Integrated Fundraising With Holland Bloorview: How a Pivot to Digital Saved the Year-End Season
Overcoming Disruptions and Raising More With Digital Fundraising
Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation has spent more than 125 years supporting children with disabilities through rehabilitation care, research, and education. Traditionally reliant on major gifts and grant funding, the healthcare foundation has spent recent years building a more diverse revenue base, with steady growth in annual and monthly giving.
Michael Ragsdale, Senior Director of Community Fundraising, and Gregg Wade, Senior Manager of Business Intelligence, presented this year-end fundraising case study at an Engaging Networks Community Conference (ENCC) in April 2026.
They shared how the foundation navigated two of their toughest year-ends in recent memory — and came out ahead both times.
The Challenge: Pivoting During Year-End Giving Season
The year-end giving season is the most important stretch on the fundraising calendar for most nonprofits, and Holland Bloorview is no exception. In 2024 and again in 2025, that critical window came with some curveballs.
In late 2024, Canada Post experienced a work stoppage during the crucial November – December period, forcing Holland Bloorview to cancel a key mailing. In 2025, another strike disrupted mailings in October — one month into the healthcare foundation’s multi-year “Together We Dare” campaign. In both cases, the team had to adjust their strategy quickly to avoid losing their year-end campaigns entirely.
The Solution: Omnichannel Fundraising
By strategically leaning into digital fundraising and establishing multiple touchpoints, Holland Bloorview was able to pivot quickly, maintain donor engagement, and ultimately improve fundraising results despite the disruptions.
That flexibility was possible because the team had already been testing new digital channels and ad placements throughout the year. When direct mailings were disrupted, they could quickly redirect spend toward other channels they knew would be effective.
“We had already pre-invested in some new testing, new channels, new ad buys … So we didn’t need to start from scratch. We just had to pivot our budget from direct mail to some other campaigns.”
– Michael Ragsdale, Senior Director, Community Fundraising
Holland Bloorview used email, text messages, social media ads, and out-of-home ads for a true omnichannel fundraising strategy. The team also picked up the phone, calling the donors who typically gave through direct mail to let them know about the disruption and ask for support directly. One call turned into an immediate $10,000 gift.
Despite the initial setbacks, their preparation and flexibility led to two successful year-end giving campaigns. In 2024, direct marketing revenue rose 10% year-over-year, and in 2025, year-end direct marketing revenue grew 37%.
The Digital Toolkit: Personal, Streamlined Giving
Holland Bloorview is continually refining their digital strategies and building upon what works. Ultimately, Michael stressed the need for strong messaging, multiple touchpoints, personalization, and early campaign planning.
“We really just want to make it as easy as possible for absolutely everyone to give us a donation.”
– Michael Ragsdale, Senior Director, Community Fundraising
Segmented, Personalized Email
Because Holland Bloorview’s email marketing and donation forms live in Engaging Networks, building segmented and personalized messaging doesn’t require stitching data together across systems. Email remains an important channel for this team, accounting for more than half of donations made on Giving Tuesday 2025.
Modern Donation Forms
Holland Bloorview’s donation forms are mobile-friendly and fully accessible. They make full use of Engaging Networks’ donation page features, including a next suggested gift array, transaction fee coverage, and a PayPal integration. On Giving Tuesday 2025:
- 36% of gifts came in on mobile
- 62% of donors covered their own transaction fee
- 12% used PayPal
A Culture Of Continuous Testing
Holland Bloorview regularly tests their email tactics — subject lines, sender names, designs, and more — along with new marketing channels and different types of messaging. They found surprising success with Pinterest advertising and with a digital ad that strayed from their usual image-focused design. When the team had to pivot quickly at year-end, they already had a variety of proven methods to draw from.
Related reading: Digital Donor Acquisition: Embracing a Modern Approach to Fundraising
The Results: Increased Revenue Across Digital Channels
The integrated approach to year-end giving paid off in both 2024 and 2025. Direct marketing revenue rose 10% over the prior year in 2024, driven largely by digital, despite an entire mailing being scrapped. In 2025, building on that momentum and the launch of the Together We Dare campaign, year-end direct marketing revenue grew another 37%. Both years also delivered record-setting Giving Tuesday results.
Direct mail’s share of that direct marketing revenue has been shrinking steadily, but digital has more than filled the gap, consistently driving growth in the November – December appeal window even when mail was disrupted or delayed.
But with a new approach comes new challenges. Tracking a donor’s journey across email, SMS, ads, direct mail, and phone calls makes attributing donation sources more complex. The team has found the tradeoff worthwhile for the flexibility and reach that omnichannel fundraising provides.
Key Takeaways
- Plan for the unexpected before it happens. Testing new channels and ad strategies ahead of time meant Holland Bloorview could shift budget quickly instead of scrambling to adjust their year-end marketing plan.
- Omnichannel works because the channels reinforce each other. Email, SMS, ads, and phone outreach built on one another, with consistent messaging carried across every touchpoint.
- Make giving as frictionless as possible. Mobile-friendly forms, fee coverage, and multiple payment options meant donors could give easily.
- Personal outreach still matters. Even with a digital-focused strategy, phone calls and live conversations — including the one that led to a $10,000 gift — remained a meaningful part of the mix.
Get Help Building the Right Channel Mix
Engaging Networks offers fundraising, advocacy, marketing, and email tools bundled into a single platform, so you can build a channel mix that supports your team’s goals. Connect with a member of our team today to see what’s possible!