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Health & Fitness

Local cloud strategy integration firm helps nonprofits manage date with a streamlined solution

Founded in January 2008, Redpath Consulting Group is dedicated to creating easy-to-use cloud solutions for businesses of all sizes and nonprofits. For more information, visit www.redpathcg.com.

Client: BestPrep | Industry: Nonprofit
Location: Minneapolis, MN | Number of Employees: 13
Services Provided: Educational programs to K-12 grade students throughout the state of Minnesota

Background

BestPrep is a Minnesota nonprofit organization that offers six unique educational programs to students and teachers statewide to prepare them with business, career and financial literacy skills through experiences that inspire success in work and life. These programs provide students with the chance to gain real-world knowledge through fun, hands-on experiences. With the help of more than 2,500 volunteers per year, BestPrep reaches more than 60,000 students and educators.

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Challenge

Known for teaching the latest educational technology and how it can be used in the classroom to effectively engage students in learning, BestPrep’s backend systems needed to reflect the same technological savvy.

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However, BestPrep was utilizing multiple data systems to manage thousands of program participants, volunteers, events, donations and more.  This led to multiple “silos” of data, limited cross-program visibility, time-consuming and manual reporting processes, and data quality issues. BestPrep needed a solution that could consolidate and centralize data, streamline reporting, and provide staff members with a cross-functional, efficient tool to assist them in their mission.

Process

BestPrep began its search for a developer that could handle a nonprofit’s customized program needs. The team started by exploring Salesforce-approved partners and interviewing a few select firms. Ultimately, BestPrep chose Redpath Consulting Group, a Minneapolis, Minn.-based cloud strategy integration firm that specializes in not only cloud strategy creation, but also Salesforce consultation and implementation, and Google Apps for Business implementation. Furthermore, Redpath has boots on the ground in Minnesota and a deep understanding of the nonprofit industry.

John Schulte, vice president of finance and technology for BestPrep, explained, “Redpath truly understood our needs. They knew the what and the why and weren’t coming out of left field. We weren’t aware of all that Salesforce could do for our organization, and that’s where Redpath came in and completed that circle for us.”

Solution

BestPrep selected Salesforce.com as its solution and Redpath as its implementation partner of choice. With a high level of concentration on customer service and the project’s objectives, Redpath worked closely and collaboratively with the BestPrep organization throughout the project to ensure expectations were met.

BestPrep and Redpath spent three months in a phased roll-out of the integrated Salesforce strategy. There were a few programs based around the school year, so those programs were prioritized and rolled out within one month.

“The phased roll out of programs went very smoothly. Had we launched all programs at the same time, we would have seen that the last program to launch had items we needed for the first program. Redpath was there every step of the way to execute a methodical roll out and ensure a smooth transition for our organization.”

Results

BestPrep is now a collaborative organization in which all donors, volunteers and accounts for the entire organization are streamlined from five databases into one, and are visible to all programs allowing for a greater visibility to the whole staff.  In addition to the increased administration efficiencies, BestPrep employees are now able to pull reports accurately and on demand in 15 minutes, instead of the two days it used to require. BestPrep is also seeing improved insights into the services provided, as well as the number of volunteers and students being utilized across all programs.

As for advice for other organizations, Schulte encourages every organization to consolidate its database, whether or not that database resides in the cloud. Schulte also encourages organizations to evaluate the time and expense they’re currently exhausting trying to access information, when it could – and should – be right at their fingertips.

“Redpath was the right choice for our organization. Redpath is a team of very personable people who are easy to work with and understand the nonprofit industry. We found it amazing at times when we would tell Redpath about a problem and they could finish the sentence for us. Redpath is very knowledgeable about nonprofits, Salesforce and cloud strategies.”

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