Now includes 6-month follow up below.
Restore Global reached out to Apparo seeking help to conduct an assessment and mapping of their data-related processes.
Restore Global (RG) was launched as a nonprofit organization in 2007 with a very simple vision – to help nonprofits maximize their impact. They are a nonprofit that serves other nonprofit partners by reducing operating costs and providing supporting services, specifically access to discount procurement and excess goods. RG’s 9-person staff has been using several different applications to support their operations including Google Suite, Quickbooks, and Salesforce. They reached out to Apparo because they are growing significantly and need help reviewing their current business processes for each program and service so they can work more efficiently.
Apparo matched them to a volunteer team from Jabian Consulting who documented their data-related processes and provided recommendations to help the organization going forward. This project is generously sponsored by Bank of America.
After the project was completed, we checked in with Steven Wray, President & CEO, and Joyce Ford, Chief Operations Officer, to learn about the anticipated impact. See PDF of project snapshot here.
With these new processes in place, Restore Global has a goal of providing nonprofits $100 million in fair market assets by 2023.
Steven explains that a major pain point of RG’s was not having scalable processes or measures of success in place. Throughout the organization there was an “all hands on deck” mentality for the staff, which became increasingly inefficient and ineffective as the organization has experienced growth. “People were stumbling over each other, repeating tasks, and not knowing if they were meeting the right standards.” Joyce Ford, Chief Operations Officer, adds, “When I got here, everybody did a little bit of everything. Now, we have defined jobs more specifically. We’re definitely making progress in our ability to establish personal objectives and business objectives, allowing more measurable results for the staff and business.”
RG anticipates doubling their fair market value of goods delivered to nonprofits next year, and growing exponentially to provide $100 million in fair market assets by 2023. “Without these processes in place that wouldn’t be possible,” shares Steven, emphasizing that, “this was an important project for us because the processes the Jabian team recommended will allow for a more scalable model, supporting our regional office growth in Florida, Texas, and Virginia. Without these processes in place, even if new sites were able to open, they wouldn’t be able to serve the community optimally.”
Now, RG is set up to be in a position for massive growth and success thanks to these processes and recommendations.
Restore Global emphasizes impact over revenue, but are anticipating an increase in both.
With their new processes in place, RG is better equipped to handle lead management for fundraising and program revenue, leading to an overall increase in revenue across the organization.
Both regional and global nonprofits will benefit from the increase in reach and impact, because RG will have the capability to explore new programs and ways to serve nonprofits better. One new program they will now be able to deliver is second disaster management after natural disasters. “Second disaster” refers to the influx of in-kind gifts that flood local nonprofits following a disaster. This new program would allow organizations to have access to a disaster resource management program to ensure that donations are managed properly in a warehouse, if applicable, and distributed properly so no resources go to waste. “Without Jabian’s recommendations in place, new programs such as second disaster protection wouldn’t be possible because we simply wouldn’t have the capacity to run another program effectively,” explains Steven.
The processes Jabian recommended will also help RG manage donors, donor relationships, and donor communications, which is anticipated to raise new funds to positively impact their ability to serve.
A decrease of waste in resources and assets will allow Restore Global to decrease their overall expenses.
With these processes in place, RG will have decreased waste in resources and assets, decreasing their overall expenses. Steven shares with us that a few years ago someone in the organization accepted a donation of 72,000 units of assets RG wasn’t anticipating. Therefore, they had no plan, process or budget in place to deploy the assets. Instead of running into hiccups like this, Steven explains, “the staff of RG is now better equipped to ask the right questions and have a better understanding of what the organization’s capacity is so they can allocate resources and plan accordingly. We’re better able to make better decisions about items and item deployment, allowing us to decrease expenses and ensure the organization is running as efficiently and effectively as possible.”
The biggest risk Restore Global faced was the inability to serve their constituents. These processes will mitigate that risk drastically and allow RG to continue fulfilling their mission effectively and efficiently.
Steven shares with us, “Everything about this project helps fulfill our mission and allows us to better serve the community, which is the basis of everything we do.” The nonprofit relies on having the ability to plan for incoming assets and delivering on promised resources to other nonprofits. The project as a whole allows for RG to do this more effectively with a drastic decrease in the risk of mishaps along the way. RG knew they needed a project like this, and tried multiple times to make it happen, but never had the outcome they needed for success. “We would have eventually done this, but we would have stumbled through the process another year or two,” Steve explains, but in a time of exponential growth, a couple years wasn’t sufficient.
Gratitude and giddiness radiated from everyone involved in this project.
On our wrap up call, the love of the project and for each organization could be felt via Zoom. Steve’s gratitude for Jabian couldn’t be expressed enough, “Jabian, you guys are rockstars. It was a pleasure to work with you and your whole team. I really am giddy about this because it was so well done. I’m so proud of you guys. I’m so proud of everything about this, you’re such an asset to the community.” Rebecca Martin, one of our volunteers from Jabian, shared how impactful it is to be part of a project like this, “At the end of our project, Restore Global noted they recognized $100 million in fair market value as a result of the project. To have the opportunity to tactically provide measurable returns for a non-profit partner is incredibly rewarding.” She also shared her gratitude for the entire project, “It was a privilege to partner with Restore Global and Apparo on this project. They were very involved and energetic throughout the project and at each workshop, making our job easy! We are thrilled to know that as they pursue their mission, our work will improve their impact on communities everywhere.”
Impact Update:
We checked in with Steven Wray 6 months after this project was completed to learn about the sustained impact and progress towards meeting Restore Global’s goals.
See PDF of Impact Update Snapshot.
Steven explains that by clearly documenting processes, this project improved the effectiveness of his team in executing programs and other day-to-day work. “Because of this project and the mapping our processes, the team is more comfortable staying in their lanes, understanding how we work. We have a better process between the people who are making decisions about where assets go and the people that are making decisions about what assets to accept. My time has opened up because I’m not dealing with day-to-day operations and processes as much anymore. The effectiveness and execution of our programs is much greater than it was and that allows me to spend more time expanding, growing and accepting more assets and new partnerships. I can focus on the things I need to focus on: our Board, donors, development, fundraising, growth and our partners.”
Steven describes some of the new initiatives he has had the time and confidence to pursue; initiatives that “we would never have been able to tackle without the Apparo/Jabian project”:
- Major Department Store – Restore Global has just become the primary recipient for in-kind giving. Steven estimates this relationship will increase their giving by $10 million annually. He adds, “Before this project, I would not have accepted this partnership. No question, we would not have been in the position to do it.”
- Charlotte-based Fortune 150 Company – New funding opportunity in which Restore Global will help the operations of nonprofits that this company supports.
- Expansion to Texas – This expansion will enable Restore Global to support international hospitals with pharmaceuticals at a lower cost (no need for third party to help, as is the case now.)
As a result, they are likely to meet their goal of delivering $100 million+ in in-kinds assets to nonprofits annually earlier than their 2023 target. In just the year after their Community Impact Project, they anticipate 80% growth (from $14 million/year in assets delivered, up to $25 million this year.) He shares, “We help nonprofits succeed, just like Apparo. Nonprofits have a critical need for our support. This growth makes a real difference in people’s lives.”
