Homeless World Cup

About the Homeless World Cup Foundation

For over 20 years, the Homeless World Cup Foundation has harnessed the power of football to inspire and change lives. By bringing together national teams from around the world, the foundation provides a platform for people experiencing homelessness to regain confidence, rebuild relationships, and access support networks.

Each year, the Homeless World Cup takes place in a different city, with the most recent tournament held in Seoul, South Korea, in September 2024. Since its first event in 2003, the organisation has helped over 1.3 million people worldwide.

The Challenge - The Need for a Scalable and Efficient System

The Homeless World Cup faced significant operational challenges, making it difficult to manage tournament logistics, player data, and long-term programme impact.

"Managing medical information, dietary needs, and last-minute changes became overwhelming. We needed a system that centralised everything in one place."

- James McMeekin, COO, Homeless World Cup Foundation

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  Pain Points 

The team wanted to scale their impacts using a system that removed their pain points, barriers and manual tasks. This was to ensure they were working in the best ways possible to scale their mission.

  • Pain Bullet

    Reliance on Paper and Spreadsheets

    • Key information-such as player details, dietary needs, and medical records-was stored in separate spreadsheets and paper forms, leading to inefficiencies and security risks.

    • Finding past player data or event records was time-consuming and prone to errors, delaying decision-making.
  • Exclamation Bullet

    Complex Data Collection Across Events

    • Each event required gathering data on hundreds of players and staff across multiple locations, with no centralised system to track changes.

    • The lack of a structured system made it difficult to ensure consistency and accuracy, leading to potential miscommunication between teams.

     

  • Pain Bullet

    Limited Access to Real-Time Updates

    • Last-minute substitutions, injuries, and other changes had to be manually communicated, creating delays and inconsistencies.

    • Team organisers often struggled to get critical updates in time, affecting planning and causing stress during tournaments.
  • Exclamation Bullet

    Lack of Technical Resources

    • Without an in-house technical team, the foundation needed a trusted partner to design and implement a user-friendly solution.

    • Their existing systems were difficult to scale, meaning each year required a reinvention of processes, instead of a streamlined approach.
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"When we invite national partners to the tournament, we wanted them to receive a password-protected login that connects them to a dedicated portal.

From here, we wanted them to be able to input information about each player.

If a last-minute substitution is needed, they can make updates directly in the system-saving us hours and keeping everyone on the same page."

- James McMeekin, COO, Homeless World Cup Foundation

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With hundreds of players it was important that the team had a way of giving the players tools at their fingertips

The Solution 

Hyphen8 built a fully integrated Salesforce system, providing the Homeless World Cup with a cloud-based solution to simplify data management and event logistics.

  • Rocket Bullet

    A Unified and Secure Data Hub

    • All 70 national organisations now enter and manage player and staff details in one central, secure system.

    • Access permissions ensure that only authorised personnel can update or view sensitive player data.
  • Rocket Bullet

    Automated Data Collection and Updates

    • By integrating FormAssembly, real-time updates on dietary needs, medical records, and travel arrangements are now seamless.

    • National teams can submit and modify data in one-click updates, improving accuracy and reducing delays.
  • Rocket Bullet

    Simplified Tournament Management

    • A custom-built portal allows national teams to log in, manage their squad, and make last-minute changes without back-and-forth emails.

    • Tournament organisers can now instantly approve changes, ensuring smooth coordination.
  • Rocket Bullet

    Automated Reporting and Impact Measurement

    • End-of-year reports on player progress and programme impact are now automatically generated, helping the team demonstrate success to funders and stakeholders.

    • The system provides real-time insights into programme engagement and long-term outcomes, making reporting easier than ever.

Netflix - The Beautiful Game

If you've not heard of their work, you may have seen the Netflix film made about them, called The Beautiful Game with Bill Nighy, the film was created about The Homeless World Cup.

(All rights belong to Netflix)

The Impact of working with Hyphen8

70 national teams now use a single, streamlined system to manage tournament data
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All players now on one system, with easy ways to make changes
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Real-time data access ensures organisers can respond instantly to changes

The Impact on Operations and Long-Term Success

The transformation brought by Salesforce has enabled the Homeless World Cup Foundation to focus more on its mission and less on administrative challenges.

  • Smile Bullet

    Operational Efficiency at Scale

    • Player data, travel logistics, and health records are now centralised and accessible, reducing manual work and errors.

    • Tournament scheduling is now automated, eliminating weeks of pre-event preparation.

    • Data Security and Accessibility: Salesforce provides a secure, cloud-based environment for sensitive player data, reducing the risk of data loss and improving access for staff and volunteers. 
  • Tick Bullet

    Seamless Collaboration for National Teams

    • With real-time updates, team managers can instantly submit player changes, ensuring tournament logistics run smoothly.

    • Teams can now self-serve information, removing bottlenecks in communication.

    • FormAssembly Integration: By integrating FormAssembly with Salesforce, data collection is simplified, allowing updates on participants' dietary, medical, and travel information.
  • Smile Bullet

    Enhanced Stakeholder Reporting

    • Automated impact tracking helps showcase how football is changing lives, strengthening support from funders and partners.

    • Reports on long-term player progress are now available at the click of a button, making it easier to demonstrate success.

    • Automated Reporting: Year-end surveys and reporting on player impact are now automated, helping the team showcase the organisation's impact to stakeholders and supporters without manual data collation. 
  • Tick Bullet

    One Source of Truth

    • One single source of truth which allows people to be able to pull information quickly and efficiently. 

    • Work from anywhere - the team have a solution on Salesforce where they can use the tools on mobile, tablet, laptops from anywhere, at anytime. 
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Why Did You Choose Salesforce and Hyphen8?

"The Homeless World Cup Foundation needed a technology partner who understood the nonprofit sector.

Hyphen8's expertise in Salesforce for social impact meant they could build a tailored, user-friendly system that meets the foundation's needs."

Making an impact

" As a programme team, the ability to update and track player information in real-time has transformed how we run our tournaments.

We're now able to focus more on the players and less on admin."

- James McMeekin, COO, Homeless World Cup Foundation

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They now have 400+ players all on one system at any time.
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Powerful Change

The team at Hyphen8 are hugely inspired by the work of Homeless World Cup and we wish them all the best with the next tournament in Oslo!

It is amazing to see the impacts that football has around the world and we are delighted that technology is enabling this social impact to make it easier for people to collaborate with their team.

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