Capacity Improvement Grant Won to Enhance Member, Donor, and Ecommerce Outreach

BHPFA won a $4,765 capacity improvement grant from the Black Hills Area Community Foundation this summer. This grant will be instrumental in upgrading BHPFA’s membership and donor outreach systems, database management, and ecommerce platform, positioning the organization to better engage its community and fulfill its mission.

Enhancing Membership and Donor Engagement Through New Technology

Currently, BHPFA’s systems for managing memberships and donations have proven inadequate for the growing needs of the organization. “Many of our systems were pieced together by hand,” said Jason Gray, Digital Content and Data Manager. “We were taking membership information from visitors on paper, collecting their donation in the register system, and then entering them by hand into a database system that wasn’t really built for organizations like ours. When we use this grant to build out our new integrated database and outreach system, our members and donors will have a much more welcoming, personalized, and meaningful relationship with us.”

The grant will allow BHPFA to implement Salesforce Non-Profit Cloud and Donorbox Memberships, systems designed specifically for non-profit organizations. These new technologies will streamline BHPFA’s communication and record-keeping processes, enabling staff to keep a centralized record of every interaction with members, donors, and partners.

Implementing Salesforce and Donorbox for Streamlined Operations

“Salesforce will combine the contacts, communications, and interaction records for members, donors, suppliers, partners, and customers—all in one place,” Gray said. “No more wondering if a member has ever participated in an Outdoor Skills Class, or if someone hasn’t heard from us for a while and doesn’t know the amazing work their support is doing.”

Another crucial aspect of the grant will be the improvements to BHPFA’s ecommerce platform. A website redesign, supported by the grant, will allow the organization to take advantage of new technology and better serve its supporters. 

Upgrading the Ecommerce Platform for a Better User Experience

“Our website’s current design is from 2017, which is ‘forever ago’ in internet terms,” Gray said. “A template redesign will also let us use the new integrated technologies we’re introducing. All of this together will help us to do much more for our partners, be more efficient, and be better stewards of our supporters’ financial contributions.”  We’ve already begun the membership platform transition. If you currently have auto-renewal billing set up in our old system, we’ll be contacting you soon to help you move over to the new and improved site. 

This capacity-building effort is a major step forward for BHPFA as it continues to grow and adapt to meet the needs of its members, donors, and visitors. With these new systems in place, the organization will be better equipped to deliver on its mission to foster a sense of wonder and exploration through the stewardship of public lands.