Flower City Habitat for Humanity saves money and time using DonorPages!

Flower City Habitat for Humanity saves money and time
using DonorPages to raise funds for builds!

At a Glance

Organization

Flower City Habitat for Humanity

Business Challenge

Find an affordable and easy-to-use friend-to-friend fundraising solution to replace costly customized system.

Solution

DonorPages Social Network Fundraising and DonorPerfect Fundraising Software

Key Results

DonorPages fully-integrated with their database, for a fraction of the cost of self-developed application
Allows volunteer builders more ownership and self-sufficiency to raise funds for their builds
Able to easily create themed fundraising build sites

Flower City Habitat for Humanity builds homes and revitalizes neighborhoods in Rochester, NY. Since 1984, they've built or renovated 180 homes, and are one of the largest affiliates in the northeastern US.

Business Challenge and Solution

Flower City Habitat for Humanity was actively seeking a long-term friend-to-friend fundraising solution for their various build programs. After having researched already-existing systems, they decided to try and develop their own friend-to-friend application. The results were not what they'd hoped for.

Flower City HFH is able to easily theme and brand their DonorPages sites themselves.

Teresa Bianchi, Development & Communications Manager, explains, "We tried to develop our own friend-to-friend softerware. But we found it's no small task to cost-effectively work out all the details for this type of system. For example, we had to set up each individual and team pages ourselves. And I had to distribute thank yous for everyone. We had no list of top fundraisers, and fundraisers could not see who donated to their page. We had to go back to our developer every time we wanted to make a change to the content. It was taking up too much time that could be better spent elsewhere."

Teresa then learned of DonorPages, which is designed to integrate with their DonorPerfect system. "All the issues we had with our prior software were solved with the purchase of DonorPages. Our supporters and volunteers register and create pages on their own, team captains can monitor their teams, and individuals can easily see who made a donation. The top fundraiser list shows real-time totals for individuals and teams, which fosters friendly competition and recognition. And, we can easily create and edit fundraising sites ourselves!"

Flower City Habitat for Humanity saves money and time using DonorPages!

DonorPages came at a much lower price. "We shopped around and even tried to do it ourselves." says Teresa. "We got everything we wanted from DonorPages, and for half the cost!" Teresa also appreciates the included support. "The support is outstanding! I know if I have a problem or question that their support staff will help us right away."

We shopped around and even tried to do it ourselves. We got everything we wanted from DonorPages,
and for half the cost!

Teresa Bianchi Development & Communications Manager

Results

"Our Women Build program allows teams of women to work on a women-only build site, says Teresa. "Now they are able to raise the funds for that house. We studied what made certain teams successful, and wanted to be sure DonorPages had these features. The team captain for On Kall Women for Habitat really liked to monitor team results, and post them to Twitter and Facebook. DonorPages makes it easy for her to follow results, and anyone can post their page to Twitter and FaceBook by clicking the buttons!"

Each team had different reasons for raising funds and helping to build. According to Teresa, "One team is a group of divorced women building a home for a single mom. The Philanthrocats are young professionals who want to show how women in Rochester can help other women. Women with KMC is a ministry that travels the world building for Habitat. They use our program to show local women what it's like. Babes in Tool Land do it as a social thing. It's not just about fundraising. It's about creating community."

Another DonorPages site was for the Veteran Build, where members of the military and their supporters build homes for veterans. Teams US Army, Team US Navy, Amercian Legion and others use their pages to raise funds for their build. And Teresa has plans for other group sites. "We're looking to involve engineers and architects, as well as firefighters, police, paramedics and other city/county employees. We've also used DonorPages to helplocal high school chapters raise funds for us, with plans to expand to 4 high schools next year. We focus on groups, and seek to make fundraising easier for them. Plus we're looking to use it for ticketed events as well."

Is Teresa happy with the results so far? "Absolutely! We love DonorPages. I've recommended it to a number of people and gave a webinar about DonorPages."