Powering the Vision at Twins Trust: Delivering an Ambitious Transformation in Nine Months
COMPANY OVERVIEW
Twins Trust, formerly Twins and Multiple Births Association (Tamba), was founded 40 years ago and is the only charity working across the UK working to improve the lives of twins, triplets and more.
The organisation has enjoyed exponential growth over the last decade, and membership has grown more than threefold to over 20,000. Nevertheless, the general public have extremely low awareness of the challenges involved with bringing multiple birth babies into the world and Twins Trust’s vision is a world where families of twins, triplets and more are happy, healthy and supported.
Twins Trust’s mission is to provide families with the information and support they need to enable them to thrive. Twins Trust raises awareness and invests in research and campaigns for the best possible outcomes for families.
Bluelight shared our vision and our energy. We truly were a partnership, and as the project progressed, Bluelight consistently went above and beyond to meet our strategic objectives and to ensure the project stayed on track.
- Emma Collins
- Head of Development
- Twins Trust
THE CHALLENGE
Twins Trust devised a five-year organisational strategy which prioritised the use of digital technology to provide better support to more families. A new integrated Web, Communications and CRM environment would be key to allowing Twins Trust to build stronger and longer relationships with paying members and donors, deliver more personalised support to the multiple-birth community and enable peer-to-peer support between families.
This complex digital transformation was at the core of an ambitious, organisation-wide rebrand planned to coincide with Twins Trust’s 40th anniversary. This meant timing was key, and a short timescale demanded a go-live date within just nine months. Challenging financial and staffing constraints also needed to be managed; a budget commensurate with other smaller charities was an ongoing consideration, and Twins Trust had to commit to ensuring the correct internal resource was available for the life cycle of the project by asking their team members to take on extra tasks and work extra hours.
THE APPROACH
The challenges were understood by all parties from the outset. As the project progressed, detailed and clear planning, particularly in view of Twins Trust’s resource constraints, coupled with open, honest and collaborative communication across the teams, ensured the complexities surrounding the implementation were absorbed. Bluelight’s focus was fixed at all times on the data, processes and people at Twins Trust to ensure project objectives were met.
This meant, at times, Bluelight needed to go ‘above and beyond’ the core requirements, for example, adding R68 Gift Aid submission integration with HMRC to their product to support both Twins Trust and any other client with high volume gift aid submission needs.
At each stage of the implementation, Bluelight and Twins Trust carried out detailed and substantial testing across all areas, taking the time to ensure that each element was completely fit for purpose.
We knew we could rely on Bluelight to be the technology experts. They knew exactly how best to meet our data and integration challenges. We were confident we could trust them to find innovative solutions that were a best fit for us.
- Emma Collins
- Head of Development
- Twins Trust
THE OUTCOME
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By taking a highly collaborative approach, the project was delivered successfully, on time and on budget.
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A complete rebrand from Tamba to Twins Trust
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Dynamics CRM implementation and data migration from legacy sources
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Integrated functionality across all areas of Twins Trust’s processes, including Membership, Events, Courses, Communications, Finance, Campaigns and Donations.
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A new, fully integrated, Website and Communications platform
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All new communications, branding, tone of voice
The two-way communication and the attention to detail meant that nothing got overlooked. Their open and honest approach helped us find the smoothest path through even the most complex stages of the project.
- Emma Collins
- Head of Development
- Twins Trust
THE BENEFITS
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A major reduction in manual processing, including enabling the team not to have to work on holidays. A great quote from Twins Trust is that ‘on the first day we went live, we literally all sat there and wondered what to do, as the combination of our new website and new CRM system had automated all of it’.
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Members can view and access benefits immediately rather than having to wait for their details to be processed. This also freed up internal resources to focus on the member experience rather than transactional processing.
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Ability to have a view across all aspects of Twins Trust data, not just for Membership, enabling the team to deliver their services to the families that need it most.
5 Years On...
THE BENEFITS
Twins Trust has improved its efficiency with BlueCRM over the past five years. They expanded their services, grew healthcare engagement, surpassed previous fundraising efforts, and expanded partnerships.
Bluelight was instrumental in adapting the platform to meet their evolving needs. The Dynamics 365 platform's flexibility addressed charity-specific nuances, including electronic gift aid claims. The combination of Dynamics' flexibility and charitable add-ons has proved highly effective.
- Data Management & Communication: BlueCRM's robust integration with their communication platform allowed Twins Trust to target specific groups precisely, leading to improved engagement.
- Automation & Cost Savings: The automation of membership processes freed up resources, enabling cost savings by redeploying staff elsewhere within the charity.
- Flexibility & Adaptability: The flexibility of BlueCRM allowed the charity to adapt the CRM to meet its strategic aims efficiently.
- Centralisation of Data: BlueCRM led to the consolidation of all charity-related data, providing a 360-degree view of their supporters, beneficiaries, partners, and impact reporting.
AFTERCARE
Twins Trust has had a very positive experience with Bluelight CRM's aftercare services. Bluelight strikes the perfect balance between size and effectiveness. Bluelight is big enough to provide the necessary resources and support that Twins Trust needs, yet small enough to maintain a genuine interest in the charity's vision and mission. Bluelight’s values demonstrate how much the leaders care about their staff, resulting in a dedicated and happy workforce. Twins Trust is very grateful to work with Bluelight, and it is a pleasure to work with them.
- Quick Response: The prompt and dedicated responses from the Bluelight team significantly enhance the charity's experience with BlueCRM.
- Alignment with Growth: BlueCRM evolved over the years in alignment with Twins Trust's growth. Bluelight showcased its commitment to being a technical support partner and a thought partner.
- Positive Culture: Twins Trust appreciated Bluelight's culture and philosophy, which perfectly balances size and effectiveness. They demonstrated a genuine interest in the charity's mission and vision.
- Employee Care: Bluelight's care for their staff led to a happy, dedicated workforce, which is reflected positively in their working relationship with Twins Trust.
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