As we enter the new year, the DASH project has reached several key milestones. In December, select users began role-based activities to test the platform, identify bugs, and suggest improvements. Over 40 participants from College Relations and campus partners explored DASH’s core functionality and attended pilot training sessions. Their feedback will help refine our approach for the broader community.

In the coming weeks, testing will expand to the DASH Volunteer Hub, enabling volunteers to sign in via single sign-on, access donor insights, and communicate with potential donors. Formal training invitations will be distributed soon.

For any questions, please reach out to dash@mtholyoke.edu.

The DASH team is making steady progress on the new suite of tools, including the DASH Volunteer Hub, DASH Portal, and Blackthorn for event management. We’re also building a comprehensive library of training materials to help users adopt and understand DASH.

To ensure everything developed so far is accurate, functional, and easy to navigate, the team is preparing for End-to-End testing from December through January. This testing will verify that the entire DASH ecosystem works seamlessly across all integrated components, workflows, and user interactions.

While not all DASH features will be complete before testing, involving stakeholders across MHC is critical. Their feedback will help identify gaps and improvements—both for the DASH system and for refining training materials—so everyone is ready for Go Live.

For any questions, please reach out to dash@mtholyoke.edu.

With the launch of our Alum website and the recent announcement of DASH to volunteers, there is growing excitement across the community about the new ecosystem of tools. The DASH team continues to make progress on our multiple workstreams, including wrapping up final activities for data conversion and the ascend implementation, while actively continuing work on the DASH Volunteer Hub, DASH Portal, and Blackthorn. We are finalizing training materials and developing supportive resources, including recorded videos, job aids, and a comprehensive glossary to guide community members through the transition. We are also preparing for End-to-End testing which will take place from December through January. 

For any questions, please reach out to dash@mtholyoke.edu.

The DASH project team has continued to make significant strides towards project completion, with several workstreams simultaneously underway. In an effort to prepare for MHC's upcoming campaign and to promote collective success for our staff, alum, donors, and volunteers, the DASH Executive Sponsors and Salesforce Governance Committee have strategically made the decision to shift the go-live date to April 2026 to allow for extended time for testing and training.   

Project management discussions are continuously underway to gauge both technical considerations and change management impacts. 

For any questions, please reach out to dash@mtholyoke.edu.

The project team is continuing to build momentum, with new workstreams launched and ongoing progress across several key areas. This month marks the official kickoffs of three exciting components of the DASH ecosystem: 

• the DASH Portal, the singular entry point for alums to update their information and access college engagement applications (such as The Gates), 

• Blackthorn, the events management application that allows staff to manage events directly within DASH, 

• CRM Analytics, the tool which will replace College Relations' and the Alum Association's use of Tableau for data analytics.

Internal meetings remain a core part of the change management approach, helping ensure consistent engagement and solid understanding across stakeholders and alignment around readiness activities. Notably, the training team is in the process of reviewing configuration of ascend to help prepare the training materials for the role-based end user training which will happen in October.

Read more about the project’s goals and timeline as we approach the target go-live period. For any questions, please reach out to dash@mtholyoke.edu.

The project team is making remarkable progress, with the DASH implementation now over 50% complete!

Over the past month, the DASH team has started working on converting historic giving data and configuring the ability to manage future philanthropic support, which are expected to continue through July. The team has also completed several sprint efforts, including a thorough review of changes to the system for tracking alum, parent, and donor information to guide communications and training plans.

Additionally, the team has developed a comprehensive change management strategy, inclusive of communication plans, robust approaches to stakeholder engagement, and initial training strategies. We kicked off monthly internal meetings with DASH team members to share updates and highlight upcoming activities. Key learnings and takeaways from these meetings will be used to inform communications to alums and volunteers.

Check out some celebratory notes and expressions of gratitude for what the team has accomplished thus far by looking at the Kudoboard. Read more about the project’s goals, timeline, and who’s involved. For any questions, please reach out to dash@mtholyoke.edu.

The project team is in the process of finalizing how to view student, alum, and other constituent data in DASH alongside how to manage them as prospects. The next phase of work is related to gifts and will continue into the summer, with new workstreams for volunteer management and integrations to be kicked off in February. 

Building on this momentum, the team is also focused on developing a comprehensive change management strategy, informed by upcoming discussions with leadership and the DASH team. More details will be shared soon. For any questions, please reach out to dash@mtholyoke.edu.

The project team is completing its first round of data review and system configuration, which includes biographical and demographic information as well as prospect management business processes. The team continues to plan for the next phases, which will include building the system to accommodate volunteer management, events management, and communications management functionality.