Five Proven Tips to Make Your Nonprofit Software Selection Project Successful

At this time of year, many nonprofits are nearing the end of their software selection projects and will begin implementing their chosen systems after the wonderful craziness of the end of the year has passed. I hope these tips will help you successfully conclude your selection project.

1.   Complete a Discovery project with your new vendors before signing a big contract.
Multi-year contracts take a long time to finalize. This process can take months to complete; I have seen it take over a year in some cases. This corresponds to valuable time lost. Often, it is necessary to negotiate multiple contracts for a given project, e.g., you may need to finalize contracts with both your software vendor and a third party that will be implementing the product for you.  

I recommend that while you negotiate your long-term contracts, you put in place small contracts with your vendors for a Discovery phase. The Discovery phase can happen in parallel with the long-term contract negotiations.  

During this time, work with your vendors to:

a.    Evolve your user stories into configuration specifications.
b.    Map your data to the new systems
c.    Finish your Change Management Plan.
d.    Finish your Staffing Plan.
e.    Develop a detailed Implementation Plan.
f.     Refine project cost estimates.
g.    Communicate with all stakeholders.

Perhaps most importantly, you will get to know your vendors and your chosen products better than you ever could during the Selection phase. Once, as CIO of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, we discovered that neither the vendor nor the product was as good a fit as we had hoped when we made our selection. When we reached the end of the Discovery phase, we parted ways with that vendor and established a very successful long-term relationship with the company that had been the runner-up during the selection project.

2.   Ensure that everyone involved with the project knows if they are a recommender, a decider, neither, or both.
At the beginning of every project, it’s beneficial to name the individuals who will be part of the decision-making group and those who will be part of the group that makes the initial recommendations to the decision-making body.

There is no better way to ruin the momentum gained during the Selection phase than not communicating to people that they are making a recommendation but are not making the final decision when they believe that the reverse is true! Unfortunately, I have seen this happen, and the damage is hard to overcome.

Like with most things, one size doesn’t need to fit all. You can have one group recommend and another group decide. There can be overlap between the groups. There can even be just one group. As long as everyone involved understands their roles, making the final decision should go smoothly.

3.   Select your implementation partner separately from your software vendor.
Nonprofit software vendors are shifting to a delivery model where third-party system integrators are responsible for the implementation phase. Nonprofit vendors with this model include Blackbaud (on some projects), Engaging Networks, Microsoft, and Salesforce. I really like this model as most software companies struggle to deliver effective professional services.

During the selection phase, software vendors will typically bring one implementation vendor to the table. If you are not comfortable with that vendor, you do not have to use that vendor. However, clients are often not told that they have a choice in the matter.

Nonprofits should be evaluating the implementation vendors with as much vigor as they evaluate their software options. The implementation vendor is a company you will be working with closely for months upon months to implement the new system, and your relationship with that vendor will determine your success.

I always tell people to be “ruthlessly selfish” when it comes to hiring your direct reports. Nonprofit leaders should do this when selecting their implementation partners. It doesn’t take much time to identify and evaluate your alternatives, so please do take this time. If you don’t know who to consider, reach out and I will give you some alternatives.

4.   Check references, particularly references not provided by the vendor.
I am often surprised by how little time is spent checking references. References provided by the vendor are typically overwhelmingly positive – as would be expected. The lost opportunity is that most don’t take the time to reach out to their network and see what others have to say about their experiences with the vendors you are evaluating.

Nonprofits should check three to five references not provided by the vendor. You are certain to hear something that will impact your decision or how you approach implementing the selected solutions. Again, if you would like to be connected with someone who has experience with a vendor you are evaluating, please reach out to me and I will connect you with someone if possible.

5.   Have enough people to implement the new software effectively.
You already know implementations are, at best, tough. So, during the Discovery phase I mentioned earlier, develop a Staffing Plan that leverages all of your options for staffing the Implementation phase.

Please make sure the staff you assign to the project can handle both the project’s demands and the demands of their regular duties. If staff members need some work taken off their plate, bring in backfill resources and delegate those tasks necessary to keep your existing system operational while freeing up time for your current staff to focus on the new system.

Former employees can be a good source for this extra help. You may also need to bring in some contractors and consultants to ease the burden. You can also leverage your vendor and your implementation partner for additional resources. Your goal is to ensure that the project gets enough attention to be successful. No one will remember the cost of doing this. However, they will remember the pain of a troubled implementation…for a decade!

I wish all of you the best as you begin your new implementation projects!

My name is David Price and I help nonprofits with their technology strategy and projects. To schedule lunch or talk about anything of interest, you can reach me at david@dvprice.com.