Easing Christmas Pressures and Fostering Year-Round Connections

Feeding Families came to Suru Partners with a legacy bespoke application that was no longer fit for purpose. The system had numerous issues — "gremlins" that made it unreliable — particularly problematic in the crucial five days before Christmas when the majority of their donations are processed. The application’s inefficiencies caused delays in matching donors with recipients, often forcing Feeding Families to step in at the last minute to provide food or arrange new donor matches.

In addition, most of Feeding Families' work is carried out throughout the year, yet they lacked ongoing donor engagement efforts beyond a single thank-you email. The organisation also worked with referral agencies like Macmillan Nurses, referring those in need of food, and operated a recipient approval process that required recipients to upload documents such as Universal Credit letters. Their processes were primarily run through spreadsheets and paper, which lacked the ability to provide a reliable single source of truth, making reporting both time-consuming and often inaccurate.

Feeding Families were looking for a solution and had enquired on Facebook about configuring Hubspot for charities. John from Suru Partners connected with her and, after a thorough tech selection process, Beacon CRM was chosen as the best fit for their needs.

The introduction of Beacon CRM provided a single, centralised source of truth for all data, allowing Feeding Families to work more efficiently and with fewer manual processes. Key operations, such as donations, food box placements, and event registrations are now automated, significantly reducing the administrative burden on staff.

The system also transformed their reporting capabilities, enabling them to generate reports quickly and reliably. By making better use of their data, Feeding Families can now make informed, actionable decisions that will improve both day-to-day operations and long-term donor engagement. Libby and Sarah from Feeding Families expressed their appreciation for the event storming session, saying it would have taken them months to achieve the same level of understanding without Suru’s guidance.

Ultimately, Suru Partners delivered a solution that allows Feeding Families to focus more on their mission—providing essential food to those in need—especially during the busy Christmas period.