Case Study: Building a scalable sales foundation for a national sports nonprofit

The problem: disconnected systems and stalled onboarding

The nonprofit’s sales team relied on a fragmented mix of Salesforce, Tradable Bits, and spreadsheets to track everything from corporate suite sales to sponsorship deals. None of it connected, making it impossible to see the entire pipeline at once.

Their migration into HubSpot stalled early. They weren’t sure how to set up pipelines for their two distinct sales cycles — partnerships vs. suites — or how to report on revenue by event, disqualified leads, or deal velocity. Even lead assignment became a roadblock, with no clear way to automate website form submissions.

In short, they had the right intentions but lacked a strategic path to implementation.

The solution: structured onboarding with data governance at the core

The engagement focused on building the right architecture before layering on automation. Together with a HubSpot consultant, the team mapped their sales process into two customized pipelines that matched their unique deal cycles.

Workflows were created to alert when a deal closed, and reasons for closed-lost opportunities were captured to replace their manual reporting. This addressed a long-standing blind spot in measuring why deals weren’t converting.

At the same time, they were trained hands-on to build sequences, templates, and snippets for outreach, ensuring that efficiency gains stuck beyond onboarding. The consultant also emphasized data governance, teaching the team how to properly format and import spreadsheets. This disciplined approach provided the foundation for accurate reporting, clean dashboards, and future scalability.

The results: a centralized system and an empowered team

• Centralized pipelines for both suites and partnerships
• Automated alerts for deal closure and structured closed-lost tracking
• Clean, standardized data ready for reporting
• Custom dashboards tracking push rates, deal velocity, and close ratios

The impact wasn’t just technical. The sales team walked away with the skills and confidence to manage their own system — from using prospecting tools to building reports. What began as a stalled onboarding turned into a roadmap for scalable, data-driven growth.

Why it matters

For a national governing body with over 30,000+ registered participants, 51–200 employees, and $15.57 million in annual revenue, operational efficiency isn’t optional. Clean data and centralized processes directly impact their ability to manage sponsors, sell event experiences, and fund grassroots development.

This project shows that even organizations with complex legacy systems can unlock clarity and efficiency when onboarding is done strategically.

Key metrics

Takeaway

A structured, hands-on onboarding approach paired with data governance can turn a fragmented sales operation into a scalable growth engine. For Rugby Canada, the shift from complexity to clarity unlocked new momentum across sponsorships, events, and grassroots programs.

Call to action

If your organization is wrestling with disconnected systems, media junction® can help turn complexity into clarity.