The Australian Red Cross has automated administrative tasks and provided a unified experience to 270,000 clients, donors, members and volunteers using Dell Boomi’s integration platform.
The move comes as part of a broader shift at the not-for-profit to modernise its IT estate and offer online self-service capabilities, such as the soon-to-be launched MyRedCross customer portal.
Connecting data from disparate core systems and third-party platforms was the first step in being able to develop the platform for Red Cross’ 75,000 regular donors in the first instance, before extending the capability to other clients, donors, supports and volunteers.
“If we don’t have integrated systems, we don’t have accurate or up-to-date data on which to base business decisions, and therefore can’t provide a personalised experience for our stakeholders,” Red Cross chief information officer Veronica Frost said.
“We offer so many services across Australia, it’s important we’re able to tailor our communications to the needs and interests of each person that is engaging with us.
“Personalisation leads to better experiences, but in order to personalise, we first needed to digitalise our operations.
"This meant connecting all our various systems so we could have a holistic view of our customers based on all the data available to us.”
Boomi was selected as the integration platform due to its "low-code", drag-and-drop GUI, avoiding complex point-to-point integrations that would have required ongoing maintenance.
The MyRedCross project included the integration of EpiServer, Pivotal CRM, Okta identity management, InTech address validation, and Campaign Monitor marketing automation systems to produce a consistent and accurate data environment,
Further systems will be added from third parties and fundraising partners after the portal goes live early in the 2020-21 financial year.
One such integration will be the connection of point-of-sale terminals to the charity’s finance systems to handle in-store donations.
Multiple human resources systems will also be connected to maintain consistent employee and volunteering records and enable onboarding procedures to be automated.
Frost said the new portal will help the not-for-profit “make the most of [its] donor dollars” and direct resources to the community, rather than being wasted on overhead expenses.
“Boomi not only simplifies our integrations and the maintenance of our back-end infrastructure, it also enables us to streamline how we communicate with our stakeholders and will automate administrative tasks like employee and volunteering onboarding.
“Every dollar we can save from these tasks is another we can give back to the community through our various services.”
A cleaner data environment will also support future digital initiatives by speeding up foundational work, Frost added.
“It’s a high priority for us to be a digital organisation and deliver digital services to our clients.
“Access to consistent, accurate, and up-to-date data is absolutely pivotal to our digital transformation efforts, and Boomi is a central part of delivering connected experiences to all our end users.”
