50% Reduction in Email Work for Hope Chicago

Hope Chicago uses Salesforce for scholarship programs, tracking each scholar’s journey from high school through college enrollment and graduation. This includes GPA, attendance, academic progress, and credit attainment.

The nonprofit also collects information about scholars’ wellbeing, helping the team support students, many of whom are the first in their families to attend college.

Previously, Hope Chicago used a separate platform to collect information through online forms. However, it did not integrate with Salesforce, leaving submissions disconnected from scholar records and making reporting more difficult.

The scholar experience was also limited. Students could log in and complete forms, but had no central place to access personal information, academic history, stipend details, form statuses, eligibility letters, or support guidance.

Instead, Hope Chicago relied on mass emails containing direct form links. Scholars would contact the team with questions about accessing forms, checking submission statuses, or finding the right person for support. This created additional administrative work and made it harder for scholars to find information independently.

Hope Chicago needed an affordable, easy-to-manage Salesforce scholar portal that could bring student information and services together without the complexity of building and maintaining a custom solution.

Hope Chicago used Titan to build a scholar portal connected to Salesforce, giving more than 2,000 scholars one place to access information, complete forms, check submission statuses, and download documents.

The student portal login allows scholars to access their information stored in Salesforce. Using Titan’s visual builder, the team created a student self-service portal without building a fully custom application, avoiding the associated long-term maintenance demands.

One Portal for Scholar Information and Services

Up to 50% Reduction in Email Workload
Hope Chicago estimates that its self-service portal for scholarship recipients has reduced scholar-related email work by up to 50%. Scholars are already finding answers to questions about form statuses, stipend requirements, and school contacts that previously required emailing the team. 

2,000+ Scholars Supported
More than 2,000 Hope Chicago scholars have access to one Salesforce-connected portal for academic information, forms, stipend requirements, eligibility letters, and support resources.

More Direct Salesforce Reporting
Hope Chicago can report on form submissions directly in Salesforce without extracting information from a separate platform. This makes reporting more straightforward, with Salesforce remaining the central source of truth for scholar data.

Easier Access to Submitted Documents
Previously, Hope Chicago staff had to download submitted documents individually. With Titan, Salesforce form file uploads are easier to access and review alongside relevant scholar information. 

PDF Submission Receipts for Scholars
Hope Chicago can now provide scholars with a PDF submission receipt containing their submitted information. This gives scholars confirmation and a record of their submission, something the previous forms solution couldn’t provide. 

Improved Scholar Identification
Collecting scholar profile pictures and connecting them to Salesforce records helps Hope Chicago staff recognize scholars during events.