For Plan International Canada, success is measured in the health, safety, education, nutrition, and protection of children in need. But the proof is in the numbers as well. In 2022, the organization supported more than 14.5 million people globally, including 7.6 million children, with a special focus on rights and equality for girls. In the 85 years since its inception, Plan International Canada has become one of the largest and longest-running children’s charities in the world, working with families, supporters, communities, and governments in more than 80 countries.

The organization’s work, however, is never done.  At least 10 percent of the world’s population still lives on less than two dollars per day and girls living in those areas are among the most disadvantaged on the planet. These are the realities that inspire Plan International Canada to not only to continue its work but to amplify its impact—until every child can access their rights in a more just and equal world. Funding, of course, makes that possible. To secure the future of giving, the organization navigates complex information about its constituents, partners, and donors.

“We knew that with the right tools delivering timely data, we could easily track and align our business development with our programmatic priorities—and connect our donors with opportunities to support meaningful change in the communities we serve,” says Negin Zebarjad, director of strategy and operations PMO at Plan International Canada. As part of a three-year digital transformation strategy, Slalom was invited to build a modern foundation for innovation.

If funding is the water that keeps Plan International Canada afloat, its CRM is the current propelling the organization forward by tracking revenue and centralizing donor and grant management systems. When the Slalom team joined the project, we began with strategy, planning, and design. Over time, heavy customization and data redundancies had slowed the legacy system, making it more difficult for the organization to achieve its goals.

Together, we explored the functional needs of the organization, change management and technology gaps, and areas of opportunity. We established a plan to gather the data and optimize it in Salesforce for five separate business units. We mapped a two-part release—first to support the marketing teams, and second, the philanthropy teams.

In phase one, we addressed the sales pipeline for institutional grants, such as those from the United Nations and World Food Programme, whose donations comprise nearly half of the organization’s funding. Phase two was more complex, requiring the Slalom team to re-create the foundational systems that drive experiences for more than 200,000 donors with specific preferences about how and where their funds are used.

“Slalom helped us build a modern technology and data ecosystem centered around Salesforce CRM, which is now the foundation for our future growth and innovation to further our mission,” says Altaz Hemani, vice president of information and technology at Plan International Canada.

Our partnership began at the height of the pandemic. We worked side by side, remotely, creating efficient and flexible ways to adapt our delivery structure—always keeping budget top of mind. As part of the CRM implementation, we were able to create new efficiencies in Salesforce Nonprofit Success Pack and integrate it into a broader technology ecosystem. Working closely with multiple vendors, Slalom helped integrate the new front-end experience, using Snowflake and Talend for data migration and warehousing. 

“The level of collaboration between all parties was really unique. The Slalom team even contributed to features in third-party apps. We worked very closely with Plan International Canada’s IT and data teams, and the level of support they provided was phenomenal,” says Mike Ginou and Manasi Gupta, director and senior delivery principal at Slalom.

With a modern 360-degree view of its constituents, Plan International Canada can better manage donor relationships—delivering inspiring and engaging experiences that change children’s lives. For the philanthropy teams, the new CRM provides dashboards and the ability to more easily allocate funds raised to the intended area of programmatic impact. The marketing teams can easily process payments, manage donation cycles, track giving campaigns, calls, and emails, as well as ensure that donors support children in ways that are most meaningful to them.

“Impact is part of our brand intention, and this work creates lasting ripples in the pond, supporting children who need it most,“ says Noosh Mohimani, senior director at Slalom.

Thanks to our work together, Plan International Canada can accelerate its goal to become a more insights-driven organization, able to rapidly adapt to programmatic priorities and connect Canadians with the causes they’re most passionate about.