Giveffect kicked off our new online peer-learning workshop series, “Reaching Goals,” on February 23, with the topic of fundraising. The goal of this peer workshop series is to provide actionable steps that can be replicated by other Habitat for Humanity Affiliates.
Fundraising is so important to achieve mission goals. Affiliates of all sizes fundraise in a variety of ways. In this workshop, Habitat for Humanity Development Leaders Priyanka Singh, Development Officer of Individual Giving at HFHI, Melissa Jones, Director of Development at Habitat for Humanity Kansas City, and Christine Morris, Chief Development Officer Habitat at Humanity of NW Metro Atlanta, shared first-hand how they achieved their fundraising goals with specific initiatives and how you can too.
It’s important to note that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to fundraising. Whether you want to have a Gala, an online auction, or a peer-to-peer fundraiser for Women Build, Giveffect can help you save time and optimize your fundraising efforts.
On this peer fundraising workshop, you’ll learn about:
- 2022 Achievements and key learnings
- The step-by-step process for developing and executing initiatives
- 2023 Fundraising goals and their plan to reach goals this year
- Q&A
Fundraising with Special Events
Christine Morris, Chief Development Officer at Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Metro Atlanta, presented their campaign, “Harmonies for Homes.” This concert raised $108,912 with 237 guests in attendance.
How they did it:
- Event production: Christine partnered with an event production company to secure bigger-name performers and handle things like sound, lighting, and stage equipment. Edwin McCain, Emerson Hart, and Marc Broussard performed with a local fiddle player, Faye Petree.
- Campaign Management: Christine used Giveffect to set up and manage the entire campaign, from ticket sales with easy checkout flow and dinner purchases, to sharing sponsor logos for recognition on the front-facing webpage. Giveffect’s Event Buddy app was used for checking in guests on the day-of-event and tracking the guest list.
- Marketing: Christine used a variety of marketing tactics, including mailing a Save the Date postcard to last year’s attendees and donors. Asking contacts of their Board members to sponsor and create opportunities to promote those brands. For example, recording a video interviewing the Presenting sponsor about their business. Emailing current Habitat donors, ads in a local newsletter, and frequent ads and posts on Facebook.
- Stewardship: After the event, they said thank you with an email recap of the event in our newsletter, an email solely to sponsors, and gifts with a handwritten thank you to our top sponsors, tying it back to the mission.
Fundraising: Individual Giving Campaign
Melissa Jones, Director of Development at Habitat for Humanity Kansas City, presented their campaign called “A Place to Call Home.” This individual giving campaign achieved over $250,000, a 47 percent increase year over year. The goal was only $200,000.
How they did it:
Melissa used a variety of marketing tactics, including email marketing, direct mail, and social media ads to reach donors and encourage them to donate. At the core of each marketing tactic, she used clear and consistent direct messaging of what a home meant to the children we are serving and how many children we had waiting for their Habitat home to be built.
- Email marketing: She increased their email send on this campaign with clear, direct communication to tell the donor/audience what they need. Segmented emails: Donor, Lapsed Donors, Volunteers, ReStore Donors to personalize emails and appeal to individuals based off of giving history and touchpoints.
- IP Targeting: She implemented IP targeting into the campaign. Ads served to these individuals took them directly to an embedded donation form from Giveffect.
- Corporate Matching Gift: She secured a matching gift to the campaign from a major corporate donor!
- Direct Mail: An additional postcard in the direct mail send a few days before the end of the year.
This campaign was the start of a comprehensive campaign that kept the same messaging throughout the entire year of 2022.
Fundraising with Major Gifts
Priyanka Singh, Development Officer, Individual Giving of Habitat for Humanity International, presented her work on a successful major gifts collaboration.
In Pryianka’s role, she supports a book of Habitat for Humanity Affiliates. Her region is the Pacific Northwest. She worked with. a local Affiliate and a major donor to collaborate on a one-time extraordinary gift of about $550,000 along with a community challenge match of about $250,000 which will yield about $750,000 through 2025. With this funding, a local Affiliate was able to purchase land.
How they did it
- Relationship Building: Priyanka was able to build a relationship with both the donor, a Family Foundation, and the Affiliate. She cultivated relationships by listening and aligning on the needs, wants, and desires of both parties.
- Joint Proposal: She developed a joint proposal to support both the Family Foundation and the Affiliate’s needs.
- Stewardship: Once funds were received, they started our stewardship cycle. Funds were transferred to HFHI. Notified the Affiliate that their land purchase would be funded
- Secured the agreement between the Affiliate and HFHI to share their progress. Report back to the foundation over the next few years. Initiating challenge match campaigns
- Restarting the fundraising cycle. Maintaining strong ties with both parties
- Being creative for years to come
Watch the full recording of the Reaching Fundraising Goals peer learning workshop for more details on how these incredible fundraising leaders achieved their goals. They also share the challenges they experienced and how they overcame them, their key learnings, and their plan to achieve their goals in 2023.
Additionally, at the end of the workshop, Yulia Zhernovya, Head of Strategy and Operations at Giveffect, presents a mini Giveffect overview and answers questions.
For more information on Giveffect, book your personalized demo or consultative call to learn how Giveffect can help you reach your fundraising goals.
