St Kilda Mums
“Our vision is for a future where we waste less, share more and care for every child. Salesforce gives us the technology and support to deliver on this vision in the most efficient way.”
15 Minutes
THE TIME TAKEN TO SET UP A FUNDRAISING AND MARKETING CAMPAIGN
St Kilda Mums wastes less and shares more using Salesforce
Jessica Macpherson is passionate that every baby should have the same start to life and, as Founder and CEO of St Kilda Mums Inc, she’s doing her part to make that a reality. The growing charity evolved from Macpherson’s visit to the St Kilda Maternal and Child Health Centre. While there for her son’s routine check-up, Macpherson found the centre’s photocopy room overflowing with donations. Inspired to help, she returned with a group of volunteers to clean and organise the donations so that they could be easily rehomed.
More than eight years later that group of volunteers has flourished into a network of 750 who work to rehome essentials like cots, prams, car seats and baby clothes. Macpherson said those involved wanted to share in the joy of motherhood while saving the earth’s resources.
“Our vision is for a future where we waste less, share more and care for every child. Salesforce gives us the technology and support to deliver on this vision in the most efficient way,” said Macpherson.
Charity works smarter and faster to help families in need
Today, St Kilda Mums Inc works with support agencies to meet the needs of families across Victoria. It manages multiple warehouses, and operates under three brand names – St Kilda Mums, Geelong Mums and Eureka Mums – and runs frequent campaigns for the donation of goods and money.
These operations are powered by volunteers and supported by Salesforce which St Kilda Mums uses to work smarter and faster. It helps the charity manage its inventory and requests from social workers. It’s also streamlined fundraising.
“When we started fundraising, it would be six weeks or more before we could get thank you notes out and there was a lot of administration involved,” Macpherson. “I knew we could automate this with Salesforce so I looked for a volunteer to help.”
A post to the St Kilda Mum’s Facebook page led Macpherson to connect with a local dad and Salesforce expert who was able to help the charity track donor and donation data in Salesforce and automate routine tasks. Targeted campaigns can now be launched in 15 minutes and thank you notes sent in just four.
Using Conga Composer from the Salesforce AppExchange, St Kilda Mums can even create personalised gift certificates for those donating in honour of a special occasion. It’s as simple as clicking a button which the team can do from anywhere using the Salesforce app.
Three years later, St Kilda Mums has customised Salesforce to create similar efficiencies across its operations. “Anytime I start to think about creating a spreadsheet, I stop and question, how can I do that in Salesforce instead? It gives us a huge amount of flexibility, and ensures data integrity. We can find the right information when we need it and make better decisions.”
“The 1-1-1 model is really lived by Salesforce and their support has been incredible,” said Macpherson. “Without that support and their technology, it would be difficult for us to operate at the scale we do today.”
Trailhead paves way to new opportunities
The charity’s continued innovation on Salesforce has been driven by Macpherson in tandem with volunteers. Trailhead has helped everyone learn new skills and create new capabilities without an integration partner. One volunteer went on to complete her Salesforce certification and has since been employed by St Kilda Mums as a part-time Salesforce Administrator.
Salesforce itself has donated time and funds to support St Kilda Mums. Groups and individuals volunteer regularly and have assisted with various projects, including the implementation of the Salesforce for Volunteers app.
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