From Go-Live to Growth Driver: A Conversation on CRM Stabilization and Adoption-Recording

Video Transcription

Video Summary

The webinar featured a fireside chat between Caroline Chang of Kindsight and Shalonda Martin of Pomona College about CRM conversion, stabilization, and adoption. Pomona moved from Raiser’s Edge 7 to Kindsight Ascend after deciding it needed better alignment, scalability, and future-ready capabilities. The implementation took about 18 months with Huron and included extensive discovery, design, and testing.<br /><br />Shalonda emphasized that go-live is not the end of the project; adoption requires ongoing communication, change management, and governance. Pomona supported adoption by tracking login usage, keeping key partners engaged as ambassadors, and maintaining multiple feedback channels. They briefly kept the old system’s static overlay available, which helped comparison but also risked slowing adoption because users stayed comfortable with what they knew.<br /><br />Because Pomona is a smaller institution with many new staff members, governance has been more iterative than formal, with stabilization focused on fixing bugs and handling business-blocking issues. Leadership buy-in has been essential, especially for prioritizing requests and communicating progress. Pomona also uses KPIs to measure adoption, data quality, reporting efficiency, and business value. Looking ahead, the team is exploring AI tools, fundraising platform enhancements, and new discovery conversations to identify the next priorities.

Keywords

CRM conversion

Kindsight Ascend

Pomona College

adoption strategy

change management

data governance

implementation stabilization