CRM systems are an indispensable feature of all arts organizations, yet many companies are priced out of the industry’s best options. One new, low-cost player on this scene is Neon.

Neon is a platform, which tracks activities and interactions with donors, volunteers, and board members. Although it doesn’t have an independent ticketing system, it does integrate fully with tools like Eventbrite to facilitate ticket sales. Neon also integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks. During a fundraising campaign, an organization can automatically input their fundraising data into reports for financial review. Neon can also input this information into dashboards, giving the organization a way to manage financial data more effectively. 

In addition, the Constituent Portal function allows anyone with an account inside a Neon Database to see and update their information. They can set their own schedules and feel included in a way that may be hard to foster through a small development department. The images below depict a sample constituent account, within a sample Neon database. From this view, a constituent’s basic contact information, giving history, and relationships are all accessible.

Scrolling down further, shows how each profile can be customized based on a constituent’s level of engagement. In addition to constituent tags, there are fields of information that can be edited to an organization’s exact data collection needs.

Neon also builds custom fundraising campaigns. Each campaign can be fitted with a company’s branding and integrated into their website. The campaign is structured in an outside website consisting of a banner with the company’s logo, color and background choices, and the ability to add individualized text and pictures to the form. While this functions well as a sharable campaign platform on most websites it is still clear that donors are leaving the original website and accessing a form. There is some work to be done before this transition is so smooth that a donor doesn’t even realize they have left the original company’s website.

Organizations can automate emails based on certain actions that constituents make within the organization’s database. For example, an organization can make a template for a gift acknowledgement letter, scheduled to be sent out whenever a donor makes a gift of a specified size. 

Depending on the package, Neon offers personal customer support. Ticket support by phone and email is included in all Neon plans, with varying levels of live chat and live video support available as add-ons or as features of more expensive plans. However, 73% of Neon’s customer support staff come from nonprofit fundraising backgrounds.

This is a platform that was made for small nonprofits, by a small nonprofit. Costs are scaled based on the number of constituents used, so prices are kept lower for smaller organizations. Clients can start small at $50 for only 1000 records or large at $1300 a month for up to 250,000 records and unlimited support. With the amount of customization, it’s likely that most nonprofits can find a starting point here that they can grow with for many years to come.

References

“About Us: Neon CRM”. Z2 Systems Inc. Accessed September 26th, 2017. https://www.neoncrm.com/about/

Harpster, Caitlin (Director of Development at the Mattress Factory). Interview by Taylor Wilkerson. September 25th, 2017. Transcript.

Idealware Staff. “10 Things to Consider in a CRM”. Idealware, LLC. May 2012, Updated 2014. http://www.idealware.org/10-things-consider-crm/

“Pricing”. Z2 Systems Inc. Accessed October 10th, 2017. https://www.neoncrm.com/pricing/

Woodfill, Scott (Sales Associate at Neon CRM). Interview by Taylor Wilkerson. September 20th, 2017. Video.

“Welcome to the Mattress Factory”. The Mattress Factory. Accessed September 26th, 2017. http://www.mattress.org/