Wild Salmon Center Increases Import Efficiency to Drive Mission Impact

Organization Background

Wild Salmon Center (WSC) is an international nonprofit dedicated to the conservation and sustainable use of wild salmon ecosystems across the Pacific Rim. As a keystone species, salmon are an indicator of the overall health of a river system. By protecting wild salmon, WSC protects additional aspects of the environment – and the human economies that rely on it.

The Challenge

Keeping up-to-date and accurate information about supporter interests is critical to WSC’s success. If not captured correctly, the organization risks less effective outreach, wasted resources from duplicate mailings, and donor fatigue. To avoid these consequences, WSC records action data, such as receipt of an annual report, in its Raiser’s Edge database. Prior to its partnership with Omatic, importing this data had become a challenge for two main reasons:

• Inefficient import processes – Every time WSC imported actions, the import had to be run twice since Raiser’s Edge does not support the ability to import an action and a solicitor for that action at the same time.
• Lost productivity – Compounding this inefficiency, Raiser’s Edge only allows one import to be run at a time, and the database cannot be used while the import runs. WSC estimates imports would tie up its database for five hours each week prior to implementing Omatic. Over the course of a year, that equated to six weeks of full[1]time work – a considerable amount of lost productivity for the team.

The Solution 

While WSC had successfully been using the ImportOmatic plug-in to assist with these challenges, the move to Omatic Cloud has been game-changing.

• Streamlined processes and ease of use – In addition to the new interface being easier to learn and use, Omatic Cloud’s automation capabilities have removed manual steps from the import process, saving WSC countless hours. “I love having saved import profiles. I can easily download a file from our email platform and upload it right into Omatic Cloud,” said WSC’s Development Assistant, who describes Omatic Cloud as “plug and play.”
• Increased productivity – The ability to run imports in the background while still having access to Raiser’s Edge has been transformative for the WSC team, enabling its Development Assistant to take on additional responsibilities, such as training other team members and analyzing the organization’s data to improve list segmentation and reporting.

When asked what she would tell other ImportOmatic users considering migrating to Omatic Cloud, WSC’s Development Assistant highlighted this ease of use and efficiency, “Omatic Cloud is a wonderful everyday solution, allowing you to quickly and easily import information into NXT with almost no work after the initial setup, while still leaving your database open for business.”

The Results 

In addition to increased efficiency, Omatic Cloud has supported other enhancements for WSC:

• Data quality – As part of the import process, Omatic Cloud flags data that needs review. For example, it identifies records that have potential matches based on name, address, email, etc. A team member can then determine if a new record should be created, or if the data should be merged with an existing record. “I love being able to see exactly who is being thrown out of the import as an error, and why – this allows me to clean up their record, find duplicates, and not import more duplicates,” described WSC’s Development Assistant.
• Deeper understanding of supporter activity – Having accurate, up-to[1]date information in Raiser’s Edge has allowed the organization to gain a more comprehensive view of supporter engagement. WSC’s Development Assistant noted, “I can keep on top of all my imports, so when I look back at a constituent, I know what appeal they gave in response to, or if they should have received something but didn’t.” Armed with this information, WSC continues to enhance its fundraising operations.

Ultimately, these results allow WSC to more effectively drive mission impact, as highlighted by the organization’s Development Assistant: “Omatic solutions have made our data processes so much smoother at Wild Salmon Center, allowing us to maintain great data hygiene. This liberates our employees’ time, allowing them to be better able to connect with donors and support the organization.”

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