Streamlining Meetings and Email Campaigns at DonorsChoose.org with Zapier

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DonorsChoose.org, a classroom funding site for teachers in the United States, was facing challenges in managing weekly and monthly team meetings and email outreach to hundreds of people. The senior donor relationships associate, Danielle Curtis, was struggling to keep track of all the tasks, often missing important email responses, neglecting to pull metrics, or forgetting to put together an agenda for an impending meeting. The challenge was to ensure that nothing slips through the cracks, and all tasks are managed efficiently and effectively.

DonorsChoose.org is a non-profit organization that allows individuals and businesses to read about the projects teachers are doing with their students and donate any amount to help them achieve their goals. Founded almost 20 years ago by history teacher Charles Best, the organization has raised over $800 million for 1.4 million projects since 2000. At DonorsChoose.org, Danielle Curtis develops relationships with their most donors, manages a small team, and tests and analyzes different approaches to donor outreach.

To address these challenges, Danielle Curtis started using Zapier, an app automation tool. She created a network of automated workflows, known as Zaps, to notify her and the wider marketing team of upcoming meetings and to save donor email responses in a spreadsheet. These Zaps ensured that all tasks were managed efficiently, with meeting agendas prepared ahead of time, metrics pulled and analyzed before team meetings, and note-takers prepared for each meeting. Additionally, Danielle was able to review the spreadsheet of emails to ensure she didn't miss any important messages from donors. Danielle also used Zapier to automate meeting reminders and email responses, saving her significant time and effort.

• With the implementation of Zapier, Danielle Curtis was able to manage the more mundane aspects of her work more efficiently, such as cataloging email responses in Google Sheets and reminding her and the team about upcoming meetings. This allowed her to focus more on the donors and those they help. The automation of meeting reminders and email responses also helped cut down on any confusion around note-taking responsibility once the meeting starts, as everyone knew their roles ahead of time. The use of Zapier also brought peace of mind to Danielle and the marketing team regarding their recurring meetings.

• Zapier saves Danielle two hours of work for every email campaign she sends.

• The organization has raised over $800 million for 1.4 million projects since 2000.