The International Christian
Embassy Jerusalem

The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) is a global non-profit which promotes the significance of Jerusalem and the restored nation of Israel for those of biblical faith. ICEJ carries out humanitarian work in Israel and around the world with the primary goal to impact the way Jews and Christians relate to one another. This work includes donating bomb shelters to endangered communities, caring for elderly Holocaust survivors, and aid relief works to all the various peoples of the Holy Land. These charitable projects coincide with the ongoing work of fundraising, educating and raising awareness among churches and nations around the world.

Key Results

The Challenge

ICEJ runs a large variety of events, ranging from 200 to 8,000 attendees. Before using Fonteva, event management was a manual process which required extensive commitment and organisation from ICEJ staff. While attendees could register online initially, all follow on interactions were done via one-to-one methods. With attendees being managed on an individual level, pressure on staff increased with the responsibility to track steps and avoid any data or forms being misplaced between teams. There also needed to be tight systems in place to prevent confusion as to what stage attendees were during the registration process. Payment online was available, but it was not a standard process as individual payment links had to be sent out separately. The whole payment process would have to be conducted by the staff. There were high risks of human error and frustration about the manual processes from both staff users and attendees.

The Solution

ICEJ understood the need to move towards having strong infrastructure, as well as using specific software tailored to event management needs. Salesforce was chosen to align all of the previous databases and systems to one central management solution. As Fonteva does not require complex integrations and is built on Salesforce, this made investing in the solution “an easy decision”, says Alex Mills, Chief Information Officer. ICEJ wanted to make Salesforce the “centre” of their work. Previously, there was confusion in data management, no functioning communication between software and key metrics were not being analyzed efficiently.

With Fonteva Events, attendees now have the ability to register, pay online, and find key information all in one place. All data is saved into Salesforce, in real-time, for the team to use to drive all their decision making, from the events team to the executive team. With the benefits of automation, ICEJ can move towards a standard approach. Mills outlines that since using Fonteva Events, the team has “found a big difference in time-saving” as the system helps complete the “administration”.

Staff no longer had to “follow up with people to get the information” they needed. Events are now straightforward to manage, with control being given to attendees.

Alex Mills, Chief Information, ICEJ

Another key feature used by ICEJ is the Community Sites. These sites provide an online portal for all the information attendees need, alongside the opportunity to network. The “functionality that it provides is fantastic”, says Mills. ICEJ has also worked hard to establish long-lasting relationships with their volunteers. Previously, nearly 300 volunteers had to register their details each time they volunteered. With Fonteva Events, all data is saved securely in an attendee record with every action, from event attendance to going on a volunteering trip, being recorded. A crucial focus point for ICEJ is the ability to house their data in one place. Reports are easier to pull with their clear step-by-step processes. In addition, dashboards make it easier for staff to present data to management. In future plans, ICEJ looks to using data to a much larger extent than they are already achieving. Understandably, having used certain processes for a long time, there have been key learnings through the process. The ICEJ team is working hard to manage its user adoption. Staff and event attendees are being supported to help them adapt to the new technology. Staff have also been helped with the resources available to them, including Salesforce’s Trailhead and Fonteva Training. ICEJ is continually working with Fonteva to manage their functionality and drive their efficiency. In the future, ICEJ plans to work with the Fonteva team to manage their group functionality and scale up their product use to boost functionality.

The Bottom Line

The route to digital transformation can be a long and complex journey. Yet, ICEJ has shown a real commitment to understanding and gaining the benefits of both the Salesforce and Fonteva platforms. Two-way communication throughout a CRM implementation is crucial, and ICEJ was confident in their ability to feedback to the Fonteva team to get the functionality they needed. ICEJ now has the resources, data, and the ongoing support of Fonteva they need to focus even more of their efforts on advancing their mission.

Learn More about Fonteva Solutions

Membership

As the only membership solution recommended by Salesforce®, Fonteva Membership helps you strengthen relationships and drive long-term engagement.

Events

Fonteva Events leverages powerful Salesforce® insights to streamline your entire event management process – from online registration to agendas and logistics.

Communities

Fonteva Communities is packed with the features you need to optimize your self-service member portal, including access to unique microsites and customizable directories.

eCommerce

Fonteva eCommerce makes it easy to manage multiple business units, create an Estore, and handle all of your revenue accounting needs in one complete package.

Mobile

Manage events from the palm of your hand with Fonteva Mobile, our latest solution filled with intuitive features including advanced scheduling and real-time attendee insights.

The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem