Breaking Barriers is a UK charity that enables refugees to acquire the knowledge, confidence and experience they need to secure stable and meaningful jobs.
The charity has experienced a rapid period of growth, with its staff team doubling to more than 80 people over the last couple of years. The scale and complexity of its programmes has also increased, with operations expanding beyond London into Manchester and Birmingham for the first time.
During this time Breaking Barriers’ fundraising team was mainly using spreadsheets, while Programme Management was using Zoho CRM. These solutions had considerable limitations that risked hindering the organisation’s future growth.
This prompted Breaking Barriers to seek a new CRM solution capable of meeting their growing needs. After an extensive evaluation process, they chose Salesforce as the solution vendor and Time Technology as their implementation partner.
The first phase of the project looked to implement support for fundraising, finance, communications and events. Subsequent phases will address programme management, grant making and at least one Experience Cloud portal supporting volunteer operations.
Time Technology implemented Salesforce’s NonProfit Success Pack (NPSP), our own Gift Aid package, and a number of custom elements, including recording and reporting of user impact stories. In collaboration with Breaking Barriers, we also undertook a review of fundraising platforms, eventually settling on Fundraise Up. Fundraise Up’s integration means that donor data is automatically synchronised into Salesforce for ongoing engagement.
Key goals for the project include:
- Improved process efficiency
- Increased systems integration and reduction in the use of spreadsheets, giving a 360 view of supporters, partners and clients
- The ability for the platform to scale with the organisation
- Improved reporting facilitating better data driven decision making