CRM & project management support for research & policy organizations

Research and policy work runs on relationships — with funders, agency contacts, coalition partners, and subject matter experts — and keeping those relationships organized while managing overlapping project timelines is a full-time job on its own. Whether you're tracking a grant deliverable schedule, managing stakeholder outreach for a policy brief, or keeping a donor CRM current between reporting cycles, the administrative load is real. A Trusty Oak EA can own that infrastructure so your team stays focused on the work that requires your expertise.

100+ tasks completed in this service category across our client base.

Fractional crm & project management support for research and policy organizations

How Trusty Oak handles crm & project management for research and policy organizations

A Trusty Oak EA assigned to a research or policy client typically takes over the day-to-day maintenance and coordination work that keeps projects moving and contact records accurate. On the CRM side, this means logging stakeholder interactions in tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Airtable, segmenting contacts by funder type or policy area, and flagging relationship gaps before outreach deadlines hit. On the project management side, your EA will maintain your workspace in Asana, Monday.com, or Notion — building out task lists from project plans, tracking deliverable status, sending internal deadline reminders, and updating progress dashboards ahead of team check-ins. Your role is to communicate priorities and review outputs; the EA handles the upkeep so nothing falls through the cracks between your research sprints and reporting windows.

What your EA takes off your plate

Before your first week with an EA, pull together a list of your active projects, your primary funder and partner contacts, and whatever CRM or project tool you're already using — even if it's messy. The most common mistake research and policy clients make is waiting until their systems are 'cleaned up' before handing them off; your EA is specifically equipped to do that cleanup work, and starting with the real state of things gets you to a functional setup faster.

Grant Deliverable Tracking in Asana or Monday.com

Build and maintain project boards that map each grant's deliverable schedule, responsible team members, and submission deadlines so nothing is missed during active research cycles.

Stakeholder Contact Record Maintenance

Keep CRM records current for funders, agency contacts, and coalition partners — logging calls, updating titles and affiliations, and noting last-contact dates in Salesforce, HubSpot, or Airtable.

Funder and Partner Outreach Scheduling

Coordinate and calendar touchpoints with key stakeholders based on relationship cadences or grant reporting timelines, drafting outreach templates for researcher review before sending.

Project Status Reporting and Dashboard Updates

Compile weekly or biweekly progress summaries from active project boards and update leadership dashboards so directors and PIs have a clear view of where each initiative stands.

Document and Resource Organization by Project

Structure shared drives or Notion workspaces so that research memos, policy briefs, meeting notes, and source materials are tagged by project, funder, and status and easy to locate across the team.

Tools our team works with

We adapt to your existing stack — no forced migrations.

Notion

Monday.com

ClickUp

HubSpot

Salesforce

Asana

...and many more!

Trusted by research and policy organizations

Trusty Oak supports research and policy organizations including Clayton Christensen Institute — handling everything from crm & project management to broader operational support.

What crm & project management support costs for research and policy organizations

Drag the sliders to build a monthly plan that fits your workload.

Executive Assistants

~$35/hour

15 hours $525

Specialists

~$50/hour

10 hours $500

Fractional Executives

~$95/hour

5 hours $475

Your monthly budget

$1,500

Starting at $1,000/month. One-time $300 onboarding fee includes your Strategic Delegation Plan.

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Frequently Asked Questions

We work with sensitive funder and partner data. How does Trusty Oak handle confidentiality?

All Trusty Oak team members sign NDAs and are accustomed to working within the data handling expectations of policy and nonprofit environments. Your Client Success Manager will discuss any specific data sensitivity requirements during onboarding so access permissions and communication protocols are set up correctly from the start.

Our project management setup is inconsistent — some things are in Asana, some in spreadsheets. Can an EA work with that?

Yes, and this is a common starting point for research organizations. Your EA can audit what exists, consolidate it into a single system, and maintain it going forward — your Client Success Manager will help map out that migration as part of your Strategic Delegation Plan during onboarding.

How many hours per month does CRM and project management support typically require for a research or policy team?

It depends on the number of active projects and the size of your stakeholder database, but most research and policy clients find that 10–20 hours per month covers ongoing CRM maintenance and project coordination for a small-to-midsize team. Trusty Oak's monthly budget starts at $1,000, and unused hours roll over, so you're not penalized during slower periods between grant cycles.

Get your research projects and stakeholder relationships under control

Trusty Oak's onboarding includes a Strategic Delegation Plan built around your actual workflows — so your EA is set up to handle CRM and project management from week one, not week six. Start with a $1,000/month budget and a one-time $300 onboarding fee.