Case Study: CHTOP (ARCH National Respite Program) modernizes national respite provider database and preserves thousands of records with CiviCRM

Migration from a proprietary Searchable Contact database to CiviCRM

CHTOP, a non-profit that has run a national online database of respite service providers since 2001, needed to replace an aging proprietary Microsoft/Access system whose original developer was no longer available. They faced migrating thousands of organization records, roughly 60 custom parameters per program, multiple registration interfaces for searchers and providers, and a complex custom search — and chose CiviCRM as the platform to meet these requirements.

Using CiviCRM (implemented by Allora Consulting), the project imported all registrations and dozens of custom fields, created multiple registration and custom-search interfaces, enabled bulk updates, map and proximity searches, added a document library and state-specific result pages, and preserved all data. The solution went live at respitelocator.org, delivered the requested expanded functionality, and — as CHTOP reports — is “working well,” with successful import of thousands of records and deployment of dozens of custom search parameters.

CHTOP

Mike Mathers

Executive Director