Keen London
"We needed a solution which would save us HUGE amounts of time, Hyphen8 brought sector knowledge, flexibility, and care to the project.
They understood our challenges and delivered a system that’s made a huge difference to how we work day-to-day."
KEEN London: Streamlining Volunteer Coordination to Empower Children with Disabilities
KEEN London offers free one-to-one sports and activities for children and young adults with additional needs. Each athlete is matched with a trained volunteer to enjoy inclusive fun, movement, and social connection.
With a small central team, KEEN London relies on 250 active volunteers to support over 100 families. To continue delivering personalised support at scale, they needed better tools to manage volunteer logistics and session planning.
The Challenge: Too Many Spreadsheets, Too Little Time
KEEN London managed key tasks like session sign-ups, attendance, and volunteer matching through spreadsheets and a bespoke Python database. This fragmented setup created operational inefficiencies and data silos.
Staff spent too much time updating spreadsheets and lacked real-time visibility across teams. Their bespoke system was difficult to update and required heavy input from a developer—creating risk and limiting flexibility.
"We were spending too much time just trying to keep up with the admin. We needed a better way to manage everything in one place—and to do it quickly and sustainably."
Pain Points
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Manual Data Management
- Volunteer sign-ups, assignments, and session attendance were tracked manually in spreadsheets.
Staff lacked a shared, real-time view of core information.
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Inflexible Systems & Dependency
- A bespoke Python database required developer support for updates or fixes.
The organisation was vulnerable to internal knowledge gaps and single-person reliance.
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High Admin Burden
- Managing weekly sessions, GDPR preferences, and communications took hours of staff time.
Mailing list opt-ins and vetting processes were not automated.
The Solution: A Central Salesforce Hub for Volunteer & Session Management
Hyphen8 implemented Salesforce as KEEN London’s central platform, supported by integrated online forms and automation to reduce admin and increase capacity.
Pro bono time was offered to ensure key enhancements could be delivered within budget—giving KEEN a robust, scalable solution without compromise.
What we delivered:
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Volunteer Management Made Simple
- Used FormAssembly to automate volunteer registration and session sign-ups.
Built structured processes to support vetting and onboarding, saving admin time.
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Seamless Session Coordination
- Volunteers are now automatically linked to weekly sessions.
Attendance tracking is managed directly within Salesforce, with no spreadsheets required.
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Flexible CRM & Communication Tools
One central database to manage relationships with volunteers, athletes, families, donors, and sponsors.
Ongoing communication preferences and GDPR opt-ins are tracked and maintained.
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Dashboards and Reporting
- Real-time reporting provides a clear overview of volunteer activity and athlete engagement.
Dashboards give instant insights to help the team focus resources where they’re needed most.
The Impact: A Future-Proof Platform for Growth
KEEN London now operates with a unified, flexible system that gives staff confidence, saves time, and supports long-term sustainability.
The platform enables real-time visibility, reduces manual work, and gives the team the ability to manage everything in one place—from sign-ups to reporting.
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Efficiency & Automation
Session coordination and communications are now automated, saving hours each week.
Staff can self-manage processes without needing developer intervention.
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Greater Visibility & Control
Real-time data and reporting dashboards show volunteer engagement and athlete support.
The team now works from a single source of truth across all stakeholders.
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Scalable for the Future
The system is flexible enough to grow with KEEN London’s expanding needs.
Internal staff can make updates easily, reducing cost and reliance.
Making an impact
"Hyphen8 brought sector knowledge, flexibility, and care to the project. They understood our challenges and delivered a system that’s made a huge difference to how we work day-to-day."
Why Did You Choose Salesforce and Hyphen8?
"We chose Hyphen8 because of their experience working with similar organisations and their understanding of how nonprofits operate.
They delivered something that works for us now—and can grow with us."
