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Client Story - Holt International

Two MGOs for 2,000 major donors wasn’t enough

Holt had thousands of passionate donors, child sponsors and adoptees. How could they manage relationships with only two development officers?
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01. Problem / Challenge
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With 2,000 major donors and only two MGOs, more than 30% of donors were leaving each year.
02. Solution
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After one year, donor attrition fell by 12%. And during a pandemic, revenue in caseloads went up $700,000!
03. Results
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Over five years, donated revenue tripled and the CEO’s donor caseload was giving 10x more on average.
“Veritus Group has been foundational to our work in building a structure, discipline and culture of philanthropy both within our staff and within our growing major and mid-level donor base. Our relationship with Veritus is one mirrored by how we also, now, regularly and consistently build relationship with our portfolio donors.  While there is a system (“The Veritus Way”) it isn’t one that places itself before the donor, but instead is there to help us listen, respond, anticipate and appreciate them at every step.“

– Eric Mason

Chief Marketing & Development Officer, Holt International

The Results

82%
Increase in Revenue

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

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105%
Turnaround in Value Attrition

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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.

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77%
Average Increase in Giving Per Donor

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

 
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Inside a Turnaround

What the Organization Needed

Holt helps strengthen vulnerable families, care for orphans, and find adoptive families for kids. They have a large group of donors who give regularly, but not enough staff to develop relationships with them.

With only two MGOs, there were nearly 2,000 donors not in caseloads who were giving at a major gift level annually, and thousands more in the mid-level range.  Without the proper attention, the value attrition was 30%-35% annually.

Our Recommendation

Veritus helped Holt to implement a stewardship protocol to ensure all donors – even Child Sponsors – who reached the major gift threshold were qualified to caseloads.  We ensured MGOs were focused on regions with the greatest number of donors.  After one year, there were still a large group of donors we wanted to try to connect with, leading Holt to hire a mid-level officer.

With Veritus’ guidance, MGOs learned to qualify caseload donors while also attempting to connect with and qualify other donors; to develop communication plans that focus on reporting impact to donors; and to ensure good communication between marketing, program and fundraising.
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The Results

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Program Support
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Donors who had been giving only to child sponsorships became aware of Holt’s wider mission, and they began supporting those programs.

 

12%

Lower Value Attrition
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After one year, donor value attrition decreased by 12%.

400%

Increased Giving
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The average gift for assigned donors has increased 400%; they have exceeded the Veritus revenue projection by $500K.
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