The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia saves 52 hours on data entry per month with Jotform Enterprise

When someone needs help getting basic necessities like food, time is of the essence. For community service organizations that provide support, like food pantries, cumbersome administrative processes can bog down services and delay that assistance. 

For 15 years, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia has relied on Jotform to support its mission of assisting vulnerable populations, building community engagement, and promoting Jewish life and learning — as part of the network of 146 Jewish Federations of North America. 

As the organization grew, staff recognized the need to expand its digital infrastructure to better meet community needs. The Federation’s Mitzvah Food Program, in particular, needed a more effective, sustainable way to sign up new clients for food assistance services. And when cuts to federal food assistance programs spiked demand for services, that need only increased. 

With Jotform Enterprise, the organization was able to provide services to more community members — and to do so more quickly and efficiently.

The challenge

The Federation serves communities across the Philadelphia area, so it manages a lot of information across multiple programs. In the past, many of its processes relied on paper forms and manual data entry. 

The organization’s Mitzvah Food Program, which supports community members experiencing food insecurity, was a primary example. To receive assistance, clients had to fill out paper forms in person. Social workers in multiple food pantry locations would then collect forms from clients and manually enter that intake information into Salesforce. 

This process was time-consuming, error-prone, and especially challenging for clients who weren’t native English speakers.

“[The staff] wanted a way to make it less cumbersome,” says Rachelle Gizinski, the Federation’s senior business analyst. “Everybody had to go into Salesforce and keep doing this stuff manually.”

On top of these issues, proposed cuts to federally funded food assistance programs created an increase in demand for the program, roughly doubling the number of people seeking help each day. The Federation needed a way to scale the program to meet this demand and reduce the amount of time and effort it took for clients to sign up for services.  

The organization also needed

• A better way to manage applications and documentation for its community grants programs 
• Automated workflows for volunteer programs and client surveys
• A secure way to collect sensitive documents such as tax returns and W-2 forms in grant applications
• More efficient communication between departments
• A scalable solution that could integrate with Salesforce and other existing systems

The solution

Though the Federation had a single-user Jotform plan, IT director Robb Quattro knew it was time to upgrade. Jotform Enterprise provides multiple user accounts, enhanced security, and single sign-on capabilities. It also provides custom support for setting up Jotform’s Salesforce integration. According to Quattro, that support was a key driver behind the move.

Streamlining food pantry intake

The organization replaced paper-based intake processes related to the Mitzvah Food Program with digital Jotform workflows that automatically feed data into Salesforce, Airtable, and Google Drive. 

Clients can now complete forms online instead of filling out paperwork in person. “Some people feel embarrassed that they’re signing up for a food pantry,” says Gizinski. Now, they can sign up online from anywhere. Plus, with Jotform’s instant form translation feature, clients can fill out the forms in their preferred language, helping serve immigrant communities more effectively.

This shift delivered several benefits:

• Eliminated time-consuming manual data entry for social workers
• Reduced errors caused by difficult-to-read handwriting
• Improved accessibility through multilingual forms
• Allowed clients to complete applications privately and independently

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How to Create a New Client Intake Form for Community Services [Free Template]

Additional improvements

Automating feedback collection

The Federation also uses Jotform to collect feedback from food pantry participants, helping staff understand why clients stop using services and whether programs meet community needs. Survey responses automatically update Salesforce, making reporting and analysis easier.

Volunteer recruitment and satisfaction surveys are also managed through Jotform, with automated survey  emails sent using an integration with Airtable.

Simplifying grant management

The Federation offers a number of grants, including scholarships, community grants, micro grants, and donor-funded initiatives. With Jotform Enterprise, applicants can submit forms online and upload required documentation directly through the platform. 

The Federation is also able to embed applications directly into its website, which makes it easy for community members to discover and apply for grants without needing to navigate complex processes, contact staff for support, or submit paper applications.

Improving internal operations

Beyond community-facing programs, Jotform has become a core tool for the organization’s operations. Teams use forms for

• Data requests
• Marketing requests
• New fund code creation
• Finance transmittal forms
• Employee onboarding and IT provisioning
• Surveys to identify the most needed food and supplies
• Camp scholarship applications 
• Year-end reporting of grant funding 

Workflows built with conditional logic automatically route requests to the appropriate departments and notify the appropriate staff. For example, when a new employee joins, an onboarding form submission is routed to Gizinski, so that she can provide the new hire with any software login credentials they’ll need. Quattro’s team is also notified so that they can get a new computer ready.  

Enhancing security and compliance

The organization often needs to collect sensitive financial and personal information as part of scholarship and grant applications, like W-2s and tax returns. As a result, the Federation requires robust security features. Jotform Enterprise provided the safeguards and compliance features needed to securely collect and manage sensitive documents.

“We use multifactor authentication, and security is key,” says Quattro. “So we were able to use that with our single sign-on integrated with Salesforce.” 

The results: Faster intake and more responsive services

Faster intake and less administrative work

The Mitzvah Food Program experienced significant efficiency improvements by eliminating manual entry and automating data flows into Salesforce. Staff who previously spent time manually entering client information can now focus on serving community members with more complex issues.

“It would be fair to say that the Salesforce integration component saved about 5–10 minutes of data entry per intake application,” says Michael Costello, director of donor services and projects. That time savings alone adds up to an average of 52 hours over the course of a month — the equivalent of almost two full work weeks — that would otherwise go to data entry. 

Flexibility during periods of high demand

When food assistance demand surged following reductions in food stamp benefits, the organization was able to handle an increase in client intake. Staff reported receiving as many as 10–20 additional new clients per day — roughly double the number received previously — and Jotform helped them manage the influx efficiently. 

“It’s been a game changer for the people who run our Mitzvah Food Program,” says Gizinski.

Improved client experience

Online forms and multilingual capabilities make services easier to access, particularly for immigrant populations. Digital intake also provides a more comfortable experience for clients who may feel reluctant to access services in person.

Greater organizational flexibility

Gizinski and Quattro describe Jotform as a flexible solution that can quickly adapt to new needs. Whether launching a new grant program, creating an internal request process, onboarding employees, or gathering community feedback, they can rapidly build and deploy forms and workflows.

A trusted platform for long-term growth

What began as a simple form-building solution has evolved into an essential platform that supports community services, fundraising, grantmaking, volunteer engagement, and internal operations. Jotform Enterprise allows the Federation to respond to community needs more quickly and efficiently and to expand services without overwhelming staff. 

Interested in seeing what Jotform Enterprise can do for your organization? Contact our sales team to learn more.