You already know your CSR platform needs to change. Now you have to convince your CFO, your CHRO, or your leadership team.
That's a different job. You're not evaluating anymore. You're selling.
The good news is that a platform switch is one of the easier cases to make, if you build it the right way. Here are the five parts every winning version includes.
Part 1: Diagnose the Current State
Start with the honest picture of where you are today. Three numbers do most of the work.
Your participation rate. What percentage of employees actually use the program? If it's 15%, say 15%.
Your admin hours. How many hours a month does your team spend running the platform? Ask the person who does it.
Your fee bleed. What percentage of every donation goes to transaction fees? On most legacy platforms it's 2 to 3%.
These three numbers are the problem, stated plainly. Don't soften them. The gap between them and what's possible is your entire case.
Part 2: Compare the Real Cost
Most people compare platform fees. That's the wrong comparison.
The real cost has three layers. The platform fee. The donation transaction fees. And the hours your team spends managing it.
Do the fee math out loud. Take your annual giving volume. Multiply by your donation fee percentage. That's real money leaving every year, and none of it reaches a charity. We broke this down fully in the real cost of Benevity.
Then add the admin burden. Take your team's monthly CSR hours, multiply by 12, and apply a fully-loaded hourly cost. That number rarely shows up on any invoice. It should show up in your business case.
Part 3: Show What Peers Achieved
Leadership wants proof this works somewhere real.
Give it to them with named companies and specific numbers.
Edelman Financial Engines switched platforms and passed 50% participation in under three months. Progress Software logged more volunteer hours in six months than in the prior three years combined. Vimeo grew participation 4x and cut costs in half.
Read the Edelman story for the detail. These aren't projections. They're outcomes your leadership can verify.
Part 4: Kill the Risk Objection Before It's Raised
The first question leadership asks is "what's the risk?"
Answer it before they ask. The two fears are always the same. Disruption and data loss.
Address both directly. Employee giving history carries over. Volunteer hours carry over. Employees log into the new platform and their record is intact.
And the timeline is weeks, not months. The Legacy Liberator process runs 3 to 4 weeks with a dedicated manager handling every step. Say that out loud in the room. It removes the biggest reason a switch gets stalled.
Part 5: Project the Return
End with the upside, in numbers leadership already respects.
The core equation is simple. Participation lift, times your employee headcount, times average giving per engaged employee. That's the giving impact.
Then add the retention angle, because it moves the CFO. Engaged employees stay longer. Replacing one mid-level employee costs 50 to 100% of their salary. Even a small retention gain at your headcount is real money saved.
You don't need to promise an exact figure. You need to show the math points clearly in one direction.
Put It in Front of the Right Person
One more thing that decides more switches than any slide. Know who signs off.
If it's the CFO, lead with fees and retention dollars. If it's the CHRO, lead with participation and employer brand. If it's a committee, cover both and keep it to one page.
Tailor the emphasis to the person holding the pen. Same facts, different order.
If you want help turning your actual numbers into this case, book a demo. We'll pull your real fee and participation figures so the business case writes itself.