How Virtuous Helps African Bible Colleges Grow
African Bible Colleges (ABC) is growing. They recently finished a capital campaign, raising $6.1 million. Among other initiatives, they’ll expand online learning, add to facilities such as a new school of business building on their Malawi campus, enhance a hospital and clinics, and solidify infrastructure on their campuses, along with increasing scholarships and providing upperclassmen with laptops. They’ll also increase their STEM offerings, with a more university curriculum, and a STEM-focused high school in Malawi.
Virtuous has been a growth partner for ABC, with a responsive Nonprofit CRM and holistic fundraising platform that helps them get more out of their efforts.
User-Friendly
Trey Porter is the sole fundraiser on staff and joined the team after they switched to Virtuous. A 25-year veteran of fundraising, he was impressed by how smooth the transition to using Virtuous was.
“It could have been very overwhelming for me when I joined the team because I very much hit the ground running. We had to identify people to communicate with and begin those communications almost immediately after I came on board. Virtuous was so user-friendly for me. I had not been in Virtuous before, but I was able to pick it up so quickly. I didn’t have any downtime,” he recalls.
“I had a lot of confidence in Virtuous right off the bat that I was seeing good numbers, real numbers and, and complete numbers. And that’s always important.”
Trey Porter, Director of Development
A Holistic Fundraising Platform
Virtuous is designed for nonprofits. “I can appreciate the fact that it was created with somebody like me in mind,” says Trey.
Using Virtuous CRM and email has streamlined processes and donor communications. “It is our central hub for all our donor information, including donations and tracking of donations, and automated communication when donors make contributions.”
The team at ABC is beginning to run acknowledgment letters through the system, which Trey is looking forward to. “I’ve had that experience before, and it is like having another staff member when you automate things like that.”
Virtuous is more than just a CRM, it’s a tool for building relationships. “I’m a strong believer in stewardship for stewardship’s sake. Everybody says the first step to the next gift is the last thank you. I certainly believe that, but I also believe in stewardship for stewardship’s sake. We need to show our gratitude well and Virtuous is a great tool for me in that way. I can easily access the latest donation information so those people quickly rise to the surface.”
“Virtuous makes that really easy. It’s the first system that I’ve worked with that’s been that easy.”
Trey Porter, Director of Development
This helps Trey follow up with a donor’s gratitude quickly.
Constant Improvements
Virtuous is continually improving, adding new features and updates. “I appreciate a system that is constantly seeking to get better. It means a lot to the user when we’re constantly getting information about upgrades and updates and improvements,” he says. “That means Virtuous is not satisfied with the product they’re offering us and always wants to improve that. They’re not going to sit on their laurels with what they offer us.”
