Case Study: The Challenge achieves scalable youth programmes and improved employment outcomes with Salesforce for Nonprofits

Building a more integrated and equal society with Salesforce

The Challenge is a UK charity that runs NCS, Head Start, and the Step Forward apprenticeship programme to build trust, confidence, and workplace skills for young people from diverse backgrounds. As the organisation scaled to tens of thousands of participants, it needed to replace paper and spreadsheets, manage high volumes of applications and complex logistics, and ensure personalised support while staying financially viable.

By adopting Salesforce (Sales Cloud and App Cloud), The Challenge automated application processing (185,000 online applications in 2016), matching, marketing, contract management and travel planning, and added an IT apprenticeship pathway that delivers accredited Salesforce skills. The result: streamlined operations for 45,000+ participants, hundreds of thousands of pounds saved through more efficient transport planning, freed staff time from manual tasks, stronger health-and-safety tracking, and clear growth in apprenticeship and employment outcomes.

The Challenge

Jon Yates

Director and Co-founder