---
title: "Links between organisations and multi-organisation projects"
description: Link your organisations to each other (member of, partner of, funder of…), keep the history of closed links, and follow a project that brings together several organisations, their contacts, exchanges and decisions.
url: "https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/crm-links-and-multi-organisation-projects/"
updated: "2026-11-08"
category: CRM
---

# Links between organisations and multi-organisation projects

An organisation rarely stands alone: a municipality is a member of a network, a company is located in a municipality, a bank funds a project. The CRM keeps these relations as links between organisations, read from both records, with the history of links that have ended. It also lets you follow a project that brings together several organisations: each with its role, their contacts, the project’s exchanges and its decisions. This article is intended for people who follow a territory, a network or partnerships, and for project managers.

## Before you start

- The CRM module must be enabled for your workspace and open to you (see [Enabling and administering the CRM module](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/crm-enable-and-administer/)). Multi-organisation projects also require the Projects module.
- Links, permissions in the role matrix, CRM menu: “CRM accounts — View” to read an account’s **Links** tab; “CRM accounts — Edit” to create, edit, close or delete a link. The scope of this permission must reach the account on one of the two sides, and you must be able to read the other organisation. The Access level is enough.
- Link types: “CRM settings — Create”, “… — Edit” and “… — Delete” (see [CRM settings](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/crm-settings/)).
- Projects: you must see the project in the Projects module, with “Project — Overview tab”. The **Organisations** tab also requires “CRM accounts — View”; the **Exchanges** tab, “CRM activities — View”.
- To add, change or remove an organisation or a contact of the project, you must be able to write in the project: be its **Project manager** or a **Developer**, or manage all projects (the “Project” permission at the Execute level). A project **Viewer** can only read. Adding a contact also requires “CRM contacts — View”.

## Link types

Open **Settings › CRM › CRM settings** and scroll down to the **Link types between organisations** section. Each type has a label for each direction, in French, English, German and Italian: “Member of” on one side, “Has as member” on the other. A type that reads the same on both sides, such as “Partner of”, has only one label.

When it is installed, the CRM sets up five types:

| One way | The other way |
| --- | --- |
| Member of | Has as member |
| Partner of | Partner of |
| Host municipality of | Located in |
| Funder of | Funded by |
| Supplier of | Customer of |

1. To add a type, fill in the **One way (e.g. “member of”)** label under **New type**, in at least one language.
2. Tick **The same both ways (e.g. “partner of”)**, or fill in **The other way (e.g. “has as member”)**.
3. Click **Add the type**.

Each type shows the number of links that use it. The arrows change its rank in the list, **Edit** corrects its labels, and **Deactivate** removes it from the choices without affecting existing links. A type in use cannot be deleted: deactivate it. Its symmetry can no longer change either.

The group and its subsidiaries are not links: they stay on the organisation record (see [Managing accounts](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/crm-accounts/)).

![The Link types between organisations section of the CRM settings: five types with their label in each direction, their number of links and the Edit and Deactivate buttons, then the entry of a new type.](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/crm-links-and-multi-organisation-projects-01.en_.png?resize=800%2C558&quality=80&ssl=1)
Link types: a label for each direction, in four languages.

## Linking two organisations

1. Open the account record, then the **Links** tab.
2. Click **New link**.
3. Choose the **Link type**. Only active types are offered.
4. Under **Organisation**, search for the other organisation’s account.
5. For a type that is not symmetrical, choose the **Direction**: the list shows both readings, for example “Commune de Montvert — Member of — …” or “… — Has as member — …”.
6. If needed, fill in the **Start**, the **End** and a **Note**. The end cannot be before the start.
7. Click **Create the link**.

The same active link cannot be created twice: same organisations, same type and same direction, or either direction for a symmetrical type. The window then shows “This link already exists and is active.”; **See the existing link** highlights it in the tab.

![A municipality’s New link window: chosen link type, organisation to search for, link direction, start and end dates, note.](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/crm-links-and-multi-organisation-projects-02.en_.png?resize=512%2C642&quality=80&ssl=1)
New link: the type, the linked organisation, the dates and a note.

## An account’s Links tab

The tab shows the organisation’s links in both directions, each with the label that applies to it. If Commune de Montvert is a “Member of” a network, the network’s record shows “Has as member Commune de Montvert”. Each row gives the period (“Since …”, “From … to …”, “No date”) and the note. The other organisation’s name leads to its account.

- Active links come first. A link is active as long as its end is empty or in the future.
- Links that have ended are folded under **Closed links (n)**: click to unfold them. They stay in the history of both records.
- A link to an organisation you cannot read is not shown. Only their number appears: “n link(s) to organisations you cannot see.”
- A link whose type has been deactivated carries the **Type deactivated** marker.

The buttons on each row:

- **Edit** changes the dates and the note. The type and the organisations do not change: close the link, then create another one. Clearing or postponing the end of a closed link makes it active again, unless the same link is already active.
- **Close** opens the **Close the link** window: the **End** date is today by default and cannot be in the future.
- The bin deletes the link after confirmation. It disappears from both records, history included. To keep a record of an ended relation, close it instead.

![The Links tab of a network of municipalities’ account: two links to its member municipalities, with their start date, their note and the Edit and Close buttons.](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/crm-links-and-multi-organisation-projects-03.en_.png?resize=800%2C120&quality=80&ssl=1)
The Links tab: each link reads with the label for its side.

![Diagram: a new link is refused if the same link is already active; otherwise it becomes active and reads on both records. Closed on an end date, it moves to the closed links, from where it becomes active again if its end is cleared or postponed. Deleted, it disappears from both records.](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/crm-links-and-multi-organisation-projects-flux-01.en_.png?resize=800%2C493&quality=80&ssl=1)
Closing keeps the history; deleting erases it from both records.

## Finding linked accounts

In **CRM › Accounts**, the **Linked to…** filter keeps only the accounts that have an active link with the chosen account, in either direction. A second list narrows it to one type, or keeps **All links**; the cross removes the filter. From the **Links** tab, **See the linked accounts** opens this list directly.

## A project’s organisations

When the CRM is installed, a project’s record gains two tabs: **Organisations** and **Exchanges**. Without the CRM, or without the CRM permissions, the project record is unchanged.

The **Organisations** tab sorts organisations by role:

- **Lead organisation**: the project’s client, taken from the deal the project was born from or chosen in the project’s **Settings** tab (see [From a won deal to a project](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/crm-won-deal-to-project/)). It cannot be removed from this tab.
- The other organisations, grouped by role: Contracting authority, Partner municipality, Company, Funder, Service provider. This list of roles is set in **Settings › CRM › CRM settings**, list **Organisation roles in a project**.

1. To add an organisation, search for its account under **Organisation to add**.
2. Choose its **Role in the project**, then click **Add**.

An organisation appears only once in a project. Its role is changed in the list on its row. The bin removes it from the project: the project contacts taken from it are removed too, but exchanges and decisions stay.

The bottom of the tab gives the project overview: **Exchanges in the last 30 days**, **Decisions** with their number and the last ten, and **Overdue tasks**, the Projects module tasks whose due date has passed. This last block only appears with the “Project task” permission.

![A territorial project’s Organisations tab: the lead organisation, two partner municipalities, two companies and a funder, the project contacts with their role, then recent exchanges and decisions.](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/crm-links-and-multi-organisation-projects-04.en_.png?resize=800%2C822&quality=80&ssl=1)
A project’s organisations, sorted by role, and its overview.

## A project’s contacts

The **Contacts** section of the same tab gathers the people who matter in the project.

1. Choose the contact’s **Organisation** among those of the project.
2. Choose the **Contact**: the list offers the contacts currently attached to that organisation.
3. Give them a role if needed (Decision maker, Influencer, Elected official…) or leave **No role**.
4. Click **Add**.

Each row shows the name, job title, email, phone and the **Objected** marker where relevant. These details remain subject to your permissions on contacts: a contact you cannot read appears as “Record not visible”, with only their role. Removing them from the project does not affect their record, which stays in the CRM.

## Exchanges and decisions

The **Exchanges** tab lists the CRM activities attached to the project: reports, meetings, calls. Its two buttons, **Exchanges** and **Decisions**, switch between the two lists. You can filter by exchange type, by organisation and by period (**From** … **To**). Each row gives the type, the day, the author, the account and, if any, the organisations it **Concerns**. A decision also shows its text.

A decision is an activity of the **Decision** type, set up at installation: a dated note, with the organisations it concerns. To record one:

1. In the **Exchanges** tab, click **Decisions**, then **New decision**. The Decision type is already selected.
2. Under **Account**, choose the project organisation the decision is attached to.
3. Enter a title if needed and, in **Content**, the text of the decision.
4. Give the **Decision date**, today by default: it is the date the decision was taken.
5. Tick the **Organisations concerned**.
6. If needed, add contacts with **Add a contact of the organisation**, then click **Create the activity**.

**New exchange** works the same way for a call, a meeting or a note (see [Activities and “My activities”](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/crm-activities/)). These buttons require being able to write in the project and “CRM activities — Create”. The record of an activity created this way shows its **Project** and, for a decision, its **Organisations concerned**.

With “CRM import and export — View”, **Export (CSV)** downloads the filtered decisions: date, subject, author, organisations concerned and text.

![A project’s Exchanges tab on the Decisions view: two decisions with their date, author, account, organisations concerned and text, and the Export (CSV) and New decision buttons.](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/crm-links-and-multi-organisation-projects-05.en_.png?resize=800%2C209&quality=80&ssl=1)
A project’s decisions, which can be filtered and exported.

![Diagram: a project exchange or decision is only saved if you write in the project, if its account is one of the project’s organisations and if its contacts are attached to one of them. A decision is then listed, can be exported, and enters the log without its text.](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/crm-links-and-multi-organisation-projects-flux-02.en_.png?resize=800%2C784&quality=80&ssl=1)
The three checks on an exchange attached to a project.

## Notices and log

- When a colleague adds or removes an organisation, the project manager receives the notice “Organisation added — ” or “Organisation removed — ” followed by the project’s name. The organisation is only named if they can read it in the CRM. The notice opens the **Organisations** tab.
- The CRM log keeps the creation, editing, closing and deletion of a link, never its note. It also keeps the addition, removal and role change of a project organisation or contact, each decision recorded (without its text) and each export of the decisions.

## Good to know

- Deleting an account also deletes its organisation’s links. An account that is one of a project’s organisations cannot be deleted: archive it.
- When two accounts are merged, the links, project places and project contacts of the absorbed record move to the kept record. A link between the two merged records disappears.
- An exchange attached to a project has one of the project’s organisations as its account, and its contacts are attached to one of them. Otherwise, saving is refused: “The account of the activity must be one of the organisations of the project.” or “The external participants of a project exchange are chosen among the contacts of its organisations.”
- Only an activity attached to a project can concern several organisations.
- Exporting or erasing a contact’s data also covers the projects they appear in (see [Protecting contact data (GDPR)](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/crm-contact-data-protection/)).
- Custom reports offer two sources: “CRM — links between organisations” and “CRM — project organisations”.

## FAQ

### I cannot find a contact to add to the project.

The list only offers the contacts currently attached to the chosen organisation, and that you can read. First add their organisation to the project, or attach the contact to that organisation (see [Managing contacts](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/crm-managing-contacts/)).

### I do not see the Organisations tab on a project.

It requires the CRM to be installed and open to you, and “CRM accounts — View”. The Exchanges tab also requires “CRM activities — View”.

### *Similaire*