Pistarckle Theater – Donor Relationship Strategy
Taking Their Donor Relationship Strategy to the Next Level
“I like that Network for Good has a background of working with nonprofits and online giving.”
WHO THEY ARE
Pistarckle Theater is one of the only professional theaters in the U.S. Virgin Islands. They have been inspiring arts lovers in St. Thomas for 25 years. In addition to the six mainstage productions that take place in their 140-seat black box theater, Pistarckle also organized after-school arts programs and summer theater camps for children and teens.
THE PROBLEM
Pistarckle needed a better way to build relationships with donors and supporters. Kitty Edwards, Pistarckle’s Marketing Director, said that they had many spreadsheets filled with donor data but knew that more efficient options were available.
“We were in a mess. There were hundreds of spreadsheets with ridiculous amounts of duplicate data and years of thank you letters showing evidence of donations that were never entered (or were they?!)”
THE SOLUTION
While Kitty was on the hunt for new software, she got a demo of Network for Good’s donor management system and was impressed with how the system looked and how attractive the donations pages were.
“My first impression was how attractive the donation page was. I could easily link to it from my website that we manage in-house. It was easy as can be.”
RAISING $10,000 FROM THEIR FIRST EMAIL:
After getting acquainted with the system and entering information for donors Kitty talks with frequently, she set up an email appeal to raise money for their Musical Theatre Summer Camp Scholarship Program.
“I was transitioning from MailChimp so I was a little skeptical on the email blast, but it was great! After a little bit of a learning curve, the email went out. Between donations made through our Network for Good donation page and checks sent to us because of the email, we raised almost $10,000 for the program!”
OPPORTUNITIES FOR BETTER DONOR OUTREACH
“As we get more data in, I am really excited to have more personalized communications with our patrons…”
Kitty understands that fundraising is all about relationships. That’s why her next step is gathering more information about unique donors so that she can find the best ways to engage with them.
”As more donations come in and we are able to enter information about everyone, I am going to send birthday messages, thank you letters, and updates coordinated to patrons’ past activities.”
WHAT’S POSSIBLE NOW
Because Network for Good’s donor management system has built-in reports and an automatically generated fundraising dashboard, Kitty can quickly show fundraising success to Pistarckle’s leadership. Keeping information updated in one location also saves the whole organization from having some major data headaches.
”Whether it’s talking to patrons and encouraging more donations (and more frequent donations!), keeping information up to date between departments, and getting good data to the board, I think Network for Good is going to really grow this.”
