The Ernest Cook Trust
Connecting Young People with Nature While Scaling Grantmaking Through Salesforce
About The Ernest Cook Trust
The Ernest Cook Trust is an educational charity dedicated to connecting young people from underserved communities with nature, the land, and the environment. Through a combination of grant funding and hands-on learning experiences across 25 farms and estates, the Trust supports schools and organisations to deliver impactful outdoor learning programmes.
The Challenge: Creating a More Connected Foundation to Support Learning, Grants, and Partnerships
Through both funding and delivery, the organisation supports schools and communities in building confidence, improving wellbeing, and developing a deeper connection to the environment.
As the organisation evolved its strategy and programmes, there was an opportunity to create a more connected and efficient way of managing grants, delivery, and partnerships, and they turned to Hyphen8 to work out the best route forward.
"We had a very basic programme… there was a lot of printing, everything was done by letter."
– Suzie Paton, Director of Learning, Grants & Partnerships, The Ernest Cook Trust
Pain Points
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Evolving systems to support a growing and changing organisation
- As the Trust refined its focus on outdoor learning and nature connection, there was an opportunity to develop systems that could better support this more strategic and impactful approach.
- Moving from a simple grants setup to a more integrated model required stronger data management and visibility.
- Earlier processes relied heavily on paper, email, and manual administration, making it time-consuming to manage applications and communications.
- The team wanted a more streamlined and efficient way of handling grants and data.
- As the Trust refined its focus on outdoor learning and nature connection, there was an opportunity to develop systems that could better support this more strategic and impactful approach.
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Managing increasing demand and application volumes
- As awareness of funding opportunities grew, application volumes increased significantly, often arriving in large volumes within a short space of time.
- The team needed a way to manage demand effectively while maintaining a high-quality application process.
“We find now that… we just get inundated very quickly.” – Suzie Paton
- As awareness of funding opportunities grew, application volumes increased significantly, often arriving in large volumes within a short space of time.
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Creating visibility across grants, delivery, and partnerships
- The Trust manages grants, delivery programmes, and partnerships, and there was an opportunity to bring these together into one connected system.
- Having a joined-up view would help teams better understand engagement with schools and organisations.
- The Trust manages grants, delivery programmes, and partnerships, and there was an opportunity to bring these together into one connected system.
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Reducing administrative burden to focus on relationships
- Managing a wide range of grants, from small school funding to larger strategic programmes, created a significant administrative workload.
- The team wanted to reduce time spent on manual processes and focus more on building relationships and delivering impact.
- Managing a wide range of grants, from small school funding to larger strategic programmes, created a significant administrative workload.
The Solution: A scalable system which could evolve as the organisation grows.
Hyphen8 partnered with The Ernest Cook Trust to enhance and evolve their Salesforce platform, helping them move towards a more connected, scalable system for managing grants, delivery, and partnerships.
"Hyphen8 have been wonderful… they’re always there, they give us simple answers, and they help us learn as we go." – Suzie Paton
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End-to-end grant management and application processing
- Hyphen8 supported the development of a structured Salesforce system to manage grants from application through to approval and reporting.
- Integrated Formstack to enable a secure, online application process, replacing manual and paper-based submissions.
- Hyphen8 supported the development of a structured Salesforce system to manage grants from application through to approval and reporting.
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Real-time visibility of applications and funding
- Hyphen8 enabled teams to track applications as they are submitted, providing immediate visibility into volumes and demand.
- Supporting faster decision-making and better planning of funding rounds.
- Created a single system to track organisations, including funding history and engagement over time.
- Helping teams make informed decisions and manage relationships more effectively.
- Hyphen8 enabled teams to track applications as they are submitted, providing immediate visibility into volumes and demand.
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Supporting delivery programmes and school engagement
- Enabled the Trust to manage school enquiries, programme delivery, and scheduling within Salesforce.
- Providing a connected view of both funded activity and delivery programmes.
- Enabled the Trust to manage school enquiries, programme delivery, and scheduling within Salesforce.
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Automation of processes and improved efficiency
- Introduced automation across key processes, reducing manual administration and improving consistency.
- Supporting teams to manage increasing volumes of work more efficiently.
- Hyphen8 provided ongoing support and training, helping the team build confidence and capability over time.
“Every time something needs developing, they show us how to do it… so we’re learning as we go.” – Suzie Paton
- Introduced automation across key processes, reducing manual administration and improving consistency.
The Impact of working with Hyphen8
The Impact
With Salesforce evolving alongside the organisation, The Ernest Cook Trust now has a more connected and flexible system to support its work. With Hyphen8 as a partner, teams are better equipped to manage grants efficiently while focusing on delivering meaningful impact for young people.
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More time to focus on relationships and impact
- Reduced administrative burden has enabled teams to focus more on strategic work and building partnerships.
“It means that we can focus more time on those personal relationships.” – Suzie Paton
- Reduced administrative burden has enabled teams to focus more on strategic work and building partnerships.
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Improved efficiency across grant management
- Systems and processes now support a more streamlined approach to managing applications and funding.
- Helping teams handle increasing demand more effectively.
- The Trust can now track key metrics such as funding, reach, and programme delivery.
“We know how many young people are benefiting… we can pull that data up instantly.” – Suzie Paton
- Systems and processes now support a more streamlined approach to managing applications and funding.
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A scalable platform for future innovation
- Salesforce provides a foundation for future developments, including integration with finance systems, further stakeholder and partnership data management and exploration of AI.
- Supporting the organisation as it continues to evolve its strategy.
- Salesforce provides a foundation for future developments, including integration with finance systems, further stakeholder and partnership data management and exploration of AI.
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Increased transparency and sector contribution
- Supporting initiatives such as 360Giving to provide transparency and to share grant data more openly.
- Enabled through structured data and automation within Salesforce.
- Supporting initiatives such as 360Giving to provide transparency and to share grant data more openly.
Making an impact
"Salesforce is an excellent grant system… we aren’t planning to change from it." – Suzie Paton
"Salesforce is an excellent grant system… we aren’t planning to change from it." – Suzie Paton
With Hyphen8’s support, The Ernest Cook Trust has created a platform that enables them to manage complex programmes more efficiently, improve visibility, and continue delivering meaningful impact for young people across the UK.
Making an Impact
Why Did You Choose Salesforce and Hyphen8?
The Ernest Cook Trust chose Salesforce to provide a scalable and flexible platform for managing grants and programmes. Hyphen8’s deep understanding of the sector and supportive approach made them a trusted partner in evolving the system over time.
"Hyphen8 have been brilliant… they’re always there and really help us move things forward." – Suzie Paton
