Dynamics 365
Dynamics 365
The Microsoft business application platform, adopted as a connected suite rather than as separate products.
Nonprofits & Associations · Business Applications
Ninety-six per cent of students on track to graduate
A college access and scholarship nonprofit, United States. Student and donor data was managed manually, limiting how many students the organization could support and how well it could demonstrate outcomes to funders.
The situation
What the organization was dealing with
Student and donor data was managed manually, limiting how many students the organization could support and how well it could demonstrate outcomes to funders.
Small nonprofits carry a disproportionate data burden: they must demonstrate outcomes to funders with the same rigour as a large organization, using a fraction of the staff.
What was done
The work, and the part that was actually hard
Dynamics 365 was implemented through Microsoft's Nonprofit Tech Acceleration programme with a partner, streamlining data management and improving donor engagement.
The outcome figures — 96% on track to graduate, a 60% increase in full-ride scholarship offers — are programme results rather than system metrics, which is the right way for a nonprofit to report. The system's contribution was making the data manageable enough that the programme could scale.
Results
What was published
These are the figures exactly as reported in the source. Nothing has been rounded, extrapolated or restated.
Of students on track to graduate96%
Increase in full-ride scholarships60%
In scholarships awarded to date$17M+
What changed
- Data management streamlined across students, programmes and donors
- 96% of students on track to graduate following the change
- A 60% increase in students receiving full-ride scholarship offers
- Donor engagement improved alongside operational efficiency
Platforms involved
What each product was doing here
What transfers
If you were to attempt this
Nonprofit-specific acceleration programmes are substantially under-claimed. Checking eligibility is a short conversation with a large potential return.
Where it usually gets harder than expected: Attributing programme outcomes to a system change is difficult and should be done carefully. The honest claim is that better data management enabled the programme work, not that the software produced the graduation rate.
How we would take it on
Our approach to Business Applications work
1
Shadow the real process
We sit with the people doing the work and watch what actually happens, including every workaround. Process documents and reality are rarely the same thing.
2
Design against your own data
We prototype and show you your own records in it, not a demo company, before anything is built.
3
Go live in a contained phase
By site, by practice group or by service line — with the group that wants it most going first, to a fixed price.
4
Measure against the baseline
We report against the numbers agreed at the start, including where the result fell short of the target.
Recognise the problem?
If any of the above describes your organization, tell us where it hurts most. We will tell you what the same platforms could realistically do in your environment, what we would measure, and whether we think it is worth doing at all.
Talk to our teamMore Business Applications storiesWe reply to every message within one business day.
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