Getting started

At the beginning of a CRM project you'll need to do some planning, whether this means creating a feature backlog for the discovery phase of an Agile process, pre-planning for an iterative process, or the initial work in the planning phase for a Waterfall process. What planning you should do and when you do it will vary depending on the process adopted for your CRM project, the general management practices for approving and analyzing projects in your organization, and possibly the requirements of external funders such as foundations and other grant-giving organizations.

The following outline of preliminary activities includes some items that may not be required by less formal and less structured organizations. Even if, despite our advice to the contrary, you're treating your CRM project as limited exclusively to the technical implementation of one or more CiviCRM components like online donation processing, we'd encourage you to review this section for ways to make it a success...