United Way of Salt Lake

United Way of Salt Lake is one of the largest and most active chapters of The United Way, a 100+-year-old institution that facilitates volunteering and donations among a network of individuals, nonprofits, companies, and other community members.

The Challenge

United Way of Salt Lake, one of the largest and most dynamic chapters in the United Way network, plays a critical role in coordinating volunteers and donors across more than 21 impactful programs. But as their programs expanded and their community partnerships deepened, the cracks in their legacy volunteer management systems began to show.

Relying on outdated volunteer modules meant tedious manual tracking, inconsistent data across systems, and limited visibility into how volunteers were contributing over time—especially when it came to re-engaging them. Their team was spending countless hours trying to make sense of disconnected data in spreadsheets, rather than focusing on what mattered: building relationships with the people who power their mission.

At the same time, United Way had recently invested in Salesforce as their donor CRM. This introduced a new, non-negotiable requirement: any volunteer platform they adopted had to natively integrate with Salesforce and be implemented quickly—without disrupting operations or losing valuable historical data.

They needed more than a tool. They needed a partner to help them modernize their volunteer engagement strategy, align it with their development efforts, and scale for the future.

How Golden Helped

Seamless Salesforce Integration

Golden’s native, bi-directional integration with Salesforce meant United Way could sync volunteer data in real time, achieving 100% consistency across platforms. This empowered their development team to clearly see the connection between volunteer engagement and donor potential. With this insight, they could launch targeted fundraising efforts, personalized to individuals who had already shown a commitment through service.

Branded Experience and Mobile Convenience

Golden provided a fully branded volunteer portal and communications suite, giving United Way a polished, consistent presence across all touchpoints. Volunteers could easily sign up, check in, and log hours—right from their phones. Using Golden’s location-based mobile app, United Way was able to automatically track volunteer attendance and service hours, eliminating the need for manual entry and cumbersome spreadsheets.

Real-Time Impact and Time Savings

With automated hour tracking and real-time dashboards, staff no longer had to spend a full day each week compiling reports. That time was reinvested in cultivating deeper relationships with their volunteers—many of whom are now being engaged in new ways, including as donors.

The Result: A Unified, Scalable Volunteer Program

Thanks to Golden, United Way of Salt Lake transformed its volunteer program into a streamlined, data-informed engine for community engagement and donor growth. By breaking down the silos between volunteerism and fundraising, they’ve unlocked a new level of impact—backed by real-time insights and powered by a better volunteer experience.