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Cornell University

Cornell Experience Modernization Initiative

As common as possible, as different as absolutely necessary

Enterprise Engagement Platform Design Team

Formerly called the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Design Team

An enterprise engagement platform, sometimes called a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, is like a sophisticated address book that helps organizations maintain meaningful connections with their communities. It enables personalized communications, tracks interactions, and ensures people receive information that matters most to them. Currently, Cornell uses multiple engagement systems across different units, resulting in fragmented communication and inconsistent experiences for the university’s constituents.

Kindsight was selected as the technology platform to overhaul the university’s constituent engagement and fundraising software ecosystems in Ithaca, and at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Weill Cornell Medicine. Kindsight Ascend, a Salesforce-native product designed for higher education and non-profit advancement, enables this design team to focus on the university’s increasing Salesforce footprint.

Approach

A university-wide team evaluated constituent management platforms, including Slate and Salesforce, to understand:

  • How different units engage with their communities
  • Where we can streamline communications
  • How to maintain personalization while reducing system complexity

 

This work built on Alumni Affairs and Development’s 2023 modernization initiative, which has evolved into the CEMI Donor and Engagement Experience Project (DEEP). The scope expanded to include stakeholders from Weill Cornell Medicine, the Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, and Cornell Tech, reflecting CEMI’s commitment to university-wide solutions.

Key Update

Quarter 2, October – December:

  • Renamed the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) initiative and design team “Enterprise Engagement Platform.”
  • Finalized an expanded Salesforce agreement under budget, to deliver enhanced data, analytics, security, collaboration, and multi-organization engagement capabilities.
  • Refined the enterprise Customer Relationship Management architecture and data strategy with Salesforce and Huron.
  • Initiated conversations around unified profiles, marketing communications, reporting, and governance frameworks to support scalable, cross-campus audience engagement—including, but not limited to, donor and constituent engagement.

 

Next Steps

Quarter 3, January – March:

  • Begin working with Huron on the Enterprise Engagement Platform, with initial efforts focused on documenting the current-state architecture, particularly the multi-organizational Salesforce ecosystem and Marketing Cloud.
    • Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a marketing automation and communications platform.
    • Kindsight is a constituent engagement and advancement platform built natively on Salesforce.
    • Marketing Cloud and Kindsight complement each other; neither is a replacement for the other.
  • Enage leaders and community members from Ithaca, Weill Cornell Medicine and other Cornell units in shared architecture discussions to ensure consistent understanding, coordinated design decisions, and scalable enterprise adoption.
  • Incorporate core strategic drivers as foundational pillars for the long-term Salesforce vision. Core strategic drivers include:
    • advancing student success
    • elevating academic and faculty priorities
    • deepening donor and constituent engagement
    • supporting staff and administration communities

 

Design Team

The university currently uses multiple Customer Relationship Management systems across different units, resulting in fragmented communication and inconsistent experiences for our constituents. Examining these systems for potential consolidation will help us create more coordinated, effective relationships with our community members, partners, and stakeholders.

Sponsors

Ben Maddox
Chief Information Officer

Vinay Varughese
Chief Information Officer

Technical Leads

Vicky Mikula
Assistant Director, Enterprise Applications
Ithaca-supported campuses

Chris Huang
Associate Director, Software Development
Weill Cornell Medicine

CEMI’s Six Vertical Focus Areas or Workstreams

a table with six legs

Achieving a seamless digital environment across Cornell will require coordinated progress on six interdependent initiatives — like building all six legs while simultaneously raising the table.

 

Channels within the Technical Workstream

 

Shaped by the Cornell Community: Get Involved

Contribute your skills and experience to the Cornell Experience Modernization Initiative (CEMI). Community members know the current processes and systems best—and what it’s going to take to change how we do things.

Get involved: ask a question, suggest improvements, add your insights to a CEMI effort, volunteer for an activity, or join the mailing list.

a group of employees celebrate their service awards

Visit the Program Teams page to meet more of the Cornell community members shaping the CEMI program.