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The Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Hartford

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“Within the first hour of our event, GiveSmart paid for itself and then some. We raised over $13,000 after the first 30 minutes of displaying the live event thermometer at our annual Ner Tamid gala. If you don’t utilize a live thermometer at your fundraising event, you’re leaving money on the table.”

– Sherri P., Development Officer, Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Hartford

Challenge

Solution

Before [GiveSmart], Solomon Schechter had no way of accepting donations at fundraising events other than checks or cash payments, which created a lot of extra work for the donors and the Solomon Schechter staff. They needed a better way to allow the school’s Millennial-aged parents to donate to their fundraising events more easily.

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Solomon Schecter’s Development Officer Sherri Pliskin was the first to hear of [GiveSmart]. After seeing another nonprofit organization display a [GiveSmart] live fundraising thermometer at their event, she was impressed with the platform. She decided Solomon Schecter needed their own 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 school supporters. After much research and comparison, Sherri chose [GiveSmart] because of the fundraising thermometer’s ease of use and the ability for donors to give effortlessly from their seats and in any amount, using text-to-donate keywords and shortcode.

Impact

Within the first hour of Ner Tamid, [GiveSmart] paid for itself and then some, as the keynote speaker raised over $13,000 through the fundraising event thermometer. During the following year’s Gala, the live fundraising thermometer raised $18,000 within the first hour of being displayed! The school credits the thermometer’s success to the ease of texting to donate to their parents and supporters. The excitement of seeing donors’ names in real-time on the thermometer’s screen also encouraged more in-the-moment giving. Sherri was impressed by her entire experience with [GiveSmart], including the training provided to set up and operate their live fundraising thermometer, text-to-donate, and even script talking points.
With the partnership of [GiveSmart], the live fundraising thermometer, and text-to-donate at their Annual Ner Tamid campaign, Solomon Schechter surpassed their event goal of $18,000 to raise a total of $32,365 from 124 total donors.

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Solomon Schechter Day School is a Jewish Day School for children from early childhood through 8th grade. Their mission is to help develop each child in an academically challenging and nurturing environment with wisdom and compassion to navigate an ever-changing world.

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.