Products
Key Features
Event Page
text-to-donate
peer-to-peer fundraising page
email and social templates to share
$366,000+
total raised
$83,000+
raised through peer-to-peer fundraising
In 2020, Birch Family Services, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping individuals with autism and developmental disabilities, celebrated its 45th anniversary. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic limited in-person fundraising events, Birch Family Services needed an alternative to their typical spring fundraising event to fundraise and celebrate their anniversary. The Birch Team knew they could not forgo this vital opportunity to fundraise and celebrate their milestone.Â
Challenge & Solution
The Birch Team created Birch@45, a 45-day virtual campaign comprising a 5K Challenge at the Celebrating Today, Building Tomorrow gala. They hosted Birch@45 on a GiveSmart Event Page with all essential event details, including event honorees, links to registration, donation, and sponsorship forms, text-to-donate instructions, and a donation progress circle showing their fundraising results in real-time. Also included were links to a peer-to-peer fundraising page, allowing supporters to sign up for the 5K and raise funds through their social networks.Â
Additionally, the organization provided peer-to-peer fundraisers with email and social templates to share Birch@45 with their friends and family. Solomon Schecter’s Development Officer, Sherri Pliskin, was the first to hear of MobileCause. She was impressed by the platform after seeing another nonprofit organization display a MobileCause live fundraising thermometer at their event, and decided that Solomon Schecter needed one for their upcoming Annual Ner Tamid Gala. Hosting between 200-300 attendees, Ner Tamid is Solomon’s annual fundraising gala for parents, students, staff and supporters of the school. After much research and comparison, Sherri chose the MobileCause platform for the fundraising thermometer’s ease of use and donors’ ability to give effortlessly from their seats, in any amount, via a text-to-donate keyword and shortcode.Â
Results
By creating a virtual fundraising event, the Birch Team celebrated its 45th anniversary and raised over $366,000. The peer-to-peer fundraising portion of their campaign was incredibly successful. Initially, the Birch Team’s goal for peer-to-peer fundraising was just $25,000, but after they quickly surpassed that, they aimed for $35,000, then $45,000, and ultimately raised over $83,000. Engagement amongst peer-to-peer fundraisers was higher than in past campaigns, as it was easy for participants to share their peer-to-peer pages through email and social media. Birch Family Services crushed its goals with its first-ever virtual fundraising event, helping to reach new donors and increase engagement among existing supporters.Â
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