Customer story: North West Air Ambulance Charity

When they embarked on their quest for a new CRM, they went through a thorough tender process. Among the four original contenders, Donorfy emerged as the “best fit and lowest risk,” offering the functionality they needed to move forward. Rob recalls: 

“The Donorfy team were very accommodating. They answered questions promptly and provided easy access to senior staff throughout the process."  

He also appreciated the team's deep understanding of fundraising. 

“Speaking to people who understand fundraising makes the conversation take less time and the whole experience easier. The process was really good, really easy.”  

Kick starting their journey towards working smarter, Donorfy’s ability to integrate with many of the platforms they use stood out for its ease and flexibility. 

“Donorfy’s solution is to integrate outwards to other platforms, rather than trying to do everything itself, and I think that makes it very flexible. Why try and reinvent the wheel?” 

Fair pricing also played its part in their decision, with Donorfy’s unlimited user model being a big benefit to a large and dedicated team. 

To navigate the complexities of their migration, they opted for an implementation led by experienced, certified Donorfy partners, MAST. 

“Our requirements are quite complex and MAST’s experience is brilliant. They do 90% of the legwork. They know charities like the back of their hand, which makes it so much easier, as they think of the things that people internally aren’t really thinking about.” 

Security 

Security was a top priority for NWAA, and Donorfy's robust measures provided peace of mind. The charity was reassured by Donorfy's ISO certifications and opted for a Private Cloud solution for enhanced customisation and control.  
 
“We have to be as risk averse, and as far away from potential security problems, as possible, and Donorfy does that. Having Private Cloud was also reassuring, as we have the backup and security of the Microsoft Own Azure infrastructure.” 

Private Cloud 

Private Cloud was perfect for the team, as they could tweak certain aspects of their workflows to suit their unique requirements - especially when it came to following regulations. Take their popular lottery, for example. With age restrictions involved, it's crucial to keep track of who's eligible to play to remain compliant.  

Instead of slogging through manual reports, they’ve set up a customised system that automatically spots anyone underage and flags them. 
 
“Our lottery supplier wouldn’t be able to do that check for us, we would’ve had to do that manually, which makes it easier to miss. We hope the list remains empty, but now we’ll be able to spot people and act quickly.” 
 
With their private cloud setup, NWAA can take control of backup frequency too, keeping their data shipshape. Plus, with the large volume of data they handle, having the flexibility to scale up their resources as needed is a “great to have.” 

“Before Donorfy, it was hard to get access to our data quickly and easily. The ability to bring all of that information to one central place, to utilise it, and give us visibility of our supporters, meant that Donorfy was a very obvious CRM choice.”