PwC volunteers’ data management expertise fuels Dorcas Ministries’ continued growth in their 56th year of service
Dorcas Ministries helps individuals and families thrive by providing financial and food assistance, training and coaching, client advocacy, a platform for people to make a difference, and a best-in-class thrift shop. They celebrated their 55th year of service in 2023 with more than 700 volunteers and over 5,800 clients served. Dorcas Plaza continues to have a high occupancy rate and is home to four local nonprofit organizations that provide additional services to the community.
The organization continues to experience substantial growth and was in the process of updating their technology systems to accommodate that growth and become more efficient in recording, managing, and reporting on organizational data. They were using four separate databases that did not integrate when tracking donor, volunteer, client, and employee data. Collating data between these systems led to duplicate data, substantial repetitive and manual data entry processes, and multiple workarounds to generate summative reports. Dorcas Ministries came to Apparo with the primary goal of identifying a CRM platform that enabled them to retire their multiple databases and track required data in one application. Dorcas staff wanted to streamline data entry, eliminate duplicate data, and enable more efficient data analysis and reporting.
In this Community Impact Project, Apparo matched Dorcas Ministries with a skilled volunteer team from PwC to assess and document current data collection and reporting practices and business needs. Based on the assessment, the team conducted marketplace research to provide recommendations for a new software platform. Volunteers assisted with selecting HubSpot as the primary CRM that aligned with documented requirements.
Saving Time, Connecting with Constituents, and Continued Growth with HubSpot
Upon implementing HubSpot, Dorcas Ministries anticipates many organizational efficiencies. Importantly, the program will allow for more advanced data collection so Dorcas can track patterns across their constituents to establish programs in areas of need or refer to local agencies to better support those in need. With better tracking patterns across constituents, the organization can significantly improve connection with their volunteers through increased and more responsive communication. Through an improved ability to connect with constituents and collect information, Dorcas anticipates more effective marketing outreach and the ability to be a more proactive advocate for community needs, ultimately leading to serving more individuals in need.
Not only can Dorcas better serve their community and continue growth in their current service area, but they have been approached by surrounding communities with interest in their mission, and implementing HubSpot creates a foundation that will allow Dorcas to have the potential for expansion outside their current market. HubSpot will help the organization clearly identify underdeveloped donor markets and leverage clean, accessible data to apply for more funding opportunities. Dorcas Ministries Vice President of Operations Mark Helwig shares thoughts around the holistic impacts of implementing a new program, “Our team is really excited to have more information at our fingertips and better use that data to drive decision-making. Utilizing this data efficiently will allow us to view our constituents and programming from new angles. We can improve not only our internal efficiencies, but our service to clients, our donors, and volunteers.”
With this advanced data collection, the organization reports increased staff efficiency, expecting two staff positions to be able to manage data needs without needing to hire multiple additional roles. Additionally, Dorcas staff will save significant time after reducing a myriad of manual processes and even paper-based systems. Belinda Weinbrecht, IT Operations Project Manager of Dorcas Ministries shares, “One of the most valuable efficiencies we will experience from using HubSpot is the reduction of manual work this creates. Having automation instead of having to literally walk a piece of paper from office to office is a huge time savings that will free up resources and make our organization more agile. To the Apparo and PwC team, thank you for your guidance and commitment in helping Dorcas Ministries determine the best CRM for our needs. We are fortunate to have you helping us.”
Dorcas Ministries is looking forward to reducing the risk of duplicated data or errors and reducing long-term costs on hourly consultation fees and server upkeep. Through this work with PwC to implement HubSpot, the organization can move forward in their growth, confidently making data-driven decisions to meet the needs of their community. Additionally, this work was incredibly timely as Dorcas is merging with Western Wake Crisis Ministry. Dorcas Ministries Executive Director André Anthony positively reflects on the project, “I want to express my deepest gratitude to Scott (Bauer) and the whole PwC team, and to Brenna (Apparo), for shepherding this process. This project took some time and I appreciate how PwC and Apparo stayed there with us, bringing a level of professionalism and invaluable insight to the process. I know I speak for my team when I say a big THANK YOU to everyone involved.”
PwC Volunteer Voices:
- “I definitely enjoyed this project with Apparo and Dorcas Ministries. It’s a fun mix of being able to use and apply my skills to something that benefits the greater good. It is a great feeling to know this work is making the world a better place. It was fun to do something that stands out from our day-to-day work.” – Luke Bartkoski
- “I’m glad we reached a decision that the organization is comfortable with and look forward to seeing how they apply it to their mission. Our team had fun and felt great about doing this work for a nonprofit.” -Scott Bauer
