The Internet asserts its dominance as key influencer for not-for-profit organisations

Major IRIS research shows that organisations are turning to the latest technologies to help them evaluate suppliers and solutions and that better system integration is demanded

A new survey into how not-for-profit organisations select major solutions and what factors are most important for them, confirms two important trends.

Firstly, more and more organisations are turning to the latest technologies to help them make informed decisions and evaluate potential suppliers. Although, word of mouth recommendation is still considered an important influence along with visibility of the organisations using the system, the Internet has become an equally important research tool with organisations happy to conduct their own investigations, with Google emerging as their search engine of choice. Web sites and e-newsletters are also shown to be a critical part of the selection process.

Secondly, organisations are increasingly looking for better integration between their web sites and back office systems to provide the efficiencies so badly needed in today's cost constraint environment. Of those that took part, 74% responded that their back end office systems do not link to their web sites; a requirement that could be influencing a healthy number of organisations (26%) to confirm that they are actively looking for a new CRM system with web integration and online fundraising at the top of their ‘wish' list.

According to the survey carried out by leading not-for-profit software developer, IRIS, many CEOs, Financial Directors and Trustees see the Internet and innovations in technology as the key to winning new supporters, maximising fundraising and communicating better with existing donors. From the information collated from a series of face to face interviews, respondents are looking for cost-effective software solutions that integrate and have the power to run personalised fund-raising and marketing programmes.

When asked to rank price, ease of use, functionality, reputation and after care support in order of importance, ease of use came top, followed by functionality and then by price. Reputation and after care support were found to be the least influential in the selection process.

Simon Fowler, MD of IRIS NFP Solutions said: "Not-for-profit organisations are increasingly using the Internet to research and interact with brands and, in turn, are realising that they need to make their own web sites a highly engaging and personal experience in a bid to encourage supporter loyalty."

Overview: the research polled 108 respondents in the first three months of 2009 in face-to-face interviews at a series of industry specific (ie not-for-profit) conferences.

Key findings: