How Cure Blindness Project actively promotes non-cash giving and raised over $700K with FreeWill

The Opportunity

Cure Blindness Project is an international nonprofit working to eradicate avoidable blindness in under-resourced areas of the world by helping people retain and regain their sight.

In its nearly thirty years of existence, Cure Blindness Project has built strong relationships with donors who are passionate about giving in support of their mission. However, they faced the challenge of streamlining non-cash giving. The traditional methods of accepting donations are often clunky, slow, and do not instantly recognize donors’ generosity.

With a primarily older, affluent donor base, addressing the challenge of promoting and facilitating tax-smart ways of giving became crucial for their team, as they realized how many of their donors were unaware of available tax-smart ways to give

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The Solution

Cure Blindness Project partnered with FreeWill’s Smart Giving Suite to develop a comprehensive non-cash giving strategy, facilitating gifts of stock, qualified charitable distributions, cryptocurrency, and donor-advised funds.

Ruth Bolan, Chief Development Officer, recognized the need for change: "I knew FreeWill was something we needed in our toolbox in order to expand."

By collaborating with their Partner Success Strategist and Content Writer, the Cure Blindness Project team effectively promotes non-cash giving by implementing links to FreeWill’s tools on their website.

They also promote these gifts through various channels, including newsletters, email campaigns, and print materials.

Their team is also actively educating donors in one-on-one conversations. Bolan encourages her team to attend FreeWill’s exclusive partner trainings to enhance their fundraising knowledge and become more proficient in the language of non-cash giving.

We combine ‘old-school fundraising’ practices with this state-of-the-art platform for tax-smart giving, and it’s very worthwhile.

The Smart Giving Suite ensures gift information is displayed in their Partner Portal after a donor has initiated a gift, which allows for prompt and well-informed donor stewardship. “Any time wasted tracking down a stock donation is time that the donor isn’t being thanked and that you’re not fundraising.”

The strategic shift to prioritize non-cash giving and implement the Smart Giving Suite has helped Cure Blindness Project raise over $700,000 in non-cash gifts in the first year alone.

“The Smart Giving Suite has been a big part of our strategy in leveling up and re-engaging with our donors because anything that makes it easier for our donors to give is something we want to do.”

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Results

• $700K+ in real-time gifts