can help your organisation develop its CRM capability.
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