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CiviCRM enables Step to take giant steps forward

Step is the St Albans and Harpenden Christian Education Project, a charity with a small staff team and volunteers from numerous local churches. Step works in secondary schools leading lessons and assemblies, supporting Christian Unions, running social action projects, delivering courses and mentoring.

CiviCRM has enabled Step to better manage their volunteers, communicate with supporters and organise school data into an accessible multi-user format.

  • Background

    To enable Step to work efficiently and effectively by consolidating key data into a single system.

  • Challenges

    As Step had grown, it had become increasingly difficult to manage shared information between the team. There was no correlation between email lists, donor records, contact details or event attendance and some key information was not recorded anywhere but was known by long-standing staff and volunteers. Step also has multiple users working from home, needing to use the same data.

    Locating all the useful data, then cleaning and consolidating it was one of the biggest initial challenges.

  • Solution

    The initial request was simply for some form of shared address book. When Step was introduced to CiviCRM its staff quickly understood that it would not only handle all the identified needs but could provide a consolidated operating platform enabling Step to communicate better with its supporters, manage its administration efficiently and keep focussed on its mission. Instead of just helping them catch up they could see it would be a leap forward in their administration and communication.

  • Functionality
    • Consolidated contact details – no more spreadsheets of contacts, address lists or email lists!
    • Improved communications:
      • Weekly newsletter to supporters
      • Termly mailings to a wide support network
      • Annual fundraising initiatives
    • Managing events by the staff team
    • Recording donations

Step’s Director, Chris Birch-Evans, expressed enthusiasm for the potential impact of CiviCRM and took personal ownership of championing the project. The implementation of CiviCRM was led by Aidan Saunders of Squiffle Consulting.

Logo for the Step organization
  • Focus: Education, Faith
  • Type: Educational, Non-Profit, Religious
  • Step Website

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Provided By: Squiffle Consulting

Squiffle Consulting has the aim of Helping Charities Succeed: You do great things for those in need, for your community, for the environment or for those in a forgotten corner of the globe. Your focus is not IT, but you can’t escape it. Our aim is to help you get the right IT in place that supports your mission and lets you focus on the things you’re passionate about. CiviCRM meets the needs of a wide range of charities, churches and non-profits and is our primary tool of choice.

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CiviCRM is an open source project that develops and maintains software for nonprofits. Our mission is to ensure that any nonprofit organization, regardless of budget, size or mission, has access to a world-class CRM.

The CiviCRM project is managed by CiviCRM LLC (aka “the Core Team”), a California-based Limited Liability Company. We are a team of seven people located around the world.

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CiviCRM’s only shareholders are the users, contributors and supporters that make up the CiviCRM community.

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