Case Study: Student Assistance Foundation achieves cost savings and smarter development with Jira Software

Why did SAFMT Go Jira

Student Assistance Foundation (SAF), a Helena, Montana nonprofit that uses loan-servicing proceeds to fund grants and student support, was struggling to manage a growing portfolio of 65 development projects and a flood of operational errors. After outgrowing Mantis, the team relied on email to track issues, which left many warnings ignored and turned maintenance into a larger burden than new development—reducing efficiency and diverting staff time away from mission-focused work.

SAF implemented Jira (with Confluence and Fisheye), automated issue creation via the Jira REST API, and centralized tracking and reporting. That visibility let them identify recurring warnings and fix root causes instead of individual errors—cutting daily error messages from 100–1,000 to 10–20 within months. The result: happier developers, leaner operations, measurable cost savings, and more funds redirected to student programs like college-prep camps and laptops for foster youth.

Student Assistance Foundation

David Thompson

Development Team