(GiveSmart’s fundraising platform) offers us the ability to do things so much differently than we ever did before. We knew that it would keep track of our donations, names and email addresses, and that it would help us with reporting. But the BEST thing about GiveSmart, for sure, is that we can fundraise in all these creative ways.

Alex C.

Manager of Development at OTR Housing

200%

year-over-year increase in end-of-year fundraising

1

kind act is now a movement

24-fold

increase in one event's fundraising in 4 years

Over The Rainbow (OTR) Housing is an Illinois nonprofit organization dedicated to providing housing, independent living solutions, high-quality of life, services, and community for individuals with physical disabilities. OTR Housing had been participating in Giving Tuesday and sending an annual appeal letter for years. It was moderately successful, but it lacked the spirit of OTR Housing.  

Their Vice President, Katie Miglore, and Manager of Development, Alex Costelle, were looking to stretch their creativity, truly inspire giving, and host a campaign that was truer to the OTR Housing community and mission. They needed technology that would best support their ideas and not limit their fundraising potential. And they didn’t have hours to dedicate to multiple platforms and to figuring out how they work. Could they successfully revamp their end-of-year campaign?  

Challenge & Solution

Kindness Tag was initially inspired by an OTR resident who asked for help in gifting another resident with life-changing hearing aids. It then became that recipient’s turn, with the help of their Resident Service Coordinator, to pay the kindness forward to another resident. The movement continued. There had been no real designated, organized funding to support this project, though.  

With the overwhelming support of their board and leadership team and inspired by these residents, Miglore and Costelle developed the Kindness Tag Holiday Fund.   

These creative women turned to GiveSmart to help them create an extended end-of-year campaign. They had run “old school” campaigns in the past. Their campaign needed to offer more than just a donate button. Miglore and Costelle needed to bring the Kindness Tag story to life, integrate merchandise sales, use text-to-donate, and expand both their audience and offerings year after year. They also needed organized, easy reporting on their successes and better support for their stewardship efforts.  

Results

The OTR Kindness Tag Holiday Fund raised double what their previous Giving Tuesday and end-of-year campaigns had raised.   

This year, the organization is partnering with restaurants for the first time, as it expands its healthy food programming. Because Miglore and Costelle have the flexibility to customize their donation form with GiveSmart, sharing more on the impact of this expanded program and offering once-in-a-lifetime chef table experiences for donation was easy. The real-time, organized reporting ensured everyone was in the know and that staff and board knew a lot about their donors’ motivations.  

With the options GiveSmart offers, OTR Housing has no limits on expanding its Kindness Tag Holiday Fund offerings. And, even with the expanded offerings, it’s still easy for their support network to give. All of this allows the nonprofit to best deliver on its mission and meet the growing, critical needs of residents and future residents.    

About the Organization

Over The Rainbow Housing Kindness Tag Holiday Fund (OTR Housing)

OTR Housing is an Illinois nonprofit organization dedicated to providing independent living solutions for individuals with physical disabilities. Their value statement is to envision an America, and more specifically an Illinois, where all persons with disabilities who desire to live independently, combined with the skills to do so, can find an accessible, affordable apartment.