“Virtuous has impacted our relationship with funders in a way that really allows us to get a good snapshot of their giving and their activity with our organization before connecting with them.”
— Dana Fialdini, Director of Philanthropy, Akin
Top Challenges Before Virtuous
- Clunky, outdated CRM
- Database full of contacts that were no longer relevant
- Manual work consuming staff time
- No automated donor communication or journey
- Siloed information across teams
What They Accomplished (With Help From Virtuous)
- Completed two full CRM migrations successfully
- Unified all donors into one platform after acquiring another organization
- Launched automated welcome and impact email workflows
- Enabled personalized dashboards for every team member
- Improved funder communication with consistent, automated touchpoints
- Onboarded new employees quickly thanks to the platform’s user-friendliness
Surviving Two Migrations and Coming Out Stronger
When Dana first joined Children’s Home Society of Washington (now Akin), the organization was using an old CRM. One of her first priorities was finding a system that was user-friendly and modern enough to grow with the team. That search led to Virtuous.
Two years later, Akin acquired another organization that was also using an outdated CRM. The team had to go through the entire migration process a second time, with an even larger database.
“The customer service and just the patience and the guidance that the Virtuous staff has provided as we’ve gone through the process twice…[has made it] so seamless.”
— Dana Fialdini, Director of Philanthropy, Akin
Post two migrations, all of Akin’s donors are in one spot. The team is now focused on the future.
Automations That Keep Funders on a Journey
Akin uses automations and workflows to take manual work off staff plates and make sure funders are hearing from them on a consistent basis.
With Virtuous, Akin was able to:
- Automate a welcome email followed by an impact email two weeks later
- Ensure recurring donors receive mission impact emails automatically
- Remove manual follow-up tasks so the team can focus on relationship-building
“It just really makes sure that the donors are traveling a journey with us that is automated. So it’s not something that we have to continuously think about.”
— Dana Fialdini, Director of Philanthropy, Akin
Building an automated donor journey like this ensures supporters stay connected to the mission without the team having to manage every touchpoint manually.
A Platform Every Team Member Can Use
Each staff member has their own customizable dashboard, tailored to their campaigns, donor portfolios, or the part of the donor lifecycle they’re focused on. That flexibility has changed how the team collaborates.
Impact Reporting That Keeps Funders Engaged
Dana credits Virtuous with helping the team communicate more consistently with funders and share impact in ways that keep them excited about their giving. Strong donor stewardship like this is a key driver of long-term retention.
“I’m really excited about all the other aspects that Virtuous is bringing on, just consistently improving the database and the CRM and the user experience. I’m really excited about what’s to come with Virtuous and for us to go along that journey.”
— Dana Fialdini, Director of Philanthropy, Akin
Ready to see what Virtuous CRM+ can do for your organization? Whether you need automation and workflows, donor insights, or a connected analytics platform, Virtuous adapts to your team.
Frequently Asked Questions
How has Virtuous impacted donor relationships?
“Virtuous has impacted our relationship with funders in a way that really allows us to get a good snapshot of their giving and their activity with our organization before connecting with them.”
— Dana Fialdini, Director of Philanthropy, Akin
How does Akin use automations and workflows in Virtuous?
“One of the [automaitons in Virtuous CRM+] that I really like is our workflow and being able to do a welcome email, and then two weeks later we’re giving them an impact email. It just really makes sure that the donors are traveling a journey with us that is automated. So it’s not something that we have to continuously think about.”
— Dana Fialdini, Director of Philanthropy, Akin
Is Virtuous easy for teams to learn?
“[Virtuous CRM+] has really impacted our team in the way we work because it’s so user friendly. We’re able to onboard new employees pretty quickly with the program. It’s a quick kind of an hour, 101 Virtuous and they’re able to dive directly into it.”
— Dana Fialdini, Director of Philanthropy, Akin
What features does Dana find most beneficial?
“I really find the tasks [in Virtuous CRM+] to be very beneficial. I like the task reminder emails. I like to be able to segment my donors. I use a lot of the marketing emails to all as well to communicate with funders. Then I know if they’ve opened the email, how many times they’ve opened the email. The web browser history is really nice as well.”
— Dana Fialdini, Director of Philanthropy, Akin
How was the migration experience?
“We’ve [migrated into Virtuous] twice, and the customer service and just the patience and the guidance that the Virtuous staff has provided as we’ve gone through the process twice has been amazing. Post two migrations, we’re loving Virtuous. All of our donors are in one spot.”
— Dana Fialdini, Director of Philanthropy, Akin
