Life before Almabase

• 4 weeks to reconcile gifts through constant manual spreadsheet work
• Mismatched data and duplicate records required ongoing research and verification
• Multiple payment processors meant different fees and complex accounting
• No way to build a narrative around funds, donors saw a form, not a cause
  ‍

"We needed to get our team off of doing Giving Day for a month"

For years, Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM) ran its annual Dragon Giving Day on Blackbaud NetCommunity. The platform functioned, but it was difficult to tell whether the donor experience was actually driving giving or just creating friction. Reconciliation after each campaign consumed nearly a month of manual spreadsheet work, and the team had limited visibility into who was sharing their campaigns and driving gifts.

Steve Sjoberg, Director of Foundation Marketing & Communications, had a clear top priority when evaluating new platforms: dramatically reduce the post-campaign administrative burden so his team could focus on what matters, building donor relationships.

"The technology doesn't get in the way. It just works"

After switching to Almabase, MSUM launched their most successful Giving Day ever, raising $750K+. The platform delivered what BBNC couldn't: rich storytelling with videos and photos across 270+ individual funds, real-time progress tracking, built-in matches and challenges, and a mobile-first donor experience that earned 130+ five-star ratings from donors.

The giving experience itself became a trust-builder. When donors could see exactly what their gift would accomplish and found the process frictionless, they were more likely to return and give again.

Cutting gift reconciliation from 4 weeks to 4 days

Almabase's native Raiser's Edge NXT integration, TrueSync, solved the reconciliation problem completely. Gift data now syncs bidirectionally in real time. Direct mail appeal codes, online transactions, and pledges all flow into NXT with correct fund mapping and clean formatting. What used to require four weeks of spreadsheet wrangling now closes in four days, even as gift volume grew 44% year over year, saving the team 128 hours per campaign.

Influencer links doubled community reach organically

Before Almabase, MSUM had no way to track who was sharing campaigns or which networks were driving gifts. With Almabase's influencer links, 73 sharers used unique links this year, up from roughly 25 the prior year with no structured push.

The impact was immediate. When a track coach shared the giving link with their team, donations to the track fund surged. MSUM discovered that half of all Giving Day dollars went to athletics, a pattern driven largely by coaches, athletes, and families sharing within their communities.

Time saved on admin went straight into stewardship and raised $40K

When reconciliation consumed a month, stewardship had to wait. By the time thank-yous went out, the momentum had already faded. With reconciliation down to four days, students and staff sent 800+ personalized video thank-yous on the day of, each opening with the donor's name handwritten on a whiteboard. That single stewardship campaign generated $40K in follow-on gifts, with a 111% open rate and 70%+ click-through.

Key results

• $750K+ raised from the giving campaign
• 44% year-over-year growth in gifts raised
• 80% time saved on data reconciliation (4 weeks → 4 days)
• 2X more influencers using unique sharing links
• 130+ donors rated the giving experience 5 out of 5
• $40K in additional gifts from a single stewardship campaign
• 128 hours recovered per campaign

Looking at engaging with your donors better? We're here to help. Take a personalized demo.