Introduction
RF Catalytic Capital Inc. (RFCC), a nonprofit subsidiary of The Rockefeller Foundation, was launched in 2020 to unlock collaboration at scale. By pooling capital from foundations, impact investors, governments, and businesses, RFCC powers ambitious solutions to global challenges. As a new organisation with a bold mission, RFCC needed strong infrastructure from the start.
That responsibility fell to Dwayne Montaque, appointed Infrastructure Lead, who was tasked with building the systems to manage relationships, track funding, and streamline operations. RFCC offers vital back-office support—legal, financial, CRM, and grants management—while taking on fiduciary responsibility for pooled capital. It acts as a catalyst for collaborative philanthropy, helping launch and scale high-impact initiatives.
We spoke to Dwayne about implementing a new CRM—and why getting it right mattered.
“We needed a partner with deep Salesforce grantmaking expertise to build a system that could handle high-stakes impact.”
The Challenge - Building Infrastructure
As a newly established charity, RFCC required a robust system capable of managing complex grant-making and collaborative efforts from the outset. The team needed a reliable system because of high-profile projects like Testing for America, the first pilot that allowed COVID-19 testing in school programs to get kids back into school safely— with thousands of schools relying on the program’s success.
The organization needed a scalable solution to support its expanding operations. The initial manual grant-making processes led to inefficiencies, highlighting the need for a more advanced system to manage both the flow of funds and relationships with various stakeholders.
“RFCC was thrust into high-stakes grant-making from day one—with initiatives like Testing for America, we quickly saw that manual processes couldn’t keep up. We needed a robust, scalable system to manage complex funding, reporting, and stakeholder relationships." - Dwayne Montaque
Solution: Building Infrastructure for Scalable Impact
To support its ambitious mission from day one, RFCC needed a system purpose-built by grantmakers, for grantmakers—one that could serve as the backbone of its infrastructure. The Salesforce-based solution enabled the team to streamline grant-making processes, manage pooled funds, and collaborate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders.
RFCC partnered with ImagineCRM, as we are a Salesforce expert partner with deep nonprofit experience. More than just an implementation partner, ImagineCRM brought strategic insight and best practices to guide RFCC through a complex setup. They tailored the system to RFCC’s unique needs, ensuring it could scale rapidly and support high-impact initiatives like Testing for America. With ImagineCRM’s support, RFCC built the infrastructure it needed to deliver collaborative philanthropy at scale.
“We were looking for a partner who understood the nuances of grant-making and could provide expert guidance throughout the implementation process.
ImagineCRM's experience and ability to share best practices were instrumental in ensuring our Salesforce setup was both effective and aligned with our mission.”
Key Benefits
Organisational Efficiency For Their Entire Team
Organisational Transparency Across Every Step
Organisational Scalability and Impacts
Professional Development for Their Team
Automating grant-making has dramatically improved RFCC’s efficiency, freeing the team from manual tasks and enabling a sharper focus on strategic, mission-driven work.
With streamlined processes, they can now manage more grants faster and with greater accuracy—amplifying their impact.
Salesforce has transformed how RFCC engages with grantees, offering real-time visibility into grant request statuses.
This transparency builds trust, reduces uncertainty, and ensures clear communication at every step—laying the foundation for stronger, more effective collaboration.
As RFCC grows and takes on more ambitious projects, Salesforce provides the scalable infrastructure needed to keep pace. Its flexibility allows the team to manage complex operations and expand programs without outgrowing the system—supporting RFCC’s evolving mission now and into the future.
Working with Salesforce has offered RFCC’s team a valuable professional development opportunity, boosting their skills in a competitive field.
Gaining hands-on experience not only enhances their current performance but also adds a powerful credential to their resumes, empowering them to drive impact through technology and grow their careers in the nonprofit sector.
Why ImagineCRM?
When choosing a Salesforce partner, it’s crucial to choose a partner who understands your organization's work, ethos, values, mission, and ways of working.
As a nonprofit or foundation, it is important to think about the partner as an extension of your team, a team that will bring their experience to the table to shape your project based on best practices and knowledge.
Dwayne shared: "We chose to work with ImagineCRM and Daisy because they were flexible, patient, and committed to growing with us as we built out the RFCC.
Their grants management expertise and willingness to collaborate closely with us made them the right partner for our needs. They guided us through best practices, advised on technology solutions, and were willing to try innovative approaches, which was crucial for a new organization like ours."