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Cancer charity overcomes pandemic challenges through data integration

Paulo Rizal February 11, 2021

3 min read

By using a cloud-based integration platform, a cancer charity was able to automate previously manual processes, ultimately increasing efficiency and saving funds that were then reinvested in other areas.

In a media release, Cancer Council NSW announced that it worked with cloud-based integration provider Boomi™, a Dell Technologies™ business, and was able to “connect core operational systems, delivering the real-time data visibility the not-for-profit needed to establish a single view of its constituents.”

Cancer Council provides services that improve the quality of life of those affected, combined with research that aims to lessen the risk of cancer and increase survival. As part of its strategy to become a fully-digital, cloud-first organisation, the NFP dedicated recent technology investments to ensuring the efficiency and timelines of information, creating 360-degree visibility of its digital assets, and paving the way to enhanced employee and supporter experiences.

“From patient support, to research and retail, we offer so many services across NSW, making it critical to have the right building blocks in place to maintain visibility across our operations,” said Frances Waterford, Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Cancer Council NSW.

“By leveraging the Boomi platform to integrate our business-critical applications, we have not just removed barriers between our teams, but established a foundation through which we can use real-time data to better understand our constituents, comprising supporters, volunteers, and clients. This level of intelligence has shaped informed decision-making as we continue to transform our services for those stakeholders,” said Waterford.

Cancer Council used Boomi’s cloud-based iPaaS to link Dynamics CRM with peer-to-peer donation platform Funraisin, fundraising tool Evergiving, project management platform JIRA, and billing software Zuora.

Due to these improvements, Cancer Council’s Supporter Experience Unit have stopped using legacy, point-to-point integrations and batch imports for all data exchanges.

Since successfully completing the integration, the cancer charity has eliminated duplicate data and automated user experience. Employees are now spending less time on routine tasks, achieving new levels of efficiency.

“Formerly, donor support employees would have to go through three different systems to obtain and record data when constituents requested a change. Inaccurate information made servicing our community slower,” said Waterford.

“Now our supporter experience unit can better focus on the constituent experience by using a single sign-on digital form, integrated and developed using Boomi.”

“With less time spent on spreadsheets, and more time focused on supporter engagement, we’ve been able to create more rewarding roles for our employees. At the same time, we’ve also found new ways of engaging our supporters, given the administration behind each engagement is no longer a concern.” said Waterford.

Fundraising in the time of COVID-19

Waterford said the digital strategy played by the cancer charity was vital in maintaining operations once the COVID-19 pandemic reached Australian shores. Once face-to-face interactions became limited almost overnight, along with broader challenges like an increasingly-cashless society, Cancer Council was at risk of losing one of its main revenue sources.

In fact, around 60 per cent of charity fundraisers have gone virtual in the last year, with 47 per cent choosing to invest in digital donation outlets.

Cancer Council’s integration transformation went live one month after the local COVID19 outbreak, with parts of the implementation completed remotely once employees needed to work from home. This equipped the charity with real-time intelligence to respond rapidly to changing conditions, all while adjusting to new workplace policies.

“When our annual campaign Daffodil Day hit our calendars, the thought of losing our annual flagship event was a challenging reality. But with the Boomi platform in place, we now had the resiliency to quickly pivot our fundraising tools and methods, in a brand new, socially distant way,” said Waterford.

Shifted off the streets and fitted into a new online model, Cancer Council took Daffodil Day raised up to to $500,000 thanks to donors using the new online platform.