EFC case story MS CRM EN
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The European Foundation Centre (EFC) uses Microsoft Dynamics CRM to manage member and event information in a centralized system. Previously, member data was spread across dozens of databases. EFC implemented Dynamics CRM to create a single source of detailed and up-to-date member profiles. This allows for more efficient event organization and administration. EFC also plans to integrate Dynamics CRM with its website to enable self-service features like online registration and profile editing for members.
EFC case story MS CRM EN
- 1. Microsoft Dynamics CRM European Foundation Centre uses Microsoft Dynamics CRM for efficient member and event management The European Foundation Centre (EFC), established in 1989, is a member organisation with as aim to support other federations and organisations with their international development activi- ties. In order to realise these objectives, an extensive profile of every member is indispensable. Over the years however, the member information got spread over dozens of various data- bases, partly because of turnover of temporary staff, trainees and volunteers. EFC decided to migrate to Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The result is one centralised and user-friendly CRM envi- ronment for member and event administration. Moreover, it opens the way for all sorts of self-service applications via the EFC website, like, for instance, automatic registrations for events linked to an online payment system.
- 2. Overview Country: Belgium Industry: Members Organisation International organisations and federations encoun- ter lots of obstacles when they want to operate outsi- Profile European Foundation Centre de their own country's borders. The lack of a uniform The European Foundation Centre (EFC) was established in 1989 in order to offer member organisations throughout the international legal and fiscal framework is very often world a suitable legal and fiscal framework for their internatio- an impediment. nal activities and stimulate mutual cooperation. The European Foundation Centre (EFC) was establis- Challenge hed in 1989 as an internationally active non-profit As a federation, the EFC wanted to keep a profile of its mem- organisation whose mission it is to bring together and bers which was as detailed as possible and follow up important events more efficiently. However, in the past, this information support other federations and member organisations was spread over dozens of isolated databases and Excel files. internationally. EFC has about 250 members and counts 30 to 40 staff. The organisation undertakes Solution several initiatives in order to stimulate networking EFC opted for a centralised CRM system for member admini- amongst the members. The annual AGA Conference stration and event management based on Microsoft Dynamics is attended by roughly 700 participants. CRM. Today, CRM partner Travi@ta is also working on the inte- gration of the CRM application with the EFC website. Gonzague Huybrechts, ICT Officer at EFC: "Our main Benefits concern is to get to know our members as well as Secured centralised database with access rights per user possible: that way we'll be able to help them and Complete and up-to-date member profiles bring them into contact with partners and other orga- Efficiency when organising events nisations. Within our own organisation we have to Self-service applications via website, integrated with Micro- take into account a considerable turnover of tempo- soft Dynamics CRM and online payments Proactive project follow up and knowledge transfer by CRM rary staff, volunteers and trainees." partner Travi@ta From dozens of datafilesto 1 central CRM system In the past, every member of staff at EFC worked with his own files, often in Access or Excel. Throughout the years, the number of datafiles at EFC kept growing. A proactive member management was out of the ques- tion, whilst the quality of the details left much to be desired. "A centralised and well-structured member manage- ment was an absolute requirement. We decided to migrate to a CRM solution, so that all the knowledge our staff have about the members could be put into www.traviata.be the system.", Gonzague Huybrechts states. +32 (0)2 721 88 80
- 3. Luckily, as a non-profit organisation EFC could count on the financial support from a certain number of foundations, like the C.S. Mott foundation. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Gold Partner Travi@ta was able to con- vince EFC to take the plunge. Gonzague Huybrechts: “Travi@ta was familiar with the specific issues of member organisations and had brought many a CRM implementation in the sector to a good end. The Mi- crosoft Dynamics CRM platform was very appealing because of its user-friendliness, important to us as we work with a lot of temporary staff.” Detailed contact information "A centralised and well-structured member ma- Travi@ta conducted a thorough analysis and asked nagement was an absolute requirement. We after the information EFC wanted to know about every decided to migrate to a CRM solution, so that all member. As a result, the standard company profile in the knowledge our staff have about the mem- Microsoft Dynamics CRM was adapted by Travi@ta bers could be put into the system." with a substantial number of extra criteria. At organi- sational level, it was made possible to register additio- Gonzague Huybrechts, ICT Officer, EFC nal information about the history, the activity domains and the financial profile of every member. Ogone so that also that part of the information ends At the level of the individual contact person the con- up in CRM. tact information was scrutinized meticulously as well. For instance, EFC wanted to register information CRM integration via the website about political activities and which events were atten- ded. And because EFC sends out 75 to 100,000 mai- EFC's ambitions are not limited to the implementation lings every year to carefully selected target groups, of the CRM itself. The organisation is already looking every contact person should have a detailed list of all forward to the next ambitious project, i.e. the integrati- the mailings he has received. on of Microsoft Dynamics CRM with EFC's website. Follow up of payments Gonzague Huybrechts: "The integration of Microsoft Dynamics CRM with the website offers many a possi- Even a non-profit organisation benefits from a good bility of optimising the service to the members and at financial follow up. Today, Microsoft Dynamics CRM is the same time make the internal administration much being deployed actively for the follow up of payment of more efficient." the membership fees: on the contact file the staff member of EFC can see straight away whether or not In the short term, an extra module from Travi@ta will the financial contribution was paid. be installed which will also manage access rights and passwords for external members. Every member will Event management automatically receive a user name and password Every year, more than 1000 attendants come to an which will allow him to gain access to specific details event organised by EFC, which requires a good follow from the CRM system from the website. up. Travi@ta implemented the necessary adjustments in Microsoft Dynamics CRM turning the system into a "Every member will be able to view and amend his fully fledged tool for event management. This ranges own profile information, but will also be able to regis- from follow up of registrations and the number of par- ter online for events. The advantage of the web inte- ticipants, to filing information about the speakers gration is that all the access rights and the details en- which speak at the events. Here too, Travi@ta provi- tered via the website will be registered directly in Mi- ded EFC with a link to the online payment system crosoft Dynamics CRM, which will decrease the admi
- 4. nistrative burden and the margin of error considerab- For more information ly", Gonzague Huybrechts states. For more information about the Microsoft products and servi- ces described, call +32 (0)2 704 30 00 or visit http://www.microsoft.be/cases, where you will find details Apart from that, Travi@ta is working on the integrati- of other companies that use similar types of applications. on with Microsoft SharePoint and MS Dynamics CRM in order to offer members of EFC an online collabora- tion platform allowing them to work together for spe- For more information about Travi@ta, call +32 (0)2 721 88 80 cific projects. or visit http://www.traviata.be. Return on investment in the short and long term For more information about European Foundation Centre, visit the website http://www.efc.be, or call +32 (0)2 512 89 Looking back on the successful CRM implementation, 38. Gonzague Huybrechts really appreciated the professi- onal cooperation with Travi@ta: "The Travi@ta consul- tants were able to 'translate' our wishes immediately into concrete actions and paid a lot of attention to Software and Services the knowledge transfer after the implementation. Other IT companies often speak fine words, but that's it." Servers Microsoft Solutions Microsoft Dynamics CRM The return on investment of the CRM implementation Developer Tools is situated on various levels. On the level of the data- Microsoft Services Windows base, the details are, due to the centralisation, much Microsoft Technologies better protected in case of calamities. The confidenti- Desktop Applications ality of the information is also guaranteed much bet- Other ter, due to an efficient management of the access rights of the users. With day-to-day activities, like organising events, EFC is already booking a considerably time profit, while the CRM offers much more added value as a trusted Partner source of information for analysis and follow up of payments and registrations. Travi@ta www.traviata.be +32 (0)2 721 88 80 In the future the „'Return on Investment' will undoub- info@traviata.be tedly increase thanks to the access to the CRM de- tails via EFC's website. ©2010 Lemarco www.traviata.be