Overview
At Giveffect, we pride our organization on being a nonprofit solution by creating an all-in-one software system that is convenient, user-friendly, and makes the job of nonprofit professionals easier. Our software helps nonprofit organizations with eliminating manual data entry and a wide array of needs ranging from volunteer management, online giving, website hosting, events and auctions, and wealth screening, among other tools. Giveffect combines 10 systems into one, then auto-tracks and reports on key data metrics of nonprofits just like yours. Because we know that a nonprofit fulfilling its mission is its top priority, it is our goal to eliminate manual data entry so nonprofit organizations can get back to fulfilling their true missions.
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No Limits for Deaf Children Program
No Limits for Deaf Children was founded in 1996 by Dr. Michelle Christie, Ed.D. Recognizing the lack of opportunities for children with a hearing loss to improve their speaking abilities in a fun and non-academic setting, Dr. Christie designed an after-school theater program to help develop communication skills, expand vocabulary and grammar, and understand character development. Through role-playing, cultivating creativity, and developing public speaking skills, No Limits children began to confidently move into the hearing world.
“We used a total of over eight software programs. And now we have it all in one. Giveffect allowed us to eliminate every single one of them and have everything in one site.”
Dr. Michelle Christie
Founder & Executive Director
No Limits for Deaf Children
Introduction
Eliminating manual data entry and streamlining the campaign creation processes was exactly what No Limits for Deaf Children-a California-based nonprofit that teaches children with hearing loss the skills they need to prosper in life-was in need of. No Limits was using a total of eight different software systems in its daily operations and administrative work. This was taking time and resources away from them being able to serve their donors and supporters. Being a nonprofit that serves the needs of children with hearing loss and their families across the country, founder Dr. Michelle Christie and her staff needed a system that would allow them to get back to doing what’s best: serving those populations. It needed a system that had a wide array of tools and options. The organization needed a software system that was integrated, automated, connected, and allowed them to create campaigns and events more easily. Soon enough, Dr. Christie would hear about such as system and would start doing her own research.
Software Before Giveffect
Unfortunately, using eight different software systems for volunteer management, fundraising, web hosting, and more, was not allowing them to do so. No Limits used Constant Contact for email marketing, Salesforce for its database, Eventbrite for events and ticketing, Blind Acre for web hosting, as well as Network for Good, Bidding for Good, and First Giving.
Sadly, none of these pieces of software was earning its keep with the organization. No Limits for Deaf Children needed a system that did multiple tasks, was robust, integrated, and most of all, made life easier and more convenient for its users.
In conducting hours of research, Dr. Christie found Giveffect and wanted to know more as soon as possible. “When I actually started researching programs, I came across Giveffect. It was something that was enticing because of it being an all-in-one system, making it easier for us to save money in the long run,” she says of discovering what the Giveffect all-in-one system was able to do. When Dr. Christie came across Giveffect, she saw a tool that would help her organization move forward by eliminating manual data entry and becoming more efficient.
Software Pain Points
The software used by No Limits was not living up to what it needed to be. This led to pain points such as constantly having to switch back and forth between software systems and a lack of a true web presence. In all, it led to a lack of efficiency for the whole organization.
“Efficiency is important for us since we wear many hats. With the employees we have here, everyone is doing a little bit of everything to try to keep it going. The more efficient we are and in unison and on the same page with our goals, the more I think we can continue to be sustainable, which will then allow us to raise more money.”
For Julianna Scott, director of development and a 5-year employee of No Limits for Deaf Children, it’s a similar sentiment: “We’re a small staff. There are only four of us who work full time. And so we really rely very heavily on volunteers and managing a great team of volunteers. So being as efficient and effective as we can with that team will really help us with those resources.”
Dr. Christie, Ms. Scott, and the entire staff of No Limits for Deaf Children would soon learn how fast these software pain points would be eliminated.
The Switch Over
Changing from numerous familiar software systems would be the next challenge for Dr. Christie and her team. “I had to go to my board to get approval and really convince them. So I did a lot of research. I knew [Giveffect] was fairly new but for us it was the idea that it would be easier for our staff. That was the key.
Not one person is in charge of it. We could have other people’s input without being nervous that things would be done incorrectly. We wanted to make it as easy as possible.”
“The customer service was really what swayed me,” Dr. Christie says about what made her switch from eight disconnected systems to one integrated, automated, seamless one. “When I called I felt like people were listening to our needs. I felt like everyone would call me back when they said they would. They would do tutorials with me to try to try and sell the program, but I felt that they took the time to try and help me to understand how it would work.
“The other thing was website. When we were given the website tutorial we both said ‘Wow, this is so easy!’ We did have some challenges in doing it ourselves, but now that we have it set up, it’s fantastic. And it is really easy to use. It’s easy for us to update and change stories. Much easier than what we had in the past. So that has been a big win for us, as well.”
Event and Campaign Creation
Of the numerous tools and items found within the Giveffect software system, the one that Dr. Christie and the No Limits for Deaf Children staff found to be most helpful was the ability to easily create fundraising campaigns. “The campaign function has been big for us because we have a lot of events. It’s so easy to put together a campaign and track it and send it out right away. And so that has been a lifesaver for us because we probably have about 20 campaigns going on this year.”
The campaign settings, which allow nonprofits to create campaigns in only a matter of minutes, allowed the organization to create campaign pages for their Murder Mystery Lunch, the No Limits Golf Classic, the Silent No More event, and the A Day at the Races event, as well as upcoming events like their own original productions Mission POSSIBLE, Timeless Journey, and the next installment of Silent No More.
Smart Automation in Action
No Limits for Deaf Children was able to make their organization more focused and more efficient. “Once we eliminated all of the other programs we were using, it was like a weight off of our shoulders,” says Dr. Christie. Having used a total of eight software systems beforehand, No Limits was positively streamlined in the creation of their campaigns and events, as well as in staff usage of their software.
But beyond merely replacing software systems, No Limits for Deaf Children received the tool of Smart Automation when switching to Giveffect. So everything that No Limits did on the front end, from fundraising to ticket sales to web hosting, was automated, and automatically updated in the administrative end of the software.
According to Christie, “Smart Automation has been helpful in our staff developing more relationships amongst each other and amongst constituents. Staff can now do other things like work on campaigns and work with kids.”
Smart Automation is our signature tool at Giveffect. Anything that happens on the No Limits website, from donations to volunteer forms, gets entered automatically into the database. And beyond just at technology aspect, Smart Automation contributed to the improvement of organizational relations, eliminating manual data entry, and bringing employees at No Limits even closer together in their professional relationships by allowing them to work on projects together.
Reporting
Not only does Giveffect give nonprofits the automated, integrated tools that are necessary to streamline any and all administrative operations, we also give nonprofits the tools they need to properly interpret the data from a fiscal or calendar year. We understand that it is not enough to only be told that donations have increased, volunteers have put in more hours, or more email campaign messages are being opened. A nonprofit also has to properly report on how, when, and why these successes have happened.
For this reason, Giveffect includes within its system the most robust and powerful reporting and querying features. These features allow an organization to quickly and thoroughly search through hundreds of thousands of records in seconds, as well as to create and distribute reports regarding their donations, lifetime giving, fundraising, volunteering, and more. The amount of reports an organization can create in Giveffect is endless and take mere seconds to create.
For Dr. Christie and No Limits for Deaf Children, the ability to create reports on volunteer hours and jobs, donations and annual donor support, and fundraising campaign success from year to year in such a short amount of time means that their focus doesn’t have to be on the time it takes to generate the right report with the right information, because the system to properly interpret their information is already doing that for them.
The Convenience Factor
“It’s so nice and so refreshing that all of us can hop on and know how to utilize [the software],” says Julianna Scott. “We’ve had some new staff recently join our team and they have picked Giveffect up quickly and greatly. It’s been a great benefit to help us all be on the same page.”
Having a very small staff, No Limits for Deaf Children relies on its software being as efficient and as convenient as possible. All of their employees use the system on a regular basis. Scott, being the one who is most often in the system, sees Giveffect as being very user-friendly to the point that employees have been able to teach themselves how to use the software.
At Giveffect, we know the importance of an entire staff, no matter how big or small it is, to be one the same page with the software being implemented. That is why we do everything that we can to offer assistance in the form of video tutorials, webinars, and online chat support to help nonprofit organizations learn the system to the best of their ability. All of these tools are available to clients of Giveffect and help them in making their experience in using the Giveffect software as convenient as possible.
The Future
Giveffect has helped No Limits for Deaf Children make itself as an organization much more connected and much more efficient. However, as with many of our clients, there are parts of the Giveffect system that No Limits for Deaf Children is yet to use, that Dr. Christie would like to take advantage of in the near future.
For example, both Dr. Christie and Scott agree that No Limits is still working on utilizing the volunteer management component of it even better. They are still learning how to finesse it, but both Dr. Christine and Ms. Scott express confidence in being able to make the volunteer management system part of No Limit for Deaf Children’s everyday process.
Conclusion
Being an organization with a small staff that leans heavily on volunteerism to make its message felt through theatre and training across the country, No Limits for Deaf Children has to take advantage
of any and every technology convenience available to them.
The implementation of Giveffect’s all-in-one, integrated and connected system has allowed the organization to eliminate manual data entry, save time and resources by streamlining their administrative operations, and cutting down drastically on multi-platform use. And the staff at Giveffect will be here to provide as much assistance as possible to make sure that No Limits for Deaf Children continues to use our all-in-one, connected and automated software system to provide convenience, ease of use, and efficiency for years to come.
