Expanding Online Organizing without Adding Staff

In the United States, approximately 3.3 million cases of child abuse, affecting more than 6 million children, are reported each year. In a 2006 study, approximately 33 million Americans reported having been a victim of domestic violence at some point in their lives. With these staggering statistics, organizations like New York’s Safe Horizon have their work cut out for them.

Founded in 1978, Safe Horizon is the largest victim’s services agency in the country, providing

support and education, preventing violence and promoting justice for victims of crime and abuse as well as their families and communities, serving approximately 250,000 children and adults affected by violence. With 57 locations in New York, and a wide partner program with government and community organizations nationwide, Safe Horizon is able to make a strong impact on those who need support during the most challenging moments of their lives.

Providing Support for Victims of Violence, Educating Communities and Promoting Justice

http://www.safehorizon.org

info@safehorizon.org

facebook.com/safehorizonny

@safehorizon

Safe Horizon

Challenge Launch an Online Organizing Program to Grow a Network of Support to Back Impactful, Established Community Programs without Adding StaffSafe Horizon was working diligently to serve victims of violence and their families. However, they needed to engage their supporter network and further develop both their fundraising and advocacy efforts to provide back-end support for their vital services. That’s where Paulette Hodge, Safe Horizon’s director of online and direct mail marketing came in. She joined Safe Horizon in 2009 with the goal of initiating donor and supporter growth for the organization.

“As large as Safe Horizon is, there was really no online fundraising face when I arrived,” said Hodge. “I knew we needed to do something to help the fundraising program gain momentum and make a difference to supporting our mission.”

At the time, Safe Horizon was also largely focusing its outreach efforts on direct mail, underutilizing their web presence for both fundraising and advocacy efforts, and attracting new supporters.

To accomplish her goals, Hodge started behind the scenes looking for a cost-effective supporter management platform that would support both basic functionality and allow her to expand and experiment in areas of fundraising and supporter outreach that Safe Horizon had yet to explore.

“We needed a platform that was efficient and user friendly, but that could handle really complex work,” said Hodge. “With 12 major programs and lots of minor programs, the easier the online system is, the better, especially as we try to maintain all those programs.”

As she began researching solutions, including Safe Horizon’s current system, from Convio, Hodge knew she needed a system that she could manage without requiring additional staff, a resource she didn’t have.

Beyond the basic technology requirements necessary for growing Safe Horizon’s fundraising program, Hodge was looking to maximize her time spent on the organization’s mission of serving victims and their families, not hassling with complicated list segmentations and reports.

“For me, one of the most important elements in choosing our technology was the ability to segment lists and get instant reports,” said Hodge. “For my position in particular, it makes a big difference if I can get the information I need without having to spend a lot of time creating the reports and running the data.”

After extensive research, Hodge ultimately chose Salsa, a platform she had previously used with high hopes for its ability to meet the needs of Safe Horizon.

“I really appreciated the demos and training that were available to me as I learned all that Salsa was capable of handling,” said Hodge.

With the help of Salsa’s support team, Hodge was able to complete the transition to the Salsa system and was up and running in about two weeks.

With the new Salsa Enterprise platform in place, Hodge was able to expand her online fundraising efforts, which resulted in a nearly 65% increase in fundraising in less than two years.

“The ease of setting up fundraising pages and creating interactive materials effectively helped grow both our fundraising and supporter network,” said Hodge. “We’ve not only seen an increase in new donors, but also an increase in former direct mail donors who have converted to giving online.”

As for the reports that were so vital to her success, Hodge was able to make the most of both built-in and custom reports to gain access to the information she needed.

Beyond fundraising, Salsa has also provided

Solution Transition from Convio to Salsa to Establish Easy-to-Use Tools for Fundraising, Advocacy and Supporter Management

Safe Horizon simple opportunities to grow their supporter base and advocacy efforts. Their once stagnant supporter list has grown, completely organically, by 10% per year since making the switch. Even more powerful for their organization has been the increase in supporter actions on advocacy campaigns.

“We now regularly add advocacy campaigns to our outreach efforts, in part because we can have them up and running very quickly,” said Hodge. “Our supporters seem to be more responsive to taking multiple actions since the Salsa process makes it quick and smooth.”

The ease of setting up fundraising pages and creating interactive materials effectively helped grow both our fundraising and supporter network. We’ve not only seen an increase in new donors, but also an increase in former direct mail donors who have converted to giving online.

- Paulette Hodge, Director of Online and Direct Mail, Safe Horizons

salsalabs.com 866-796-8345 facebook.com/salsalabs @salsalabs

Recent Successes Supporting Legislation for DNA Databank Expansion

In early 2012, Safe Horizon joined forces with the New York governor’s office, victim advocacy groups and law enforcement to expand the state’s DNA databank. The proposed legislation sought to expand laws about what types of criminal convictions required the submission of a DNA sample.

Through their existing communication channels and a press conference featuring testimony from victims of violence, Safe Horizon reached out to supporters, asking them to contact their state representatives in support of the law.

In March, the state legislature passed Governor Cuomo’s bill, thanks in part to the strong support of Safe Horizon supporters and the New York community.

Annual Back to School Backpack DriveOne of Safe Horizon’s most recognizable fundraising efforts is their annual Back to School Backpack Drive, encouraging financial donations to provide children in shelters with school supplies and other services they need to succeed in school, despite the disruption violence and abuse have caused in their lives. With links to donate on all communication vehicles, Safe Horizon is able to drive traffic to its Salsa-hosted donation page, allowing gifts to be made easily, with options for one time and recurring contributions.

“Thanks to our supporters, each year an average of more than 2,400 children receive backpacks,” said Hodge.

Salsa helps nonprofits and political campaigns ignite action and fuel change around the world by growing and engaging a base of support online. Salsa provides more than technology; it offers strategic best practices, training, highly rated support and a strong online community, so its clients can focus their energy on their mission.