Success Stories

The staff at United Way of Greenville County (UWGC) was nervous when they contemplated bringing their largest campaign, the Greenville Hospital System, online with the United eWay solution in 2009. That nervous sense was offset by the optimism they shared about the potential for this account, and the opportunity to use a successful online implementation as a model for other campaigns.

That optimism more than paid off, as the overall dollars raised in the campaign grew by 26%, and every other key aspect of the campaign increased as well.

One of the primary concerns most often voiced about moving a campaign from paper to online, is the potential drop in participation. There is a perceived loss of a ‘personal touch’ that leads to that dip. At the Greenville Hospital System, the participation level actually increased 10% over the previous year, as the United Way of Greenville County realized their role in the personal touch in this campaign remained unchanged. There is no magic button that replaces fundraising best practices. There are, however system features that can enhance those personal activities to drive higher results.

Some of the key factors driving the success of the campaign included: 
 

·         Outlining detailed strategies by department

·         Use of donor groups (more than 30) to personalize the experience
 

·         Promotion of leadership gifts
 

·         Setup of a laptop corral to encourage login/ giving immediately outside a staff retreat
 

·         Promoting competition between groups (with daily email updates on who was in the lead)
 

·         Engaged coordinators who used the system to closely track real-time results
 

 
We congratulate UWGC and the Greenville Hospital System on such a success last year, and wish them even more in the years to come. For more information about the campaign tactics mentioned here, please contact Paula Lachica at plachica@unitedwaygc.org. If your United Way has a success story you wish for us to share, please email us at communications@truist.com.