World Vision Germany uses Dynamics 365 to advance fundraising for children

World Vision Germany works to improve the lives of children worldwide. With no internal CRM, the nonprofit relied on vendors to send and track donor communications. They wanted a better and more individualized way to interact with supporters.

Microsoft partner GOB helped World Vision Germany adopt Dynamics 365 and other Microsoft solutions. Now the nonprofit can craft donor email journeys, track data internally, and increase process automation, especially for donor service.

With Dynamics 365 and AI automations, World Vision Germany has reduced its vendor budget and administrative overhead, freeing money for its mission. Staff have more time to personalize outreach, and deepen supporter relationships.

High-yield cultivation workshops and access to microcredit help farmers produce enough food to keep their families healthy while also increasing their income. Children learn, sing, draw, and process their experience of conflict in a refugee camp classroom staffed by trauma-informed teachers. And children who worked in factories, agriculture, or informal jobs receive support to return to school and enjoy their childhood.

World Vision Germany is part of the international and federal World Vision network that pursues its vision of a better future for children worldwide. While about half of World Vision Germany’s funding comes from public sources, the remainder is comprised of private donations.

“More than 170,000 donors support our work in the areas of water, food, education, economic development, and other basic needs to sustainably improve the lives of the most vulnerable children, their families, and their communities in the world,” says Christoph Hilligen, CEO of World Vision Germany. “Without fundraising, that is simply not possible.”

To improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their fundraising efforts, the digital transformation specialist GOB is helping World Vision Germany modernize its technology infrastructure. The organization is now using Dynamics 365 Business Central, enabled by GOB’s unitop fundraising solution, as well as Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Journey, Microsoft Fabric, Power BI, and other integrated platforms. Modern technology infrastructure empowers nonprofit staff to cultivate deeper relationships with donors, drive strategy through data-backed decisions, and gain productivity in service of their mission.

Hilligen says, “Every day, our staff is giving their best to improve the life of children, their parents, and their communities. I’m so motivated to support this infrastructure change because technology is what helps us implement our vision.”

“This is why technology is so critical. It helps us to increase the number of our donors and get more funds, spend funds in a better way, communicate with donors, and improve the lives of as many children as possible.”

Christoph Hilligen, CEO, World Vision Germany

Building better relationships with donors

World Vision Germany's on-premise legacy system was nearing end of life when the leadership team decided to transition to the cloud. The nonprofit also did not have a CRM to speak of and instead relied on a vendor to send marketing outreach and fundraising email campaigns. Dynamics 365 offered an integrated fundraising platform to bring that vital function in-house. Further, Dynamics 365 would synthesize with the Microsoft Cloud ecosystem, providing a unified data stance that would advance the nonprofit’s goals of efficiency and growth.

GOB’s unitop fundraising solution builds on the robust foundation of Dynamics 365. This solution seamlessly connects Microsoft systems, preventing the need for cost- or time-consuming custom developments. The synthesis between these vital solutions enables new capabilities for World Vision Germany’s fundraising efforts.

For the first time with Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, World Vision Germany is building communication journeys. Donors enter different automated journeys at various stages of their involvement with the nonprofit, such as their first donation or when giving to an emergency appeal. This replaces World Vision Germany’s former one-size-fits-all outreach, resulting in more relevant and specific content for donors.

Control over fundraising communications has already improved the nonprofit’s responsiveness. When an earthquake recently rocked Myanmar, the team crafted and sent an emergency appeal journey within hours of the disaster out of its own system and without external support. Staff tracked response to the email over the weekend, then created a follow-up journey for recipients who had not opened the outreach. “In a natural disaster, time counts. We have to be very fast to inform our donors, which enables us to be fast to help children,” Hilligen says.

Dynamics 365 also enables World Vision Germany to tailor outreach to donors. Data within Customer Insights sheds light on the types of projects donors support, revealing segments that can be used for customized journeys. For instance, the team can now identify donors who are most interested in nutrition, share an uplifting success story of battling hunger, and appeal for donations directed toward improving food security. The more individualized approach helps World Vision Germany communicate its work that most inspires donors, leading to a lasting commitment to the nonprofit’s cause.

About half of the organization’s primary donor service processes are now automated through Dynamics 365 Business Central and GOB’s unitop solutions. “That gives us more time to have good conversations with our donors and focus on individualized correspondence,” says Nicole Förstl, Donation Service Expert at World Vision Germany.

“AI can never replace personal contact. It is our partner in having more individual time with donors.”

Nicole Förstl, Donation Service Expert, World Vision Germany

Making data-driven decisions

Transitioning to the Microsoft Cloud makes data from across the organization available in “a single source of truth,” explains Hilligen. Dynamics 365 Business Central and Customer Insights, Fabric, Azure SQL databases, Power BI, and more work together seamlessly to power a data-driven culture.

Uniformly available data has enabled World Vision Germany to shift toward a KPI focus. Instead of relying on gut feelings or anecdotal evidence, nonprofit leadership identifies and tracks measurable goals. Integrating data from various sources into Power BI dashboards related to KPIs provides both leadership and staff a quick window into progress. That way, teams can adjust implementation of strategies to correct missteps and maximize successes. “This completely new way of working enables us to be a data-driven organization,” Hilligen says.

Instead of relying on a vendor to compile and relay information, World Vision Germany now has control over all its data. Business Central and Customer Insights funnel data into Microsoft Fabric, where the nonprofit can run queries, connect to Power BI dashboards, and even develop predictive models.

This wealth of data, combined with World Vision Germany’s transition to the Microsoft Cloud, enables the use of AI to generate greater efficiencies and productivity. For example, the nonprofit is working on an AI-powered solution that analyzes unstructured donor feedback—work that would take a human much longer— so staff can focus on crafting thoughtful responses. “AI can never replace personal contact. It is our partner in having more individual time with donors,” Förstl says. “Only contact with our teams, who are dedicated to the work, keeps donors' trust in our organization.”

Finding efficiencies to maximize mission

Around the world, far too many children live in circumstances that limit their potential. With this need in mind, World Vision Germany has reduced its vendor budget because of its adoption of Dynamics 365. “By optimizing manual work, we save money on administrative costs, which helps us be good stewards of our funds,” Hilligen says. “The more money we save through technology, the more we can send to the field.”

The “evergreen” nature of modern cloud solutions enables World Vision Germany’s IT team to shift focus to value-adding work, Nink adds. “Before, we invested a lot of money and human resources in keeping our legacy system running. Now our people and funds focus on developing new processes and optimizing functions to support the organization.”

For example, the team is testing AI integrations within Business Central. They have developed a generative AI function that summarizes donor history based on interactions. “This will make us better prepared to have live conversations with donors,” Förstl says. The generative AI-enabled addition will also provide ready-to-use material to draft donor thank-you letters.

With the efficiencies of Dynamics 365, World Vision Germany anticipates developing deeper relationships with donors. In turn, the nonprofit invests more in systemic changes that improve the health, education, and economic standing of families worldwide. “This is why technology is so critical,” Hilligen says. “It helps us to increase the number of our donors and get more funds, spend funds in a better way, communicate with donors, and improve the lives of as many children as possible.”

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“Every day, our staff is giving their best to improve the life of children, their parents, and their communities. I’m so motivated to support this infrastructure change because technology is what helps us implement our vision.”

Christoph Hilligen, CEO, World Vision Germany