Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards celebrates the outstanding achievements and innovation by partners. These partners play a crucial role in delivering transformative solutions that address complex challenges and drive success for customers around the globe. 

The rigorous selection process focuses on partners who have demonstrated excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology. The importance of their work cannot be overstated. They enhance the capabilities of technology to empower organizations by saving time and reaching farther.

Winner 

Valorem Reply: Pioneering technology for social good

Valorem Reply is deeply committed to nonprofits. Their team of Microsoft-dedicated practitioners is uniquely equipped to understand and tackle the challenges faced by their customers, accelerating value from tech investments.

As part of the Global Reply network and a Microsoft Cloud Solutions Partner, Valorem Reply enables nonprofits with innovative technology. Their strategic focus on harnessing Microsoft technology to imagine and create cutting-edge solutions is a testament to their belief in using the best tools to forge a better future by empowering nonprofit organizations.

The collaboration between Valorem Reply and their customer CARE illustrates the transformative power of technology. CARE, a global humanitarian organization, collects and analyzes structured and unstructured survey data across 100+ countries to determine the preparedness of high-risk countries for upcoming emergencies.

By developing an OpenAI sentiment analysis application, Valorem Reply equipped CARE with a powerful tool to enhance emergency readiness and decision-making, reducing human error and delivery times, and providing timely insights for risk mitigation. The sentiment analysis application is a strategic tool for emergency preparedness, enabling CARE to make informed decisions that could make the difference between life and death.

The customer outcomes speak for themselves: 

20% higher accuracy in AI-analyzed data, enabling informed decisions and enhancing business strategies.
40% reduction in qualitative survey data analysis time and resource requirements.

Our winner’s journey is one of passion, expertise, and unwavering dedication to making a positive impact. It’s a story of how technology, when aligned with humanitarian goals, can become a force for good, transforming lives and shaping a more equitable and safe future for all. This is the essence of Valorem Reply—a company that truly embodies the spirit of innovation for social good.

Finalists

Exigo Tech: Strong partnerships for mission-driven success

Exigo Tech champions the transformative power of technology for nonprofits, partnering closely with clients like Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) to revolutionize their information technology (IT) systems. Their commitment is to create strong partnerships with clients to produce successful technological outcomes.

SOS provides confidential emotional support to individuals considering suicide. SOS was overwhelmed with requests for emotional support across various channels, which delayed their ability to assist those in need. To address this, Exigo Tech helped SOS implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 to centralize and streamline communication, allowing SOS to quickly categorize and assign cases to the right mental health professionals. This efficient system ensured timely support, with Dynamics 365 omnichannel customer service module doubling the response rate and providing 24/7 virtual support, demonstrating the critical role of technology in mental health services.

KPMG: Powered Enterprise for nonprofit transformation

KPMG leverages their Powered Enterprise suite to thoughtfully transition clients to the cloud, focusing on transforming functions with technology as the key enabler. This preconfigured and tested model includes leading practices, detailed job descriptions optimized for Dynamics 365, and a wealth of artifacts to drive organizational change. It allows rapid delivery of Microsoft solutions with minimal configuration, ensuring speed to value, reduced risks, and future-proof integrity and security. Collaborating closely with Microsoft, KPMG enhances the Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit, benefiting organizations worldwide.

One such organization is the Australian Red Cross (ARC). ARC needed to unify and update legacy systems that created data siloes and disparate platforms: Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofits enables a unified system that allows for faster data insights and scalable growth. Using KPMG’s Powered Enterprise approach, the solution was implemented in just nine months and provided ARC with clarity, direction, and a de-risked approach at every step.

Wipfli: Amplifying impact through AI innovation

Wipfli is revolutionizing global change by harnessing Microsoft AI capabilities across Azure, Modern Work, and Business Applications and Power Platform. Their innovative approach includes AI algorithms in Fundraising and Engagement, Dynamics 365 Copilot, and Microsoft Fabric, which are pivotal in data strategy and AI-powered data aggregation and visualization. This enables organizations to leverage technology for impactful change and societal advancement.

Wipfli helped Junior Achievement (JA) lay AI foundations with Fabric. JA leveraged Microsoft technology to optimize its curriculum for 4.4 million students, streamline operations, and foster community engagement while ensuring data privacy for its one million volunteers. This scalable model has been successfully implemented by JA and can be adopted by other national organizations to improve efficiency in collaboration with local branches.

Wipfli brought together complex environments from 102 local offices, strategically scaling JA’s global impact by creating a unified organization. The firm also employed Power Pages, Nonprofit Common Data Model, Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit, and Dynamics 365 Customer Insights (marketing module) to develop a new volunteer portal. This innovation has resulted in significant operational improvements for Junior Achievement, including: 

The elimination of a three-month manual data validation process, now handled efficiently through the new system. 
A drastic reduction in the time required to organize 100,000 annual events—from a multi-day manual process to digital registration that takes less than five minutes. 

These advancements have not only enhanced JA’s operational capabilities but also set a precedent for other organizations seeking similar transformations. Wipfli’s use of Microsoft tools has proven to be a game-changer in the nonprofit sector, enabling organizations to focus more on their mission and less on administrative burdens.

The winners and finalists of the 2024 Nonprofit Partner of the Year Award are shining examples of how technology can be leveraged for social good, improving lives, and fostering a more equitable and sustainable world. Their dedication to the global nonprofit community and transformation using Microsoft tools is changing the world, one impactful solution at a time.

Congratulations to all the nominees, finalists, and winners of the Partner of the Year 2024 in the nonprofit category. Your commitment to excellence and innovation is truly inspiring and sets a benchmark for others in the industry.

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