Overview
Key challenges: Legacy database, not user friendly, not flexible
Why Salesforce?: Donated licenses, flexible due to API, cost effective, integrates with website, manage GiftAid, cloud storage and accessibility
Why ShoNet?: Competitive pricing, experience in the charity sector, Salesforce experts, easy to work with
Impact: SRI have seen a positive return on investment, a more efficient team, increase in donations
Save the Rhino International (SRI) is a UK registered charity. Their vision is for a world where all five rhino species can thrive in the wild for future generations. SRI collaborates with partners to support endangered rhinos in Africa and Asia.
Make a change
In 2014 the SRI team embarked on updating their organisation’s technical architecture in line with their plans to continue to be an innovative charity.
SRI had a 7 year old database which did not give them the flexibility they needed. Susie Offord-Woolley, Deputy Director said “our teams were affected by the legacy database which was time consuming to use and not user friendly. We considered improving the existing system, however after assessing the cost and understanding the limitations, we decided to seek an alternative solution.”
Choosing a solution/ choosing a partner
SRI ran an open competition to find a database that would meet their carefully considered current and future needs.
Susie said “we needed an end-to-end solution which integrated our website and email system with our database”.
After a rigorous process SRI selected ShoNet to partner them on this journey. Susie said “we ran a tender process and selected ShoNet based on several factors including their competitive price. ShoNet proved to be an excellent partner. They have knowledge and expertise in developing efficient business processes and integrating technology, but they have so much more which differentiates them from other companies”.
ShoNet recommended Salesforce as a CRM solution for the SRI team due to its flexibility, security and fundraising capability. Another attractive Salesforce CRM capability was the integration with applications such as Sage and MailChimp.
Small change, big impact
The SRI CRM implementation was delivered with the aid of a 5 stage process from Discovery through to Benefit Realisation. An aspect which Susie found helpful was mapping SRI’s existing process and comparing it to the process they wished to use in future.
Since implementing Salesforce, Susie and the SRI team have seen “…a positive return on our investment. We are three times as efficient as we were previously; we have seen an increase in donations, more collaborations between the teams and better reporting which has helped us plan ahead”. In a short space of time Salesforce has proved to be useful and central to SRI’s success.
Susie concludes “ShoNet really cared that the solution we were getting was the best for the charity, even if this meant more work than expected for them; they never cut corners, and they kept a high level of focus and dedication throughout the whole project. If Salesforce didn't have an obvious solution for how our charity wanted a process to work, ShoNet would investigate new technologies, speak to third parties in order to present the best option for the charity to be able to choose what worked best for us”.
Contact the ShoNet team to realise the benefits you can experience for you and your organisation.
For more information on Save the Rhino international please visit: www.savetherhino.org