This observation sparked a conversation that turned into a celebration—and then a success story. Here is that story in Because Justice Matters' own words (with a tiny bit of editing for clarity.)

On why BJM chose Funraise

"Our initial goal was to make our fundraising process a lot more efficient and effective. We wanted data to flow seamlessly from one integration to another. We wanted to build a mailing list with the click of the button. We also wanted to communicate fundraising needs in a more visually appealing way, down to simply having a progress bar."

Funraise not only had the technology we were looking for but they also demonstrated they were always growing to develop their product."

On BJM's relationship with Funraise (Awwwww! 😭 )

"Why wouldn’t we want to work with an org who cared as much about us as we do for others?"

On Funraise's ease of use

"During the demo I thought, 'Not only can I use this, but our ED can, and our trainees.' ...I love that I can sit down in the afternoon and turn out high quality campaigns with a few clicks."

On how they coped in 2020

"We had launched a beautiful campaign the week before the shelter in place orders... just like that, it was completely irrelevant. The efficiency and effectiveness of Funraise's system allowed us to launch a new emergency campaign directly for the benefit of our clients."

On BJM's past

"True story, my first year fundraising, before using Funraise, I knew I wanted a progress bar. But I didn’t know how to do it. Our web designer drafted an ingenious formula in Google sheets that generated a progress bar... all I had to do was manually update the figure, screenshot the progress bar image, and reload onto our website, social media graphics and newsletter.

Editor's note: Sonja ended up having to go through this process during year-end fundraising—from her phone, while she was in line at Disneyland with friends and family. Talk about dedication to your mission!

Never again, thanks to Funraise. Our progress bar builds hope and anticipation. It tells a story that words never can. Every year, watching it grow is my favorite part—and I don’t have to do anything!"

On BJM's future

"As our organization grew... we needed a way to make organizational knowledge more accessible. Using [Fundraising] Intelligence helped us understand the progress we were making in fundraising, most notably identifying trends in new donors and lapsed donors. This helps us establish benchmark goals for the year, and see if we’re meeting those goals."

Now for the proof! The numbers prove that BJM turned YOY goals into YAY! results.

• In their first full year with Funraise, Because Justice Matters grew their online giving by 39%.
• In their first full year with Funraise, Because Justice Matters grew their recurring giving by 128%.
• During their New Horizons: 2021 Season of Giving campaign, Because Justice Matters exceeded their goal by almost 20%. ...And check out that progress bar!