How The North Dakota Autism Center Saved Time and Deepened Donor Relationships With OneCause

Background

Background

For the past 15 years, The North Dakota Autism Center (NDAC) has been helping people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities reach their full potential through excellent care, therapy, advocacy, and support.

To support its mission throughout the year, the NDAC hosts two main events, the AuSome Evening Gala and the AuSome Golf Scramble. Both events bring supporters of NDAC together for fundraising and fun.

These events draw a crowd every year, and the team at NDAC was committed to maximizing their impact and improving donor engagement as much as possible at every turn.

Challenge

Challenge

Fundraising events take time and resources to plan. Historically, scheduling their gala and golf outing has taken hundreds of hours to prep, plan, and execute. And with the NDAC’s team of five, their time was precious.

Managing both events’ ticketing, menus, and seating was almost impossible to balance, and spreadsheets just weren’t cutting it.

The NDAC team needed a fundraising and event management solution that would help them:

  • Ease the administrative burden of managing multiple fundraising events.
  • Provide seamless registration, donation, and bidding experience for guests.
  • Engage their community and deepen donor relationships in new and unique ways.

That’s when NDAC event coordinator, Emily Carpenter, discovered OneCause.

Solution

Solution

Switching to the OneCause Fundraising Platform gave the small but mighty NDAC team exactly what they needed to execute and grow their fundraising events with ease.

“OneCause is the easiest, most user-friendly software I’ve ever used. The features and integrations that it provides for the price is way more than you can ever think of. It made our events and our lives easier and more streamlined,” explained Carpenter.

With OneCause, Carpenter and the team at NDAC was able to:

  • Run a Seamless Check-In
  • Provide an Easy Supporter Experience
  • Leverage Smart Analytics and Insights
  • Configure Small and Large-Scale Events

Run a Seamless Check-In

During both the AuSome Evening and AuSome Golf Scramble, helping their guests make the most of their evening was top of mind for the NDAC. This meant that getting them checked in and through the door as quickly as possible was a high priority.

The Express Check-in functionality on the OneCause Fundraising Platform provides a seamless registration experience from start to finish. To make both of their events run smoothly, attendees of the Ausome Evening and AuSome Golf Scramble received a text before the event and were prompted to check themselves in ahead of time. This created a win-win for NDAC guests and staff alike. Guests who had checked themselves in using the software were able to skip the line, get into the event faster, and begin engaging with the mission.

With the use of Express Check-in and QR codes, Carpenter also saw a large uptick in attendees actually self-checking in to their AuSome Golf Scramble instead of forming lines at their registration station.

“Using cell phones to scan QR codes made everything so much quicker. We checked in 144 golfers in an hour, maybe even 45 minutes,” explained Carpenter.

By getting the events up and running fast, NDAC staff and volunteers were able to turn their attention to making sure the rest of the evenings ran smoothly.

Provide an Easy Supporter Experience

The OneCause Fundraising Platform is intuitive for both guests and nonprofits. The user-friendly software made an impression on attendees of the AuSome Evening and AuSome Golf Scramble. Checking in, bidding on auction items, and buying raffle tickets, were all easy and intuitive for guests.

“I’ve used OneCause as a donor and an administrator, and I don’t think there’s better software out there. Doing everything from your phone is so easy – it’s what we do every day. Being able to do that as a donor and supporter of an event is just so amazing,” said Carpenter.

On the administration side, the NDAC staff was able to keep guest engagement high by utilizing the customization that OneCause provides. By organizing ticketing and incorporating custom questions for meal choices, the team was able to go the extra mile to satisfy their attendees. It’s the little details that make a big difference!

Leverage Smart Analytics and Insights

Prior to partnering with OneCause, the NDAC team relied on various spreadsheets to manage their event analytics. But with the integration OneCause provides with their Donor Dock CRM, reports were easy to pull and consolidate, and their analytics dashboard was always up to date with real-time data.

Being able to manage their attendees and donors all in one, simple platform saved the NDAC staff hours every week, which allowed them to turn their attention back to their events and improving new experiences. With several data touchpoints, the NDAC staff could spend more time digging deeper into their fundraising and strategizing for the future.

Reports could also be pulled to show sponsors how impactful their partnership was with insights like total brand impressions. These insights are key in helping retain sponsorships for future events.

“I would spend hours formulating spreadsheets and making sure everything looked right. Now I can just pull the reports, look at the most recent transactions, and turn them in. I literally spent hours putting donations into Donor Dock before OneCause,” said Carpenter.

Configure Small and Large-Scale Events

To get the most out of their purchase and power their mission year-round, NDAC began exploring where they could use OneCause software outside of their signature events. To raise funds on a smaller scale, they hosted a raffle with cash prizes – and it was a huge success!

The ease of the online raffle and analytics that kept track of donations and tickets made this event a dream.

“I honestly think we could do any kind of event with OneCause,” said Carpenter.

Along with ease of execution, the NDAC had the freedom to customize their raffle. The user-friendly platform helped them create a page that felt on-brand to their mission and themed to their event without the hassle or complexity of other software solutions.

Results

Results

With the help of powerful OneCause software, the NDAC saw fantastic results:

  • 450+ in-person tickets sold between the two events
  • 33 event sponsors
  • $150k total proceeds from two events

Connect with a Cause

To learn more about The North Dakota Autism Center, please visit their website.

Wrapping Up!

More fundraising resources are just a click away.

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