Loyola University Chicago

Salesforce and ascend implementation and customization

Loyola University Chicago is a prominent private Jesuit research university located in Chicago, Illinois. With an enrollment of approximately 17,000 students, it is one of the largest Jesuit institutions in the United States. The university offers a diverse range of more than 80 undergraduate and 140 graduate/professional programs across various disciplines, including arts and sciences, business, law, medicine, and social work.

The institution is known for its commitment to academic excellence and social justice. With a strong emphasis on research and community service, Loyola continues to make significant contributions to both local and global communities.

Challenge: Aging technology and limited reporting capabilities

Loyola University Chicago came to Heller because it wanted to replace its Ellucian Advance fundraising CRM with Salesforce and Kindsight ascend. As certified ascend experts, we were the natural choice to lead the organization through discovery, implementation, and customization of the platform to meet their needs.

The University’s CRM needs were complex and multifaceted—and the advancement team has ambitious goals to reach in coming years. Requirements spanned various functions, indicating a need for a robust and highly customizable CRM to manage their advancement operations effectively. We surfaced and worked with the team to prioritize their CRM needs, which included the ability to manage and track multiple data points for constituents and relationships, including interactions and affiliations. They also needed the ability to integrate data from external systems.

To engage with donors effectively, they needed robust householding and organization affiliation tracking. Gift processing needs included automated processes for soft credits, data updates when a constituent is marked as deceased, duplicate checking for new constituents, and generation of new prospect profiles. Advancement teams needed robust donor research and reporting capabilities; and other teams needed customized dashboards that were tailored for their work.

Solution: Customizing a system for a unique mission

Heller created a cross-functional team and led Loyola through a best-practice process for implementing Salesforce and ascend that was customized for their specific needs. We engaged stakeholders to understand and align their goals and priorities, developed a detailed project roadmap that defined the main phases for integration, with milestones and timelines, and led the team through implementation, customization, and stabilization.

Some steps included:

Data management: mapping and cleaning data, migration, validation and testing.
System configuration: automations, user roles, permissions, and customizing the system to meet Loyola’s needs.
User training: leveraging a train-the-trainer model and documentation to support whole team adoption.
Go-live and support: monitoring the system and making necessary adjustments.

Results: Best-in-class CRM unlocks new fundraising capabilities

Heller Consulting led a best-practice discovery, implementation, customization of Salesforce and ascend, delivering a CRM tailored specifically for Loyola’s advancement needs. When complete, the university will be able leverage the core power of its new platforms, as well as Heller-customized ascend components like relevant page design, an online donor portal, alumni directory, and event management portal.

Advancement leaders now have a future-looking CRM that is integrated with a large set of third-party tools, and customized to the specific needs of the entire Loyola team. The new CRM has significantly enhanced Loyola’s fundraising capabilities, enabling more effective donor engagement and streamlined operations.

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