Written By:

The CRM Firm

Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB) is a beacon of hope for individuals facing hunger and food insecurity in the heart of metro Washington, D.C. The organization’s mission to provide equitable access to food and services is monumental, but like many nonprofits, it has encountered obstacles along its journey.   

In addition to finding funding, maintaining financial stability, managing volunteers, mission drift, impact assessment, engaging stakeholders, and capacity building, there is an overwhelming amount of documentation and checks and balances to ensure the organization operates within compliance.    

That’s where The CRM Firm (CRMF) stepped in, offering a lifeline through Salesforce expertise and strategic solutions.  

The Business Problem: Broken Code Impacting Data Integrity    

Before CRMF’s intervention, CAFB faced a daunting challenge: their Salesforce environment, intended to streamline operations, had become a source of frustration. A heavy dose of custom coding from a previous Salesforce consulting partner had disrupted critical functionalities, rendering data unreliable and reports unusable. The roll-up functionality and calculations were failing, and as a direct result, there were reporting issues (not loading, timing out, missing links, etc.). With the weight of their mission on their shoulders, CAFB needed a working solution.  

Problem Solved: Reverting to Native NPSP, Simplified Reporting, and On-going Support  

Upon engagement, CRMF conducted a comprehensive analysis of CAFB’s Salesforce setup. The first step? Reverting to native Salesforce Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) features, restoring functionality and reliability. Once initiated, the Donation Summary Field calculations (Total Gifts, Total Annual Giving, Average Gift, etc.) regained accuracy and restored confidence in CAFB’s data integrity.  

Beyond data woes, CAFB grappled with cumbersome reporting processes. CRMF identified an opportunity to streamline by replacing complex and superfluous marketing tools with a more direct solution: Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (formerly Pardot). This shift provided CAFB with clean, actionable data for concise reporting at a more granular level, empowering more informed decision-making.  

On-going Maintenance to Ensure Longevity  

With significant pain points addressed, CAFB opted to continue our partnership for on-going maintenance and support. Regular enhancements, third-party integrations, and strategic guidance ensured CAFB remained aligned with industry best practices, safeguarding the longevity of their Salesforce database. This included:  

• • Overhauling security and permissions  
  • Auditing and cleaning data storage  
  • Account Engagement creative design services and list email support  
  • Mailhouse – Weekly/monthly report maintenance/coordination  
  • Fieldpro – Field usage analysis  
  • Cloudingo – Duplicate remediation  
  • User training   

Collaborative Innovation: Enhancements and Integrations  

In tandem with the CAFB stakeholders, CRMF spearheaded a series of enhancements and integrations tailored to their unique needs. Throughout this collaborative process, their team helped us determine the priority, budget, user stories, requirements, and system dependencies to ensure a meticulous holistic plan was in place before any effort was expended.   

Some of the enhancements, integrations, and small projects devised include:   

• • Building Grant invoice tracking  
  • Building a screening process to track major donor wealth metrics for better campaign donation targeting  
  • Creating donor journeys using Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (formerly Pardot) to bring in new donors via targeted email campaigns  
  • Direct mail campaign/acquisition tracking  
  • Implementing standard and major gift officer portfolio processes  
  • Implementing a campaign hierarchy to allot for multi-level statistical analysis  
  • Implementing a donor-advised fund-crediting process  
  • Developing year-end report template  
  • Click & Pledge for Donations  
  • DonorSearch for Wealth Management Research  
  • Classy for online donations and crowdfunding  
  • Ogiv for Employer matched donation  
  • Hands-on Connect for volunteer management   
  • EveryAction for Advocacy Campaign tracking  
  • FirmWorks Geo for home visit planning and mapping  

Business Impact: Empowering Mission Success  

Three years into our partnership, CAFB’s transformation is undeniable. Streamlined processes and enhanced automation have unlocked newfound efficiency and transparency. Data accuracy has soared, enabling precise tracking and reporting at each level of operation. Armed with these insights, CAFB can make data-driven decisions, strengthen donor relationships, and, most importantly, focus on its core mission— nourishing communities in need.  

Capital Area Food Bank continues to serve as a beacon of hope, nourishing bodies and souls with every meal. And with CRMF by their side, their journey towards a hunger-free future is brighter than ever.