LEAP, powered by Zoho Creator, helps TRRAIN empower 55,000+ youth while saving 70% in costs

The company

Founded in 2011, TRRAIN (Trust for Retailers and Retail Associates of India) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating livelihood opportunities in the retail sector—particularly for young women and persons with disabilities.

With a 40-member internal team and a network of 100+ NGO partners, TRRAIN has supported over 55,000 individuals through training, upskilling, and job placements across India.

The challenge

Driven by the mission to transform lives at scale, TRRAIN realized early on that the right technology would be critical to amplify their impact. Before Zoho Creator, TRRAIN relied on an off-the-shelf solution.

"We'd been using this product for 7 years. Our journey was built alongside that product, and we kept adding features over time," shares Pooja Nagesh Manik, Head of Business Excellence.

However, this solution turned rigid and left little room for customization. In addition, in 2023, the platform announced it was shutting down. This meant TRRAIN had to migrate all data and workflows, without disrupting ongoing programs.

To tackle this challenge, TRRAIN began evaluating alternatives.

Since TRRAIN had been using Zoho CRM and Zoho Campaigns for various purposes, this experience led the team to explore Zoho Creator as their next step.

Curious to see what the platform could do, Pooja decided to explore Zoho Creator herself, despite not having a technical background. "I spent two days just trying to explore the product. And I would say there was light in my eyes. There was so much I could do on my own because the platform is so intuitive," she says.

To accelerate implementation, TRRAIN also partnered with EdZola, a trusted Zoho Partner with deep experience supporting nonprofits in their digital transformation.

Together, they rebuilt TRRAIN’s entire system within just three months, migrating all workflows into a single unified platform.

The solution

TRRAIN named its Creator-powered platform LEAP, symbolizing their mission to help individuals leap toward financial independence.

LEAP now manages the full program lifecycle—from partner onboarding and candidate mobilization to training, placement, and impact tracking.

Here's a closer look at the core modules:

Partner onboarding

TRRAIN works with over 100 NGO partners across India. This module streamlines the entire onboarding process by managing document collection, due-diligence checks, interviews, and quality assessments.

This ensures transparency and helps TRRAIN bring the right partners on board.

Candidate mobilization

This module manages candidate onboarding, verification, batch creation, and assigning them to training workshops. By automating these steps, TRRAIN has significantly reduced manual effort and coordination overhead.

Attendance management

To track participation across 100+ classrooms, TRRAIN integrated Zoho People with Creator. Biometric attendance captured onsite flows directly into LEAP, giving the team real-time visibility into student engagement.

Training management

This module helps the team schedule sessions, assign trainers, share learning materials, and monitor workshop progress. In addition, TRRAIN also uses Creator’s record templates to generate training certificates for each participant who completes the 45-day program.

Placement cell

Once training is complete, LEAP supports the recruitment process, from CV creation and sharing with employers to coordinating interviews.

“We integrated email and WhatsApp communication, and automated the shortlisting process. It improved placement efficiency by 20–25%,” adds Sajidali Patan, Chief of Digital Initiatives.

Retention and impact tracking

TRRAIN continues to monitor retention and livelihood outcomes after candidates are placed. "We use different methods to collect this data but all of that again flows back into Zoho Creator. This has helped us improve our operations effectively," says Pooja.

This gives the team a clear view of long-term program impact and areas to improve.

Payment management

This dedicated module enables finance teams to validate documentation submitted by 100+ NGO partners before releasing funds. What once required heavy manual follow-up is now completely streamlined and fully trackable, reducing payment delays and administrative effort.

Together, these modules have helped TRRAIN digitize and streamline their end-to-end operations, enabling them to focus on impact at scale.

Benefits & ROI

Using Zoho Creator has helped TRRAIN achieve significant benefits. This includes:

Centralized data management across programs and partners

LEAP now acts as a central place for TRRAIN, helping them access 55,000+ beneficiary records and data from 100+ NGO partners seamlessly.

70% reduction in platform costs

"When we narrowed it down to Zoho Creator, one of the important factors was, of course, cost. We realized it was 70% less compared to any of the other products. And for a nonprofit organization that is huge." says Pooja.

Easy adoption for both internal teams and NGO partners

Despite initial concerns about training NGO partners, TRRAIN found Creator incredibly intuitive.

“As a non-developer, I could experiment and figure out what was possible. Regarding the training for partners, we were quite skeptical in terms of how the training process would be, but I think it went very smoothly, given how easy the platform is to use,” shares Pooja.

This ease of adoption reduced onboarding time and ensured faster rollout for TRRAIN.

Strong Partner support

The expertise of EdZola helped TRRAIN get quicker on the execution. As they had worked on multiple projects in this sector, TRRAIN were able to take their app live within three months, with all their data backed up.

"Building a product from zero to the level we desired, and be able to go live in three months, was only possible because we had a partner like EdZola, who understands Zoho and the capabilities of Zoho Creator," adds Pooja.

Seamless integration

Creator’s ability to integrate with other Zoho apps helped TRRAIN build a powerful, unified tech stack. LEAP now works seamlessly with:

• Zoho CRM for partner and employer management
• Zoho People for attendance
• Zoho Campaigns for communication

“Together, these apps are forming an ecosystem that powers the work we do at TRRAIN,” says Pooja.

Looking forward