Making Dynamics work for the charity sector!
“This is the biggest transformation we have ever undergone, and our partnership with Bluelight was at the heart of the successful implementation and adoption.
Bluelight worked hard to understand us and was committed to working for the organisation.”
Lauren Rogers, Head of Experience and Engagement, caba
COMPANY OVERVIEW
Caba is an international occupational charity that supports the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) community and ACA students.
Offering a helping hand when things get tough, caba covers five key areas: mental health, physical health, financial health, legal support, and career development. The charity supports existing and previous ICAEW members plus their close family dependents.
A global organisation, caba had 443,088 meaningful interactions with the chartered accountant community across 47 countries in 2020. It spent £3.8 million providing this important support.
A growing audience challenging digital infrastructure
Caba’s community has been growing and diversifying for many years. The type of people asking for help was changing, and their needs were increasingly varied. This meant the current digital infrastructure was struggling to meet its demands.
As the community’s expectations shifted, communication needed to become more tailored. Individuals wanted to access support in a variety of ways from wherever they were in the world.
Meanwhile, caba relied on an assortment of disparate software and platforms to support its marketing and service provision. The charity acknowledged it needed to invest in IT to better respond to these changing needs. Such transformation would also support future growth strategies more effectively.
Caba had key needs from a digital transformation project. It must create a central repository for all customer data and a single view of all audience touchpoints - integration was crucial to reduce wasted staff resources.
A new platform would need to be person-centric and easy to use from anywhere in the world. And it must provide caba with greater insight and customer feedback so the charity could improve functionality and services quickly.
The discovery sessions were really very good. We at caba were very good – for the most part – at explaining our requirements and difficulties, and BLC were good at understanding our requirements.
- Hervé Sumu
- Systems and Process Development Officer
- caba
Scoping the transformation with a trusted partner
Caba first needed to find an IT supplier it could trust and build a long-term relationship with. It also wanted support from someone experienced in the NFP sector.
To find this special partner, caba worked with Hart Square, a well-known consultancy in the NFP sector. Assessing potential suitors together, Hart Square validated Bluelight’s experience of supporting charities and membership organisations with digital transformation.
Supplier chosen, the next step was a joint discovery program. Bluelight wanted to fully understand user requirements and be clear on caba’s aspirations. Experienced at running structured and well-attended sessions, the Bluelight team teased out everyone’s needs before developing the scope and schedule for a digital transformation project that would focus on creating a BlueCRM and Dynamics system.
Caba approved an 11-month project that kicked off in February 2022 with a go-live requirement for January 2023.
As the project progressed, two internal challenges became clear. Users needed to enthusiastically engage with the new system, and time to support its development had to be managed alongside everyone’s daily roles.
The Bluelight team were on hand to ensure everyone at caba knew what was required of them, and by when. It also provided training to bridge specific internal knowledge gaps.
When it came to the testing phase, Bluelight consultants were onsite to support users still embedded in the old way of doing things. Testing can often feel overwhelming and take much time to complete. With Bluelight working closely with users, everyone got up to speed quickly.
Bluelight's approach to consultant availability was an absolute game-changer for caba. They went above and beyond to cooperate and really wanted to understand us. Even when things didn't go perfectly, they always maintained a positive attitude and did everything they could to help.
- Hervé Sumu
- Systems and Process Development Officer
- caba
A seamless system to enhance quality and growth
Caba’s digital transformation project went live in January 2023, as planned, on time and in budget. Furthermore, Bluelight delivered every original scope requirement, including:
- Building a fully integrated CRM with a membership and events portal
- Migrating data from the legacy CRM, Workbooks
- Creating additional integrations with third-party systems
From start to finish, caba liaised with the same Bluelight team. This was instrumental in building a solid working relationship together, and it had a positive impact on the project outcome.
Caba now has an integrated, efficient, and functional digital infrastructure that enhances communications and provides deep insights to inform decisions. CRM, web, email, and finance systems all work seamlessly together. And with increased automation, users can add greater value by spending less time on mundane tasks.
Members can access their data easily and update details quickly. They can also track progress of applications and see their past engagements. This transformation has successfully put the audience in control of their relationship with caba.
Going forward, caba now has the IT capability to extend its support and can flexibly respond to people with tailored communication.
In fact, the quality of support has improved, and caba is now a respected advocate for change in the profession, able to make insight-informed decisions that benefit the sector as a whole.
By focusing on data transformation, caba has become the modern and highly regarded charity it aspired to be.
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