How Volunteers in Service to the Elderly saw a 177% increase in Annual Fundraising Over Five Years with Bloomerang
About
VISTE, which stands for Volunteers in Service to the Elderly, was founded in Lakeland, FL in 1983 by a dozen volunteers who saw a need to serve people in the community of Lakeland, FL who were no longer able to drive their cars. These elderly clients were no longer able to get to and from doctor appointments or even to the grocery store, so VISTE’s first program was transportation-based and served about 30 clients. From there, they gathered more and more volunteers, built up more programs, and today have close to 1,000 volunteers serving 4,000 clients!
VISTE’s current programs include transportation services, a two-part nutrition initiative (grocery and hot meal deliveries), holiday meal and gift deliveries, and assistance with essential services like housekeeping, caregiver respite, and emergency monitoring. VISTE also fosters meaningful connections through unique programs like birthday cake deliveries for clients aged 90 and older, offering emotional support and celebration. VISTE provides holistic care, focusing on both practical needs and social interaction to ensure clients feel valued and supported.
The challenge
VISTE started out processing less than $5,000 a year and has seen significant growth. When they decided to partner with Bloomerang’s integrated Giving Platform, they were looking for a system that could help them process donations online, host events and peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns, and manage donor records and reporting. They manage thousands of clients and volunteers, and it was important for VISTE to be able to track all the relevant data for their operations and many programs.
Getting the word out
VISTE is lucky to have been rooted in their community for so long that people now associate volunteering with the organization. Many volunteers come to VISTE through word of mouth—clients, children of clients, or neighbors of clients who have seen the way they’ve been able to serve people they love and who want to give back to them. They also go out into the community and talk to civic groups like Rotary Club and Kiwanis. Something as simple as putting your story out there and asking for help can go a long way. “When I get here in the morning, there are people that have been here since 5am unloading trucks and sorting food…and they’re all volunteers,” said VISTE’s Community Engagement Director, Ashley Metts Miller. “It’s just incredible! They’re why we are who we are.”
VISTE also has great success in recruiting help through social media. Whether it’s posting an event invite or just a one-off request for help, such as the need for someone to mow a client’s yard, they always receive an overwhelming response. They’re sure to post frequently and include lots of images along with client stories to keep followers engaged. As a result of building such a solid social media following, they almost had to turn volunteers away for their Thanksgiving delivery program. They wound up giving one meal to each of the approximately 1,600 volunteer drivers who showed up on Thanksgiving for deliveries! Not a bad problem to have!
The solution
After starting with online donation forms, VISTE has since added the peer-to-peer fundraising platform and kiosks to their arsenal of fundraising tools. Their first totally online peer-to-peer fundraising campaign was called Serve a Senior. They created twelve teams consisting of a board member and an individual of the board member’s choosing. Each team had a month to compete against each other to raise the most money. At the end of the campaign, VISTE’s teams raised just shy of $30,000. “Bloomerang’s team knows their stuff. They said our average donation was going to be somewhere around $75. It turned out to be right around $72!”
For the last five years, they’ve also put on an event called VISTEBall, which now contains a peer-to-peer component consisting of a celebrity golf tournament. The other piece is a ticket-based event set up through an online donation form. At the ticketed event, VISTE (as the result of invaluable feedback from a friend and supporter) showed attendees exactly what donations could do for VISTE clients. Scattered throughout the venue, VISTE staff set up displays representing their various programs with volunteers to answer potential donors’ questions and tell stories about VISTE clients. A kiosk was set up at each station to make on-the-spot giving quick and easy! They also included similar giving options with their online event registration.
“I had a friend that came last year and she said, ‘I know about VISTE because I’m your friend and I know what you do. But if I came to VISTEBall and I didn’t know about VISTE, there’s really nothing about your clients or your mission. I came, I had fun, I spent money…but what else?’ That’s how we came up with the kiosk idea!”
Working together as a team is one of VISTE’s favorite things about their relationship with Bloomerang’s Giving Platform. “When I call, somebody takes the time to answer my questions and listen to me rattle on about whatever crazy idea I have, and then they tell me what I need to do to actually make it happen!”
“I’ve been here nine years, and VISTE had just started using the platform when I came on board,” said Metts Miller. “It has always been part of my life here at VISTE…I don’t really know how we’d get things done otherwise! I can use reports for any kind of data excavating that we need to do. It gives me everything. We’ve used Square for our silent auction and there are just too many reporting options—it’s just not intuitive. With Bloomerang’s integrated Giving Platform, you still have a lot of data, but it makes sense and you can easily decide how you want to sort it. You can take that spreadsheet and turn it right into a mailing list or export it into another database—it’s just easy to use! We’ve recently started using GiftAssist…we love that! We weren’t sure people would use it, but they do—even on large donations. It’s great!”
The results
With Bloomerang’s easy-to-use interface, VISTE has been able to focus on building many of their programs and creating an improved development plan that includes innovative fundraising ideas and donor appreciation pieces. Over the last five years, they’ve seen a 177% increase in online donations processed through Bloomerang’s integrated Giving Platform. After completing their first completely peer-to-peer campaign, they are now able to brainstorm new and different ideas to improve it for next year. They’re asking themselves important questions about timing, if they had the right people in place, and if they set adequate goals. They’ve also made sure to take advantage of educational training to make sure they’re using the system to the fullest of its capabilities!
We’ve recently started using GiftAssist…we love that! We weren’t sure people would use it, but they do—even on large donations. I can use reports for any kind of data excavating that we need to do. It gives me everything—it’s just easy to use! It has always been part of my life here at VISTE…I don’t really know how we’d get things done otherwise!”
increase in yearly fundraising over five years
