Case Study

Non-Profit

Company: CALM
Engagement: Data platform modernisation and migration programme

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Overview

CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably), one of the UK’s leading suicide prevention charities  partnered with GRADIS to transform how it uses data. With fundraising, donor relationships, marketing, and live events all generating critical information, CALM needed a single, clear view of what was working and where every pound was coming from.

GRADIS built a centralised Azure data platform that connected CALM’s systems, unlocked real-time insight, and directly contributed to increased giving.

Challenge

  • Fragmented data across multiple systems limiting visibility into fundraising and donor activity
  • No single source of truth for donor relationships and giving history
  • Limited insight into donor behaviour and engagement patterns
  • Lack of real-time visibility during live fundraising events
  • Difficulty measuring marketing effectiveness and linking spend to outcomes
  • Salesforce not delivering actionable donor insight
    Heavy reliance on manual processes and disconnected reporting

These challenges reduced confidence in decision-making and limited CALM’s ability to maximise fundraising impact.

Solution

GRADIS designed and delivered a centralised Azure data platform to unify, govern, and activate CALM’s data across the organisation.

The solution included:

  • A single, governed data platform integrating fundraising, marketing, event, and donor systems
  • A unified view of donor relationships and giving history within Salesforce
  • End-to-end tracking of marketing campaigns, linking spend directly to donations
  • Real-time data pipelines enabling live visibility during fundraising events
  • Standardised data models to ensure consistent reporting across teams
  • A scalable and secure platform designed to support future growth

 

This enabled CALM to move from fragmented, reactive reporting to real-time, insight-driven decision-making.

Results

The modernisation programme delivered significant organisational impact:

  • A single, unified view of fundraising, donor, and marketing performance across the organisation
  • Increased giving driven by improved donor insight and more targeted engagement
  • Real-time visibility during live fundraising events, enabling faster, data-driven decisions
  • Clear attribution of marketing spend to outcomes, improving campaign effectiveness
  • Transformation of Salesforce into a true donor intelligence platform
  • Reduced reliance on manual processes and disconnected reporting
  • Improved confidence in decision-making through trusted, consistent data
  • A scalable, future-ready data platform supporting CALM’s mission to save more lives

Project Summary

Client

CALM

Platform

Microsoft Azure Data Platform

Scope

  • Data platform modernisation
  • System integration & data unification
  • Donor & fundraising analytics
  • Real-time event reporting
  • Marketing performance tracking

Key outcomes

  • Single, unified view of fundraising and donor activity
  • Increased giving through better donor insight and targeting
  • Real-time visibility during live fundraising events
  • Clear attribution of marketing spend to outcomes
  • Salesforce transformed into a true donor intelligence platform

Technologies

  • Azure Synapse
  • Azure Databricks
  • Azure SQL
  • Azure Functions
  • Power BI
  • Salesforce