Israeli farmers who observe Shmita, the sabbath year, leave their fields fallow for one year in every seven—and endure a heavy financial burden during that time. Keren Hashviis, “the fund for the seventh year”, is an Israeli-based “pop-up” NPO that sources aid to support farmers and their families during their sabbatical.
Keren Hashviis’ operating season begins a few months before each Shmita year and ends soon after. This means they have limited time to connect with 50,000 donors, manage funds, file paperwork, and analyze data. They asked Fast Track Digital to streamline their digital infrastructure, beginning with a new CRM. We customized a Salesforce solution to get the job done.
With six-year breaks between fundraising campaigns, no permanent staff, and a global donor network, Keren Hashviis faces unique challenges. In early 2020, Fast Track Digital began working on a system for the coming Shmita year that could organize decades of information and be flexible enough that any team could quickly learn to operate it.
We created a flowchart of all their processes and listened to their pain points. Then we suggested a custom Salesforce CRM solution that could support back-office oversight and fundraiser outreach.
First, we imported all donor and constituent data and donation information from their legacy systems and customized Salesforce to support their unique data model.
The system uses complex logic to provide admins with a host of powerful tools. They can:
● Input, track, and report all data.
● See all fundraiser actions and communications.
● Generate custom reports for audiences.
● Receive automated reports and alerts on schedules or triggers.
● Produce different versions of document merges with runtime merge options.
● Calculate complex tax-deduction requirements (partial deductibility, etc.)
Our custom Salesforce system also provides powerful outreach and marketing tools for fundraisers that allow them to:
● Take donations via credit card, check, or as recurring payments (weekly, monthly, etc.).
● Automatically email donors or withhold responses pending admin review.
● Track donation history and timelines.
● Create donor networks to understand “who knows who”.
● Geolocate donors (plot donors by region or neighborhood).
● Send templated emails directly from Salesforce.
● Run multiple, full-cycle solicitation campaigns at once.
The system also integrates seamlessly with the Google Workspace Email and Calendar.
Three final customizations brought it all together.
We added Salesforce Service Cloud to handle their customer service needs. Office staff can respond easily to simple requests (address changes) and complex questions about hosting fundraisers.
Keren Hashviis also issues framed plaques to donors that indicate their partnership with specific farmers and for specific parcels of land. Our custom logic enables KH admins to generate and allocate those lots and send these certificates automatically.
Finally, we developed Wizards; custom screens with dynamic data input and display for fast creation of records and requests.
With their custom Salesforce CRM in place, Keren Hashviis is ready for the coming Shmita year. And they can confidently encourage more farmers than ever before to observe the sabbatical.
