From Uphill Battle to Downhill Success:

CHALLENGE

A Mountain of Admin

Back in 2022, Snow Camp found themselves skiing over moguls with their existing CRM. They weren’t able to integrate other platforms, meaning the team were having to juggle multiple external tools, and manually move and update data. This patchwork setup led to inefficiencies and out-of-date data, as the team struggled to fully utilise what they had.

The team weren’t really using it,”  Rachel Cruz, Development Director, explained. “It just got out of date very quickly. It all got a little bit messy, and we thought we either spend a lot of time cleaning this up or we just start again.”

Additionally, the interface wasn't as user-friendly as they would’ve liked, further impacting overall usage. 

The whole team needs to be able to use the CRM, so it’s really important that we moved to something that was easy to use and didn’t require loads of training,”  Rachel added.

THE SOLUTION

Shredding CRM Challenges

Enter Donorfy – the CRM designed by fundraisers, for fundraisers. After a thorough search of the options, they chose Donorfy for several reasons, including its intuitive interface, simple pricing and UK-based support. Rachel explained,

Donorfy ticked all the boxes immediately. It was cost-effective, UK-based and integrated brilliantly with our other tools like JustGiving and MailChimp. It does everything we need it to do, and we could probably still do more!”

The integration capabilities were the main game-changer, allowing seamless data management, while reducing their workload. The team could instantly see the benefits:

Because the integrations are so good, it’s not trying to do too much. Donorfy is good at what it’s meant to be good at! We loved that it concentrates on recording and capturing the data, and lets the integrated platforms do everything else, as it makes it so much simpler to use."

Reliable data and reporting were other standout features. The accurate and comprehensive reports generated through Donorfy could give the team clearer insights, especially with the ability to segment constituents into groups.

We couldn’t fully trust our data before Donorfy. Now I can make nicer, clearer financial reports for trustees.” Rachel said.

Overall, all Snow Camp departments needed to be on board with their next CRM. Happily, Donorfy’s user-friendly nature quickly encouraged widespread adoption among the team, fostering a culture of data collaboration, consistency and efficiency.

Everyone knows how to use Donorfy, which is crucial for keeping our data accurate and operations smooth. It’s the culture I was working towards." Rachel highlighted.

Rachel also praised the support and continuous improvement from the team:

The support from Donorfy has been excellent, with quick responses and helpful guidance. They use the same language. The Knowledge Base is great, too. Donorfy listens to its users and updates the platform based on feedback. This ongoing development ensures that the system evolves with our needs, making it a long-term solution for us."

IMPACT

Carving Out Time

We’re pleased to say that partnering with Donorfy has been more than a tech upgrade; it’s had a significant positive impact on Snow Camp’s operations and efficiency. Here’s some of their key achievements:

Significant Time Savings:

Donorfy’s integration and streamlining capabilities have drastically reduced manual tasks, allowing the team to allocate resources more effectively.

  If we didn’t have Donorfy, we’d need another person doing another full-time job in the office.” Rachel noted. “We get a lot of income through events and fundraising pages, and it would easily be a full time job for someone to manage that. Using Donorfy to automate admin saves countless hours.”

Support for Major Fundraising Events:

The integration of Donorfy with Enthuse supported a recent fundraising success at the Three Valley Rally, where they raised an incredible £250,000. Enthuse managed a large volume of donations, and the integration enabled the transfer of data into supporters’ Donorfy records. 

Snow Camp uses Donorfy forms for their events, too.  on their website too, where participants can provide information such as dietary requirements, choose a ticket price point and pay using the Stripe integration. This setup simplifies the process, making it easy for the team to run reports on bookings and manage event logistics smoothly.

Gift Aid Optimisation:

Before Donorfy, Snow Camp submitted Gift Aid claims manually and less frequently. With Donorfy, the process is not only more straightforward, they’re better able to stay on top of declarations, so are claiming more than they were before.

Being able to automatically claim Gift Aid has really helped us have a reliable stream of regular income,” Rachel added.

Smart Integrations:

You name it, they’ve integrated it! JustGiving has pipped the rest to become Rachel’s favourite integration, because of how it ensures compliance with donor wishes and doesn’t clutter the database with individual records that might not require follow-up. This is particularly beneficial during events with high volumes of small donations. “When people click that they don’t want to hear from us, their donation automatically goes on an anonymous record.” Rachel reflected. This allows the team to engage with the donors and participants that are interested in the charity’s mission, and are more likely to offer ongoing support.

Looking Ahead

During COVID-19, Snow Camp started an online mental health service, which grew extensively and led to the launch of a second charity - Stop.Breathe.Think. This new initiative has expanded so much that it now needs to operate separately, and Rachel is confident in Donorfy’s capabilities to handle this transition.

I’m not daunted by that at all,” Rachel added. “I know how straightforward supporting two separate charities will be on Donorfy.”