Freestore Foodbank connects the dots between email and ads

Like many small nonprofits, the Freestore Foodbank uses one piece of software for organizing their supporters’ data and another for building their website. Then there’s one for processing payments and yet one more for marketing.

But for a lot of organizations, none of these platforms talk to each other. 

Jeff Marsh, Freestore Foodbank’s web developer, was building his organization’s tech stack one brick at a time. But with every addition, his job was getting harder, not easier. With none of the platforms working together, it was becoming a full-time job for him to connect the dots.

Jeff says, “One of the things that drew us to Feathr was that the Raiser’s Edge integration and Classy integration were all set up and ready to go. That meant that we could run ads and start getting going on the things that we already had in place.”

Making the connections automatic

Jeff already knew which pieces he wanted to keep in place. They were happy with Raiser’s Edge NXT and Classy. And they had a productive partnership with an agency that was helping them accomplish the day-to-day activities.

Jeff says, “Not every software platform out there allows you to integrate fully with your CRM, and then start following those people around the web, serving them an ad or an email. And the ones that can usually aren’t intuitive enough to bring in house. But with Feathr, we’re seeing everyone that’s visiting our website. And we’re able to engage them more effectively.”

Jeff and his team at the Freestore Foodbank can jump directly into Feathr and launch a campaign, or build a live report with current metrics. But with a small team and a helpful agency, Jeff wanted to keep it simple and take one step at a time.

“We partner with a marketing agency that does a lot of our annual strategy,” Jeff says. “They come up with the calendar, build out a lot of the content. But now that we’re having them work in Feathr, we’re able to follow the live results of their work.”

The Freestore Foodbank is the type of organization that pays close attention to results. So having the numbers himself allows him to know—and not simply hope—that it’s working. 

He says, “We had an opportunity to kind of force the agency’s hand and get them on Feathr. And that way we get access to the live reports. So if we see something that isn't right, we're not just letting it run and then waiting for the report. We go in and monitor on a regular basis and decide to turn this spend up or that one down.”

Jeff knows that making the right decisions takes time. And learning from an effective long-term partner is step one in leveling up his own team’s skills. But nobody ever said that he had to take everything on faith.

It all starts with a little code

As a web developer, Jeff knows the importance of even the smallest line of code. To build reports and make the right decisions, the Freestore Foodbank needed to know who was visiting their website and what they were doing once they got there.

Jeff says, “The updated tracking and data we have on our website visitors pays off heavily when we link it to the email campaigns. When we see someone going to the volunteer page, we’re following up with that segment specifically around volunteer opportunities instead of asking for a donation. And not surprisingly, this is really impacting conversions.”

With the information at his fingertips, Jeff is linking his community to the messages that are going to help them take the next step together. 

It all starts with that first interaction with their website. And now that the Freestore Foodbank has Feathr’s Super Pixel in place, they aren’t waiting and wishing for them to come back. They’re doing the follow-up and chasing every new relationship. 

Jeff says, “We sent a basic email newsletter, but we set it up with Feathr’s Super Pixel. And we collected things like names, phone numbers, email addresses—those golden things we’re always wanting. But then we connected it to Raiser’s Edge. So we can now follow someone’s journey with us all the way to a donation.”

And these integrations and new data they have on their community are leading to improved dialogue internally.

“It’s not only about our interactions with volunteers and donors,” Jeff says. “Our internal communications have been so positively impacted by Feathr’s reporting. We’re now roping our major gift officers into the conversation. Before, they would do some one-off emails, but now it’s all interconnected. The ads are building on the emails, and we’re following every step of the journey — all the way up to a sign-up or donation.” 

All the way down the funnel

It’s great when a marketing campaign brings in results. But for so many nonprofits, those results are hard to quantify. And this leaves teams with a lack of clarity on what targets they hit and which ones they missed.

But in Feathr, Jeff is seeing the whole process unfold. And it’s giving him added leverage when he talks with other teams. He can say exactly down to the dollars and cents how much the actions he’s taking are benefiting the organization.

Jeff says, “Before Feathr we were really only estimating conversions. But now with the Super Pixel on our pages, we’re seeing the dollar amount, and it’s connected directly into our CRM and Feathr’s marketing platform. There’s no more guessing. And it’s allowing us to justify expanding budgets and try new things, or double down on the things we know worked.”