INSEAD: Transforming 25% of Revenue Through Donation Automation
How strategic payment infrastructure modernized fundraising: From manual recurring payment chaos and gateway limitations to centralized automation and increased ROI
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Industry
Higher Education/Business School
Platform
Adobe Commerce Cloud
Challenge
Manual recurring payment management at scale
Investment
Recurring Payment Infrastructure & Integration
THE CRISIS
Manual Processes Undermining Major Revenue Stream
The Operational Challenges Limiting Fundraising:
Administrative Burden
Manual Payment Management
Recurring donations required manual updates for payment changes, creating significant administrative overhead while increasing risk of donor attrition and payment failures.
Technology Limitations
Gateway Lock-In
Previous system tied INSEAD to specific payment gateways without flexibility to adapt. Changing payment processors would disrupt donor relationships and administrative workflows.
Tracking Deficiency
Visibility Gap
Unable to centrally track donations made through the website, requiring manual communication between donors and administrators to reconcile payment records across multiple revenue streams.
Business Impact: For a prestigious global institution like INSEAD with campuses across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North America, inefficient donation infrastructure directly threatened fundraising effectiveness
Manual processes consumed staff resources better invested in donor relationships while limiting ability to scale recurring giving programs supporting the institution's mission.
THE TRANSFORMATION
Centralized Recurring Payment Platform for Institutional Scale
TechNWeb implemented a comprehensive recurring payment solution addressing INSEAD's unique requirements for managing donations, memberships, and product sales across global operations
Enterprise Donation and Payment Infrastructure
Our approach delivered flexibility and automation that existing solutions couldn't provide, particularly for institutions requiring payment gateway independence
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Adobe Commerce Subscriptions & Recurring Payments
Implemented recurring payment infrastructure designed specifically for institutional fundraising, providing capabilities unavailable in Adobe Commerce out of the box
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Multi-Gateway Payment Flexibility
Architected payment-agnostic infrastructure supporting Stripe, AuthorizeNet, and Braintree with ability to switch gateways without impacting donors or operations
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Headless Checkout Experience
Orchestrated Add To Cart logic & functionality that is triggered from several external platforms to build a shopping cart
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Automated Lifecycle ManagementEliminated manual intervention for recurring payment starts, stops, updates, and renewals while maintaining administrator control when needed
Phase 1: Platform Architecture
Foundation Development
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Designed recurring payment infrastructure addressing institutional fundraising requirements
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Built centralized revenue tracking function within Adobe Commerce platform
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Architected payment gateway abstraction layer enabling future flexibility
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Established secure data flow utilizing several payment gateways
Strategic Foundation:
Centralized Visibility
Single platform tracking all online revenue across donations, memberships, and sales
Phase 2: Recurring Payment Automation
Process Transformation
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Implemented automated recurring payment processing eliminating manual updates
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Built donor self-service portal for payment method updates and subscription control
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Created administrator tools for managing subscriptions on behalf of donors when needed
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Established automated payment retry logic and failure handling
Operational Impact:
Staff Efficiency
Freed administrative resources from manual payment processing for higher-value activities
Phase 3: Payment Gateway Flexibility
Technology Independence
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Integrated multiple payment gateways (Stripe, AuthorizeNet, Braintree)
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Built abstraction layer enabling gateway switching without donor disruption
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Eliminated vendor lock-in concerns constraining payment strategy
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Established foundation for adopting new payment technologies as they emerge
Strategic Flexibility:
Gateway Independence
Ability to optimize payment strategy without operational constraints
THE OUTCOME
The Solution Became Competitive Advantage
"Maybe the biggest benefit to my business since we began with mPower is probably the administration of recurring payments. If today we use Braintree and tomorrow decide to switch to Stripe for recurring payment, it would be possible with mPower. I'm not limited to Braintree recurring payments only. It wasn't the case before."
KEY TAKEAWAYS
What This Means for Your Business
Recurring Revenue Requires Purpose-Built Infrastructure
INSEAD discovered standard Magento couldn't support recurring donation needs. Purpose-built recurring payment infrastructure addressed requirements other solutions couldn't handle.
Your takeaway:
Evaluate whether your recurring revenue infrastructure matches business requirements.
Payment Gateway Flexibility Protects Strategic Options
Gateway-agnostic architecture freed INSEAD from vendor lock-in, enabling payment strategy optimization without operational disruption or donor impact.
Your takeaway:
Assess whether payment infrastructure creates strategic flexibility or vendor dependence.
Automation Multiplies Organizational Capacity
Eliminating manual recurring payment management freed staff resources for strategic fundraising while improving donor experience and reducing error risk.
Your takeaway:
Calculate staff time consumed by manual processes that could be automated.
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