Scaling Impact for Veterans: How Candorful is Revolutionizing Military Transitions with Plative

Self Led Beginnings

Before streamlining their technology, Candorful faced significant manual obstacles that hindered their ability to grow. In the early days, matching coaches with candidates involved yellow sticky notes and manual scheduling that Pat Hubbell described as  “a bit of a nightmare”. While a previous partner partially completed a Salesforce build, the organization still struggled with data scattered across Gmail and spreadsheets.

Maria Smachetti, Candorful’s Lead Salesforce Admin took on the heavy lifting of organizing this data, migrating coach information and disparate data points into Salesforce to help the nonprofit run more efficiently. However, the organization still needed a way to provide a seamless, self-service experience for their growing community of candidates and corporate partners.

“Data was just all over the place. It was in Gmail, it was on spreadsheets, it was on sticky notes… Salesforce really just brought it all together and helped us run a lot more efficiently.”

– Maria Smachetti, Candorful’s Lead Salesforce Admin

A Partnership Rooted in Trust

Candorful needed to expand their technology to include a sophisticated engagement portal but faced the reality of a limited nonprofit budget. After an experience with another firm that only got them “75% of the way there”, Pat reconnected with Plative. What set Plative apart was a willingness to listen and adapt to Candorful’s unique financial and operational constraints.

Plative acted as an extension of their team, allowing Maria to work alongside the implementation team to pick up the slack and learn the new system development from the inside out. This collaborative approach ensured the project stayed within budget while empowering the Candorful team to manage the new portal independently.

“I felt Candorful’s unique needs were both understood and important to the Plative team. Plative was one of four organizations that we had considered. They stood out for two reasons. First, when we struggled with our initial build with another organization a few years back, the Plative team provided advice and wisdom that got us over the finish line. This built trust before we formally worked with them. Plative didn’t have to help, but they did. Then when it came time for our latest innovation, they listened and provided solutions that worked well with our goals, constraints and mission.”

– Pat Hubbell, Executive Director

Bridging the Gap Between Talent and Opportunity

Plative partnered with Candorful to build a dual-facing engagement portal designed to bridge the gap between military talent and employers.

For Candidates (US Veterans and Military Spouses):

• Centralized Feedback: View past interviews, feedback, and interview readiness scores.
• Opportunity Discovery: Use list views to discover employer groups and learn how to do networking research and outreach to external corporate connections.
• Professional Networking: Network directly with employers and update personal profiles seamlessly.

For Employers:

Brand Awareness: Share job posts and organizational news within the community while supporting Candorful’s mission.

Talent Pipeline: Search for and communicate directly with military candidates for hiring purposes.

Driving Success Through Insightful Data

By centralizing these interactions, Candorful is moving toward a future where they can prove the efficacy of their programs through streamlined reporting. This project sets the stage for several key outcomes:

Impact Insight: Better data to show exactly how candidates are progressing through the Candorful platform and process.

Seamless Experience: A unified journey for both candidates and employers.

Monetization Opportunities: Creating a platform that corporate sponsors are passionate about funding, supporting Candorful’s nonprofit mission.

“For me – there was listening, compassion, empathy, and flexibility of working with us within our budget.”

– Maria Smachetti, Candorful’s Lead Salesforce Admin

The Road to Launch

The journey is just beginning. Over the coming weeks, Candorful will invite a select group of coaches to enter the portal to provide feedback and refine the user experience. This iterative testing will ensure the platform meets the real-world needs of the veteran community before a wider launch. Funded by a grant from the Wynn Resorts Foundation and JTMF Foundation, this portal represents a major step in helping veterans navigate the “hidden job market” through the power of networking.