  What is a CRM?Reading about CiviCRM, you might encounter quite a lot of different terms and concepts that are new or not fully clear to you. Some of them will be technical words or acronyms (for example, module or CMS) and some of them will relate to broad phenomena (such as Free Software or NGO), and the philosophy that underpins CiviCRM. Here we explain the most important definitions and notions, as well as some of the specific ideas that will add to your understanding of CiviCRM. Even if most -- or some -- of these concepts are clear for you, it might still be good to skim through this chapter to get on the same page with other people in CiviCRM world.If you are beginning your adventure with CiviCRM, this is definitely the place to get you into the groove and find explanations that will make further reading easier. What is CRM?There is a vast array of software from both the commercial and open source sectors that belongs to the CRM category. CRM is often understood to be customer relation management: software used to track engagement with current and potential customers from a sales perspective.CiviCRM is similar in concept but is built from the non-profit, not the sales, perspective. So what does a CRM do?One simple answer is that it is a contact database with many additional abilities. Imagine your address book - it's a pretty simple way to keep track of important contact information. Now imagine that every time you make a phone call to a given person, your address book automatically makes a note of it, together with brief description of the conversation and also schedules a follow-up meeting with the contact.After using this address book for a while, you could ask "what were my interactions with a given person?" and it would give you the whole history. Now let's say you're organising a dinner party and you want to invite all the people you've met during the previous year, with party invitations, of course. Just write the invitation and tell your address book to send the email.You don't have to worry about anything else after this point (apart from preparing thedinner!)Your address book handles the RSVPs from all invited guests, together with information about who is vegetarian and who is not and it even lets you know two nights before the event how many people you can expect. It would be great to have such an "assistant", right? Both in your personal life and at your organisation.A large part of non-profits' work is about different interactions with people and organisations;talking to them, doing things together. While in your personal life it's hard to remember all of your meetings, phone calls and other forms of contact (especially in very long term) it's also not crucial to stay on top of all these interactions. With organisations it's completely the opposite - the more you know about the people and organizations you interact with, the more successful your work will be.You'll be able to target your message to specific groups, because you know who will be interested in specific topics, and you'll be able to observe their reactions and adjust your next interaction, and continue to improve how you talk to different groups. Just to give you an example of the wide variety of constituents that are you might need to address, let's try to answer the question: "Who does your organization interact with?" A quick and undoubtedly incomplete list would involve:
At any one time, your organisation will interact with at least a few of these different groups: you'll want to engage with donors in a different way to volunteers, you'll need to exchange information with grantees in a completely different way than event attendees. Over time, the amount and variety of information becomes overwhelming. That's where a CRM comes to the rescue. It will not only allow you to automate different tasks but it will also enable your organization to accumulate the knowledge about different groups of contacts, and communicate with each group in a way most suitable to them. "Constituent"?CiviCRM, unlike most CRMs, is oriented specifically toward the needs of non-profits, advocacy and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). It is for this reason that CiviCRM avoids using the word "Customer", and uses "Constituent" as it better illustrates the interdependent relationships of advocacy and non-profit organizations. Other terms such as "client" and "contact" are also used for the 'C' of 'CRM'. Whatever the 'C' stands for, the main principle of a CRM stays the same - it helps your group or organization track and organize contacts. However CiviCRMs functionality has been designed to support the needs of fund-raising or event organizing activities rather than the process of sales of individual items, although the latter is also supported. What is a database? "CiviCRM is a contact database" - and what is a database? Let's take a look at a quick definition, in case you are not fully familiar with the concept.
So when we talk about databases we are referring to a powerful tool that can store and combine data in interesting ways. CiviCRM is powerful because it leverages these basic features of a database in very smart and useful ways. What is a module?There is one more concept of CiviCRM that deserves a very simple explanation - the module or component. In the context of CiviCRM, and considering the scope of this text, a module is basically a group of functions related to one aspect of organization's work. For example, all of CiviCRM functions that help you manage events have been gathered together in one module called CiviEvent. CiviCRM modules, also referred to as CiviCRM components, can be enabled and disabled as needed. If your organization's activities do not include organizing workshops, conferences or other meetings, you can just disable CiviEvent module to avoid unnecessary complication of the tool - and help keep the interface uncluttered. Once you decide that you want to manage these kinds of activities, the module can be enabled and the functionality will be immediately available for use. The term module also appears in the context of Content Management Systems. The meaning is the same as in CiviCRM - basically modules allow you to extend the functionality of a given CMS or CRM. Further ReadingCustomer Relationship Management on Wikipedia
Database on Wikipedia
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