University College London

UCL is London’s leading multidisciplinary university, with more than 11,000 staff and 38,000 students from 150 different countries. Founded in 1826, UCL was the first university in England to welcome students of any class, religion, and the first to welcome women on equal terms with men.

In September 2016, UCL launched their ‘It’s All Academic’ global philanthropy and engagement campaign. The campaign aims to raise £600m and is the third largest fundraising campaign by any higher education institution in Europe.

What issues did you face that compelled you to search for a fundraising solution?

“We had been using another fundraising solution, however the vendor was due to discontinue support of the version we were on, and we felt that it was a good time to take our fundraising activities up a notch. With the launch of our new fundraising campaign, it made perfect sense for us to bring in a sophisticated all-in-one CRM solution that would help us to manage things both efficiently and effectively.”

Why did you choose Blackbaud CRM?

“We went through a full tender process and there were a number of factors that were taken into account when choosing our new system. Blackbaud is a major player in the market, and Blackbaud CRM came out on top. We were confident that it was the right solution for us; the main reason being the all-encompassing functionality. UCL is a large university, so it made sense for us to have a fundraising solution that suited our complex needs and unique processes.”

How have things changed since you started using Blackbaud CRM?

“One of our main objectives with Blackbaud CRM was to remove the requirement for specialist knowledge and to ensure that everyone had access to data. With our previous system, all reporting had to be done by our data team as it wasn’t straightforward. Feedback shows the new system is being used extensively by everyone. It’s removed a bottleneck that existed previously and is encouraging users to own their data.

“We’re making savings in time because of this, and we’re working a lot smarter as a result. We’ve definitely raised the profile of the database within the Development team.

“Everyone at UCL has been impressed with Blackbaud CRM and all the staff at Blackbaud. This was a major implementation for us, and Blackbaud supported us to make sure it was a success. We’ve raised half our target so far in our ‘It’s All Academic’ campaign using Blackbaud CRM, and we’re looking forward to continuing this success in the coming months.”