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From chaos to control: Church Army’s digital transformation

July 28, 2025

Challenges

  • Legacy CRM system creating operational inefficiencies between key departments
  • Data held inconsistently across multiple systems preventing 360-degree contact view
  • Manual workarounds causing delays, errors and internal tensions
  • Ageing demographic requiring enhanced relationship management capabilities

Outcomes

  • Streamlined operations eliminating manual workarounds between fundraising and finance
  • Complete 360-degree contact visibility enabling enhanced relationship management
  • Automated user journeys improving efficiency and user experience
  • Successful change management across geographically dispersed organisation

Key services

  • Independent project guidance and strategic support
  • Budget planning and resource allocation advice
  • Requirements gathering and Partner selection
  • Project support for project implementation

About Church Army

Church Army is a faith-based charity on a mission to change lives. The Charity’s work is unconditional; tackling social deprivation through partnership and collaboration to help empower vulnerable individuals and the most marginalised communities across the UK and Ireland. Their social action work includes addressing women’s homelessness, knife crime, and a wide breadth of projects supporting vulnerable people. As a geographically diverse organisation, Church Army needed technology that could support both their central operations and frontline work while enabling them to grow and deepen relationships with supporters in an increasingly challenging fundraising environment.

The challenge

When Camilla Field, Head of Digital Transformation, assessed Church Army’s technology landscape, the organisation was struggling with a legacy CRM that had become a barrier to their mission.

The existing system was fundamentally “not really fit for purpose,” creating significant operational challenges across the organisation.

“We had internal stakeholders who were disenchanted with the usability and lack of functionality. Our legacy system didn’t provide us with the crucial 360-degree view of an individual that we needed to grow and deepen engagement with every contact.”

Key limitations included:

  • No integration between online donations and the CRM, resulting in manual re-entry
  • Inefficiencies between fundraising and finance departments
  • Data held “in too many different places and in too many different ways”
  • Lack of real-time reporting for campaign analysis
  • Limited automation hampering both user experience and operational efficiency
  • Geographic complexity of engaging dispersed colleagues in change processes

These issues created more than just operational friction—they were preventing Church Army from achieving their strategic objectives around audience growth and fundraising targets in an increasingly challenging environment.

Camilla Field
Head of Digital Transformation, Church Army

The solution

Church Army recognised that successful digital transformation required more than just selecting new technology—it demanded a strategic, realistic approach to project planning and resource management.

Working with Hart Square’s independent guidance, the organisation developed a comprehensive framework for change that prioritised practical delivery over technical ambition.

Strategic planning approach:

  • Conducted thorough digital prioritisation process at senior leadership level
  • Performed realistic assessment of internal skills and capacity
  • Established “placeholder budget” approach with clear ceiling parameters
  • Prioritised CRM as the foundation for broader digital transformation

Resource strategy:

  • Committed to full-time internal project management to leverage cultural knowledge
  • Identified and appointed product owners in key business areas affected by the change
  • Planned for business-as-usual capacity management throughout the project
  • Established clear governance structure with appropriate escalation channels

Partner selection: After a robust tendering process, Church Army selected a CRM platform that offered the integration capabilities and automation features required to support their operational needs and strategic objectives.

“If we were going to implement a new CRM, that had to be the priority for digital transformation. The time for me to project manage was budgeted as full time, with the recognition that if we’re doing this properly, other things would have to give from a budget and resourcing perspective.”

Implementation

Church Army adopted a pragmatic implementation approach that balanced technical delivery with the realities of organisational change management.

Governance framework:

  • Project Initiation Document establishing clear objectives and success criteria
  • RAID log tracking and mitigating risks throughout the project lifecycle
  • Regular project board meetings for decision-making and budget oversight
  • Structured communications plan for stakeholder engagement

Change management: The organisation invested heavily in change management, recognising that technology success depends on user adoption:

  • Two months of intensive walkthroughs and training sessions
  • Agile User Acceptance Testing (UAT) script writing sprints to manage testing across dispersed teams
  • Peer-to-peer support networks leveraging internal champions
  • Clear accountability measures for testing and user engagement

Budget management: Church Army implemented strict budget oversight, including:

  • Line-by-line review of all partner invoices
  • Regular questioning of development and project management hours
  • Withholding payments when value wasn’t demonstrated
  • Maintaining contingency for scope evolution and unexpected requirements

“As a client, you’re the paying customer. This was a very significant financial investment, so you want to ensure you’re getting your money’s worth.”

Results and progress to date

Operational efficiency improvements

  • Eliminating manual workarounds between fundraising and finance departments
  • Enabling real-time reporting for campaign analysis and decision-making
  • Implementing automated user journeys improving both user experience and operational efficiency
  • Standardising data capture and storage ensuring consistency across the organisation

Enhanced relationship management capability

The new system will provide the crucial 360-degree view of contacts that was previously impossible, enabling Church Army to:

  • Grow their audience more effectively
  • Deepen relationships with existing supporters
  • Implement improved segmentation for tailored communications
  • Better support strategic fundraising objectives in a challenging environment

Successful change delivery

Despite the complexity of managing change across a geographically dispersed organisation, Church Army will achieve:

  • Strong user adoption rates through effective change management
  • Smooth transition with minimal disruption to business-as-usual operations
  • Enhanced collaboration between previously siloed departments
  • A stronger foundation for future digital initiatives

Effective project governance

The robust governance framework is delivering:

  • On-budget progress within agreed parameters
  • Effective risk management preventing major issues
  • Clear accountability and decision-making throughout the project
  • Valuable lessons learned for future transformation initiatives

Looking ahead

Church Army’s transformation is demonstrating that successful digital change isn’t about having unlimited resources or perfect conditions—it’s about realistic planning, honest conversations, and robust governance.

By working with Hart Square to establish clear frameworks for budget management, resource allocation, and change delivery, Church Army is achieving what many organisations struggle with: a digital transformation that delivers on its promises.

The project’s progress is positioning Church Army for continued growth, with improved operational efficiency, enhanced relationship management capabilities, and a stronger foundation for future digital initiatives.

With Hart Square’s strategic guidance and practical support, Church Army is delivering:

  • A fully integrated CRM system supporting both central and frontline operations
  • Streamlined processes eliminating manual workarounds and departmental tensions
  • Enhanced capability to grow and deepen supporter relationships
  • A robust governance framework applicable to future transformation projects

Together, Church Army and Hart Square are demonstrating that with the right approach, charities can navigate the complexities of digital transformation and emerge stronger, more efficient, and better equipped to deliver their mission.