From fragmented processes to Payment Happiness
Since 1934, Ericastiftelsen has worked to reduce mental health problems among children and young people in Sweden. Through psychological treatment, crisis support, education, and research, the foundation has made a profound impact on generations of families. Until recently, much of the organization’s funding came from government agencies and foundations. But with growing demand for its services and an ambition to strengthen long-term sustainability, Ericastiftelsen set its sights on building a broader fundraising strategy, one that would include donations from individuals and companies.
That shift required more than a new approach to fundraising. It demanded a complete rethink of how the organization managed payments, donor journeys, and day-to-day operations behind the scenes.
The Challenge: disconnected tools and manual processes
When the team looked closely at their donation infrastructure, the cracks were impossible to ignore. Payment processing alone was slow and expensive, each Swish or card donation took over 20 seconds to process, while the payment service provider charged both a high monthly fee and a cut of every gift. This was unsustainable for the growth Ericastiftelsen had in mind.
At the same time, key systems were falling short. Their Bankgiro integration with Salesforce NPSP had stopped working, and attempts to resolve the issue with the vendor had failed. Swish donations were processed through a separate tool or manually, adding hours of repetitive work to a small fundraising team. In addition, their direct debit system was disconnected from the rest of their operations, with a standalone and inflexible e-signature tool.
And the complexity didn’t end there. Memorial cards and donation certificates had to be generated manually outside of Salesforce, making what should have been simple donor experiences unnecessarily complicated.
“We were spending time and money on tools that didn’t talk to each other, and didn’t give us control. It was clear we needed to start fresh. I spent most of my time doing admin instead of actual fundraising. In a digital landscape, 22 seconds from when you push the donate button until you reach the thank-you page is unacceptable. Today, the donation takes less than a second”
– Lovisa Sandberg, Fundraising and Communications Manager at Ericastiftelsen.
Why Salesforce and FinDock?
Instead of trying to fix one broken system after another, Ericastiftelsen made the bold decision to start over with a clean, unified approach. They selected Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud (NPC) and FinDock as the foundation for their future, a combination that promised to simplify donation operations, improve donor experiences, and support their vision for sustainable growth.
What stood out immediately was the ability to consolidate everything under one agreement and one platform. With FinDock, all payment streams, including Swish, card payments via Stripe, and Bankgiro, could be managed centrally, eliminating the need for separate vendors, multiple systems or manual workarounds.
Just as importantly, all donation transactions would now flow directly into Salesforce, giving the team real-time insight into donor activity without delays or data gaps. This integration wasn’t just efficient, it opened up entirely new possibilities for personalization, automation, and reporting.
The team also embraced FinDock’s Giving Pages, which enabled them to build and manage donation forms themselves. No more dependency on external agencies. Now, Ericastiftelsen could move quickly, experiment with new messaging, and take full ownership of their donor journey.
Another game-changer was FinDock’s ability to apply custom business logic. For example, donations from a specific organization number could automatically be assigned to the right donor account, streamlining data quality and reducing admin time. With recurring Swish already supported, they are also ready to launch sustainable monthly giving programs without additional integration work, once their bank is connected.
“With FinDock and Salesforce, we finally have one solution, fully integrated, that not only streamlines our payment operations but also allows us to deliver a great payment experience for our donors. It puts us in control and lets us focus on growing donor engagement.”
– Lovisa Sandberg, Fundraising and Communications Manager at Ericastiftelsen.
The Solution: simpler operations and better experiences in one platform
The transformation has been both deep and far-reaching. What once felt fragmented is now unified, with every touchpoint, whether donor-facing or operations, running on Salesforce.
Today, Ericastiftelsen uses Stripe and Swish for fast, cost-effective payments, while Bankgiro donations are automatically imported and matched in Salesforce. Autogiro agreements are signed electronically through BankID, using FinDock’s built-in e-mandate functionality, ensuring both compliance and convenience.
Back-office tasks have also been dramatically simplified. With PDF-Butler, memorial cards and donation certificates are generated directly from Salesforce, replacing the old manual process. Even Swish files, which used to require manual uploads, are now in Salesforce, where FinDock automatically converts them into clean, structured donation records.
This isn’t just about efficiency, it’s about giving the team time to focus on the relationships and strategies that matter. Donation rules, filters, and guided reviews are now part of their workflow, giving Ericastiftelsen the control they were missing and the scalability they need.
“Creating campaign and donation pages now takes just minutes – and we can do it all ourselves. From choosing payment methods to customizing the form fields, everything happens in one place, and the donor data is instantly available in Salesforce. Whether it’s a carefully planned campaign or a brilliant last-minute idea from someone on the team, Giving Pages lets us move fast and make it happen without skipping a beat.”
– Lovisa Sandberg, Fundraising and Communications Manager at Ericastiftelsen.
The impact: ready for growth and scale
With Salesforce and FinDock, Ericastiftelsen has laid the foundation for expanding its fundraising efforts, without adding headcount. Their new system saves time, reduces costs, and creates a consistent donor experience.
And because everything runs inside Salesforce, they now have real-time visibility into donations, donor data, and operational performance, enabling smarter decisions and more meaningful engagement.
“The difference in how we work is already clear. We’ve moved from patching together systems to having a solid, scalable platform that supports our ambitions. Now, we’re not just reacting – we’re planning, experimenting, and growing with purpose. With the right tools in place, we have every opportunity to become a fundraising force to be reckoned with.”
– Lovisa Sandberg, Fundraising and Communications Manager at Ericastiftelsen
As Ericastiftelsen accelerates individual and corporate fundraising, their platform is ready for what comes next, from recurring Swish donations to new fundraising campaigns. They’ve moved from complexity to clarity, bringing Customer Payment Happiness to life.
Photograph by Ulf Huett.