Case Study: ESSEC Business School achieves 239% increase in prospect conversion and doubles fundraising productivity with Salesforce for Nonprofits

Prospecting for Admission ESSEC and Salesforce

ESSEC, a leading international business school founded in 1907, faced the challenge of attracting and supporting diverse global candidates while differentiating itself without the brand power or budgets of top US institutions. Strong competition and the need to deliver the right message at the right time made student recruitment, conversion and long-term engagement a strategic priority.

ESSEC implemented Salesforce (Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, App Cloud), rapidly deploying a recruitment solution across campuses (Singapore in two months), adding marketing automation and real-time prospect scoring to nurture and prioritize leads. The results: a 239% increase in prospect conversion with no additional marketing spend, clearer marketing roles and qualified leads for sales to convert, and doubled fundraising productivity with improved donor and pledge tracking — prompting plans to expand Salesforce across other functions.

ESSEC Business School

Samuel Vinet

Project Director