Protecting Client Dignity with a Unified Salesforce Platform

The Challenge 

Cancer Council SA faced three major barriers:

• Client experience gaps, with cancer patients and carers often needing to repeat their stories multiple times across services, and
• Fundraising growth constrained by manual data handling, duplicate records, and fragmented supporter journeys, and
• Operational inefficiencies across departments, with staff spending days manipulating spreadsheets and processing return-to-sender mail manually

“Program reporting relied on spreadsheets, which reduced real-time visibility and made ongoing monitoring more manual than we wanted.”

— Stephanie Brauer, Senior Prevention Coordinator 

Staff passion was clear, but outdated tools limited their ability to serve clients efficiently.

“We make more than 4,500 connections to clients over the phone every year, who reach out to us at times of need for counselling or practical support. For us on the front line, it meant hours of admin instead of hours with clients. The frustration was real.”

— Amanda Maple, Nurse Lead

The Vision: A People-First Transformation 

Cancer CouncIl SA needed more than a standard system upgrade. It required a unified, future-ready platform that:

• Boosted fundraising revenue by enabling personalised donor engagement.
• Reduced operational overhead by digitising and automating key processes.
• Delivered a seamless, compassionate client experience across every touchpoint.

“My drive really is working with stakeholders to make sure the system works for them — that they’re getting the full capabilities to do their jobs well.”  

— Leanne Kelly, CRM Administrator

AlphaSys was selected for its sector expertise and co-design approach. 

“We wanted a true partner, one who would push back when needed, and work with us to design the right solutions for our people.” 

— Michael Humphrys, Product Manager, CCSA 

The Solution: Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud Foundation 

Together, CCSA and AlphaSys implemented Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud with a focus on future scalability and minimal customisation. 

Technologies Harnessed 

• Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud – unified CRM for fundraising, programs, and service delivery. 

• Salesforce Experience Cloud – portals for fundraisers and program participants. 

• Ortto – for donor journeys, campaigns, and segmentation. 

• Program Management Module (PMM) – streamlined service delivery, referrals, and case management. 

• Automation & Integrations – digitised referrals, barcode scanning for donations, SMS and email automation. 

Key Outcomes 

🔹 Improved Fundraising Outcomes & Revenue 

• Record-breaking results: Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea in SA raised $1.434M — up from $1.3M the previous year, the largest ever. While many factors contributed to this success, the Salesforce upgrade improved visibility and support across the campaign. 

• Real-time insights enabled agile campaign management: For the Marilyn Jetty Swim, switching from email to SMS mid-campaign delivered 90 registrations in 24 hours. 

• Smarter donor journeys: Personalised supporter engagement, segmentation, and multi-channel campaigns increased retention and reduced opt-outs. 

“Being proactive is a critical part of any fundraising campaign, but so is the ability to respond quickly. During a live campaign, agility is essential, and that’s only possible when we have access to real time registrations, donations and engagement data.”

— Claire Morris, Fundraising Events Manager

🔹 Improved operational efficiency & reduced expenses

• Return-to-sender processing: Reduced from a full day’s manual work to 10 minutes using barcode scanning and automation. 

• Referral forms digitised: Nurses no longer complete paper-based records and re-enter data; one-click digital referrals save up to 10 minutes per call, freeing time for client support.

“Instead of hours behind a desk processing mail, our fundraisers can instead invest time and energy in relationships with our valued supporters – work that lifts our brand and strengthens our connection with the community.”

— Michael Humphrys, Product Manager

• Reconciliation & finance processes: Now fully automated, improving accuracy and speed. 

• Simpler document workflows: Drag-and-drop file uploads and direct email from Salesforce eliminated time-consuming manual handling. 

“The drag-and-drop file upload sounds small, but it’s life-changing. It saves so much time and keeps everything safe and central.”  

— Stephanie Brauer, Senior Prevention Coordinator 

🔹 enhanced client experience

• Single client view across services: From counselling to accommodation to financial assistance, staff now see the full history without forcing clients to repeat themselves. 
• Trauma-informed referrals: Clients share their story once; Salesforce carries it across services and programs, preserving dignity during difficult times. 
• Secure, more personalised communication: All client data and correspondence stored securely within Salesforce, eliminating fragmented systems.

“We can absolutely see enhancements in both client experience and the experience of our health professionals who support them – all client information, emails, resources, everything is in one place in Salesforce.”

— Amanda Maple, Nurse Lead 

• Timely access to prevention data: Teams can generate accurate reports for funders, media, or internal needs in minutes, not days 

“If I can cut admin time for nurses, that means two or three more people get support calls that day. That’s what this is about.” 

— Michael Humphrys, Product Manager