Philanthropy
Overview
The rise of the ‘networked information economy’ has transformed philanthropy, creating opportunities and pressures for foundations and corporate donors. Unprecedented availability of information, data analysis, and cloud technologies provide philanthropic programs new opportunities to reach target organizations and to measure strength of impact, while at the same time accelerating the obsolescence of current technology systems.
Core Challenges
- Philanthropic organizations rely on long-range strategic planning. With technology rapidly changing, program goals and the technology choices that support them need to be considered carefully.
- Boards, executives, and staff all need to make choices about the same sets of technology, but from different perspectives.
- Identify the metrics that will best inform all stakeholders, including the board, executive, staff, and donors. Establish measurable outcomes.
Our Approach
FivePaths works with foundations and cohorts to provide strategic planning and technology implementation, helping to increase social impact for grantmakers and recipients alike. Our team brings experience working with corporate, family, and community foundations, as well as with corporate giving programs.
Profile: Asian American Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy
AAPIP is a national membership and philanthropic advocacy organization dedicated to advancing democratic philanthropy and Asian American/ Pacific Islander communities. AAPIP’s network-building activities are key to bridging communities via philanthropy.
Goals
As a highly dynamic organization, AAPIP relies on flexible strategies to support changing needs, including special project incubations, targeted campaigns, and established programs. With a new set of initiatives on the horizon, AAPIP sought a strategy and implementation partner to recommend improvements to technology and IT management structures, and to replace legacy systems to ones that serve new priorities.
Solutions and Impact
FivePaths’ long-term engagement with AAPIP has helped us develop a strong understanding of the organization’s priorities, capacities, and future needs. We are able to work through new challenges quickly, creating fine-tuned recommendations and efficient implementation plans that ensure successful project outcomes.
FivePaths worked together with executive, management, and staff teams at AAPIP to identify current challenges and fresh opportunities to support new and changing AAPIP programs and services. We delivered a strategic technology plan outlining goals for a technology management and communications strategy, including a new, streamlined set of tools and processes and a sustainable budget for improving data, web, and electronic communications.
Under this plan, AAPIP implemented improvements in its internal IT management and staffing infrastructure to support technology recommendations. From there, FivePaths worked with AAPIP to migrate legacy database systems to an enterprise-wide, integrated Salesforce CRM. We provided customization and comprehensive training support during and after implementation to teach and reinforce CRM best practices and Salesforce-specific skills.
AAPIP is now engaged with FivePaths to improve its web infrastructure, including a consolidation of satellite websites and legacy web technologies into a central, integrated Drupal CMS. Along with this work, FivePaths provides ongoing strategic and implementation support for website, data, and technology management as AAPIP continues to build its internal technology capacity. As our partnership together has grown, AAPIP works with FivePaths to help secure funding for its priority projects, including sourcing grant opportunities and proposal development.