Jul/Aug 2007

Online Donations Soar for Small Nonprofit with Big Mission

by Seth Merritt, Senior Account Manager, Convio

A client since 2006, the Tahirih Justice Center has substantially increased its efficiency, strengthened its decision-making processes and expanded its outreach through Convio's integrated suite of Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions, including an online central database and integrated fundraising and email messaging tools.

A nationally recognized nonprofit organization that has assisted over 6,000 immigrant women and children who are seeking justice from violence through pro bono legal services and public policy advocacy, Tahirih recently won the 2007 Washington Post Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Management presented by the Center for Nonprofit Advancement.

Tahirih determined that an online solution was the most cost effective way to easily reach supporters and keep donors and other stakeholders updated on the nonprofit organization's work and activities.

"Our capacity for growth and long-term stability depends on maintaining varied revenue streams," says Allyn B. Summa, Director of Development and Communications. "Individual donors represent a significant potential source of funding, and with these innovative fundraising and marketing tools, we can do much more to connect and engage potential supporters."

"Using Convio has greatly enhanced the financial management of our organization by enabling us to track all donations, online and offline, so that we can easily measure our fundraising progress toward meeting our income goal throughout the year."

"Having a reliable fundraising and contact database that is updated daily has been vital to the organization's fundraising success," says Summa. "During the first 10 months using Convio, our online donations have increased by 116 percent when compared to the entire 12 months prior to launching Convio." 

"Convio enables us to make informed decisions about directions in fundraising by allowing me to evaluate fundraising and marketing progress in terms of revenue, email file growth, increase in the number of donors and the amount of their gifts. Our list of working email addresses has grown by 19 percent since first going live."

Tahirih's focus on advocacy requires an ability to convey the organization's efforts and progress in a timely and easily accessible manner. To be more targeted in its communications, Tahirih has begun to streamline its marketing to stakeholders through enewsletters, regular client updates, and advocacy appeals.

"Growing our contacts through online strategies has been far more cost effective and reliable than offline direct marketing approaches," said Summa.