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This story is part of the series from the Transition Accelerator 2024 cohort.

Today, we spotlight , an independent investigative media outlet from Romania, known for uncovering and explaining the key issues that shape people鈥檚 lives. Guided by its mission of 鈥渉onest journalism, made with passion, and put into public service鈥�, Recorder empowers its audience to stay informed and invested in the world around them.

Through the Transition Accelerator, Recorder set out to bring together donors from over five donation platforms by building a custom Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. IPI鈥檚 Media Innovation team sat down with Roxana Stan, Fundraising and Grants Manager, to hear what it took to move beyond the 鈥淓xcel sheet hell鈥�, and how a behind-the-scenes infrastructure project is already delivering value both to their newsroom and their community of supporters.

Stepping back for strategic clarity

Around 90% of Recorder鈥檚 revenue comes directly from its readers, a powerful testament to the trust they have built with their community. But this funding model brings its own complexity: donations are spread across multiple platforms, making it challenging to gather data and track donor behavior consistently.

鈥淔or example, one of our main donation platforms didn鈥檛 provide specific data on who had cancelled their donations, so we had to extract that information manually,鈥� recalls Roxana Stan, Fundraising and Grants Manager. 鈥淓ach month, we had to go through around 2,000 donations or more to identify churn. Even determining the total number of cancellations required repeated calculations to ensure the data was accurate.鈥� All of this meant time and human resources taken away from more strategic work.

As such, throughout the accelerator, Recorder followed a structured process to build a custom CRM: defining their needs, mapping donor journeys, comparing tools, and testing assumptions. The goal was to create a system that would simplify workflows and strengthen their relationship with readers.

The discovery and testing phase turned out to be the longest. 鈥淭here were times when it felt like we weren鈥檛 making progress,鈥� Roxana says. 鈥淏ut looking back, we were actually following very concrete steps.鈥� Through the accelerator, they began by mapping the CRM landscape and narrowing their options to five or six tools based on functionality. Then, they flipped the approach. 鈥淲e stopped asking what the tools could do and started asking what we, as an organization, really needed.鈥�

The team鈥檚 priorities quickly came into focus: centralize donor data, streamline workflows, and better understand supporter behavior. 鈥淲e needed to see patterns, like whether churn on one platform reflected churn on all platforms, if donors were leaving entirely or simply shifting between channels. That level of traceability was essential.鈥澛�

Just as important was the long view. Recorder realized it needed a CRM that would fulfill their requirements, yet be adaptable to changes in user behavior over time. In the end, they chose one that they felt struck the right balance between functionality, cost and viability. As part of their research, the team discovered that other nonprofits in Romania were using it too, which added an extra layer of trust.

First wins and tangible reader impact聽

鈥淲e鈥檙e not completely out of Excel sheet hell,鈥� Roxana admits with a laugh. 鈥淎nd honestly, I don鈥檛 think there will ever be a time when we don鈥檛 use sheets at all.鈥澛�

Still, with the CRM in place and all donor data centralized, the difference is clear. Without complicating the process for readers, the team is now saving days and hours each week.

One simple outreach example proved how valuable the shift was: 鈥淎t the beginning of the year, the CRM showed that some donors had stopped contributing, so we contacted them to find out what had happened鈥�, Roxana recalls. 鈥淚t turned out many of their cards had expired, and they didn鈥檛 even know they weren鈥檛 donating anymore. We brought several of them back just by sending that single message and asking what was going on.鈥�

Inspired by exercises from the accelerator bootcamp, the team also prepared in-depth interviews with both recurring donors and readers who hadn鈥檛 yet donated. Time constraints have prevented them from proceeding with full-scale conversations, but even small, targeted questions powered by CRM data have already started to make a difference.聽

鈥淲e reached out and asked people what made them donate or stop donating at a specific moment. That, in itself, felt like progress, and the feedback that followed showed us that one well-timed question, combined with a genuine willingness to listen, can go a long way. People feel that their opinion matters to you.鈥�

Clear path to better reader relationships

The team is now experimenting with visual formats to trace donor journeys more clearly and transparently across departments. Though they are just beginning to tap into their CRM鈥檚 full potential, they鈥檙e happy with the progress. 鈥淭here鈥檚 real satisfaction each time we discover a new little feature,鈥� Roxana says. 鈥淓veryone lights up, like 鈥榃ait, we didn鈥檛 know we could do that!鈥欌��

From regaining lapsed donors to fostering conversations, Recorder鈥檚 CRM is more than a back-end fix. It鈥檚 becoming a tool for building trust and strengthening reader relationships from the inside out.