Case Study Sneak Peek: Children’s Institute
Children’s Institute works to provide systems of support from pre-natal care through third grade so that every child in Oregon will be ready for kindergarten and prepared to thrive by the time they’re in elementary school. Chief Development and Financial Officer Doug Wells explains that the goal of Children’s Institute “is that there’s a system of support for kids. We’re trying to change the system and have more resources put toward supporting them.” To support this strategy, the Institute needs a strong technical system.
The Challenge: need for enhanced communication and constituent tracking
Much of the Children’s Institute's work is facilitated by communicating with influencers in education, social work, and civic circles. Unfortunately, when they were using Luminate (a CRM created by Blackbaud), they weren’t able to hone their communication and monitor their relationships with their constituents as well as they needed to. “We’re a small organization with a big reach,” said Wells, “and we needed a solution that allowed us to communicate effectively from the governor to grassroots organizers.”
The communication and constituent management pain points affected the Children’s Institute from top to bottom. Holes in their communication strategy influenced their ability to follow up with leads, thank donors, connect with evangelists, and grow support from their network. Despite the complexity of making a big technology change, it was worth it to them to move to a CRM that would better account for their needs.
The Solution: focus on communication and advocacy
When the Children’s Institute came to Idealist Consulting, they reiterated what years of experience have taught us again and again: communication and fundraising are intrinsically connected. As Wells put it, “You need to be able to target communication to fundraisers and potential fundraisers instead of hitting them with a blunt object.”
To read the rest of this technology success story, go to the full case study; learn more about the Institute’s move from Blackbaud to Salesforce, how their operations have improved, the apps they’ve installed, and their plans for the future.
If you have questions about moving your nonprofit from Luminate to Salesforce, we can help! Let’s us know about your project and we’ll set the wheels in motion:
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