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Increasing engagement with members who provide health services in remote areas of Australia

An Australian health professionals association

Configuring CiviCRM and importing existing data is only part of the solution.

Training for staff using the system is the key to good data management and reducing administrative work.

Organizational focus
Public Health
Organization type
Association
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Background

The organisation needed a new website that was easy to maintain, responsive for mobile users, reduced the administrative workload of managing memberships, and made it easier for health workers in remote parts of Australia to find the support they need.

Challenges

The initial CiviCRM project included:
  • Configuring CiviCRM to meet their unique needs
  • Importing data
  • Styling CiviCRM pages to suit their responsive website theme
  • More features added after the initial launch
Training for staff using the system was the key to making sure the project was a success.
 

Solution

The organisation's primary objectives were engagement with their members rather than product sales.
By choosing a CRM designed for the community sector, the terminology and features available in the system were a better match for the way they engage with members and the tasks completed by their staff.

Functionality

This was a complex CiviCRM installation.

The organisation used CiviCRM to manage online webinars, match people in a mentoring program, multiple membership types, a member search feature integrated with Google Maps, and custom reports and Groups.

Most of the staff involved had no previous experience with a CRM, and had been working from spreadsheets.

Key factors in the success of this project included:

Data migration

Agileware's work to import existing data into the new CiviCRM installation saved the organisation many hours of effort doing this themselves, at a time when the CiviCRM system was still new to their staff.

Training

Agileware provided multiple training sessions, with some sessions covering just one complex aspect of the system in detail. As staff at the organisation have changed, Agileware continue to provide training to new staff to help them settle into their new work smoothly. While CiviCRM is more intuitive for community sector organisations than some other CRMs, its flexibility does mean that there is a lot to cover, especially for staff who do not have previous CRM experience.

Ongoing support

Agileware provides ongoing support for CiviCRM and the website. This means that the organisation's staff do not need to know the answer to every question about their installation, as they can call on Agileware for help any time they need it without having to worry about unexpected invoices.

Agileware is a Canberra local small business, providing IT professional and software development services.
 
Since our beginning in 2002, we have launched websites, Client Relationship Management systems, and online applications for a wide range of Government agencies, commercial businesses, and non-profit community sector organisations.
 
We also provide website hosting, and software support services.