Nonprofit Project Management: How We Helped Cut Project Chaos in Half

Jon Irwin
Jul 16
2 min read

Updated: Jul 24

A Real-World Win: Nonprofit Project Management in Action

At Resilio Partners, we specialize in bringing clarity and momentum to projects teetering on the edge of failure. One such engagement involved a large, national nonprofit dedicated to supporting retirement benefits for tens of thousands of individuals and their families. When their internal team realized their major SaaS migration was behind schedule, and facing a hard shutdown date, we were brought in to stabilize and deliver under pressure. This project is a great example of how nonprofit project management, when structured well, can drastically reduce miscommunication and improve impact

The Challenge

The organization had a looming June deadline to complete their migration from a legacy system that was scheduled to be decommissioned. The problem? By the time we were contacted in March, not a single document had been migrated—and there were nearly 2 million files that needed to be moved.

Communication breakdowns between third-party vendors, internal IT, department leads, and the PMO team were stalling progress. Tensions were high. If the migration failed, critical retirement services would be disrupted, leaving the organization—and its beneficiaries—exposed.

Our Role

Resilio Partners was brought in initially as a business analysis and project rescue resource. We were tasked with gathering requirements across departments, aligning stakeholders, streamlining vendor communications, and ultimately getting the project back on track—on time and within budget.

Our Approach

We took immediate action by:

Facilitating alignment meetings with department SMEs, vendors, and the internal PMO to clarify business needs and uncover blockers.
Securing a strategic extension of the legacy system’s shutdown to August, which gave us enough runway to properly complete the migration and develop training.
Listening to resistance, particularly from one key department, and proactively incorporating their feedback to ease the transition.
Rebuilding project documentation and switching from a rigid waterfall method to an agile approach, allowing us to manage complexity and pivot rapidly.

The Results

By July, we had migrated 95% of documents thanks to a new vendor partner using an API-driven structure.
By mid-August, the full migration was complete—and the system was fully configured.
By September, we launched training across all departments in three structured sessions.
The success of this phase led to an extension of the original 6-month contract, with Resilio Partners brought in to lead future project phases.

Our Reflection

We’re proud of how quickly the team rallied to rescue a project on the brink of collapse. When leadership, clear communication, and flexibility are prioritized—even the most chaotic initiatives can be turned around.

For anyone facing similar challenges, remember: