Case Study

How Monarch Replaced a Difficult Legacy CLM with the “iPhone of Contract Systems,” ContractSafe

Impact at a glance

Here’s how Monarch’s operations improved after implementing ContractSafe.

320+

HUD lease agreements brought into ContractSafe

Distinct contract workflows running in one platform

New headcount required to support Monarch’s active expansion into Arkansas and Virginia

The Challenge

Upgrading from a legacy CLM platform to a modern one

Monarch is one of North Carolina’s largest nonprofit healthcare providers, delivering behavioral health, substance use, and intellectual and developmental disability (I/DD) services to more than 27,000 people each year across North Carolina and Providence, Rhode Island. Christopher Grimwood, Monarch’s Chief of Staff, oversees the organization’s external contracts, lease agreements, and the CLM platform itself.

When Christopher inherited responsibility for Monarch’s leases and external vendor contracts roughly two years ago, the organization was running on iContracts. Leadership gave him a clear directive: if it isn’t working, find something better.

The core problem was ease of use. Configuring anything required technical skill most of the team didn’t have.

“You basically needed a degree in IT to get into the back end of iContracts and make changes. Nothing was intuitive. That’s the opposite of what ContractSafe is.”

— Christopher Grimwood, Chief of Staff

The second problem was the pricing model. iContracts charged per user, so Monarch kept its seat count low to control costs. The result: a handful of people held the keys to every contract, and everyone else routed requests through them.

“We paid per user, so most people just wouldn’t use the system. Every request bottlenecked to one or two of us. Unlimited users on ContractSafe solved that overnight.”

— Christopher Grimwood, Chief of Staff

Monarch needed a CLM that was easy for non-technical staff, flexible enough for the many contract types a healthcare nonprofit manages, and affordable enough to extend access to everyone who needed it.

ContractSafe's Solution

A platform that fits the way Monarch’s teams actually work

Monarch chose ContractSafe for three reasons: it was intuitive, customizable, and fit the budget. Christopher’s team migrated manually rather than use a migration service, which let them verify data quality as they went. Short training videos covered the rest.

With unlimited users on every ContractSafe plan, access is no longer a cost-driven decision. Each team has its own custom forms, notifications, tags, and folder-level permissions, which keeps the interface clean and the learning curve short.

Seven contract workflows in one system

External vendor contracts with automated renewal alerts
Commercial lease agreements with renewal dates, escalations, and landlord contacts tracked centrally
HUD documentation and group home leases managed by the program teams themselves
State MCO and LME payer contracts with renewal and amendment tracking
Commercial payer contracts (Blue Cross Blue Shield, United, Aetna) tagged and searchable
University intern partnerships with renewal alerts that keep placements continuous
In-kind county lease portfolio with custom fields for fair market value reporting

Custom fields that handle real-world reporting requirements

Monarch holds a portfolio of leases where a county owns the property and leases it to Monarch for $1 per year. These in-kind donations require fair market value reporting at tax time. The previous system couldn’t capture that data alongside the lease record. ContractSafe can.

“In ContractSafe, we can create a field for ‘in-kind,’ check the box, drop in fair market value, and build it right into the forms we fill out. It’s all right there. Our old system couldn’t do that.”

— Christopher Grimwood, Chief of Staff

Rollout & Results:
Seven contract workflows now running in one system

"ContractSafe is the iPhone of contract systems. It’s simple. It’s streamlined. It’s easy. It’s everything you want it to be."

– Christopher Grimwood, Monarch Health

Unlimited users, no bottlenecks

Monarch moved from a per-user pricing model that capped access to a handful of people, to a platform with unlimited users. Teams across the organization now manage their own contracts instead of routing every request through one or two gatekeepers.

Searchable lease agreements

Monarch's HUD program teams brought 320+ lease and compliance agreements into ContractSafe, replacing paper files with automated renewal reminders and digital records. Non-technical staff built the workflows themselves, without IT or vendor support.

Seven teams, one system

From external vendors to state payers, commercial insurers, HUD housing, HR, and intern partnerships, seven distinct contract workflows now run in ContractSafe, each with custom forms configured by the teams that use them.

Growth without a bigger team

Monarch has expanded into Arkansas and Virginia without adding headcount to manage a growing contract portfolio. ContractSafe absorbs the volume so the organization can scale its mission, not its admin.

Self-service that actually serves

Instead of emailing legal for every contract question, staff log into ContractSafe, find their folder, and pull what they need. One recent example: Monarch's CFO learned to redline a contract from two screenshots. No training session required.

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“We wanted something that was easy-to-use, that was the most important thing that we were looking for. We’ve chosen the right platform with ContractSafe and we’ve gotten a lot of compliments. Whenever you roll out any new program, you expect some constructive criticism but all we’ve gotten are kudos.”

"ContractSafe has been an amazing enabler, helping us automate other processes and level up our ability to manage an increasing volume of highly custom customer engagements."

"ContractSafe has been a lifesaver to our company. We finally have a central location to store and keep track of our contracts. Uploading documents is a simple process and the search feature is a lifesaver. Everything is organized and easy to find, and the renewal reminders help us keep on top of any upcoming expiring contracts. Their customer support is excellent.