Nonprofits

How a Nonprofit Saved Over $200K in Overhead and Bolstered Donations

The Big Brother Big Sister Foundation (BBBSF) collects donations like gently used clothing, shoes, household items, and more to sell and convert into cash — 100% of the profits get funneled into critical mentoring programs.

Helping 30K at-risk children connect 1:1 with professionally supported mentors requires significant fundraising efforts.

$200K

Annual Savings

50K

Texts Sent Per Week

30K

At-Risk Children Connected with Mentorships

The Challenge: Mobilize the Donor Community in an Affordable Way

Executive Director Steven Beck must keep overhead lean to provide maximum funds while minimizing costs. BBBSF relies heavily on community outreach, phone calls, and emails to gather donations — with as many as 2,500 pick-ups a day in over 300 towns across three states. Beck wanted to streamline the complicated process for greater efficiency as well as temper administrative costs and mobilize even more contributions.

EZ Texting makes messaging easy to use, easy to train on and has a high return on investment. It presents a new means by which we communicate with our growing segment of our 200K strong donor base. Great stuff, I highly recommend the platform!

Steven Beck, Executive Director – Big Brother Big Sister Foundation

The Solution

Text communications offer real-time alerts for last-minute changes, shifting logistics, and other scheduling issues. Subscribers could simply text BBBSF to schedule pick-ups. Engaged subscribers who receive text messages, which have 6X the engagement of emails and open rates of 98%, are also more likely to increase contributions.

The Results

With smoother logistics and less time devoted to requesting and coordinating donations, BBBSF estimates saving over $200K in 2019. Drivers also maintain greater flexibility for routes, further saving valuable time and resources. Additionally, subscribers — who typically view texts as less intrusive than calls or email — are more receptive to increasing their donations. Beck redirects the increased cash flow to the nonprofit’s core mission, building impactful mentorship programs for children.