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Autonomous Fundraising
Customer Stories
11X Giving and 4X Participation in 8 Months
Giving
Participation
Meet Alex, College of Charleston's Virtual Engagement Officer
11x Giving & 4x Participation Increase
with College of Charleston
About College of Charleston
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Public University founded in 1770
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Location: Charleston, SC
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Alumni: 63,421 alumni
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Donors Managed by Gift Officers: ~1,500
Converting Engagement into Giving
As the oldest university in South Carolina and the 13th oldest in the US, College of Charleston has a rich history of innovation and world-class academics.
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In fact, College of Charleston was one of the first organizations in the world to introduce a Virtual Engagement Officer (VEO) to donors, and the first to secure a gift from trusted digital labor.
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Leadership was quick to welcome Autonomous Fundraising, because they had thousands of alumni across multiple segments who had the potential to give, but were not getting the one-to-one personal engagement they needed to feel closer to the institution. There simply wasn’t enough staff to do so.
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As innovators, the team sought a solution to consistently engage these alumni, drive participation gifts, and build a long-term foundation of philanthropy for targeted populations.
Solution: Trusted Digital Labor
As one of the first in the world to deploy a VEO, CofC leadership did not know how donors would respond to AI engagement and an autonomous fundraiser. So, the team created a cold portfolio consisting of event donors and low-dollar LYBUNTs, SYBUNTs, and non-donors.
CofC's VEO, Alex, was tasked with communicating with this group using a long-term moves-management strategy of approximately monthly engagements.
Alex's mission was to prove that trusted digital labor could increase giving, participation, and improve re-engagement from this inconsistent donor segment.
Meet Alex, College of Charleston's Virtual Engagement Officer
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11x dollars raised from the portfolio compared to previous year
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$12,031 raised from re-engaged donors who did not give in FY24
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$4,865 raised from long-lapsed donors
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4x participation increase from same donor segment the previous year
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9,840 outgoing messages to donors with just three opt-outs
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Fun Fact: Alex was the first VEO in the world and the first to successfully secure a gift as the natural outcome of engaging with a donor.
"Our VEO, Alex, has done an amazing job building and strengthening ties, and we've seen an 11x growth in giving within the portfolio as a result. Over this time, we’ve learned how some in our pipeline deem Alex as a more efficient way to engage and give back over traditional mass communication outlets. Furthermore, our staff have experienced how this can increase effectiveness within our pipeline in a purposeful and strategic way."
Dan Frezza, Chief Advancement Officer, College of Charleston, and CEO, College of Charleston Foundation
Results
11x Increase in Giving Since Launch
​After 8 months, the VEO raised 11x the revenue from its portfolio of cold donors compared to the previous fiscal year, increasing participation by 4x along the way.
This included $12,031 from 72 donors who did not give in FY24, and $4,865 from eight long-lapsed donors who hadn’t given in the last three fiscal years.
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Now that the VEO has proven itself as a trusted member of the fundraising team at CofC, Alex will play an integral part of the strategy for the university’s campaign, working with a new portfolio of warmer donors with a focus on campaign messaging and giving.