The Matthew Project is a drug and alcohol support charity based in Norwich, providing services to vulnerable groups and individuals in the Norfolk and Suffolk region through an expanding referral network, and by direct enquiry from participants.
In January 2017, The Matthew Project launched its ‘On Track’ service that helps hard to reach young people in its area get into work, education or training though coaching, mentoring and support. This initiative is funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and is distributed by the Big Lottery.
With stringent requirements for adherence to record management and reporting, it was essential for The Matthew Project to implement a new CRM solution to manage these processes.
After partnering with Maidenhead based CRM experts Preact, The Matthew Project were quickly able to see the signs of success.
Malin Holm, data lead at the charity, explained that coaches and mentors are now equipped with Surface Pro devices. This means that when they are meeting with prospective applicants, they are able to use Dynamics 365 in offline mode to complete the enrolment documentation.
The enrolment process involves a number of different forms to be completed and signed before eligibility can be confirmed. Streamlining the data collection process using this technology has meant the process is very sustainable. Partners no longer have to cart around masses of paper and then store completed applications.
“The people we help generally don’t have mobile devices”, explained Holm. It is now possible for these forms to be completed in person during the interview. The data is then sent to Microsoft Dynamics 365 once complete.
The Matthew Project has also connected its Microsoft Dynamics 365 database to Power BI, which has enabled them to quickly access data-driven insights.
“When we look for emerging trends and patterns we could easily spend 20 hours or more collecting and analysing our data but using Power BI everything we need is available in real-time. This is already helping us develop better profiles of the people who we work with, it means that we can be more responsive to anticipate their needs and be more predictive in identifying vulnerabilities.” Said Holm.
To learn more about The Matthew Project, visit www.matthewproject.org