Savvy Ladies is a 501(c)3 organization that empowers women through financial knowledge and champions the advancement of self-reliant, financially educated women. The organization was established in 2003 by Stacy Francis, a finance industry professional who personally witnessed the impact of women’s financial disempowerment when her grandmother remained in an abusive marriage due to financial insecurity.
Today, the organization collaborates with numerous like-minded non profits such as domestic violence shelters, Dress for Success, United Way Women, Bottomless Closet, My Sisters Place, and others, empowering women who are underserved and equipping them with essential skills to effectively manage their finances and money. To date, Savvy Ladies has helped over 30,000 women through virtual and in-person programs.
Challenges in Matching Volunteers to Clients
Savvy Ladies’ clients submit their financial questions through digital channels, which are expertly handled and answered by volunteers (CPAs and CFAs) in a variety of communication modalities, including phone and email consultations. On average, volunteers were taking on two cases per month.
The organization encountered a substantial challenge when the number of cases exceeded their team’s operational capacity. The labor-intensive, manual procedure for managing and allocating cases entailed clients submitting inquiries via FormAssembly. This was followed by a Savvy Ladies staff member reviewing each case and dispatching it to a volunteer through email. In instances where a volunteer was unable to accept a case, a staff member would relay it to the subsequent volunteer in line. On average, it took up to seven days to successfully pair a volunteer with a client. This unsustainable practice significantly impeded the organization’s ability to provide timely service to women in need of expert guidance.
Additionally, Savvy Ladies’ volunteers lacked the means to access and monitor incoming cases, making it impossible for them to proactively accept cases. This absence of transparency further hampered Savvy Ladies’ effectiveness in meeting the needs of its clients.
To overcome this challenge, Savvy Ladies recognized the need to streamline the process of matching volunteers to clients while increasing the number of case resolutions.
Empowering Savvy Ladies with a Tech-Driven Transformation on Salesforce
Savvy Ladies understood the need for technology to play a greater role in expanding their volunteer pool, streamlining volunteer matching, and accommodating a broader client base. To realize this vision, the organization joined forces with Salesforce to submit a proposal for the Nasdaq Foundation Grant, which would provide essential funding for their digital transformation. Upon receipt of the grant, the organization conducted interviews with six Salesforce consulting partners and ultimately selected Agile Cloud Consulting because of our proven track record in assisting nonprofit organizations on the Salesforce platform.
In order to guarantee that the solution was tailored to the distinct requirements of Savvy Ladies and its volunteers, Agile Cloud Consulting organized volunteer user group sessions, promoting collaboration and the joint development of the solution.
Harnessing the functionalities of Experience Cloud, Mobile Publisher, and Service Cloud, Agile Cloud Consulting designed an all-encompassing volunteer portal. This state-of-the-art platform grants volunteers the autonomy to log in, autonomously evaluate cases, and accept those that align with their specialized areas. In order to elevate the continuity of engagement with both volunteers and clients, while refining their interactions, Agile Cloud Consulting also implemented robust automation via flows.
Our team also delivered the volunteer portal as iOS and Android applications using Mobile Publisher. This strategic implementation of the volunteer experience through Mobile Publisher allowed Savvy Ladies volunteers to seamlessly interact with clients and efficiently handle cases, regardless of their location or the time of day.
Seeing the Impact of Technological Advancements in Under Six Months
As a result of the solution provided by Agile Cloud Consulting, all 300 volunteers have gained increased independence and flexibility in the process of evaluating and choosing cases. Volunteers are now proactively accepting a higher caseload than in the past, with an average of five cases per week, marking a remarkable 250% increase. This outcome greatly magnifies Savvy Ladies’ impact.
Following the introduction of the volunteer portal, Savvy Ladies has witnessed a notable 30% surge in client numbers in under six months. To date, a total of 820 cases have been successfully managed since the portal’s launch, with 28% of these cases being submitted via the mobile application.
Since the implementation of Salesforce, the customer successfully brought 172 new volunteers on board, with a remarkable 237 volunteer logins observed in a single week and maintaining a consistent weekly average of 150 logins. This noteworthy trend has led to a significant reduction in the time required to match cases with volunteers. Previously, the process could take up to seven days, but now it has been streamlined to just two days. This ensures a much faster response and resolution to clients’ inquiries, surpassing previous levels of efficiency and delivering meaningful, empowering results more swiftly than ever before.
The partnership between Savvy Ladies and Agile Cloud Consulting remains dynamic, effectively transforming Salesforce into a priceless asset for recruiting and retaining volunteers, as well as efficiently catering to an expanding client base. Savvy Ladies is well on its way to addressing over 2,500 cases in 2023, demonstrating a sustained commitment to empowering women through financial literacy.
Contact Agile Cloud Consulting to learn more.
At Agile Cloud Consulting, we firmly believe in taking a holistic approach to business solutions. Combining cutting-edge technology with a deep understanding of our client’s needs, we are a leading provider in empowering companies to leverage the power of technology to grow. We are a Salesforce Summit Partner, Salesforce PDO Partner, and Snowflake Services Partner. Our team is committed to delivering exceptional value to our clients using the agile methodology, ensuring a strong return on their investment.
Contact us to learn how we can help your organization thrive.