University employs new ScaleFunder Giving Day technology
April 29, 2016—The University of California, Santa Barbara enjoyed a historic outcome during the institution’s first online giving day on April 8, 2016, raising almost $4 million. During the 24-hour giving day―hosted on ScaleFunder, the Ruffalo Noel Levitz digital fundraising platform―UC Santa Barbara:
- Raised $3.72 million.
- Received 1,268 individual gifts.
- Expanded exposure for the giving day to millions of social media and email users, including tens of thousands in the UCSB alumni community.
- Enjoyed conversion rates of 10 to 15 percent and higher across the platform.
Giving days are intense, 24-hour fundraising events, and they have taken fundraising by storm. Many colleges, universities, and other nonprofit organizations are now taking advantage of this powerful donor engagement strategy using technology and strategic planning from Ruffalo Noel Levitz.
During UCSB Give Day, the university boosted its online gift volume from under 800 the previous year to over 1,200 gifts in one day. UCSB’s success was no accident. Strong leadership at UCSB combined with a dedicated planning team led to a giving day that out-performed similar events across the nation in terms of both dollars and donors. Starting one year before the giving day, Associate Vice Chancellor of Development Beverly Colgate assembled a team of digital and fundraising experts that produced a comprehensive giving day strategy, including robust activity from the annual fund to the major gifts program.
According to Colgate, “The University of California, Santa Barbara, is so fortunate to have partnered with ScaleFunder on our inaugural give day. Not only did the ScaleFunder platform and processes create huge success in engaging our donors, the ScaleFunder staff were part of our team every step of the way. The flexibility in the software allowed us to maximize our results. Not only is their product amazing… so is their partnership! Proof is in the pudding.”
To launch UCSB Give Day, UCSB employed the ScaleFunder Giving Day Module, with the ability to:
- Easily set up custom group sites for departments across campus to personalize the giving experience based on donor affinity.
- Activate, empower, and track ambassadors.
- Deploy two dozen matches and challenges throughout the day to spur fundraising activity and recognize the major donors who sponsored the matches and challenges.
UCSB is one of the early partners for ScaleFunder’s Giving Day Module. To learn more about this industry-changing giving day technology, contact Ruffalo Noel Levitz vice president of digital fundraising strategy, Justin Ware, at justin.ware@scalefunder.com.
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