Red Hen Press Enlists Community Volunteers in Database Project

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“Patience and fortitude conquer all things.”  – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Red Hen Press is an independent, non-profit press that publishes about twenty books of fiction, non-fiction and poetry every year.  They are committed to publishing works of literary excellence, supporting diversity and promoting literacy in our schools.

In pursuit of a more efficient operation, Red Hen Press decided to integrate their databases and project management systems into Salesforce. The project ran into some problems and when the person working on the Salesforce migration left the organization, Deputy Director Tobi Harper reached out to Jericho Road for help in finishing up this capacity building project.

Recognizing Red Hen Press’ need for a Salesforce expert, Jericho Road Pasadena put together a small team of professional volunteers to finish the project. This team included Salesforce consultant Srikanth Gutlapalli and project manager Gayle Tomita-Oswald. Once Srikanth and Gayle had gathered requirements and mapped out a database structure, they enlisted two more volunteers, Suresh Uppala and Srinath Thimmasetty.

Though the process took longer than expected, the team adjusted and were able to push the project forward together. The team was able to import key contact data into Salesforce, enabling the Red Hen Press team to have one central location to track their contacts. Now that Salesforce has data they can use on a daily basis, the new goal is to develop a plan for further integration of Salesforce into their operations and increase their efficiency in publishing excellent works and supporting literacy.