David Suzuki Foundation

Transforming Environmental Impact with Salesforce

About the Charity

The David Suzuki Foundation (DSF) is a leading Canadian environmental nonprofit organization committed to protecting nature and inspiring individuals to make sustainable choices. From policy advocacy to grassroots action, DSF empowers people to create tangible change. However, their systems were creating inefficiencies that hindered data-driven decision-making and slowed their operations.

Why DSF Needed Salesforce & Passion Fruit Partners

DSF had been using Salesforce since 2014, but years of inconsistent changes, conflicting automations, and technical debt had left them with unreliable reports and an overloaded system.

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Pain Points

Technical Debt

Duplicate fields and conflicting automations caused errors.

Lack of Trust in Data

Teams stopped using Salesforce due to unreliable reports.

Disconnected Systems

Their email marketing tool, Marketo, wasn’t syncing correctly with Salesforce, impacting outreach efforts.

“The system was overloaded with technical debt, and no one trusted the reports anymore. People stopped using the data in the way it is designed to help make data-driven decisions.”
Rosetti Levi
Salesforce Systems Architect, DSF

The Challenges

The team at PFP worked with the team to work through their problems, the main ones were;

01

Technical Debt & Data Overload

  • Years of poor system modifications led to duplicate fields and automation conflicts.
  • The system was cluttered, making data analysis difficult.
  • Critical automations were unreliable, leading to inefficiencies in reporting.
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“We had so many changes over the years that the system became overloaded and difficult to use to make the impact we wanted on our mission.” – Rosetti Levi, Salesforce Systems Architect, DSF

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02

Loss of Data Trust

  • Reports were inconsistent, leading teams to avoid using Salesforce.
  • Decision-making became challenging due to unreliable data.
  • Stakeholders lost confidence in Salesforce’s insights.

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03

Limited Internal Resources

  • A small internal team of two couldn’t manage the scale of the required clean-up.
  • Troubleshooting issues took up valuable time that could have been spent on strategy.

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04

No Single Source of Truth

  • The team had no single source of truth
  • They were using mutliple tools like spreadsheets across the team to try to create as much impact as possible, but the team lacked all knowledge as it was across the team.
05

Integration Issues with Marketo

  • The email marketing tool didn’t sync properly with Salesforce.
  • Supporters were not being properly tracked or engaged.

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The Solution

DSF chose Passion Fruit Partners for their structured approach and clear communication. The team focused on practical, phased improvements that delivered immediate and long-term benefits.

01

Salesforce Deprecation Plan

  • Identified and removed duplicate fields and unused automations.
  • Cleaned up conflicts to restore system reliability.

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“Reagan helped us identify why we had issues with the lead conversion script and immediately started working on solutions.” – Rosetti Levi, DSF

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02

Marketo Audit & Fix

  • Resolved syncing issues to ensure proper supporter tracking.
  • Enabled seamless email marketing campaign execution.

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03

Lead Conversion Automation

  • Fixed critical errors in the lead conversion process.
  • Ensured all incoming leads were properly recorded and actionable.
  • Fixed a major issue preventing unsubscribed contacts from resubscribing.
  • Enabled DSF to re-engage lost supporters effectively.

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Impact

365
1 Year’s Worth of Work Saved – Passion Fruit’s expertise allowed DSF’s team to focus on strategy instead of system fixes.
100%
Restored Data Trust – 100% of teams now confidently use Salesforce for reporting and decision-making.
100%
Streamlined Lead Processes – Eliminated errors and ensured efficient lead conversion.

We wanted the team at David Suzuki to have a solution at the end of the project which would hugely help scale their mission by using data, here is what happened when we worked with them:

01

Increased Efficiency and Time Savings

  • 1 year’s worth of work saved – Passion Fruit Partners cleaned up years of technical debt, allowing DSF’s small team to focus on operations.
  • Reduced troubleshooting time – By resolving conflicting automations and data conflicts, staff now spend less time fixing issues.
  • Streamlined lead conversion processes – Errors in Marketo integration were eliminated, saving critical time for supporter engagement.
  • Automated subscription management – Fixing the resubscription issue enabled DSF to re-engage thousands of supporters without manual intervention.
  • Faster, reliable reporting – Leadership can now request accurate reports without manual data clean-up.
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“Passion Fruit saved us time, cleaned up years’ worth of technical debt, and restored confidence in our data. My team can finally focus on our mission instead of troubleshooting broken systems.” – Rosetti Levi, DSF

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02

Improved Data Trust and Decision-Making

  • Eliminated unreliable reports – Data was cleaned and structured, restoring confidence in reporting across teams.
  • Consistent supporter tracking – Marketo and Salesforce are now fully integrated, providing accurate donor and volunteer insights.
  • Accurate compliance data – Subscription settings are now correctly tracked, ensuring compliance with donor communication laws.
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“Now, when leadership requests reports, I can provide clean, reliable insights. Teams trust the data again.” – Rosetti Levi, DSF

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03

Enhanced Supporter Engagement

  • Restored subscription management – Previously unsubscribed supporters can now resubscribe, increasing engagement.
  • More effective email marketing – Fixing Marketo integration improved outreach efficiency and supporter retention.

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04

Personalized Donor Experiences

  • Personalized supporter communication – Cleaned data enables more targeted messaging and impact tracking.
  • Improved donor stewardship – Better tracking of donor journeys ensures stronger relationships and retention.
  • More time for engagement initiatives – With system issues resolved, staff can focus on growing environmental impact.
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“We can now reach supporters more effectively and make sure they stay engaged with our mission.” – Rosetti Levi, DSF

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05

Data Driven Culture Across the Team

  • Data-driven strategy development – Leadership can now make decisions based on reliable, accessible data.
  • Organizational-wide data culture shift – Teams are beginning to rely on Salesforce again for measuring programme impact.

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“My team are able to focus on our mission 100% of their time, instead of having to spend time troubleshooting broken systems, which is wonderful.”
Rosetti Levi
Salesforce Systems Architect, DSF
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