Case Study | Nonprofit Virtual Assistant

Our Nonprofit Virtual Assistant Helped Make KCMA’s Virtual Fundraiser a Very Real Success

The Mission

Our client, Kids' Chance of Massachusetts (KCMA), provides scholarships for children with a parent who has been severely or fatally injured on the job.

The Challenge

In 2020, while many nonprofits canceled events and slowed fundraising efforts due to the pandemic, KCMA refused to put their plans – and mission – on hold. 

With the leadership of a diverse committee, the enthusiastic participation of dedicated volunteers, and the strong support of a More Than Giving Co. Nonprofit Virtual Assistant (NPVA), KCMA decided to take their fundraising event online.

The Planning

Priority one was deciding how to make a virtual event attractive to people already online for most of their workday. The planning team decided to host a virtual cocktail hour, accompanied by a silent auction. The entire event would last about 90 minutes and would include featuring silent auction items, theme cocktail recipe demonstrations by an entertaining bartender, stories from students who received scholarships, board member introductions, and sponsorship infomercials.

The second priority was designating a project manager who would ensure all action items were assigned to a volunteer and completed in a timely manner. Kids’ Chance was already utilizing the remote administrative support of a More Than Giving Co. Rolisa had earned the organization’s confidence and was selected as project manager for the Massachusetts chapter fundraiser.

The Preparation

Committee leaders decided to hold a dress rehearsal of the entire event as though it was live. This allowed them to work out any unforeseen problems and get used to the technology.

"Without Rolisa, we wouldn't have been able to complete all of the pre-planning, including the dress rehearsal, that inevitably made the difference in producing a polished event,” said Laurie. “An NPVA was an invaluable resource that we didn't know we needed as much as we did. Having that level of administrative support helped keep us task-focused in a very cost-effective manner.”

Rolisa’s support was also especially helpful when it came to the silent auction. The committee decided to open the bidding ten days before the event to build “auction fever,” and inspire more bids. This was an effective strategy, but came with additional administrative work, like sending reminder emails and keeping track of progress.

“Rolisa did a great job keeping us on track and was able to bring shared resources from staff and other NPVAs at the More Than Giving Co. to the table to help in facilitation, implementation and follow up,” said John, a member of the KCMA planning committee.

The Results

Total donations for KCMA's first virtual fundraiser exceeded all expectations. The event also garnered enthusiastic feedback for how seamlessly it was executed and how smoothly the program flowed.

The Support

A Nonprofit Virtual Assistant is an asset to event planning, online or off. Certified in nonprofit best practices, they are proficient at managing volunteers and program details.

Beyond event planning, Nonprofit Virtual Assistants can support other tasks critical to your fundraising program, such as managing CRMs and updating donor lists, tracking donations, assisting in the timely acknowledgment of gifts, managing solicitation schedules, overseeing mailings and reports, and more.