Five Tips for Getting Started with Pardot Email Marketing

Posted in: Blog

By: Courtney Phillips

Marketing and Communications teams are usually eager to dive into a new marketing automation tool like Pardot for fundraising campaigns and more. However, it’s important to plan the implementation and launch of any new technology. For some organizations, implementing Pardot might be the first time marketing and communications will be so tightly integrated with the rest of the organization’s data, already in Salesforce. Anytime your organization integrates a new application with Salesforce, it can raise a lot of questions and risks. Even if Marketing is the first phase of the organization adoption Salesforce, it will be costly to realize a year after launch that decisions you made too hastily are suboptimal and need to be changed.

This blog outlines five key considerations as you embark on your Pardot journey.

1. Assess Your Legacy Tool

First and foremost, let’s talk data – your subscribers. What lists are in your legacy email tool that need migrated? Do you have a single list that accounts for all your subscribers? If not, take the time to export some lists and execute some Excel magic to create that single list for import to Pardot. Be sure you preserve opt-out status and any other profile data (e.g. name, interests, preferences).

Second, do you like the templates and content you already have, or will you pursue rebranding effort at launch? It’s not a good idea to copy and paste html to migrate templates into Pardot. There is a lot of custom code that email providers bake into templates, and it’s extraneous code Pardot won’t want to use. Plus, there’s important new code that Pardot templates include, that offers email editor functionality, ensures responsive design, and abides by CAN-SPAM laws.

2. Pardot Admin vs Salesforce Admin

Don’t underestimate the role of a Pardot Admin. They can greatly increase the likelihood of long-term success. Many organizations believe the Salesforce Admin can play that role, but like many marketing automation apps, Pardot is a specialized tool. Most Salesforce admins won’t know Pardot and they are often very disconnected from the marketing strategies that will fuel Pardot campaigns. Organizations are better served to find and invest in an individual who will have the capacity to master Pardot and bring marketing strategies to life using all the tool has to offer.

3. Start with Subscriptions

It’s important to think about all your campaigns and what you might pursue soon after launching Pardot, but you must prioritize your subscription strategy. All organizations have a newsletter and a webpage for potential subscribers to opt into that communication. Most have that managed by their legacy email tool, so it needs to be recreated in Pardot. When evaluating if the process will be a simple “lift and shift” of your subscription strategy or if you want to re-engineer it completely, the Pardot assets that come into play include:

• Subscription Form to either embed on your website, use the WordPress plugin, or a Form Handler to receive data from a form that you already have and don’t want to recreate.
• Layout Template is the html and css that manage the look and feel of your forms and you’re your Email Preference Page.
• Public Lists hold the subscribers and maintain their opt-in status when they click to Manage their Email Preferences and opt to (un)select these Lists, rather than a global unsubscribe.
• If your subscription strategy includes interests or preferences, then Custom Fields and Automation Rules can be a good way to receive that information on the form and then add subscribers to the right lists.

4. Think Through the Technical Setup

In February 2019, Pardot launched a new implementation to make it easier on new customers. If you’re familiar with how to migrate to Lightning in Salesforce, it’s very similar process to help you learn, install, and launch with users.

However, even with the new process, there is enough complexity to warrent getting a Salesforce Partner’s support on this process. Pardot is launching new things at a rapid rate, so relatively new features like Connected Campaigns, User Sync, B2B Marketing Analytics, can be overwhelming. Plus, there are page layouts and Lightning components to consider.

The implications for  your organization’s data model should also be considered. How are you currently using the Leads object, if at all? Pardot by default creates Leads. Whether you’re using Leads or not already, have you considered what Pardot will mean for workflow and your data? Again, a qualified Partner with certified Pardot consultants can help you with these details.

5. Plan Your Pardot Voyage after Launch

Although there is much more to say and do with the above, this is a callout to the parking lot of big ideas that probably motivated you to choose a such a powerful marketing automation tool. There could be countless campaigns for which your Marketing and Communications team is ready to build emails, landing pages, and forms. They may want to leverage social posting through Pardot, and integrate Google Analytics or search marketing. Here I leave you with one bit of advice – don’t boil the ocean. Build a secure and functional dinghy. Get your bearings of the currents and surf. Determine where you might have a few leaks in the boat and plug those up. When you’re ready, you can scale up to that next sailboat and find yourself in an impressive yacht in the coming months and years.

Interested in learning more? Contact us today!

Using Data to Inspire and Empower Your Frontline Staff

Posted in: Blog

By: Amy Miesen

“I’m tired of everyone telling me that data should drive my work! What about my 20 years expertise in this field?”

I’ve heard variations of this sentiment many times. As a leader in a large human services organization, I know that data management played a vital part in driving our nonprofit’s mission forward and in managing outcomes. I would passionately proclaim all of the benefits of capturing and using data to anyone I could corner. Admittedly, this was not always a popular point of view. I remember one particular discussion with a colleague who threw up her hands and exclaimed, “I got into this profession to help people, not count them!”

Such a division between data teams and frontline practitioners is not uncommon. However, nonprofits that want to learn from and use their data to push successful outcomes cannot regulate data use to the realms of analysts and managers. All team members must be fluent in the use of data. Data tells us the “what,” but we need experience and brainpower to get to the “why” behind the data to harness it’s full potential.

Staff-driven Data or Data-driven Staff?

One method of learning from our data is to use these measurements to start conversations with direct service teams in an effort to develop a deeper understanding of the work. What is the behavior behind the data? What is the context of the metric? Team members on the front lines are often best placed to connect the dots between behavior and data. The key is to change the service delivery team’s relationship with data.

With this goal in mind it is crucial to design case management systems, so that they are viewed as a helpful partner that enhances and informs the service provision, inspiring new ideas for service delivery innovations based on learnings.

Professionals don’t want to feel like backseat passengers being driven by data. When they are at the wheel, providing information only after the fact to tell them how fast they are going and in which direction is much less helpful. Systems can be designed to get relevant information in front of direct service staff as they perform their work in a way that informs the service delivery.

The magic happens when we get the right information in front of practitioners as they do their work –not after–as this is when the data can be combined with experience and insights to promote data-informed decisions.

 

Common Pitfalls to User Adoption

Experience has shown that data is a powerful tool for creating positive change in our communities; this change is exactly what nonprofit practitioners are working to achieve. So what are some of common pitfalls to user adoption of case management systems among frontline staff?

Pitfall #1: Data collection is a barrier to a practitioner’s work.

In the nonprofit field, everyone understands the need for reporting metrics to funders. However, for some, data collection is viewed only as a means to report back to funders. Collecting the information required to populate these reports can feel like an extra chore to busy practitioners who have full case loads. This perspective contributes to the view that the effort is taking time away from the “real job” of helping people.

Direct service team members are focused on the people whom they serve. They may express concern that we will lose sight of the individual who will be viewed as a number instead of a person. There may also be concern that if services are solely driven by data, then the practitioners will be forced into “one size fits all” and will lose their ability to use their professional discernment as they help their clients.

Pitfall #2: Data is not readily available as the services are being provided.

There are several reasons that data may not be easily accessed by direct service staff. In some cases, the analysis and review of the data is reported upwards, but not shared with the practitioner. Another challenge is that data is often siloed, so team members may only see part of the full picture. There is also frequently a time lag between when services are provided and when the data is entered which. Although this delay can be acceptable when compiling periodic reports, it means it isn’t available to contribute to and help inform service delivery in real-time. In fact, many may only interact with the systems after the service has been provided, which perpetuates the feeling that data use is for someone else in the organization and only indirectly affects their work as a means to maintain funding.

Pitfall #3: Data use isn’t meaningful to the practitioner.

Of course, nonprofit professionals understand the need for collecting data. But for many, there is a disconnect between what the data is used for and how practitioners do their day-to-day work. Talking with direct service staff across the country, I am always amazed at how much information they store in their heads (or on paper… or in spreadsheets… or on a post-it note stuck to the corner of their computer.) Everything from what motivates each of their clients to remembering when they need to reach out to them again to which date the next assessment should take place. Key pieces of service delivery such as these are often not part of the data being tracked for reporting purposes. And, as a result, they are not captured in the organization’s case management system.

On top of this, there may not be a formal way of circling back with frontline staff about how data trends are tying back to their work. Without the feedback loop, the information being collected cannot be combined with the experiences and insights of those providing the services and used as a tool for learning and improving service delivery.

From Pitfalls to Partner

So, how do we develop case management systems that act as a partner for frontline teams? Ensure that the system is both easy to access and use, and that it provides information that is relevant and recent. This means we must thoughtfully envision how the practitioner will interact with the system.

1. Look for ways to help practitioners quickly IDENTIFY tasks that need to be completed in order to free up brainpower for other things. Example: Automate task reminders
2. Get information in front of practitioners to help INFORM service delivery. Example: Prominently display client status towards goal completion.
3. Create feedback loops that INSPIRE discussions and generate ideas to learn from the data to improve our work. Example: Prototype testing ideas for service delivery improvements

At Exponent Partners, we take the approach of learning about why the nonprofits we work with are measuring something, as well as capturing what they are measuring. Starting at the enterprise level, we seek to understand the organization’s strategic goals and business drivers. After that, we engage all levels of the organization with a strong focus on working with frontline practitioners to understand how they do their work.

Our holistic approach allows us to partner with the different teams within the organization to design customized systems that aid them as they perform their work, in addition to reporting on what they have accomplished. Using the Salesforce platform gives Exponent Case Management (ECM) the flexibility to tailor the views to each user’s work, and to show them the information that matters most to them.

We see ECM as a transformational Case Management System that is at it’s best when used by frontline staff as they perform their daily work.

This approach creates an immediate feedback loop and ensures that everyone has the information in front of them as they are working in impactful ways with their clients. With this key data at their fingertips, team members can not only provide data-informed services, but also use data to inspire new ideas and innovations.

Alliance for HOPE International and the Science of HOPE

Posted in: Blog

The mission of Alliance for HOPE International is to create pathways to hope for women, children, and men who are victims of domestic violence and related sexual assault through collaborative, integrated multi- disciplinary centers, teams, and initiatives in order to break the generational cycle of violence and abuse in families across the United States and around the world.

The new book by Alliance for HOPE International President and Co-Founder, Casey Gwinn J.D. and University of Oklahoma Professor Chan Hellman Ph.D, titled HOPE Rising – How the Science of HOPE Can Change Your Life, distills nearly 2,000 published studies about hope and finds that hope is the most predictive indicator of well-being in a person’s life. Hope, and the belief that one’s future can be better than the past, nurtures resilience in even the most traumatized survivors.

A Best Practice Model Growing Around the World

Alliance for HOPE International evolved from one of its flagship programs, the Family Justice Center Alliance. There are currently more than 90 centers in the United States and abroad. These centers are considered a best practice model by the US Department of Justice. They pioneered offering multi-disciplinary services under one roof for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors and their children.

In 2015, the Family Justice Center Alliance changed its name to Alliance for HOPE International to reflect the scope of the services they provided. In addition, the new name serves to elevate their use of hope-based methodology.  Today, the Family Justice Center Alliance is now a program of Alliance for HOPE International along with other programs including the Justice Legal Network, the Leadership Training Institute, Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention, Camp HOPE America, and VOICES Survivors Network.

Hope Theory and Evaluation

In the 1990s, Charles R. Synder, Ph.D. developed leading research in the field of positive psychology and the Hope Theory.  Synder’s research found that an individual’s ability to hope is consistently related to better outcomes in academics, athletics, physical health, psychological adjustment, and psychotherapy.

Leaders at Alliance for HOPE International built program frameworks and contributed their own learnings to the Hope Theory.  As Gwinn and Hellman wrote in 2018:

“Our own published research has demonstrated the power of hope for adult survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, children exposed to domestic violence and related child abuse, parents at-risk for child maltreatment, homeless adults, and those experiencing food insecurity…. All of our studies demonstrate that the impacts of high Adverse Childhood Experiences assessment scores can be reduced by rising Hope scores. Hope is the best predictor of outcomes focused on well-being and quality of life.”

At Exponent Partners, we are committed to developing the tools needed to support successful outcomes in the social sector. We are thrilled to be able to support the ongoing transformational work of Alliance for HOPE International. Our social mission to amplify the impact of organization’s like Alliance for HOPE International and this is powered by our belief that the right technology can transform an organization’s relationship to their data for the greater good.

The Important Role of Diversity in Our Core Values

Posted in: Blog

What drives your organization? Is there a principle guiding your work? Every employee benefits from their employer’s stated core values because values help ground you. Like an internal compass, core values help organizations determine if they are on the right path. Exponent Partners is no different. Founded as a mission-based social venture, we adopted core values to guide us as we work towards our goals. These values are diversity, learning, innovation, and impact. Diversity is key to influencing the other three core values.

Letting Our Values Guide Us

Determining organizational values at Exponent Partners was an inclusive process that began with a staff survey. Then, the survey results were refined over multiple sessions with staff and leadership to distill everyone’s ideas and input into four core values. Founder Rem Hoffmann presented the chosen values at the annual staff retreat.  But the journey didn’t end there. We revisit the core values regularly in our monthly company meetings. When considering any new initiative, we examine it through the lens of these values.

Why is Diversity so Important?

Diversity has the power to influence learning, innovation, and impact. Without diversity of experience and information, one’s knowledge and ability to truly learn are limited. Innovation cannot thrive without diversity. Bringing together workers with different qualifications, backgrounds, and experiences are all key to effective problem-solving on the job. A 2011 Forbes study found that diversity breeds creativity and innovation in the workplace.  In addition, we can’t amplify our impact in an echo chamber.

In 2012, the Center for American Progress identified ten leading “Economic Facts of Diversity in the Workplace.” A diverse workforce is integral because:

1. A diverse workplace drives economic growth.
2. A diverse workplace can capture a greater share of the consumer market.
3. Recruiting from a diverse pool of candidates means a more qualified workforce.
4. A diverse and inclusive workforce helps businesses avoid employee turnover costs.
5. Diversity fosters a more creative and innovative workforce.
6. Businesses need to adapt to our changing nation to be competitive in the economic market.
7. Diversity is a key aspect of entrepreneurialism.
8. Diversity in business ownership, particularly among women of color, is key to moving our economy forward.
9. Diversity in the workplace is necessary to create a competitive economy in a globalized world.
10. Diversity in the boardroom is needed to leverage a company’s full potential.

Walking the Talk

The executive leadership at Exponent Partners is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in tangible ways.  Closing minority pay gaps has been a key focus in recent years and is reevaluated regularly. Analysis in 2018 found that female employees at Exponent Partners are compensated $1.03 for every $1.00 male employees earn, far exceeding the national averages. Other initiatives include:

• Monthly Brown Bag Discussions that cover topics such as White Fragility, sexual harassment, and more.
• Employee Resource Groups where groups of employees who join together in their workplace based on shared characteristics or life experiences.
• Recruitment practices that deemphasize “culture fit” in favor or inclusive job descriptions and flexible work schedules.

Do Our Values Align?

If diversity, learning, innovation, and impact are important values to you, consider joining our team. Exponent Partners is growing and seeking candidates for a range of positions. Check out our open positions and apply today!

If you’re attending NorCal Dreamin’ in Sacramento on June 28th, be sure to join our session “Amplifying Diversity and Inclusion at Your Organization.”

New Implementation Partner: Exact Change Strategies

Posted in: Blog

Exact Change Strategies (ECS) is a dynamic, forward-thinking consulting agency specializing in performance management system design. With a focus on program evaluation, assessments, compliance, and outcomes, ECS helps organizations scale their impact. As an official implementation partner, ECS leverages Exponent Case Management as the leading Salesforce platform solution for managing program outcomes.

Founded by Ananda Moss-Byas and Jill Nilson, ECS brings more than 35 years’ combined experience in Human Services. ECS provides technical support consulting services to national and regional multi-service youth and family and early childhood organizations, educational institutions, behavioral and public health systems, and youth and adult justice entities.

Program Outcomes and Performance Management

ECS believes that establishing a performance management system can advance organizational processes and align employees to strategic objectives. ECS has developed an accelerated methodology to help organizations create, build and realize their strategic vision. From data collection to project management, the team’s subject matter expertise is essential to designing program evaluation and reporting systems for continuous improvement. Their dedication to performance management is a perfect fit for the goals of Exponent Case Management.

“We are thrilled to be able to diversify our services with the Salesforce platform by offering Exponent Case Management to customers,” said Ananda Moss-Byas, Principal/Co-Founder of ECS.  “Exponent Partners has an impeccable reputation in the sector, and we are honored to be selected as an implementation partner.”

About Exponent Case Management

Exponent Case Management is built for the needs of today’s human services agencies. You need to prove results to your funders, access data that tells you how to improve your programs, and reduce manual work for your staff. Our product provides automated workflow and alerts, access on mobile devices, drag and drop reporting, and outcomes measurement. Want to see ECM in action? Register for our next webinar and live demo.

For questions about the app or the Partner Program, contact us today!

Turning Data into Action During a Wildfire Disaster

Posted in: Blog

When the devastating North Bay Wildfires erupted on October 9, 2017, the vulnerable immigrant community served by California Human Development (CHD) was displaced at a scale never seen before in Northern California. After years of managing their program data using spreadsheets, CHD had recently implemented Exponent Case Management, a Salesforce app developed by Exponent Partners. By leveraging the Salesforce platform, CHD was able to quickly take action to help their community.

When Disaster Strikes Overnight

In this video, California Human Development Client Javier Fajardo described the fire closing in on his family. “I remember at exactly 1:45 in the morning, I got up because I heard an explosion. So I went outside…when I opened the front door and I saw the glowing sky was all red…and I thought I was dreaming.”

Kai Harris, California Human Development Director of Programs, described the immediate aftermath the next morning. “When the fires started, I woke to a series of text messages from our executive team.”

“This office was closed, it was in the evacuation zone. We thought it had burned and we were trying to determine where all our staff was—” Harris got emotional as he recalled the community impact of what had been the most destructive wildfire in the history of California at that time.

Flexibility Provided by a Platform Solution was Essential

While the wildfires raged, CHD used the Exponent Case Management app to analyze their program data, design a new disaster relief program, apply for funding, and launch their response efforts.  CHD’s new One-Stop Wildfire Relief & Resource Center received $5million in disaster relief funds from the California Department of Social Services. These disaster relief funds were dispersed to wildfire survivors throughout 2018.

Anita Maldonado, California Human Development’s Chief Executive Officer, described the process. “We needed to pivot quickly to what we could do to help the community and because we are a multi-services organization we wanted to make sure that we provided some kind of service or assistance to those affected by the fire.”

“Exponent Case Management allowed us the flexibility to not only create an intake system that would satisfy our funders but get those checks in the hands of the people who needed it the most,” Maldonado said.

Partners for Evolving Program Management

California Human Development had just migrated to the Salesforce platform prior to the disaster. The robust features and customization options of Exponent Case Management allowed the organization to respond to the wildfires in real-time.

“This space was chaos, we were designing, building, and running the program all at the same time. Prior to starting to use Exponent Case Management, CHD has had a number of disparate solutions and often that has been pen and paper or spreadsheets,” said Harris.

“Exponent has the right expertise of the larger nonprofit ecosystem that surrounds Salesforce specifically and all of the additional applications and additional content and functionality you can access through the Salesforce platform. Our use of Exponent Case Management was really key in being able to run that program as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

Harris continued to describe the working relationship with Exponent Partners consultants.  “I have found the Exponent staff to be really expert in their domain and really helped us help families find homes.”

To learn more, watch the video on YouTube or Vimeo and join our next Exponent Case Management webinar.

Also note that Harris will be speaking about CHD’s use of Exponent Case Management at the 2019 Technology Affinity Group conference in Miami on November 19, 2019.

Resident Services Program Evolved their Data Culture

Posted in: Blog

Founded in 1982, the mission of Northwest Housing Alternatives (NHA) is to create opportunity through housing for families, seniors, and people with special needs across Oregon. In 2016, the Resident Services team engaged Evaluation into Action (EIA) to design a formal program evaluation system to demonstrate their program’s impact. Co-written by Julia Doty, Director of Resident Services at NHA and Chari Smith, President of EIA, Program Evaluation and Data Culture in Resident Services details the 6-month process.  The paper outlines the planning, implementation, and results of their efforts, including NHA’s selection of Exponent Case Management (ECM) as their cloud-based data tracking platform.

From Outputs to Outcomes

The Resident Services program’s primary goal is to promote housing stability. EIA created data collection standards and processes, specifically designing a customized Housing Stability Assessment that helps NHA understand what program activities will best meet the needs of each resident towards stability.

NHA Resident Services was able to eliminate extraneous data points that weren’t contributing to their overall reporting. Instead, the new program evaluation model expanded their understanding. Rather than tracking number of service requests fulfilled per year, NHA can now report on the percentage of residents who had a service request fulfilled and improved their housing stability.

 

Leveraging Technology for Program Insights

The case study describes how a new software application was required to track the intake process, service forms, event attendance, move in/move out, and other relevant monitoring needs on an ongoing basis. As part of their evaluation design process, NHA worked with Exponent Partners to leverage the ECM app. This software technology selection was driven by three factors:

• ease of use
• cost
• ability to easily pull information and cross-reference data points

The NHA paper continues:

The most important consideration was malleability; we needed a database that could be designed exactly as we envisioned it and continue to be adapted as our program shifted and changed.

The flexibility of this program has allowed us to glean a tremendous amount of insight into our impact. For example, we were able to determine that the average stability level of NHA households requesting services is 2.55 on a scale of 1 (low risk of losing housing) to 5 (high risk of losing housing). However, we can isolate housing stability data at specific properties to identify whether the community is more or less stable, and adjust intervention strategies and program planning accordingly.

Demonstrating Impact and Driving Results

The evolution of NHA’s Resident Services program evaluation and data culture has been a resounding success. NHA is now able to accurately describe Resident Services and effectively communicate the program’s impact. In fact, the new Resident Services data helped the team secure two of their largest grants to date.

Exponent Partners builds whole organization solutions on the Salesforce platform to help nonprofits like NHA make social change by measuring outcomes and impact. ECM provides more than automated workflow and alerts, access on mobile devices, drag and drop reporting, and outcomes management. ECM also helps nonprofits demonstrate results to funders, improve program interventions, and drive social impact for good.

Want to see ECM in action? Register for our next webinar and live demo or contact us today!

TechBridge: First Case Management Implementation Partner

Posted in: Blog

Exponent Partners selected TechBridge as the first official implementation partner of Exponent Case Management (ECM) because we believe the right technology can transform an organization’s relationship to their data. We’re enlisting allies to help spread this message to the entire social sector and TechBridge has agreed to join forces.

Headquartered in Atlanta and serving clients throughout the United States, TechBridge’s mission, values, and dedication to the nonprofit sector align with Exponent Partners. Since 2000, TechBridge has demonstrated success matching the needs of nonprofits to technology.

Shared Values and Purpose

“We can’t imagine a better fit in terms of our values and goals to advance the nonprofit sector,” said Rem Hoffmann, Fonder and CEO at Exponent Partners. “Like TechBridge, the goal of Exponent Partners, and in turn, the goal of our Exponent Case Management app, is to help advance a nonprofit’s maturity model so they can scale up programs and amplify their social impact.”

Similar to Exponent Partners, Techbridge helps enable nonprofits leverage tools like the Salesforce platform to advance programs for the people they serve. TechBridge has expertise in nonprofits and all aspects of technology, with a team of dedicated consultants who continuously monitor the latest innovations, insights, and best practices.

As part of the Salesforce ecosystem, Exponent Case Management is a platform solution that can extend beyond other program-specific applications that aren’t connected to an organization as a whole. Program management point solutions may track outputs, such as number of clients served, but only the Exponent Case Management app was designed to go further, propelling a nonprofit’s impact and performance measurement. In this context, performance measurement is about providing nonprofit leaders with real-time, actionable data to measure program outcomes in a transparent way. The outcomes data are used to validate an organization’s theory of change and gauge mission attainment.

“As an official Exponent Case Management implementation partner, TechBridge recognizes the power of the Salesforce platform for nonprofit program management and outcomes measurement,” said Karen Cramer, Director of Performance Measurement, at TechBridge. “We are thrilled to be the first official implementation partner because Exponent Partners has spent over a decade developing the most robust application for case managers, program directors, and agency leaders.”

Next Generation Case Management

Exponent Case Management is built for the needs of today’s human services agencies. You need to prove results to your funders, access data that tells you how to improve your programs, and reduce manual work for your staff. Our product provides automated workflow and alerts, access on mobile devices, drag and drop reporting, and outcomes measurement. Want to see ECM in action? Register for our next webinar and live demo.

For questions about the app or the Partner Program, contact us today!

Einstein Analytics: Chicago Benchmarking Collaborative

Posted in: Blog

By: Meg Monti

Chicago Benchmarking Collaborative (CBC) is an alliance of seven education and human service agencies dedicated to increasing the quality of services offered to low-income families in Chicago’s most underserved neighborhoods. Prior to launching the Salesforce platform with Exponent Case Management (ECM) and Einstein Analytics, time-consuming reporting meant infrequent benchmarking and lessened the value of the collaborative.

Exponent Partners implemented ECM for four CBC organizations thus far, plus a central benchmarking data warehouse powered by Einstein Analytics. Christopher House serves as both a member of CBC as well the Collaborative’s Project Manager. Now, with Einstein Analytics, Christopher House has a centralized dashboard with real-time data on the entire population being served across the collaborative.

Compared to the previous solution, Christopher House has reduced three reports into one report of anonymized, standardized data for benchmarking. In the past, Christopher House used to manually create data visualizations for sharing with the rest of the Collaborative. Now, the responsive Einstein Dashboards help them visualize the data in ways much more meaningful than a number or percentage. This provides the Collaborative with greater transparency and insights. Moving forward, all collaborative members can view and explore benchmark data.

Beyond Tracking Outcomes

One of CBC’s programs tracks teaching strategy, goals, and regular assessments for early childhood development and education. The ultimate goal is to prepare children for kindergarten, by focusing on three key domains: literacy, math, social-emotional, language, physical, and cognitive development. Using the filters built into their data model, Christopher House can drill down by location, agency, demographics, classroom, or students with an Individual Education Plans (IEP). This filtering ability allows the Collaborative to move beyond tracking standard program outcomes. They can now test or validate theories about early childhood development and teacher interventions.

Einstein Analytics Provides Actionable Insights for Teachers and Parents

Einstein Analytics allows the Collaborative to problem solve together and idea-share on the most effective strategies. For example, CBC found that data was trending low in children’s math readiness and, as a group, the Collaborative wanted to see improvement. One approach teachers developed was to increase the children’s exposure to math language.

The Collaborative’s model leverages peer learning communities. As part of this effort, a professional development program for teachers was opened up to all member agencies. Teachers participated in six weeks of cohort sessions with a teaching coach. Video analysis of classrooms before and after the program found that math language usage in the classroom grew. When children were using blocks to build a castle, for example, the conversations evolved to use math language, such as discussing the height of the castle tower or the perimeter of the castle’s moat.

Einstein Analytics also allows agencies to easily share data visualizations with parents for an immediate impact. Specifically, CBC’s data points on the “frequency of reading” by parents to the children in their programs found that children whose parents read to them five times per week versus one time per week had significantly higher literacy scores. The Collaborative can easily create a chart to share with parents to communicate this data. Parents respond positively to the charts and increase their literacy-based activities with their children. The data visualizations made possible by Einstein Analytics empower parents to take an active role in their child’s success.

Advice for Nonprofits Considering Einstein Analytics

“Einstein Analytics is ideal for agencies who have been using data for a few years with a solid model for tracking outcomes,” said Traci Stanley, Director of Quality Assurance at Christopher House. But a nonprofit’s relationship to data can be flexible, too. “Some organizations in our Collaborative are data-driven, while others are more data-informed, not necessarily driven. If your agency’s culture or program isn’t purely quantifiable, that’s OK, these tools can still inform your approach.”

Excitement about Einstein dashboards has spread across the Collaborative as agencies can see the potential in using advanced data visualizations for funder reports, board reports, and more. “Einstein provides efficiencies of our interventions. As a Collective, all agencies get to benefit from the benchmarking analysis while we share the cost across agencies,” she added.

Traci also described the value of working with a consulting partner during this process. “There is a clear benefit working with Exponent Partners. We may have ideas of what we want to track, but Exponent Partners has the knowledge to show us how to measure our impact and turn our ideas into a reality.”

Interested in learning more about collaboration and benchmarking data? In celebration of CBC’s 10th year, the Collaborative published a how-to guide to help other nonprofits increase their mission impact through collaboration. You can purchase the guide, Increasing Mission Impact Through Collaboration: Chicago Benchmarking Collaborative Processes and Toolkit, directly from the Christopher House website.

For more information about Exponent Case Management and Salesforce Einstein Analytics, contact us today.

TechBridge: Nonprofit Tech Leaders at 19NTC

Posted in: Blog

By: Eric Magnuson

The Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) held its annual Nonprofit Technology Conference (19NTC) in Portland, Oregon, from March 13-15, 2019. One of the most relevant sessions for our work at Exponent Partners was led by TechBridge, a nonprofit that provides IT consulting and services to thousands of nonprofits.

The 19NTC session Demonstrating ROI on Tech Projects to Win Leadership Approval by Karen Cramer and Sean T. Willams was a master class for nonprofit leaders embarking on a big technology project. Full disclosure: not only is TechBridge helping nonprofits dedicated to alleviating the causes of poverty—by matching the needs of nonprofits with the skills and financial resources of the technology community—TechBridge is also an official Exponent Case Management implementation partner.

This blog describes some highlights from the TechBridge session and also reflects on some of the newer themes that resonated this year.

The Journey Towards More Inclusivity at Conferences

With over 18 years of experience in nonprofit consulting, I have attended the conference multiple times. NTC has always been a rich resource for technology trainings developed by and for nonprofit professionals. It had been a few years since my last NTC and I was struck by NTEN’s commitment to inclusivity. This has likely been a journey over recent years. At 19NTC, organizers and volunteers worked to provide a space—and content—that was thoughtfully inclusive of all participants.

• Amplify, our favorite effort to empower underrepresented people in the Salesforce.org ecosystem, got lots of love. For example, Springboard hosted Amplify at their booth and Hustle invited Amplify supporters to their happy hour.
• Quiet room with Reiki sessions providing space for the more introverted.
• Birds of a Feather group tables for attendees of color and the queer community.
• Preferred pronoun tags for conference badges.
• Multiple sessions on inclusivity, from accessible design to and unconscious bias in hiring practices.

Session Recap: Demonstrating ROI on Tech Projects to Win Leadership Approval

TechBridge’s practical session on how to calculate the return on investment for technology projects included a three-part methodology. This methodology should be required knowledge for anyone making IT investment decisions at nonprofits. In fact, TechBridge now makes the ROI calculation for measuring social impact a required step for each of its projects.

Methodology Part 1: Project Cost

Technology projects, especially those that relate to program management, all typically have the same set of major cost categories. Understanding those cost categories and what drives the costs is where you start. Similar to building a house, you first need a design that is informed by your programs’ needs for data tracking, process automation and so on. The design will inform a project cost estimate that is used in understanding the project value (ROI) for your organization.

Methodology Part 2: Annual Savings

This is where you break out the spreadsheet! Quite simply it is tabulating the anticipated direct and indirect decrease (or increase) in costs anticipated as a result of the project investment. Direct costs relate to things like change in hosting, licensing, support and other fees directly paid by your organization for the system. Indirect fees relate primarily to staff time saved as a result of the new system. Examples of areas where staff time might be saved include: data entry, developing reports, system management. TechBridge simple interviewing managers to get a sense for how much time (hours) common tasks take then multiplying by $25 to get to a baseline cost for those tasks. For there you can create assumptions around how much time will be saved and thus how much money is expected to be saved.

Methodology Part 3: ROI Analysis

Finally, putting together the project cost and annual savings information into your ROI analysis is what must be done to make your case to leadership for a project investment. TechBridge recommends calculating anticipated ROI over a 5 year period, ideally showing the project having paid for itself by year three. But, just as important as showing a financial ROI a nonprofit should also be concerned with the social return, and to this point TechBridge recommends considering how your organization’s mission metrics are directly impacted by the project. How many more clients can you serve? Including the mission return on investment along with financial will ensure you have what is needed to justify the investment to leadership and funders.

Bonus Highlight: Who had the Best Swag at the 19NTC Expo?

Many great contenders this year but nothing can beat the comfort and usefulness of Okta socks.

What could top these socks? We’ll have to wait until next year to reconvene at 20NTC in Baltimore. The next conference will be March 24 – 26, 2020, in the Baltimore Convention Center.

To learn more about our partnership with TechBridge and the Exponent Case Management implementation partnership program as a whole, contact us today! Interested in seeing what Exponent Case Management is all about? Register for our next introduction webinar and see a demo of the ECM and Salesforce features specifically designed to help you manage your nonprofit’s programs.

roundCorner Acquisition and the Future of foundationConnect

Posted in: Blog

By: Pamela Fitch

Salesforce.org’s acquisition of roundCorner and the foundationConnect product is an exciting part of what I view as the evolution of technology to support nonprofits. This recent deal has solidified Salesforce.org’s commitment to the foundation space. Unlike other recent consolidations, where products have been acquired but not necessarily integrated, the breadth of Salesforce.org’s offerings ensures that the vast needs of nonprofits—from fundraising to grants management—can be met by solutions from multiple vendors, all sitting together on top of a single platform. By acquiring foundationConnect, I think good things are to come for foundations that use Salesforce.

What This Means for Our Clients

I am especially excited about what this acquisition could mean from an innovation perspective. Salesforce.org has the funds and the people to invest in the product, as well as integrate it seamlessly with the many other solutions offered through the AppExchange. I am hopeful that foundations can expect more of an open dialogue between their grantee community, Salesforce.org, and service providers like Exponent Partners, so that together, we can continue to push the envelope on the innovation front. Through collaboration, we can marry Salesforce.org’s technology with Exponent Partners’ expertise and foundations’ processes in a way that enables all of us to better help those who need it most.

The Evolution to Platform

We often take for granted the technology that is now at our fingertips, forgetting what life was like years ago. When an event like this occurs, it is an opportunity to reflect upon how far we have come—from the days of the rolodex (for those of you who remember it!) to the omnipresent smartphone, complete with its plethora of apps. The evolution of technology has allowed us to change the way that we work, empowering us and giving us more flexibility than ever before.

In the nonprofit space, software for foundations has evolved over the years to better serve the needs of grantmakers and grantseekers. It is no longer about a point-solution installed on your computer. Innovation enables you to create a cloud-based technology stack using the solutions of multiple vendors that are, ideally, integrated on a single platform. Salesforce.org is the leader in this area for the nonprofit space, as they leverage the millions of dollars that they have invested to create sophisticated solutions for the for-profit world and give nonprofits access to them.

The Partner You Need for What’s Next

This is an exciting time for nonprofits and for those who serve them. Along with my colleagues at Exponent Partners, I can’t wait to see what’s next! Contact me if you’d like to discuss the Salesforce.org acquisition of foundationConnect in more detail.  If you’re a grantmaking professional attending the PEAK2019 conference in Denver, be sure to come find me in the Exhibitor Hall, too.