Skip to the main content.
Free Donor Assessment Contact Us
Free Donor Assessment Contact Us
Facebook Instagram Linkedin X YouTube
Client Story - American Cancer Society

New fundraisers across the donor pipeline increased giving

A national organization with too few major gift officers, 1/3 of existing donors were leaving each year. Veritus helped them build their staff and strengthen the donor pipeline.
ACS-logo
01. Problem / Challenge
Veritus Line3

The American Cancer society had many donors and not enough major gift fundraisers to steward them all. As a result, year-over-year value attrition was significant.
02. Solution
Veritus Line3

​Working with Veritus Group, the Society added Major Gift Officers as well as mid-level officers.  They developed plans to discover more about donor passions and communication preferences to ensure the right donors were in the correct part of the donor pipeline.
03. Results
Veritus Line3

In less than a year, 21 MGOs and 10 MLOs were trained and following The Veritus Way. Donor value attrition fell and over $9M was raised that would have been lost had the attrition trend continued.
“Veritus helped us get laser focused on our donor outreach, stewardship and cultivation.  They provided the support and discipline that we needed to not only build this program but make it sustainable as well.”

– Ruth Ann Dailey

Senior Vice President, Philanthropy, American Cancer Society

The Results

82%
Increase in Revenue

Veritus Line White

 

By year two of the pilot program with Veritus, revenue increased by nearly 82% with additional revenue totaling $745,717.

temp-image-high-five

105%
Turnaround in Value Attrition

Veritus Line White

 

After the first year of the pilot program with major gifts, value attrition improved by 105% (from -46% of value lost year over year, to +2.5% value retained). This means not only did existing donors stay; in aggregate they gave 2.5% more than they had previously.

temp-image-high-five

77%
Average Increase in Giving Per Donor

Veritus Line White

 

During the pilot program, the value per donor increased by nearly 77% to an average gift of $5,215.

 
temp-image-high-five

Inside a Turnaround

What the Organization Needed

ACS had too many major donors for their gift officers to connect with personally. In addition, their donor pipeline was suffering because mid-level donors weren’t getting any personal attention. Veritus Group recommended:

  • Hiring more MGOs to place in key markets.
  • MGOs would qualify donors and tier them to focus on high-quality donors that wanted a personal touch.
  • Building communication plans to ensure donors were learning about impact
  • Create business rules to ensure there was good collaboration between teams and that donors were in the right part of the pipeline.

After adopting Veritus Group’s recommendations, ACS added 31 positions nationally, who were trained in The Veritus Way.  They adopted a clear set of guidelines to ensure donors were moved smoothly through the pipeline. The fundraisers worked to develop individual growth plans for all major donors and all mid-level tiers.

 
ACS-sideimage-sm

The Results

Heart

Personal Stories
Veritus Line White

Staff heard for the first time donors’ moving personal stories of how cancer had impacted their lives, or their families, and why they give.


 

20%

Lower Value Attrition
Veritus Line White

In the first nine months working with expanded and newly-trained staff, ACS lowered its donor value attrition average by 20%.

$6.5 MM

Increased Giving
Veritus Line White

In just 9 months of the partnership, nearly 500 managed, qualified donors increased their giving by a total of $6.5 million.
MORE FEATURED CASE STUDIES
AdobeStock_464016409-400x250
Greater Public

Public media has a successful history of membership drives, but recent years show flattening membership trends and underdeveloped philanthropic giving. Veritus Group and Greater Public aim to help public media stations transition from a membership mindset to a relationship fundraising model.
Pinky-Swear-Main-Image-1-400x250
Pinky Swear Foundation

Despite open lines of communication between Program and Fundraising, Pinky Swear lacked an efficient and consistent way to leverage their data to really show donors what their specific gift would mean for the families served.
LHU-Campus-1-400x250
Lock Haven University

The university needed a strategy for developing long-term relationships with donors so that they didn’t depend solely on events for giving.
TSA-sideimage-1-400x250
Salvation Army Intermountain

After huge staff turnover, the development staff needed training and a common language. Veritus stepped in to help.
Ashley-Garner-Adoptive-Family-2020-400x250
DePelchin Children’s Center

A new Senior VP of Advancement needed help formalizing structure for major gifts. Veritus guided them to increased giving in a difficult year.
COTN3-400x250
Children of the Nations

A child sponsorship organization needed to raise funds for programs and projects, too. Veritus trained them to ask for more.
enrollclassic-400x250
Usdan

When summer camp was cancelled due to COVID, the organization had no tuition income. How could they fill the hole and stay afloat?
whi-featuredimage-1-400x250
White Horse Inc.

The organization had an ambitious CEO but no development staff. How could they capitalize on the potential of their major donors?
Holt-featured-image-400x250
Holt International

Holt had thousands of passionate donors, child sponsors and adoptees. How could they manage relationships with only two development officers?