Case Study: A Non-Profit's CRM Solution

In 2023, a non-profit organization focused on improving energy efficiency and indoor air quality in K-12 schools needed a CRM system and chose Streak CRM. They liked Streak because it worked well with Google products, especially Gmail. This meant it would be easier to use and keep all data in one place, reducing the learning curve for the team.

We created a plugin to send data from their website’s “Join Us” form directly to Streak CRM.

However, Streak CRM didn't quite meet the team's needs. While it handled form submissions, they still had to frequently export data to custom spreadsheets and pivot tables to get the views they needed, such as:

• Counts of program participants and supporters, including breakdowns by state and demographics.
• Status of participants in the onboarding process.
• Which resources were sent to participants and supporters.
• Ad-hoc lists for various efforts and initiatives.

The Challenge

Finding a CRM tool that is not purely sales-focused but rather emphasizes relationship management was difficult. The goal was to keep all records in one place to avoid outdated spreadsheets. But Streak CRM couldn't fully meet the team's needs, risking a return to spreadsheet chaos.

An Alternative Approach

The team considered using Airtable, a modern database tool. While it could be integrated like Streak, we suggested a different path.

They wanted to publish program statistics on their website, which meant more data transfers between tools. Customizing Airtable would also require special skills, and it still might not meet all their needs.

Instead, we proposed turning their website into a custom CRM. Their website, built on Drupal, could be enhanced with custom plugins, keeping all data in one place. This approach allowed them to build custom workflows directly on their website. After the initial setup, their team could create new data views without needing a developer, saving on future costs and allowing flexibility.

Steps for Implementation:

1. Create Records from Form Submissions: We worked with the non-profit team to define the necessary fields for Participant, Supporter, and Contact records. New form submissions created records in the database, marked as “unapproved” until reviewed by a staff member.
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2. Define Workflow Steps and Data Views: The team defined the data views they needed, such as:
   • New unapproved participants and supporters.
   • Lists of participants and supporters.
   • Contacts linked to Participant or Supporter records.
   • Dashboard with participant demographics for reporting.
   • Participant onboarding status.
   • Map showing participant addresses.
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3. Add Internal Notes and Communication Logs: We added the ability to include internal notes and log communications with participants and supporters. This allowed any team member to see the communication history for a particular organization or contact, and view all communications with individuals at a given organization in a single view.

Each view could be filtered and exported as needed. This allowed the team to move away from hard-to-maintain spreadsheets to a single source of truth for their data. The visual builder enabled staff to create new views without custom coding.

In conclusion

We live in a time with many specialized tools, but finding the perfect match for your organization is rare. Adapting your workflow to fit a new tool is challenging and often unsuccessful. For this non-profit organization, we delivered a solution within a modest budget, simplifying their processes and cutting out unnecessary complexity.

Sometimes, the best solution is to enhance what you already have with a skilled team of technical advisors. We're proud to support this non-profit organization and their mission to improve energy efficiency and indoor air quality in schools.