Make-A-Wish® grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. Founded in 1980 when a group of caring volunteers helped a young boy fulfill his wish of becoming a police officer, the Foundation is one of the world’s leading children’s charities, with 61 chapters in the United States and its territories. With the help of generous donors and nearly 25,000 volunteers, Make-A-Wish grants a wish somewhere in the country every 38 minutes and has granted more than 250,000 wishes since its inception. For more information about Make-A-Wish, visit wish.org and discover how you can share the power of a wish®.
CHALLENGE
As one of the world’s leading children’s charities, Make-A-Wish was looking to centralize software services so its chapters could leverage a standard suite of non-profit fundraising, finance, and CRM software. Make-A-Wish also needed to free up its own technology staff to focus on operational intiatives and chapter support, while focusing on cost-effective solutions.
In order to deploy this centralized solution, Make-A-Wish needed a technology partner that could help it plan and implement the software platform.
SOLUTION
The colocation environment within the phoenixNAP® Arizona data center location provided the stability and infrastructure required to support the initial implementation of the software suite. The consistent reliablity of phoenixNAP has, in turn, enabled the Make-A-Wish technology staff to focus on new initiatives and support for chapters.
Additionally, the staff at phoenixNAP helped identify what infrastructure would be required to support the new technology platform and assisted with planning the transition to the data center. Two years of rack space and hosting services were also provided free of charge to Make-A-Wish.
BENEFITS
Upon establishing a presence within phoenixNAP, Make-A-Wish has experienced an environment void of any service problems. Furthermore, its own technology staff has been able to focus on supporting the many Make-A-Wish chapters, resulting in corollary benefits.
The establishment of time-saving, centralized chapter financial services managed at the Make-A-Wish National Office has helped contribute to 42 chapters having record fundraising years in 2013. Taken together, Make-A-Wish has raised 11 percent more funding than it did last year.
phoenixNAP has provided consistent and reliable service, which Make-A-Wish indicates has helped it maintain focus on what matters most, achieving its vision of granting every eligible child’s wish.
“phoenixNAP helped us plan our technology platform, plan for the seamless transition from our old data center to theirs and made sure everything was done to perfection and as quickly as possible. Above that, their outstanding customer service reassured us that we were partnering with a company that really cares about its customers and that we were in good hands.“
-Paul Mehlhorn, Chief Financial Officer, Make-A-Wish