The Virtuous Difference
- 12% growth in The Pride Donor Circle, the organization’s leadership giving group
- 600+ staff hours saved annually through automation
- More meaningful engagement through timely, personalized communication
Top challenges the Cleveland Zoological Society needed to address:
- Replace a legacy CRM that was clunky, slow, and difficult to access remotely
- Save hours of manual work managing tags, lists, and reports with automation
- Grow its leadership giving circle through more personalized outreach and timely communication
In the following video, hear how the Director of Advancement, Andrea Ponikvar, uses Virtuous to build stronger donor relationships and grow major giving.
CRM Challenges That Got in the Way of Donor Stewardship
The Cleveland Zoological Society welcomes over 1.2 million visitors each year and educates thousands of schoolchildren through inquiry-based science programs. With a mission that connects people of all ages to wildlife and the natural world, the organization needed a nonprofit CRM it could rely on to build and strengthen donor relationships at scale. But the outdated technology they were using behind the scenes was making it more difficult to do.
The team was stuck using Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge, a self-hosted system that lived on a physical server. Fundraisers had to be at their desks to log interactions or pull reports, and any data task could be delayed if another user had a record open. With data stuck in silos, collaboration slowed and staff couldn’t easily access the information they needed to keep donor engagement moving forward.
“We were using a product that was hosted on a physical server… We often had to wait until we were physically at our desks to pull reports or log contact. It slowed down our work, made us super inefficient, and made collaboration incredibly difficult.” — Andrea Ponikvar, Director of Advancement, Cleveland Zoological Society
Routine processes, like tagging donors or importing member data, were tedious and time-consuming, which held up the team’s ability to act on insights in the moment. Reporting itself was a slow and frustrating process. Only one person could run a report at a time. And if there was even a small error, the process had to be restarted, often locking up the system for hours.
That all changed when the team switched to Virtuous. With a responsive donor management CRM by its side, the Zoo Society finally freed itself from data barriers and manual workflows that previously took up way too much time. Now, all donor data lives in one centralized database that is accessible to the entire time at any given time. Even better, each team member can customize their dashboard to focus on what matters most to their role.
Consolidating its data into one system did more than just save time. More importantly, it gave the team the clarity and confidence to build deeper, more meaningful relationships with its donors.
“Virtuous isn’t just a database, it’s a tool that has helped us build better, real, long-lasting relationships with our donors. It has helped us work more efficiently and effectively, grow our programs, grow our fundraising.” — Andrea Ponikvar, Director of Advancement, Cleveland Zoological Society
With clean data and a team that could finally work together without the usual frustrations that had been slowing them down, it opened up an opportunity for the Zoo Society to try something new: automation.
Automation That Works Like an Extra Team Member
In the video below, learn how the Manager of Data & Analytics, Kim Brundage, saved hundreds of hours with automation and made reporting a breeze for the entire team.
The Zoo Society has taken donor stewardship to the next level by automating everyday tasks that once held up the team from acting quickly. By cutting back on administrative busywork, the team can spend more time on connecting with donors in ways that feel timely and thoughtful.
Now, donor tags are updated automatically each night, without anyone having to manually pull lists or set reminders. When a gift comes in, donor officers are notified right away, making it easy to follow up with a thank-you or personal message while the moment is still fresh. Meanwhile, alerts help the data team flag issues or identify major gifts that need special attention.
“One thing Virtuous has helped me do that I didn’t think was possible was definitely those automations allowing for routine tasks to be completed in a timely manner, even when I’m not in the office.” — Kim Brundage, Manager of Data and Analytics, Cleveland Zoological Society
Even small gestures have become more scalable. Welcome emails are sent the day after someone joins as a member, and birthday messages go out automatically, which is something the team used to do by hand. One of those birthday emails even reconnected a lapsed donor, who later joined The Pride Donor Circle, the Zoo Society’s leadership giving group for donors who contribute $1,000 or more annually.
“One of the more basic automations that we set up was to send automatic birthday emails to our donors… It’s like having an assistant that ensures no donor is ever forgotten or overlooked.” — Andrea Ponikvar, Director of Advancement, Cleveland Zoological Society
Automating everyday tasks has freed up time for the team to focus on higher-impact work. Staff often describe it as having an assistant that keeps everything moving behind the scenes, so nothing gets missed.
Personalized Messages at the Right Time, Every Time
Today, every member of the Zoo Society’s fundraising and leadership team can access real-time dashboards built around the KPIs that matter most to their role, whether that’s donor activity, campaign performance, or year-over-year giving trends. They no longer have to wait for the data team to pull reports or rerun exports. When a question arises, the answer is already at their fingertips.
“We used to spend hours running [reports]… And when I ran that report, Raiser’s Edge got locked down, so I could not do anything else in the system until that report was done… With Virtuous BI, I’ve been able to create several dashboards for our management team… and those update every night. I don’t have to remember to run the report. I don’t have to find the time to run the report because it’s already there.” — Kim Brundage, Manager of Data and Analytics, Cleveland Zoological Society
Responsive dashboards and shared visibility have made it easier for anyone to step in and make the right move at the right time. When it comes to knowing who to call next, who showed up at an event, or who clicked on a recent email, the team can make faster, more informed decisions grounded in data.
With more timely outreach and stronger visibility into donor behavior, the Zoo Society grew the leadership giving circle by 12% in just one year. That growth translated to more than $100,000 in new revenue and 78 new Pride-level donors.
“We’ve seen a 12% growth in the Pride program, our leadership giving circle… That’s over $100,000 in growth, and Virtuous played a significant role by helping us track engagement and build scalable strategies without increasing our workload.” — Andrea Ponikvar, Director of Advancement, Cleveland Zoological Society
With a responsive nonprofit CRM running quietly in the background, the Zoo Society can stay responsive to its supporters without adding to staff workload. The result: stronger connections, more consistent follow-up, and a more personal donor experience at every level.
Want to learn how your team can automate everyday tasks, gain real-time donor insights, and grow major giving like Cleveland Zoological Society? Schedule a demo with Virtuous today.
