Duchenne UK
About Duchenne UK
Duchenne UK is a leading charity funding research to improve the quality of life for people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD)-a rare and severe genetic condition that progressively weakens muscles. Co-founded by Emily Reuben OBE and Alex Johnson OBE, Duchenne UK's mission is to accelerate treatments, support clinical trials, and invest in life-changing innovations.
With a growing portfolio of groundbreaking research projects, the organisation needed a more efficient way to manage grants, track funding impact, and connect fundraising efforts to research outcomes. That's where Hyphen8 stepped in.
The Challenge: Managing Complex Research Funding Efficiently
Duchenne UK managed multiple funds and programmes across spreadsheets, making it difficult to track grants, measure impact, and generate reports efficiently.
Their previous system created bottlenecks, requiring hours of manual work to connect fundraising to funded projects.
"Before Salesforce, generating reports was a time-consuming process.
Data was scattered across multiple spreadsheets, and we had to manually verify everything to ensure accuracy. It was a huge challenge."
- Vanessa Florant, Project Coordinator, Duchenne UK
Pain Points
As Duchenne UK scaled its research funding, they required a centralised, automated system to improve efficiency and reporting.
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Lack of Centralised Data
- Grant and fundraising data existed in silos, requiring significant manual effort to track funding impact.
- The lack of visibility made it difficult to connect donors and funders to research projects.
- Grant and fundraising data existed in silos, requiring significant manual effort to track funding impact.
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Time-Consuming Reporting & Auditing
- Reports took hours to compile, requiring cross-referencing multiple spreadsheets.
- Data accuracy was a concern, as manual checks were needed to verify information.
- Reports took hours to compile, requiring cross-referencing multiple spreadsheets.
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Inefficient Grant Administration
- Grant processes relied on spreadsheets, slowing down operations.
- Approvals and financial tracking lacked automation, requiring staff to manually reconcile payments.
- Grant processes relied on spreadsheets, slowing down operations.
The Solution: A Scalable, Intuitive Grant Management System Built by Hyphen8
Hyphen8 worked with Duchenne UK to design and build a flexible Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud solution, centralising all grantmaking processes into a single, scalable platform.
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Centralised Research Funding Management
- All grants, fundraising, and research projects are now managed in one place.
- Improved visibility allows teams to track funding impact in real-time
- All grants, fundraising, and research projects are now managed in one place.
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Automated Reporting & Data Integrity
- Reports that once took hours are now generated in minutes with accurate, real-time data.
- Key stakeholders can quickly access insights, supporting faster decision-making.
- Reports that once took hours are now generated in minutes with accurate, real-time data.
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Streamlined Grant Administration
- Staff no longer rely on spreadsheets, significantly reducing manual work.
- Automated processes ensure research funding is allocated and tracked efficiently.
- Staff no longer rely on spreadsheets, significantly reducing manual work.
The Impact of working with Hyphen8
The Impact
With Salesforce, Duchenne UK has streamlined grant management, reduced manual processes, and improved data accuracy, allowing them to focus more on funding groundbreaking research.
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Long-Term Organisational Time Saving Benefits
- Greater Efficiency & Time Savings
- Automated processes free up staff time, allowing them to focus on research funding.
- Seamless tracking ensures research teams receive timely grant payments.
- Greater Efficiency & Time Savings
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Stronger Data Insights & Reporting
- Key information is now visible at a glance, eliminating time-consuming data searches.
- Reports that previously took hours can now be pulled in minutes.
- Key information is now visible at a glance, eliminating time-consuming data searches.
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Scalability & Future-Proofing
- The system is designed to scale, supporting future growth and new funding models.
- The upcoming Phase 2 project will integrate fundraising and grant management, further improving impact measurement.
- The system is designed to scale, supporting future growth and new funding models.
Making an impact
"Salesforce has transformed our data handling and reporting capabilities. Now, we can dedicate more time to making informed strategic decisions and driving impactful research projects."
- Vanessa Florant
Why Did You Choose Salesforce and Hyphen8?
Hyphen8's deep understanding of research funding allowed them to custom-build a system that meets Duchenne UK's unique needs.
"Hyphen8's knowledge, responsiveness, and attentiveness to our needs made this collaboration a success.
The process was well-organised, and their regular catch-ups ensured we were always aligned.
We're looking forward to continuing our work together as we integrate fundraising."
- Maria Sahin, Finance Manager, Duchenne UK
Looking Ahead: Integrating Fundraising & Research Management
With Salesforce successfully implemented, Duchenne UK is now embarking on Phase 2-integrating fundraising into their Salesforce system.
This will replace the outdated thankQ fundraising system and improve donor management.
Bringing grants and fundraising into one system will provide a holistic view of funding impact.
Data-driven insights will enhance decision-making, helping Duchenne UK fund more life-changing research.
By partnering with Hyphen8, Duchenne UK has built a robust, future-proof system-allowing them to continue their mission to end Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
