Shenandoah_Battlefields

Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation

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“[GiveSmart] helped us raise 3X our original goal for our annual conference. We’ll definitely be using the platform again at our upcoming conferences and are already adding the text-to-donate portion to our other marketing channels.”

– Kirsten Kauling, Member Relations Associate

Challenge

Solution

Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation needed new, more effective ways to fundraise for their 4th Annual National Civil War Conference. The annual four-day conference dedicates three days to bus tours of historic battle sites and one full day to speaker programs. The Foundation needed a flexible fundraising platform to allow donors to contribute while out in the field. Other channels, such as print flyers and email marketing, were difficult to adapt to such an event. 

Shenandoah_Online_Giving

From the expert collaboration with [GiveSmart], Shenandoah Valley Battlefields set up text-to-donate keywords specific to each unique battle site visited during the conference, such as WINCHESTER and NEWMARKET. Attendees were encouraged to text in and donate to help preserve the specific sites while visiting them. They also displayed a live event thermometer during their speaker programs and dinner. Before the event, a board member promised to match all donations if at least $5,000 was raised, giving attendees additional incentive to give. 

Impact

The flexibility of the [GiveSmart] platform allowed the Foundation to raise 3-times their original goal for their annual conference. Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Member Relations Associate Kirsten Kauling credited the live event thermometer with helping the Foundation raise over $16,000 for the event (excluding the $5,000 match!). The thermometer and donor wall created an exciting giving environment, where attendees could see their names displayed on a live screen after texting in to donate.  

Kauling also liked how the text to donate keywords allowed the Foundation to raise funds for specific sites that were underfunded. The keywords also encouraged donors by letting them know precisely where the Foundation would allocate their donation dollars.  

Shenandoah Valley Battlefields board and staff plan to use the platform for their annual conference again and look into incorporating mobile messaging to communicate with donors. 

Smiling African American woman using digital tablet.

Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation works with partners to preserve the Valley’s Battlefields, share its story with the nation and encourage tourism and travel to the Valley’s Civil War sites.  

GiveSmart is a fundraising and donor management system that enables organizations to accelerate fundraising through configurable, mobile-friendly campaigns, peer-to-peer giving, auction and event management, simple tracking, and secure payment processing. 

Our mission is to help nonprofits and organizations reach their fundraising goals while creating an engaging, exciting, and easy giving experience for their donors. All. Year. Round. Click here to get started with GiveSmart. 

Sydney,Australia - August 24,2014: Competitors in the 'Color Run' fun run in Centennial Park. Runners are doused in coloured powder, bubbles and water as they run the 5K course.

Disclaimer: This case study originally featured a nonprofit that used MobileCause. MobileCause is now fully integrated into the GiveSmart platform. All mentions have been edited to reflect the new naming conventions.  

 The legacy feature set, staff assistance, and training continue to support thousands of nonprofits in raising billions of dollars. We invite you to check out GiveSmart Fundraise, Events, and Donor CRM today.