m-hance’s new CSR programme enables North-West charity to better connect its volunteers through cloud technology
November 2019, UK.
m-hance, a leading Microsoft Gold Partner, has been working closely with Horwich Visiting Service in order to implement cloud technology within the charity, as part of the company’s brand new corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme.
The Microsoft solutions provider has recently launched its Be Good, Do Good initiative which allows staff to offer their skills to worthwhile charities and causes of their choice for one day per month. Over a year this could potentially equate to m-hance donating over 1,400 days to charities across the UK.
The first charity to benefit from the scheme is Horwich Visiting Service based in the North West of England. Set up in 1999, the organisation is a befriending service covering the local and surrounding area. Its volunteers visit isolated elderly people and provide companionship once a week in order to alleviate loneliness. The team of 45 volunteers offer their time and skills for the benefit of the local community.
The charity’s small office in Horwich contains one desktop computer which the team had to share to access all necessary files. They also visited the office infrequently meaning that email responses could be delayed. What they needed was a system that would allow them to access emails and files instantly and securely without the need to travel to the office.
With the help and expertise of the team at m-hance, Horwich Visiting Service decided to move from a legacy email system to Microsoft Office 365 for Email and Document Management and storage. By using cloud-based technology it has enabled the team of volunteers to work more flexibly and securely. It’s also enabled the Administration and Management Teams to share documents and collaborate more easily.
Alan Moody, CEO at m-hance says “With 53% of charities rating skills as a barrier to them getting the most from digital, we at m-hance wanted to do what we could to help address this challenge. By launching our Be Good, Do Good initiative, we are giving charities who might not necessarily otherwise, due to lack of budget, volunteers, etc, direct access to people with relevant digital skills who can help them improve their day-to-day processes. We were delighted to be able to assist Horwich Visiting Service with new technology that will increase efficiencies, better connect their volunteer network and most importantly give them more time to visit their service users.”
Another major reason for Horwich Visiting Service choosing to migrate to Microsoft Office 365 are the compliance benefits that it has brought. Previously the team would contact all their volunteers on personal email addresses, whereas now, everyone has a Horwich Visiting Service email address.
Lesley Youngman, Volunteer Co-Ordinator at Horwich Visiting Service says “The new system allows me to update our monitoring lists, birthdays list, visitee and volunteer lists and they are available for the admin team to access and work with. We have advanced security and our files are now safe. Microsoft Office 365 has enabled documents and files to be worked on from home without anyone needing to travel to the office. By moving to Microsoft Office 365 it’s enabled us to get on with what we are good at, knowing that Microsoft are taking care of everything else in the background.”
If you’d like to find out more about m-hance’s solutions for the Charity Sector please visit www.nfp365.com.
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About m-hance
m-hance is a leading Microsoft Gold Partner and a leading supplier of Microsoft Dynamics 365 to the not-for-profit sector. With over 20 years’ experience, m-hance has helped charities such as Oxfam Ireland, Christian Aid, Solent Mind, the Motor Neurone Disease Association and the Irish Cancer Society optimise their fundraising campaigns and improve their marketing efforts through Microsoft Dynamics solutions.
For more information on this release, please contact:
Jenny Tomlinson
Marketing Manager
T: 0161 406 6223