When your mission is to save one of the world’s rarest mammals, every minute and every dollar counts. For the Marmot Recovery Foundation, a Canadian nonprofit dedicated to recovering the endangered Vancouver Island Marmot, modernizing their donor management system wasn’t just a tech upgrade, it was a lifeline for their conservation efforts.
The Challenge: Outdated Tools and Growing Risks
The Foundation had long relied on an aging Oracle database that couldn’t keep up with evolving donor expectations, especially with the shift toward online giving. Manual processes and a lack of integration between cheque and online donations created inefficiencies, communication gaps, and made donation processing difficult. To make matter worse, the Foundation risked losing donor information and donor disengagement continued to rise.
“It won’t surprise anyone that we’re seeing donors make a shift to online giving and our old system just wasn’t capable of handling that. We were starting to lose touch with donors who wanted to support us. So for us it was a critical priority to fix that problem and make sure we had a system that could integrate the online and traditional donations and provide a clear picture of our whole donor base.” – Adam Taylor, Executive Director, Marmot Recovery Foundation
The Solution: A Volunteer-Powered Dynamics 365 Implementation
At Catapult, we saw an opportunity to make a meaningful impact in our community. We assembled a volunteer team of CRM experts to implement Dynamics 365 Fundraising and Engagement at no cost to the Foundation, but we didn’t stop at out-of-the-box functionality. We focused on customizing the platform to meet the unique needs of a nonprofit managing both traditional and digital donations.
Key Customizations That Delivered Real Impact
- Streamlined Gift Batching
The default gift batching process in Dynamics 365 required multiple clicks and posed a risk of data loss. We developed a custom module that drastically reduced the number of steps required, making it faster and safer to process cheque donations. - Batch Receipt Printing
Instead of printing gift receipts one by one, our team created a template for batch exports, saving the Foundation hours of manual work and improving consistency. - Automated Tax Receipts
We enhanced the system to issue charitable tax receipts for all transactions whether they were part of a batch or not, ensuring compliance and donor satisfaction. - Faster Donor List Generation
Generating mailing lists for direct campaigns used to take a full day. Now it only takes 20 minutes thanks to improved data structure and automation. - Custom Dashboards and Reporting
We enabled the Foundation to build real-time dashboards that track donation trends, ROI, and donor engagement, empowering them to make smarter, data-driven decisions.
Dynamics 365 does a really good job of allowing you to build a custom dashboard, so you can see trends. Unfortunately, our old software didn’t have that. I’m looking forward to seeing what the donation trends are over time, like how this year’s giving compared to last year, or how this month compared to the month before. It’ll be nice to know where we’re standing and to identify if there’s a particular action we should be taking. – Adam Taylor, Executive Director, Marmot Recovery Foundation
The Results: Time Savings, Better Engagement, and Strategic Insights
The transformation was immediate and measureable. Staff now spend less time on tedious admin tasks and more time on conservation initiatives. Donor communication is more personalized, resulting in stronger donor relationships and engagement. Mailing lists are accurate and reflect changing donor preferences. And, with better visibility into donation trends, the Foundation can plan more effective and meaningful campaigns.
“There has been a pretty dramatic improvement with the new solution. It’s really helped us identify donors who’ve just switched to online giving, and we have a lot more confidence in knowing who we’re reaching out to. We also have a better sense of what our actual ROI is.” – Adam Taylor, Executive Director, Marmot Recovery Foundation
Why This Matters for Other Nonprofits
Many nonprofits face similar challenges: limited budgets, outdated systems, and growing donor expectations. This project shows how customized Dynamics 365 solutions can deliver real, measurable benefits without breaking the bank.
Whether it’s automating manual tasks, improving data accuracy, or enabling better donor insights, the right CRM solution can help nonprofits do more with less.
“We’re so happy we were able to work with Adam and the Foundation on this project. They are doing such great work and their commitment to their mission is so impressive. Creating a program that we can use going forward to support not-for-profits in a sustainable way has been a goal of ours for some time. This was a perfect opportunity get it started.” — Jeff Bacon, CEO, Catapult ERP
Ready to Transform Your Donor Management?
To read the full case study about the Marmot Recovery Foundation’s transformation, click here.
If your nonprofit is struggling with outdated systems or looking to improve donor engagement, we’d love to help. While we can’t offer every project pro bono, we’re passionate about supporting organizations that make a difference.
Book a discovery call with our team to explore how a tailored Dynamics 365 solution can support your mission.
The post Transforming Nonprofit Fundraising with Dynamics 365: A Real-World Success Story appeared first on CRM Software Blog | Dynamics 365.