Alight’s Canvassing Initiative Brings in 660 New Recurring Donors With Classy

Mission

Work for and with communities displaced by conflict, climate change, and social and economic exclusion, with special attention on women and girls

Challenge

Encourage philanthropic-minded passersby in major Midwest cities to sign up for Alight’s recurring giving program, Changemakers

Solution

Classy’s recurring giving functionality powered Alight’s canvassing initiative that brought in 660 new recurring donors

“Our message really resonated well with the audience. The process to become a new recurring donor on Classy was so quick that we met our goals much faster than we thought we would.”

– Chris Kindler, Director of Annual Fund

Canvassing results after two months:

660

new recurring donors

$53,000

raised from recurring donations

Two months early

Achieved recurring donor acquisition goal

Meeting new donors where they are

Alight wanted to rethink its donor acquisition strategy, focusing more on recurring donors since they are 9x more valuable than one-time donors. The Alight team had considered canvassing years ago, but in 2024, they decided to try it out to grow the number of donors in its recurring giving program, Changemakers.

With GiveBridge, a platform specializing in tailoring face-to-face strategies for donor acquisition, the two teams curated a plan of action. GiveBridge coordinated all on-the-ground logistics and seamlessly embedded a Classy donation form in its donor-facing app. All donations were processed through Classy’s payment processor. That meant the Alight team had real-time visibility into new recurring gifts and could keep accurate tabs on reporting.

Canvassing for a good cause

The canvassing initiative kicked off in early September 2024, with around 20 canvassers set up in Chicago and other cities in the Midwest. Canvassers wore Alight-branded polo shirts, hats, and lanyards. Postcards and brochures were displayed on the table, along with a pitch board showing key impact results and a map of the countries that Alight supports. Each canvasser shared stories with passersby about the incredible work Alight does and encouraged them to become recurring supporters.

When an individual decided to make a gift, the canvasser brought out an iPad, which opened directly to a Classy donation form that was pre-set with recurring giving frequencies, including monthly, quarterly, and annually.
Chris Kindler
Director of Annual Fund

The entire donation process only took a few minutes. Afterward, the donor received a thank-you email from Alight and a personal phone call to confirm the transaction. This extra layer of confirmation was meant to ensure the retention of the new recurring gift.

The canvassing initiative was planned for 3-4 months or until Alight reached its acquisition goal assuming that a typical day of canvassing in Chicago might bring in 4-5 new recurring donors. On day one alone, Alight’s initiative acquired 30 new recurring donors. In the end, the goal was reached in two months! The initiative brought in 660 new recurring donors and has raised $53,000 with impact that will last far beyond.

Nurturing hundreds of new recurring donors

With 660 new Changemakers, a 60% increase from before the canvassing initiative, the Alight team is focusing on nurturing these new supporters. Here’s how they’re doing it:

All new recurring donors receive a welcome kit that shares more about the impact of their gift and includes an “I am a Changemaker” sticker.
Each month, recurring donors receive a newsletter about how Alight 365, the program that recurring donations fund, makes everyday change around the globe.
Each newsletter includes a personal story about someone who has benefited from Alight 365 and how it made a huge impact on their life.