SEI Volunteers Deliver Nonprofit Business Process Assessment: Boosted Collaboration, Enhanced Security, and Streamlined Workflows
The United Way of Greater Charlotte (UWGC) fights for the education, health, and financial stability of every person in our community. Their work includes Unite Charlotte, United Neighborhoods, Impact Grants, and support of community partners that provide basic needs, financial stability, education, and health. They serve families, friends, and neighbors in need throughout four counties in the Charlotte region – Anson, Cabarrus, Charlotte/Mecklenburg, and Union.
United Way of Greater Charlotte (UWGC) was using a variety of technology tools to support their operations, which led to confusion among staff with unclear permissions. The organization sought to streamline processes with Microsoft and a partner to assist in identifying opportunities for financial, time, and other savings.
Apparo paired the United Way team with skilled volunteers from SEI, who thoughtfully reviewed the nonprofit’s current processes and worked alongside the team to identify opportunities for technology and business process improvements. Volunteers provided a roadmap for transitioning to Microsoft solutions and increasing overall efficiencies, reducing expenses, and improving internal processes. The roadmap included documentation of current tools, quick wins, and budget estimates for implementations. Through this Community Impact Project, volunteers recommended automations in Air Table and Power Automate, improvements to document organization and accessibility in SharePoint, and the consolidation of survey tools within Microsoft. These changes, with the long-term goal of integrating Power BI, establish a strong foundation for United Way to streamline operations, reduce licensing costs, and continue expanding their internal technology capabilities.
Following implementation, United Way anticipates significant time savings through streamlined workflows and reduced redundancies in tech processes and daily operations. UWGC shared that centralizing their document management in Microsoft 365 will enhance data security and reduce the risk of information silos and loss. They also look forward to stronger cross-team collaboration made possible by consistent software tools, along with access to new resources that will help shape the organization’s AI policies. These advancements will foster a more connected, informed, and forward-looking work environment. United Way’s Janelle Martin explained, “This project positions us for growth by establishing standardized training programs, setting clear timelines for technology adoption, and creating scalable systems that can support future expansions.”
Business Process Assessment Community Impact Project Team Reflections:
- “On behalf of the SEI team, it’s been an absolute pleasure getting to work with all of you, and we would love to stay in touch with both Apparo and United Way. I hope that what we delivered will help reduce the licenses you don’t need, bring more efficiencies and automations to ease pain points, and overall just make things easier for your users. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to help you, and we look forward to staying in touch.” – Katie Halligan, SEI
- “I enjoyed working with the SEI team. They were very knowledgeable, and I keep wondering how we can stay connected. I appreciated how they listened and responded based on what our needs were. They were able to bring us things that we may not have thought of and offered tangible takeaways, which is extremely helpful.” -Kendra Green, UWGC
- “The SEI team was very knowledgeable, friendly, and accommodating. I appreciated the material references they provided that have and will come in handy.” – Richard Lyda, UWGC
- “On behalf of United Way, we want to thank SEI for all of the deliverables. Everything was organized and easy to follow, and we are excited to get started. Everything was great and we really appreciated all of your efforts.” – Janelle Martin, UWGC
