The University of Nebraska Foundation’s (UNF's) electronic payment and transfer request project was a monumental undertaking, moving UNF and its partners at the University of Nebraska (NU) from an antiquated, paper-only process to a fully automated, electronic workflow. UNF has two methods to use donor funds in support of NU –direct vendor payments or cost-center reimbursements via transfer to NU. In 2023, UNF processed 18,000+ requests, all via paper forms. This demand was unsustainable--the process was inefficient, and users faced many barriers to successfully completing requests. To address these challenges, UNF committed to developing a fully automated, electronic payment and transfer request process. This collaborative effort engaged over 100 UNF and NU team members to co-create a fully customized system. Users can now work in a system that provides greater transparency and access to real-time data, while seamlessly moving information through the workflow. In the months following the public launch, the project has seen tremendous success. Campus partners have seen processing times shrink from weeks to days. Challenges of the paper process that caused confusion and frustration have been drastically reduced. Printing upwards of 90,000 pages of documents to process 18,000 annual requests has been eliminated. The launch of the electronic payment and transfer request process has been transformational.
From the Judges
The judges highly appreciated the streamlining that this fully automated workflow provided to support the work of this institution and those they serve.
