Until recently, the data on the almost 2,000 beneficiaries of the Bucuria Darului Foundation was split: part of it in an Excel file, the rest on paper, in files. Now all of it is in Odoo, in one place. The other changes follow from that: documents about to expire are flagged in time, and the number of meals served shows up while people are signing.
About the foundation
Bucuria Darului has worked in the Bartolomeu district of Brașov since November 2013. A team of 33 people looks after almost 2,000 beneficiaries: children and their families, elderly people left without support, sick people and homeless people in Brașov, and families in 27 villages around the city.
Besides the Mulțumesc social canteen, the foundation runs a dental practice, a psychology practice, the Căsuța Educației learning centre for children and its own bakery. The figures come from the 2025 activity report.
All the data, in one place
Before, the Excel file could hold only part of what the foundation knew about a person. The rest stayed on paper: documents, contracts, history. Now each beneficiary's file is complete in Odoo, and everything else starts from it.
What became possible, process by process
01The beneficiary file
02Deadlines
03Today's meal
04Signature lists
05Contracts and documents
06Reporting
07Needs and offers
How help is organised
Every signature list starts from three questions: which service, what kind of help and where it is given. The answers are set up in Odoo, so a new list needs no code, only a new combination.
These combinations produce the 5 daily lists and the 41 weekly ones. For one-off situations, a list can also be made from a hand-picked selection of beneficiaries.
Small details that matter
Portions are worked out automatically
The number of portions comes from the size of the household. Family details are entered once, on the head of household, and used everywhere.
Signatures are drawn, not typed
By default, Odoo writes the person's name in a signature font. We changed that: the pad opens straight on an empty drawing field, and everyone signs by hand.
An authorised person can sign
If a beneficiary cannot come, the authorised person named in the file signs instead.
Status changes on the set date
A suspension or a resumption can be scheduled in advance. The system applies it on the day, asks for a reason and keeps it in the history.
Every village has its profile
For the communities in the county, the system also keeps a village profile: how isolated it is and what access it has to schools, doctors, transport and jobs.
Fewer needless emails
Beneficiaries receive only the first signing invitation. The other automatic notifications are no longer sent, so they do not use up the foundation's email quota, but they can be resent by hand.
Everyone on the team sees what their role needs: coordinators manage everything, social workers work on the files, some colleagues have read-only access, and others see only the lists they look after.
How we worked
Bucuria Darului was our first project, and it did not start in Odoo. It started with the way the foundation worked.
We listened
We sat down with the foundation's team and went through the Excel file the lists came from, the paper files and every process, from a person's admission to reporting. Together we discussed what could be simplified and what had to stay.
We designed as close to standard as possible
We started on Odoo 18 in the summer of 2025, from the standard apps:
ContactsBeneficiaries and families
ProjectLists, needs and offers
SignContracts and documents
DocumentsScanned papersWe wrote our own module only for what did not exist: the social file, the beneficiary's status, deadlines and list generation. For the foundation, the move to Odoo was also a chance to review its forms. The team updated them and refreshed the information in the files.
We delivered in stages
The beneficiary file and documents signed in Sign in the autumn of 2025, the service lists in November, and needs and offers in December.
We trained the team on site
We ran the training in person, at the foundation, with the people who use the system every day.
We stayed on
After go-live we stayed with the foundation. In May 2026 we migrated the system to Odoo 19. Some early adjustments had been made directly in the interface with Odoo Studio. During the migration we moved them into code, so they can be tested and maintained.
Support this cause
The system keeps the records, but the meals, parcels and repairs are paid for by the people and companies who donate. The foundation's work is funded mostly by donations and sponsorships.
On the same site you can redirect 3.5% of your income tax, donate goods or sign up as a volunteer.
Is your data still in Excel and on paper?
Whether you work at an NGO or a company, we start the same way as here: we look at how you work first, then bring the data into one place.