For nearly 60 years, City Rescue Mission has been a beacon of hope to thousands in Oklahoma City and beyond. City Rescue Mission offers a path back to hope. Instead of indefinite shelter, they offer a clean, safe, temporary place to stay and successful programs and services to help people transform their lives for the better.
Through RKD Connect, City Rescue Mission was able to reach:
6,833
donors through connected calls
3,371
donors through handwritten cards
6,833
donors through connected calls
3,371
donors through handwritten cards
THE CHALLENGE
Thanking and stewarding donors at scale
Like many human service organizations, City Rescue Mission saw a large influx of gifts from new and reactivated donors in the fall of 2020. They needed to find a way to thank these donors and invite them into the organization without taxing existing staff resources.
THE SOLUTION
Thank-you calls and handwritten notes through RKD Connect
RKD Connect is a solution that allows our partners to outsource thank-you calls and handwritten cards to ensure that every donor feels welcomed, thanked and affirmed. Beginning in November, City Rescue Mission began utilizing RKD Connect to conduct weekly thank you call campaigns to cultivation responders, new and reactivated donors who gave gifts under $250.
In addition, we set aside budget for handwritten thank-you cards from CEO Erin Goodin to be sent to all new donors. Also, handwritten thank-you notes were sent to any new, reactivated or current donors who gave between $100-250 and did not receive a call connection.
breakthrough
Thanking donors in a meaningful way
The positive response was immediate! With more than 6,800 connected calls and 3,300 handwritten cards, donors received a warm welcome into the organization. RKD Connect callers were trained on how to act like staff and volunteers, engage with donors and even pray with them. Thanks to this solution, City Rescue Mission staff was freed up to focus more on engagement with major donors. Key donors identified through this process were also noted as opportunities for staff to follow up with down the road.
One donor even sent back a handwritten note of her own, saying, “It was so refreshing & heartwarming to get a ‘real’ thank you note from the CEO of a nonprofit! Normally I receive another request for more money. I know people in our city NEED so much right now. I can’t give much, but I want to add to my donation. Peace be with you.”
