Cancer Research UK: Managed Data. Increased Funding. Impacting Lives.

The charity faced two primary hurdles. First, valuable supporter information was being lost, which limited their ability to re-engage with supporters to maximise donations. Second, the process for claiming Gift Aid was complex and time-consuming, which hindered the timely processing of these claims and impacted their overall revenue.

To fix these challenges Cancer Research UK, in collaboration with The Dot Collective, embarked on a transformative data journey.

In collaboration with The Dot Collective, CRUK designed and implemented a robust data platform on AWS that consolidated and unified supporters’ data from various sources. This streamlined data processes by automating data flows and optimising procedures, significantly reducing manual effort and errors.

A comprehensive data governance framework was established to guarantee data quality, security and compliance.

By leveraging advanced analytics and machine learning techniques, the partnership aimed to maximise donation potential. These techniques enabled the identification of high-value supporters and the tailoring of personalised fundraising campaigns to increase engagement and donations.

The data platform includes advanced data pipelines engineered to leverage AWS services to manage and master person data across platforms. Using AWS Glue and S3, data flows seamlessly from the Siebel CRM into Semarchy (hosted on an EC2 instance), where it undergoes mastering and validation.

Once the person data is mastered in Semarchy, pipelines have been deployed to migrate data to Salesforce, Snowflake and even back to Siebel, enhancing data quality within the CRM. In addition, additional pipelines ingest data from various product teams, incorporating it into Semarchy for centralised data mastering.

Monitoring system, powered by AWS monitoring tools and Event Bridge, provides real-time oversight of these pipelines, ensuring reliable and efficient data processing across the board.

The platform is being developed to eventually integrate mastered person data with transactional insights before entering Salesforce equips CRUK with a comprehensive view of each individual, combining accurate person data with transactional insights for deeper, data-driven decision-making.

Our ongoing data management efforts are all designed to support CRUK’s mission by creating a seamless, accurate data experience across their systems.

The impact of this collaboration has been profound:

• Automated Gift Aid claims from Facebook resulted in a £3.53 million boost to the charity's revenue.
• Enhanced targeting has increased third-party supporter acquisition by 18%, enabling more effective re-marketing campaigns for improved supporter retention.
• Cut cloud service costs by up to 70%.
• Streamlined data processes freed up 25% - 10% FTE savings across different departments allowing staff to focus on delivering more value.

A senior data leader from Cancer Research UK highlighted The Dot Collective as an invaluable partner, providing technical expertise and strategic guidance to drive key data initiatives. They also mentioned that The Dot Collectives dedication and commitment have been instrumental in advancing CRUK’s mission.

By leveraging data and technology, Cancer Research UK is not only saving lives but also transforming the way they operate. The partnership with The Dot Collective has empowered the charity to make a more significant impact on the fight against cancer.