NYU Wagner Makes the Grade with the Sales Cloud™

Challenge

• The Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service is a top-ranked graduate school that educates the future leaders of domestic and international public, nonprofit, urban planning, and health institutions, as well as private organizations serving the public good.
• NYU Wagner wanted to consolidate contact records, coordinate external communications, streamline workflow, implement an events RSVP system, and review fellowship applications through a platform integrated with wagner.nyu.edu.
• Wagner wanted to organize an abundance of Excel and Access files, often managed by temporary workers, with few common naming conventions and no connection to Wagner’s online operations.
• Wagner required an enterprise platform it could easily install, integrate with other systems, and update as its needs evolve. The school has specialized relationships with many new and emerging non-profits, and wanted to make it easy to work with them.

Solution

• After considering cloud computing solutions from Oracle, Netsuite, and Microsoft, Wagner chose salesforce.com for its robust technology platform and strong relationship with the nonprofit sector. Salesforce CRM eliminates the need for Wagner’s small IT group to focus on infrastructure and upgrades.
• The salesforce.com Foundation donates ten user licenses to nonprofits. Salesforce CRM is also used by many key Wagner partners including Idealist.org, an interactive resource exchange for the nonprofit community.
• Wagner can easily test drive and install more than 800 complementary cloud-based applications from AppExchange. Many -- including DemandTools and PeopleImport from CRMfusion -- are discounted for nonprofits.
• With Salesforce CRM Sales, Wagner quickly consolidated information on more than 45,000 contacts, and maintains a record of interactions with them. Data can be accessed by multiple Wagner units.
• A custom event management tool enables RSVP forms to be published directly to Wagner’s Web site. Attendance information is automatically added to salesforce.com records.
• Using Force.com code and pages, Wagner created custom apps for:
  -Office space and equipment management. Space and hardware are allocated to employees, and a security checklist supports on-boarding and off-boarding.
  -Proposal management. Key subject areas and strategies to improve match rates of funders to proposals are identified. Wagner plans to publish descriptions directly to its Web site in the future.
  -Program applications. The school keeps a record of applicant information and has also rolled out a first-phase of an online fellowship application system which is independent of its primary admissions service.
• Dashboards show prospective student interest in academic events, identify contacts collaborating with multiple centers, analyze data quality, and more.

Results

• Common business platform facilitates collaboration among diverse Wagner units and enhances the productivity of the school’s research and administrative divisions.
• Salesforce CRM helps Wagner units identify and leverage relationships between individual and organizational partners, and understand Wagner’s connection to these audiences for more efficient and impactful marketing.
• Event management tool helps Wagner streamline the event planning process and capture metrics more effectively.
• Fast access to information improves planning and decision making.