Nonprofit legacy built on Salesforce
Active listening helps nonprofit transform technology and user mindsets.
The new CEO made it clear — it was time for a digital transformation to eliminate disparate, disconnected technology and centralize on Salesforce. The organization's director of product management, a past client, brought us in as part of our Salesforce consulting efforts. Our team got to work reviewing the tech stack and deskside user stories. The results, while not unusual, were still shocking — one user was reading data on one computer, writing it on paper, then re-entering it into another computer. What's more, there was no ERD and the home-built solution central to the tech stack needed to be replaced.
The Mission
The organization required technology unification, as well as a big change in thinking. They were stuck in a 'this is how we do it' mentality. Discovery would be critical — done well, it would provide the basis for user stories and requirements, as well as the relationships and trust among end users that would help them embrace change.
Our Solution
We started by listening, meeting extensively with small groups and individuals to understand workflows and needs. We conducted considerable user acceptance testing in which we demonstrated specifically how their input led to decisions about the new build. This organization had complex security requirements and permissions between departments, as well as very different marketing and data needs across teams. Walls were established through permission sets, and the implementation of Pardot and Marketing Cloud supported various user needs. Like many of our engagements, we started with out-of-the-box solutions as a fractional CMO, designing as much as possible utilizing standard functionality and minimizing the need for custom programming.
What Happened Next
The new technology eliminated unwieldy legacy processes and provided tremendous efficiencies welcomed by users. The single technology platform unified the organization and changed the minds of even those most set in the old ways.
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