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Retiring a Decade-Old System

UJA-Federation of New York's core constituent and gift-management system had run for over a decade on infrastructure the vendor was sunsetting. The FR101 conversion project replaced it, a $1.8M, 14-month rebuild touching 300+ users.

Scope300+ Users
$1.8M Budget
14 Months

Approach6 Phased UI Waves

Outcome116 Dev Items Delivered
Legacy System Retired

01Situation

UJA's legacy system (FR100) had been the backbone for constituent and gift data for more than ten years, built on a platform whose vendor support was winding down.

There was no more patching it. The organization needed a full conversion to a new system (FR101), not a cosmetic upgrade.

That meant re-mapping how 300+ internal users tracked donors, gifts, and constituent records, while keeping fundraising and constituent operations running through the transition.

Why it mattered

Constituent and gift data sits under everything a fundraising organization does. A conversion this size couldn't afford downtime or a shaky handoff, since 300+ people depended on the system working correctly every day.

02Challenge

A full system conversion, on a fixed budget and timeline, with no room for the leadership gap that showed up partway through.

FR100 sat on infrastructure the vendor was actively sunsetting, so there was no fallback if the migration slipped
116 development items had to be sequenced across 6 UI development waves without disrupting daily gift-processing and constituent work
Internal SMEs, QA, and data architecture all had to stay aligned on one plan and one timeline
Midway through the highest-stakes stretch of the build, the project's PM had to step away for an extended personal leave, with no planned backup in place

03Action

Sat in the core internal group from day one, translating business requirements into build-ready specs, wave by wave.

When the project's PM had to step away unexpectedly, I was promoted into the PM role and took over her responsibilities, running status meetings, driving design decisions, and keeping the 6-wave schedule on track.

Eventually held all major PM duties on the project, full ownership, not just a stand-in while she was out.

Coordinated UAT feedback intake and training so the 300+ end users could actually adopt the new system, not just receive it.

Kept the project's internal team focused on coordination and oversight rather than hands-on build work.

04Results

$1.8Mproject budget managed

14 Mofrom planning through delivery

300+users transitioned to the new system

116dev items delivered across 6 waves

This wasn't a project I was handed to run, it's one I grew into under real pressure, when the person leading it had to step away at the worst possible time. Taking over mid-flight on a system this central to the organization's fundraising operation, with no notice and no handoff plan, was the actual test. Finishing it, on budget, on the wave schedule, with the people who'd use it every day actually trained on it, is what I'd point to first.