First and foremost, tell us about ToucanTech! How did you come to set up ToucanTech and what were your goals?
I’m a big believer in the power of well-connected communities, and have experienced the benefits of engaging with professional networks first-hand through my school, university and corporate alumni groups. Along with my business partner, Sian Morley-Smith, I had previously built and sold a successful media business called BusinessBecause which leveraged the power of an engaged, niche network; connecting MBA and masters applicants to like minded students and business schools around the world.
We established ToucanTech in 2014 to provide community-focused organisations with easy-to-use software that helps to manage donors and prospects, send segmented emails and offers a private online portal for networking, events and discussion.
What exactly is an all-in-one CRM, database and community platform? What makes it important for modern schools, organisations and charities?
Put simply, it’s one system that helps community managers connect their donors/supporters and prospect data with their email and events systems, and create a private platform to engage with community members.
So many organisations with a rich history, like schools and universities, have grown gradually and accumulated a long list of separate systems that aren’t integrated with one another, or even connected to their central database. Working in this way has a huge impact on human resources because it means that manual, administrative tasks take precedence over creative campaigns.
Education and charitable organisations will struggle to maintain the level of fundraising they need to thrive, and protect the community or cause that they support, as in-person opportunities diminish. Digital fundraising and virtually connected communities are two hugely important areas for ToucanTech to be facilitating at this time, and we are really proud of that.
Is it a time saver, and more importantly, does it help companies secure more funding?
Absolutely! One of the main reasons that development/advancement teams and fundraisers struggle to identify potential donors is that they are missing important signals that people visiting your website or opening your emails can leave behind. Failing to act on these indicators and choosing to focus your team’s energy elsewhere is a huge time waster, because it’s widely accepted that building engagement and affinity with your community over time is the best way to secure future donations.
Time sunk into siloed systems could be spent on building better donor relationships. By saving time (and money!) on multiple systems that don’t work in synergy, professional fundraisers can build smarter strategies using donor data, resulting in repeat donations.
Which industries and sectors benefit most from working with the ToucanTech software? Who are your current customers, and who do you hope to help in future?
ToucanTech can help any community organisation connect to their network of supporters. We are constantly working on developing the software so it’s better suited to more customer segments, and we are really pleased to see so many unique organisations approach us with ideas for how to put the technology into practice.
Currently, we work with four main customer segments, each capitalising on the solutions in their own individual ways: education-focused organisations like schools, colleges, universities and specialised higher education institutes; charities and not-for-profits, clubs, such as membership, sports clubs or professional associations, and finally, corporate communities (e.g. to connect former employees or current customers) are also a growing group that ToucanTech can support.
Are customers coming to ToucanTech from other community and database solutions, or are they mostly replacing spreadsheets with software?
Both – we work with complex data migrations from the biggest database providers servicing our sectors, as well as bringing schools and grassroots charities onto their first database. Because of the support of our expert data team, support staff and training leads, we make the onboarding process as painless as possible, however they were managing their community data previously.
What are the biggest roadblocks that customers face when implementing a CRM/community platform and how do you help them overcome these challenges?
Lack of confidence can be a factor in preventing some people from taking the step towards managing a single integrated system, because it can feel like a big responsibility. However, it’s arguably more risky to run all of your activity across several disconnected platforms! Data migration is complicated, which is why we put this in the very capable hands of our in-house data team, who take care to get to know the community at hand.
Lack of resources can also have a role to play in the decision making process, which is why we always reassure customers that ToucanTech saves you time, even in a team of one! Our in-house training and support teams are always on hand to offer advice and guidance, and we also provide design services to help launch community platforms in the most impactful way.
How is ToucanTech helping organisations adapt to life and work amid COVID-19?
COVID-19 has created some big challenges for every sector, but it has also pushed digital innovation and adoption forward. ToucanTech has been powering digital fundraising for causes around the globe; we’ve made it easy for our customers to launch and promote COVID-specific funds, as well as helping to connect remote communities through virtual networking, online events, and publishing regular content.
We’re also seeing more schools providing online career support, mentoring and guidance to alumni, which is a vital way in which we can help young people to enter the workforce in a more supported way, with the jobs market under its current strain.
What factors should organisations consider when choosing a fundraising or community platform?
Choosing a new fundraising or community platform is a great time to consider the needs of your organisation and how you can become more effective. We would recommend asking questions such as:
Can my whole team use this to carry out their roles effectively?
Consider that you might need different admin settings, and you’ll likely need a system that allows multiple users access at the same time. With ToucanTech, you can choose from 5 different levels of access, and rest assured that your whole team – trained up by the ToucanTech customer team – can access the system at once, making remote working easy.
What do I need my community or fundraising platform to do?
Think from your team’s perspective, and your customers’ perspective – how will they use this platform day-to-day? Are there specific pain points that you are experiencing now that you can solve by choosing a new provider? With ToucanTech, we make it easy for users and administrators to find the features they want to use.
How can I show my stakeholders what I’m actually doing?
Visualising and reporting is an essential part of your new platform; proving your ROI on activities is simple with the ToucanTech donor pipeline and in-built engagement filters. Find out what your donors are engaging with, what they’ve pledged and how close they are to donating in a few clicks.
Will this platform be future-proof?
Will this platform grow with our needs and enable us to do everything we’ll want to achieve in the next few years without having to switch again? Switching databases takes time, so you’ll want to ensure that your software will move with you as your organisation grows and matures, and can meet your needs every step of the way. Our customers recommend us for our flexibility and responsiveness to customer feedback: we’re always planning ahead to provide the features that will make your job easier, and help you to raise more!
Tell us more about ToucanTech. What are its key features and capabilities? How does it compare to other community/CRM software available in the market?
ToucanTech does more than just sync up the parts of your organisation that may have been working out of alignment. As one of the only software systems to integrate your communications, database and community website, you can access a holistic view of your fundraising and donor activities, from email open rates to event attendance, giving you greater precision when it comes to planning.
Our customers consistently tell us that our excellent training and support, combined with the range of product functionality, are key differentiators compared with other community/ CRM systems.
Kate Jillings, Co-founder, ToucanTech
Kate is the co-founder of ToucanTech, a community software with a powerful CRM, flexible website and member portal/ app. ToucanTech helps organisations save time and increase engagement with an easy system to manage marketing, fundraising, alumni and careers activities. Based between London and Lisbon, Kate’s the trustee of an HIV educational charity, MADaboutART. She read PPE at Oxford before working in commercial roles at GlaxoSmithKline, BNP Paribas, TruRating and BusinessBecause.