Internationals Network For Public Schools - Program Management With Salesforce
Internationals Network for Public Schools (Internationals Network) is the only school development and support organization specifically addressing the educational needs of disadvantaged recent immigrant and refugee population. The organization designs, develops, and supports public schools for immigrant and refugee students. They have developed a comprehensive approach to the education of immigrant and refugee English Language Learners. Their successful model is based on over three decades of practitioner experience.
With 28 schools throughout the U.S., Internationals Network schools have a proven track record of success. They provide ongoing educational support to 900 educators and 9,000 immigrant and refugee students enrolled in their schools. Students in Internationals Network schools are newcomers and overwhelmingly low income. These students come from 131 countries and speak 102 native languages.
Despite the significant impact achieved to date, tracking their services and impact has been a growing internal challenge for Internationals Network. Some of the specific challenges Internationals Network faced were:
Lack of shared information. With much of the staff using their own applications and tools to manage their work, there was no comprehensive view of all the activity happening with any participant, school, or district at any point in time. This leads to duplicative efforts and missed opportunities.
Lack of institutional memory. Without a centralized database, Internationals Network found themselves “reinventing the wheel” when creating content and unable to reference historical learnings and decisions.
Document Management. With a significant amount of documents exchanged throughout the course of the contract lifecycle, there was no easy way to organize the files, share them, and collaborate on them with internal and external parties.
Inefficient Registration Process. Registration for International Network’s professional development services was largely a manual process. And with many disparate systems, it was a challenge to get an accurate picture of which events an individual has participated in.
Our Engagement
In June of 2018, Internationals Network contacted OneTenth Consulting for strategic guidance in selecting a CRM solution. They needed more than a “fundraising solution”, they were looking for a platform that could also support their immediate programmatic needs, with the ability to scale for the future. The engagement began with an onsite needs assessment and process mapping. The result of the assessment was a detailed analysis of current challenges and opportunities, a CRM product recommendation, and a roadmap for implementation. After the assessment, Internationals Network opted to continue with OneTenth’s services for the CRM implementation itself.
Over the course of the next three months, OneTenth and Internationals Network rolled out the initial phase of CRM, which included…
Installation of the new CRM platform
Key configurations to reflect Internationals’ terminology and processes
Customizations to support Internationals’ unique program management needs
Data migration from all previous data sources
Integrations with third-party apps (online payment processing)
End-User Training
Recognizing the significant shift Internationals Network was making by moving to a centralized platform, both OneTenth and Internationals Network worked closely together on a change management strategy to ensure a smooth transition to the new system. The strategy included face-to-face training, short “how-to videos” and new-state process maps. OneTenth has stayed involved throughout the stabilization phase to provide technical support and guidance until the next phase of the implementation begins.
Technology & Tools
While Internationals Network’s fundraising needs could be addressed through several “all-in-one” fundraising solutions, Internationals Network selected Salesforce as their platform for several reasons:
Ability to leverage Salesforce.org’s Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) application that provides best-in-class features to support nonprofits such as complex gift processing, grant management, and high-touch fundraising
Access to the Power Of Us Hub community to exchange ideas and best practices with thousands of nonprofits with similar needs as Internationals Network
Access to the AppExchange, a marketplace of new and innovative tools readily available to extend Salesforce’s functionality and enhance the user’s experience
Ability to create custom modules to support non-fundraising tasks, such as program management, event registration, and impact measurement
Over the course of three months, OneTenth implemented Salesforce + NPSP to support contact management, donation management, and fundraising efforts. Custom functionality was built to support program management and Click & Pledge was implemented to support donation processing.
Internationals Network now has a central platform where all fundraising and program data is captured, providing more visibility across the organization to key activities. This consolidated view will allow Internationals to capture consistent impact metrics across all programs.
What’s Next?
Adhering to OneTenth’s “crawl, walk, run” approach to CRM which implements new functionality in small yet impactful phases, Internationals Network looks to expand the Salesforce platform in early 2019. With a solid foundation in place, Internationals Network and OneTenth plans to implement email marketing, integrated surveys, and an automated event management and registration system.
"Thanks to Rubin and OneTenth Consulting, Internationals Network has a comprehensive CRM system that tracks our fundraising, services, and impact across the organization. As our organization has grown, our disconnected technology systems no longer met our needs and this prohibited us sharing information and maximizing our impact. Rubin was able to interpret a variety of needs and practices and incorporate them into Salesforce for a streamlined system. We can now more readily track our services and access all our data to make better informed decisions." Joseph Luft, Executive Director
“We are inspired by Internationals Network’s staff who work tirelessly to serve educators of English language learners and their students. Their work enables immigrant students by providing them all the tools they need to pursue the American dream. We are grateful to play a small part in advancing their mission through our journey with Salesforce together” Rubin Singh, OneTenth Founder & CEO
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OneTenth Consulting has a full range of services exclusively for nonprofits - from fundraising strategy, to CRM selection, to CRM implementation and change management. OneTenth empowers nonprofits by aligning their organizational, fundraising, and technology strategies - providing the tools and insight they need to meet their goals and achieve their mission. Check out OneTenth’s services and schedule a “no pressure” phone consultation today!