Workflows Used
The College of Charleston is a nationally recognized, public liberal arts and sciences university located in the heart of historic Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1770, the college is among the nation’s top universities for quality education, student life, and affordability. The college offers a distinctive combination of a beautiful historic campus, modern facilities, and cutting-edge programs.
Challenges
Facing state funding cuts and increased scrutiny of public college spending, the College of Charleston recognized the need to proactively review and streamline internal processes while improving how constituent data was managed and utilized across the institution.
Data Stored in Multiple Separate Silos
One of the college’s biggest challenges was that constituent and institutional data were stored in multiple separate silos across campus. These systems were independently updated, making it difficult to maintain consistent information and preventing the seamless transfer of data into Raiser’s Edge or any other centralized database. As a result, staff lacked a holistic view of their constituents and were unable to fully leverage the value of their data for advancement and fundraising efforts.
Daunting Task of Centralizing Campus Data
The Advancement Office set a goal of better utilizing its constituent relationship system, Raiser’s Edge, but achieving that goal required compiling data from across the entire campus into one place. The process of gathering, organizing, and importing information from numerous sources into a centralized system was a daunting and time-consuming undertaking that placed significant demands on staff resources.
Inefficient Manual Data Management Processes
Without an automated integration process, managing constituent information required considerable manual effort. Data updates from external systems had to be processed separately, creating inefficiencies and increasing the workload on employees. These labor-intensive processes made it difficult for the team to focus on higher-value initiatives and long-term fundraising priorities.
Solution
After reviewing its needs and available options, the College of Charleston selected ImportOmatic to streamline the process of importing and managing constituent data from multiple external sources within Raiser’s Edge.
Automated Integration of External Data Sources
ImportOmatic was implemented to solve the challenge of integrating external data from multiple sources into Raiser’s Edge. The flexible and user-friendly import utility enabled the college to process constituent, address, gift, participant, volunteer, tribute, prospect, and relationship records simultaneously. By automating these imports, the college was able to reduce manual effort while improving the speed and accuracy of data management processes.
Development of a Strategic Import Plan
The College of Charleston worked closely with Omatic Software to develop an import plan tailored to its specific needs. This collaborative approach helped the institution identify many of the tedious tasks embedded within existing workflows and create more efficient methodologies for managing data moving forward. The plan ensured that imports could be handled consistently while supporting future growth and process improvements.
Expanded Automation and Data Management Capabilities
By leveraging ImportOmatic alongside Omatic’s broader expertise in extending, integrating, and automating Blackbaud solutions, the college established a more streamlined approach to data management. Information from multiple systems could now be processed more efficiently, creating a stronger foundation for maintaining accurate records and supporting advancement operations.
Results
The implementation of ImportOmatic delivered measurable improvements in efficiency, cost savings, and data accessibility, allowing the College of Charleston to better utilize its resources and focus on strategic fundraising initiatives.
Import Speed Increased by More Than 80%
By utilizing ImportOmatic, the College of Charleston’s Institutional Advancement Office increased its import speed by an average of more than 80 percent. Tasks that previously required significant manual effort could now be completed much faster, enabling staff to process larger volumes of data while reducing administrative burden and improving overall productivity.
Nearly $30,000 Saved in Employee Expenses
The dramatic improvement in efficiency translated directly into financial savings. During the first year alone, the college realized nearly $30,000 in employee expense savings, equivalent to approximately 1,066 employee hours. These savings allowed staff members to dedicate more time to mission-critical activities rather than repetitive data entry and processing tasks.
Greater Data Visibility and Significant Efficiency Gains
The college gained a more holistic view of its constituents as constituent data, appeal results, student and employee updates, and pledges could now be imported from multiple outside sources, including Banner, with ease. Employee time was reduced by more than 85 percent when processing new records and by over 80 percent when processing Banner employee information. ImportOmatic also transformed call center data management by reducing the manual entry of RuffaloCODY CRM appeal data from twelve employee hours per week to just one hour, resulting in a more than 92 percent increase in efficiency.
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