GroceryAid modernises events and fundraising with Microsoft technology
GroceryAid, a UK charity supporting people working in the grocery sector, needed to move away from its legacy CRM system and bring its fundraising, events, and partner engagement activity into a single, modern platform. Pragmatiq partnered with GroceryAid to implement a tailored solution using Microsoft Dynamics 365, improving visibility, consistency, and control across events, ticket bookings, supporter engagement, and recognition of partner activity.
Background & Challenges
Background
GroceryAid raises vital funds through a programme of events, fundraising initiatives, and corporate engagement, supporting welfare services for people working in the grocery sector. The charity manages relationships with individuals, corporate partners, and event participants, alongside ticket sales, attendance tracking, donations, and recognition of partner contributions.
Historically, GroceryAid relied on the legacy CRM system ThankQ, alongside other disconnected tools and websites to support this activity.
Challenges
- Legacy system limitations: The ThankQ platform had become difficult to adapt, limiting GroceryAid’s ability to support evolving fundraising and events activity.
- Fragmented data and processes: Event information, ticket availability, bookings, attendee data, donations, and partner activity were spread across multiple systems, making it difficult to maintain a single, accurate view of engagement.
- Manual event and ticket management: Managing ticket availability, pricing, bookings, attendee allocation, and attendance tracking required significant manual effort.
- Limited visibility of partner activity and recognition: Tracking how organisations supported GroceryAid through fundraising, volunteering, and awareness-raising activity and recognising this through awards was not supported consistently.
The Solution & Implementation
The Solution
Pragmatiq implemented a centralised platform built on Microsoft Dynamics 365, bringing events, ticketing, supporter data, donations, and partner activity into a single system.
Dynamics 365 Sales was configured to manage event ticket availability, pricing, and bookings. Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys supports event setup, attendee management, and event-related marketing activity.
The solution integrates with GroceryAid’s corporate website to automatically surface event and ticket information. A separate website integration enables event leads to manage participant information, with attendance data written back into Dynamics 365 to maintain a complete and accurate record.
Key elements of the solution included:
- Event, ticket, and booking management: Events, ticket availability, pricing, and bookings are managed centrally within Dynamics 365 Sales, providing a consistent and structured approach to fundraising events.
- Website integrations for events and participants: Event and ticket information is published automatically to GroceryAid’s corporate website, while a separate website integration supports event leads in managing participant details and attendance.
- Attendee, activity, and awards tracking: Attendance data is captured within Dynamics 365, alongside the ability to record organisational activity and award partners for fundraising, volunteering, and awareness-raising contributions.
- Lightweight donation tracking: Donation activity is recorded within the system, providing visibility of financial contributions alongside events and partner engagement.
- Unified supporter and organisation records: A central address book brings together individuals and corporate supporters, giving teams a clear view of event participation, donations, and wider engagement with the charity.
The Outcomes
- Improved data visibility: Events, ticket bookings, attendance, donations, and partner activity are now held in a single system, improving accuracy and consistency across teams.
- More efficient event delivery: Centralised management of ticket availability, pricing, bookings, and attendees has reduced manual effort and duplication.
- Clearer insight into engagement and recognition: GroceryAid now has improved visibility of how individuals and organisations support the charity, including fundraising activity and award recognition.
- A scalable platform for the future: Moving away from ThankQ to Microsoft Dynamics 365 provides a flexible platform that can evolve alongside GroceryAid’s events and fundraising activity.
