How Overcoming IT Challenges at Home Supported a Global Mission

From its home in Fishers, Indiana, The Wesleyan Church World Headquarters guides and cares for 500 employees and more than 500,000 members. 

While the church’s focus remains on its beliefs and values, there’s also a business side to managing faith-based organizations like TWC. Its IT operations were tasked with keeping networks and systems running smoothly for employees, pastors, donors, and candidates. Lines of communication and collaboration became tangled as platforms expanded organically or no longer served their purpose, hampering employee efforts, and church leaders began to find it difficult to achieve their goals. 

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Managing data became a challenge

The organization needed to gather, use, and protect data from important stakeholders in an efficient manner. Each business unit within TWC became siloed, and employees were using IT solutions that had reached their expiration date. The inability to update and improve on their outdated platforms also increased TWC’s risk of data loss. 

Some of the specific issues they faced included: 

  • Communicating. Mismatched data that appeared in several databases resulted in multiple, unnecessary contacts between employees and customers. 
  • Performing key tasks. Employees found it more difficult to generate required reports, maintain contact and pastor data, including pastor credentials. 
  • Managing donations. Donors needed a straightforward way to make their donations, while employees were finding it difficult to track donations and generate receipts.
  • Managing Ministerial Development. Candidates wanted a portal to track their credentialing and progress. 
  • Managing Employee Pension Funds. TWC needed to securely send pension fund details to their Pension Fun Principal through a backend process that could be initiated on demand.

TWC needed an extensive overhaul to improve their management processes using a more holistic approach. They needed a source of truth platform that could serve all facets of their business and its operations. 

Our goal within the Applications practice at BDO is to help our clients generate revenue, increase efficiency, and optimize packaged solutions.

MICHAEL ROSENTHAL
Manager

TWC brought in professionals to help overcome their IT challenges

When TWC realized the impact their outdated, inconsistent IT processes caused, they turned to a trusted group of technology professionals — BDO Digital. TWC’s Director of IT and Chief Financial Officer both valued the thought-leadership and IT strategizing that BDO Digital had provided in the past.  

Team members from BDO Digital were able to implement Salesforce Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) to improve the church’s overall efficiency. In addition: 

  • NPSP served as the base for BDO Digital to create an account for each church, then connect each church to the appropriate district. 

  • TWC created donor portals using Experience Cloud. Now, donors can submit donations, manage their contact information, and choose which missions to support. A Salesforce add-on — Docomotion — enables TWC employees to generate mass donation receipts and provide donors with necessary tax documentation. 

  • Using SurveyVista, a Salesforce add-on, TWC added efficiency to the generation of its annual Service reports and Local Church Statistics report while facilitating staff confirmation of pastor credentials. 

  • Using a new ministerial development portal, students can register for credential or education pathway accounts, review transcripts, and monitor their progress. 

  • TWC uses their new, integrated systems to track deposits and withdrawals, as well as generate tax documents for participants.  

All projects were completed on time and under budget, with additional enhancement and maintenance projects on the horizon. Throughout the process, TWC received thorough, comprehensive communications from BDO Digital personnel.  

TWC and its key stakeholders are enjoying a better IT experience

With the assistance of BDO Digital, TWC implemented a source of truth platform that improved business operations and communication. Divisions within the faith-based organization have a more collaborative experience with the elimination of siloes and duplication of effort. BDO Digital staff professionals provided the analysis, guidance, implementation, and training that have enabled TWC and its staff to operate more efficiently as they continue to support TWC’s vital outreach and leadership goals.  

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