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Guide Dogs for the Blind

CRM Roadmap and Implementation Case Study

Since 1942, Guide Dogs for the Blind has been creating partnerships among people, dogs, and communities. With exceptional client services and a robust network of instructors, puppy foster families, donors, and volunteers, the nonprofit prepares highly qualified guide dogs to serve and empower individuals who are blind or have low vision.

Heller Consulting has been a strategic partner for Guide Dogs for the Blind since 2016, leading the organization through tech transformations that serve the needs of its fundraising, marketing, and programs teams.­­

A yellow Labrador wearing a green backpack sits on a sidewalk near a crosswalk, looking alert with its mouth open and tongue out. The dog is leashed and there are trees and buildings in the background.

Challenge: 16 teams using different tools

The unique work of the organization creates a complex set of requirements for its CRM. Work was strewn across a plethora of tools and departments had little visibility to the work of others, even when it involved the same guide dog, trainer, or donor. The org needed data layers that could track a single dog across puppy adoption, healthcare, training, and client placement, as well as traditional CRM functions for fundraising, marketing, and service delivery.

Naturally, no platform was going to be able to handle these disparate needs out of the box, so the org’s leaders called Heller Consulting.

Solution: A customized CRM for whole org visibility

Heller Consulting ascertained Guide Dogs for the Blind’s needs and built a roadmap to migrate and customize Salesforce. As well as the regular functions of a CRM, we implemented a volunteer management portal, file management, workplace giving, and fundraising capabilities. Where we identified functionality gaps, we audited and recommended third-party tools to support specific activities—especially in marketing and fundraising.

One of the unique features of our work was a custom integration called Clients and Canines. Built on the Salesforce Nonprofit Service Pack, it could track the entire life and work of a seeing eye dog, from kennel management and puppy adoption, through training, work, welfare, and its retirement.

The Heller team was inspired by Guide Dogs for the Blind’s commitment to accessibility, and we strove to optimize for it throughout this project—from the technology solutions we implemented to the documents and training we delivered.

The result: Better animal care and smarter fundraising

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If you’re a nonprofit organization or education institution and you need help with your technology project, get in touch!

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Author

  • A woman with curly brown hair and glasses smiles at the camera. She is wearing a mustard yellow jacket over a black top, standing in front of a dark gray background.
    Director of Marketing

    Lyndal has worked at the intersection of nonprofits and technology for most of her career, building strategic marketing programs and managing data-driven campaigns at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Nonprofit Technology Network, InfluxData, and others. She leads Heller’s marketing efforts and is excited to position Team Heller as the partner of choice for nonprofit and education advancement leaders. When not at her desk, Lyndal is usually on a hiking trail or listening to a podcast about star stuff.

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