Top Challenges
- Disorganized data across disconnected systems. Solo Parent relied on spreadsheets and Google Workspace, with no unified donor view or reliable reporting.
- Incomplete and inconsistent donor records. Fragmented contact data made it difficult to track giving history or coordinate between operations, fundraising, and marketing.
- Manual communication and limited segmentation. Email lists had to be rebuilt each time, preventing personalized outreach or audience-specific updates.
- No visibility into donor engagement or retention. Without a responsive CRM, tracking performance across campaigns or identifying lapsed donors required hours of manual work.
- Repetitive, manual processes draining time. Tagging, follow-up emails, and report generation were all done manually, consuming valuable hours that could have gone toward donor cultivation.
The Virtuous Difference
- Unified 50K+ scattered contacts into one clean, accurate donor database, maintaining highly engaged records after migration.
- Automated email segmentation and tagging, saving 25–30 hours per month and enabling instant personalization by donor type and behavior.
- Doubled first-to-second gift retention (from 15% to 28%) and boosted second-to-third retention to 75–78% through timely, personalized follow-up.
- Increased donor engagement with 60% open rates and 5% click-through rates, while lowering unsubscribes through relevant, segmented communication.
- Grew annual giving by 50%: from $1 million to $1.52 million.
- Empowered all teams to collaborate within one CRM for marketing, reporting, and donor insights. No more siloed systems or spreadsheet bottlenecks.
From Spreadsheets to Structure
Solo Parent exists to help single mothers and fathers build community, find hope, and heal from the isolation that often comes with raising children alone. But as the organization grew and its network expanded across the country, its internal systems couldn’t keep up. Donor information was scattered across spreadsheets and a small, outdated CRM, making it difficult for staff to understand who was giving, how to follow up, or where to focus their limited time.
The heart of Solo Parent’s mission was connection, yet their technology consistently held them back from their full potential.
Sarah Hickman, Manager of Revenue Processes and Systems, joined just as the team realized they needed a new, modern CRM. Their small, outdated system could not track relationships across programs, donors, and partners. The team needed accurate data, accessible in one place, so everyone from fundraising to operations could make informed decisions.
“Team collaboration was just so limited before we had Virtuous.”
— Sarah Hickman, Manager of Revenue Processes and Systems, Solo Parent
Once they migrated to Virtuous, Solo Parent gained structure. Every contact now lives in a single record, complete with giving history, engagement activity, and communication preferences. All revenue from curriculum sales to donations is tracked in one CRM, giving every team member a shared, up-to-date view of donors and supporters.
Personalizing Every Detail: From First Gift to All Follow-Up Communications
Solo Parent turned data into meaningful connections with the help of Virtuous CRM+.
The team built tailored gift arrays and forms that automatically adjust for donor type, improving conversion rates and accuracy.
Additionally, each donor’s contact record shows their full story: gifts, event attendance, email activity, and website interactions. That visibility allows Sarah’s team to segment campaigns by donor behavior rather than broad categories. Instead of one generic newsletter, they now send targeted updates: impact reports for donors and partners, and a separate newsletter for single parents they serve.
“Because we know our donors so much more, we know what they value, we’re really able to create many more strategic campaigns around that, and we’re able to segment based on that.”
— Sarah Hickman, Manager of Revenue Processes and Systems, Solo Parent
That strategy is working. Impact reports now average 60% open rates and 5% click-through, while the single-parent newsletter maintains 53% opens and 2% clicks, and unsubscribes have decreased significantly. By delivering relevant content, Solo Parent deepened engagement across all audiences.
The organization also launched its first branded monthly giving program, which achieved a 20% response rate within eight months.
“I used to think that scalable technology would really disconnect you from the donor, but really, it allows you to connect so much better with your donors. You can allow the technology to send the appropriate emails, to send the appropriate asks, to take everything you would do one-to-one and make it scalable for your organization.”
— Sarah Hickman, Manager of Revenue Processes and Systems, Solo Parent
Winning Back Time (and Donors) With Automation
As Solo Parent’s donor base grew, automation became the secret to sustainable growth. Virtuous automations now handle tagging, list management, and scheduled reports, freeing Sarah and her team from manual tasks that once took entire days.
In total, the team reclaimed 25–30 hours every month. Tasks that once required multiple check-ins or spreadsheets now happen automatically, such as routing thank-you messages to the right team member or updating donor segments after an event.
“[With Virtuous automation], you can set it one time, you can forget it, and check in every once in a while to make sure everything is firing correctly. It just takes so much of the legwork off of the data team, and reporting takes so much less time, too.”
— Sarah Hickman, Manager of Revenue Processes and Systems, Solo Parent
In addition to saving time, automation increased overall generosity for their cause and improved donor retention. With more efficient reporting and faster donor follow-up, Solo Parent saw year-over-year revenue increase by 50%, from $1 million to $1.52 million.
Much of this could be attributed to increasing retention rates across the board: First-to-second gift retention rose from 15% to 28%, and second-to-third retention climbed to 75–78%. The faster follow-up and personalized donor journeys created with Virtuous keep supporters connected and active.
Organizing Data: From 50K Disorganized Contacts to 10K Highly Engaged Contacts
During migration, Solo Parent brought order to decades of disorganized information. The team consolidated over 50,000 records down to 10,000 highly engaged contacts, creating a manageable, meaningful database that powers every report and campaign.
Today, every contact is healthy, complete, and actively engaged. The Virtuous campaign tool and segment codes help the team track both tax-deductible and non-deductible revenue, including curriculum sales, event income, and donor contributions.
With clear, actionable data, Solo Parent has expanded its reach and ambition. Once able to start only one local support group a year, they now launch five annually, each backed by data-driven insight and the confidence of knowing exactly who they serve.
Invest in Your Team (and Your Donors)
“[Virtuous] has absolutely been worth the investment to be able to accomplish every goal that we set at Solo Parent per quarter. [Virtuous] has helped us achieve that.”
— Sarah Hickman, Manager of Revenue Processes and Systems, Solo Parent
By investing in a modern fundraising platform, Solo Parent equipped every department with the tools to collaborate, communicate, and act on real donor insights.
They replaced spreadsheets with a single source of truth, and they empowered their team to focus on strategy and deliver personalized donor experiences at scale.
That investment in both their team and their donors paid off: higher retention, deeper engagement, and a 50% lift in giving.
Curious what that investment would look like for your team?
