Crisis Assistance Ministry Gastonia needed help migrating its data from its previous database to Salesforce. Centric Consulting volunteers implemented and configured a custom Salesforce instance that allows the nonprofit to serve more people in less time.

Crisis Assistance Ministry Gastonia (CAMG) is a nonprofit organization that aids people living in the greater Gastonia, North Carolina, area. Its clients are people who have experienced a recent change that led to a financial crisis. In total, CAMG serves about one-half of Gaston County with emergency food, as well as utility and rent or mortgage assistance for low-income households.

When identifying its clients, the agency considers household income, expenses, assistance from other organizations, and applicants' ability to help themselves. CAMG also helps those who rely solely on a fixed income to meet their needs. In addition, because of its limited resources and grant-funding requirements, the organization must ensure that only qualified applicants receive assistance. CAMG manages large amounts of data needed to qualify, serve, and follow up with its current and potential clients. However, the agency had been relying on a system built in 1998 that relied almost exclusively on paper record keeping and few digital tools.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency started using Google Forms and incorporating more technology. Still, these improvements were insufficient to handle the workload – especially as cases skyrocketed during and after the pandemic.

CAMG needed a solution to increase data input and access while delivering automation opportunities and meaningful metrics. With help from a customer relationship management tool (CRM), Gastonia staff could measure their progress and identify clients who needed more support. By doing so, the organization's volunteer workforce would be freed from data-entry and record-keeping tasks to spend more time in the community, broadening its mission.