Case study · Non-profit
Know every supporter, thank every gift
Charities hold supporter data in donation platforms, event tools and spreadsheets, which makes thanking, retaining and upgrading donors hard. This is how we brought supporters, gifts and campaigns into Dynamics 365, with consent and tax reclaim handled properly.
Project overview
Fundraising and supporter management on Dynamics 365.
- Industry
- Non-profit
- Client
- Confidential
- Solution
- Fundraising CRM
- Platform
- Dynamics 365 for Nonprofit
- Timeline
- 12–18 weeks
- Team
- 4 people
- Giving
- One-off, regular, events
- Tax
- Donation tax reclaim
- Integrations
- Donation platforms, payments
Expected business outcomes
What the client set out to achieve
Retention of regular givers is where fundraising income compounds.
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5–15%
Better regular-giver retention
Timely thank-yous and stewardship journeys reduce cancellations.
Target range; depends on the supporter base
-
Days
To thank a donor, not weeks
Donations from every platform land in one place and trigger acknowledgements.
Where donation platforms are integrated
-
Complete
Tax reclaims on eligible gifts
Declarations stored with the supporter, so eligible gifts aren't missed.
Where declarations are captured at donation
Business challenges
How supporter data lived before
Every fundraising channel brought its own tool.
Donations
Online, event and direct debit gifts in different platforms.
Supporters
Duplicate records across systems, with different addresses.
Consent
Marketing preferences stored inconsistently.
Thanking
Acknowledgements sent in batches, sometimes weeks later.
Reporting
Income by campaign assembled from several exports.
Proposed solution
What the Dynamics 365 build covers
Microsoft's nonprofit data model with fundraising processes configured on top.
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Supporter records
One deduplicated record per supporter with giving history and relationships.
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Donations and regular giving
Gifts and recurring pledges from every platform, reconciled to income.
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Campaigns
Appeals, events and challenges with income and response tracking.
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Consent
Marketing preferences and lawful basis per channel, respected by every journey.
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Supporter journeys
Thank-yous, welcome series and stewardship emails triggered by gifts.
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Fundraising dashboards
Income, retention and cost per pound raised by campaign.
Project requirements
What the client asked us for
The request was one supporter database. The hard part is deduplicating years of records from different sources without losing history.
Consent is designed in from the start, so every journey respects what supporters agreed to.
What the project had to deliver
- 01One record per supporter
- 02Every gift in one place
- 03Consent respected everywhere
- 04Prompt, personal thank-yous
Key challenges & considerations
What made it harder, and what we did
-
Duplicate supporters across old systems
What we did
Deduplication rules were agreed with fundraisers and run in rehearsals before the final migration.
-
Donation platforms with different data formats
What we did
Each donation platform was mapped into a single gift format on import.
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Legacy consent records
What we did
Consent records were migrated with their source and date, and unclear ones were treated as no consent.
-
Small teams with limited time
What we did
The setup was kept deliberately simple, with thank-you journeys automated first to save staff time.
What we watched for
- Agree deduplication rules with fundraisers
- Migrate consent carefully
- Automate thank-yous first
- Keep the setup simple for small teams
Development process
Data first, then journeys
Clean supporter data comes before any automation.
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Data review
Sources, duplicates and consent records assessed.
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Migration and deduplication
Supporters merged with rules agreed with the fundraising team.
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Donation integrations
Online platforms and direct debits connected.
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Journeys
Thank-you and welcome journeys switched on.
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Reporting and handover
Dashboards and training for fundraisers.
Technology stack
Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit
Microsoft's nonprofit data model with standard marketing tools.
CRM
- Dynamics 365
- Nonprofit data model
- Dataverse
Engagement
- Customer Insights – Journeys
- Consent management
Integration
- Donation platform APIs
- Direct debit files
- Power Automate
Reporting
- Power BI
- Fundraising dashboards
Quality assurance & deployment
Tested by the people who use it every day
A CRM succeeds when people choose to use it. Every process was tested with real users on real scenarios, and data migration was rehearsed until the record counts agreed.
- Scenario testing with users from each role
- Migration rehearsals, with record counts reconciled
- Integration tests for every connected system
- Security roles checked against real job roles
- Solutions moved between environments as managed releases
Deployment
- 01JourneysThank-you and welcome journeys switched on.
- 02Reporting and handoverDashboards and training for fundraisers.
- 03Phased go-liveOne team or region first, then the rest, each wave with training by role.
- 04Hypercare and warrantyDaily support through the first weeks, and six months of free bug fixing.
Final deliverables
Supporters who feel known
Every supporter has one record with their full giving history, and every gift triggers a prompt, personal acknowledgement.
The team sees which campaigns bring lasting supporters, not just one-off income.
- One supporter database
- Gifts from every platform
- Consent-aware journeys
- Retention reporting
Handed over to the client
- 01Configured Dynamics 365Production and test environments
- 02Solutions and integrationsAs managed, documented releases
- 03Migrated dataWith record counts reconciled
- 04Training by roleWith short guides
- 05Six-month warrantyFree bug fixing after delivery
Success metrics
How success is measured
| Measure | Outcome | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|
| Better regular-giver retention | 5–15% | Target range; depends on the supporter base |
| To thank a donor, not weeks | Days | Where donation platforms are integrated |
| Tax reclaims on eligible gifts | Complete | Where declarations are captured at donation |
Verified reviews
What clients say about our Dynamics work
Verified reviews from our clients on the same kind of work, published on Clutch.
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Custom Software Development
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The work produced by the team was of exceptional quality.
Jon Thies
CTO, Model Rocket Feb 2022 – Mar 2023
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Custom Software Development
Mobile & Web Platform Development & Design
Silver Scintilla was responsive, respectful, and enjoyable to work with, quickly addressing any questions or requests.
DeShawn Brown
CEO & Founder, Lithios Jun 2021 – Nov 2022
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Custom Software Development
Web-Based HRM System Development
Silver Scintilla provided the best solution with scalable functionality, personalized features, and robust security.
Suheb Khan
Director, Collaborative Insight Technologies Jul 2020 – Jun 2022
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