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Case Study
Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada (CAFC) is a trailblazer and the country’s leading charity focusing on child welfare. The organization supports children, youth, and families who have been involved in child welfare at all stages including kids at risk of abuse, neglect, and abandonment, children and youth currently in the child welfare system who may be living in foster care or group homes, and youth who have“aged out” of the child welfare system, confronted with navigating life on their own. Supportive programs and funds cover a range of services like education, mental health, employability, housing, and preventative work.
Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada set out to transform its digital strategy and modernize operations by addressing the shortcomings of their antiquated legacy platforms: limited customization on donation pages, lack of options for recurring donors to update their gift and payment information, inability to integrate with Raiser’s Edge, and no mobile optimization. Managing data across multiple tools for email marketing, donation pages, and within databases was cumbersome and time consuming for staff, reinforcing the need for a unified platform to address all these needs, streamline operations, and also support bilingual content in English and French. Leadership recognized some of their tools and processes were outdated and it was time for a change.
Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada wanted a one-stop shop comprehensive solution to address all its core requirements. CAFC recognized significant risks associated with the transitioning of monthly donors to any platform, and wanted a reliable partner to help the organization navigate this important process. Engaging Networks was selected because it was both a strong fit on technical requirements, and inspired confidence that it would provide necessary support and expertise through the transition.
Digital transformations do not happen overnight. The organization took a thoughtful and thorough approach to its digital transformation, focusing on organizational change management, tools configuration, testing, optimization, and donor conversion. The multi-year migration was complex and included implementing peer-to-peer fundraising, donation pages, and email marketing, along with the launch.
Potential loss of recurring donors, an integral piece to any organization’s fundraising strategy, was identified as one of the main risks of transition. Migrating recurring donors to a new platform is a common pain point for organizations–it is not as simple as uploading a data file to the new technology host. Stemming from privacy regulations, the process requires manual intervention, with donors needing to take specific steps to authorize and complete the transition.
Staff carefully prepared for the transition, revamping their recurring giving program, focusing on data hygiene, and developing an extensive and engaging communications plan to smooth donors’ transition to the new platform. Donors were segmented by their preferred contact methods, including mail, phone, and emails.
Ongoing outreach guided these valuable supporters through the transition process. The legacy platform remained operational for nearly a year, allowing ample time for donors to switch.
Meticulous preparations and efforts paid off. The organization was able to retain 90% of its recurring donors, with 55% of those retained upgrading their monthly gift size during their time on Engaging Networks.
One of the biggest risk factors also turned out to be a tremendous opportunity to engage recurring donors and upgrade their giving. Improvements in segmentation led to higher open rates and engagement scores. Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada was able to tailor communications based on its donors’ preferences and engagement history, reducing fatigue and making communications more relevant. Their recurring donors grew by 175% during their first year on Engaging Networks. Engaging Networks’ automation and data capabilities were pivotal in this growth.
Engaging Networks’ modernized platform not only benefits Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada staff, but has also enhanced donor experience, putting them in the driver’s seat and empowering them to manage their giving through the Supporter Hub where they can update their giving and payment information, review giving history, and even pause donations. Recurring donors can now also receive automated reminders and tax receipts, which wasn’t possible before. All these changes have been well received by donors, who have described the new system as more professional and user-friendly.
The new platform is also easier to use for the organization’s staff, who are both freed up from day-to-day management through automation and able to provide more meaningful donor experiences with less effort, making operations smoother and more efficient.
