Canine Companions for Independence®
“Life. Unleashed.” The tag line for the non-profit organization, Canine Companions for Independence® (CCI), says it all. Headquartered in Santa Rosa, CA, since 1975, CCI has enhanced the lives of thousands of children and adults with disabilities by providing highly trained assistance dogs and ongoing support — all free of charge. CCI is the largest non-profit provider of assistance dogs, and is recognized worldwide for its extraordinary dogs, and the successful matches with humans they make happen. The direct result of these amazing unions is a life full of increased independence and loving companionship for individuals who never dreamed it was possible.
Highlights
- Migrating to Greater Giving has enabled CCI to coordinate their fundraising efforts across all 5 regions.
- Greater Giving Event Services streamlines their event planning and keeps them on task and on schedule.
- Using Greater Giving products and services at the 2008 CCI events was a factor in achieving their fundraising goals in a tough market.
Challenge
Canine Companions for Independence® is comprised of 5 regions- North Central, Northeast, Northwest & HQ, Southeast and Southwest. Before finding Greater Giving, each region’s staff managed their events individually — giving little opportunity to collaborate and build on a successful process. And since much of the event data was stored in separate Excel spreadsheets or on paper, there was no centralized storage of crucial information. “This made it extremely hard to coordinate and track event data,” explained John Creager, CCI’s IT Associate. “Duplicate efforts were often required by staff to re-enter information into our donor management system.” This ultimately led to mistakes and wasted effort.
Before looking to Greater Giving for a solution, CCI tried alternative event management software. This software, however, “...didn’t quite have all the functionality that we desired and customer service wasn’t always there when we needed it.”
Solution
In 2005, Canine Companion’s Northeast region was gearing to host their annual Hearts & Heroes Dinner and Celebration. It was a high profile event, and they needed a sophisticated system to manage the details. They decided to take a chance with Greater Giving and were the first region to utilize the Complete Event Suite, which includes Greater Giving Event Software and Online Payments, plus Auctionpay terminals. The result was that “it worked great,” and other CCI regions took notice. “The fact that we could consult on details and head off problems was a bonus, and when we called Greater Giving we could get an answer, which gave us expertise – instead of white knuckling the whole time,” said Creager.
In 2006, after the successful event in New York, the Northeast, Northwest & HQ, Southeast and Southwest regions of Canine Companions for Independence® chose to invest in Greater Giving’s Complete Event Suite. “We found this gave us the ability to consult on the details of each auction, and the fact that it helped us head off problems was a bonus!” exclaimed Creager.
Annie Scott, CCI- Southwest Development Associate, added that she “likes the fact that all the data is in one system and is extremely valuable at the event itself.” She expressed that the software is easy to organize, analyze, and process all the important information that used to slip through the cracks. “Greater Giving has streamlined our accounting, enhanced efficiency with easy-to-generate reports, and has also improved our volunteer training with step-by-step how-to guides.”
Canine Companions also invests in Greater Giving’s Event Services, and has hired an event consultant to come to every event since 2006. They like the additional security of having an Greater Giving staff member on-site to help them manage any questions with “quiet competent expertise.” “The PES staff would suggest a solution and it always worked,” said Creager.
Tips from Canine Companions
- Keep your software up-to-date at all times and share information.
- Have your night-of-event staff study the Greater Giving on-line tutorials prior to the event.
- Refer to Greater Giving Client Services and online resources for any questions regarding their products.
Results
Creager believes that using Greater Giving at each region’s annual auction in 2008 was a factor in helping them achieve their financial goals in a tough market. And in 2008, they raised $260k for their organization solely from auction income. By using the Event Software to help them plan and keep on track with procurement and sponsorship donations, as well as utilizing the professional events staff – they are now able to deliver consistent quality auctions for each region, as well as focus on alternative fundraising solutions and events.
Since incorporating Greater Giving products into their event planning process, the staff at CCI have been very pleased with how smoothly things are going at each region’s annual Gala — in-spite of last minute changes, such as guests checking out early or unexpected walk-ins. “With Greater Giving’s software and Event Services to help – we manage to deal with all of it!” enthused Creager. A computer expert, Creager appreciates the depth of the software – saying that “it enables you to run your event in any manner you wish.” And Scott noted that in 2008, check-out at their auction was greatly improved due to using Auctionpay terminals and Event Software. “The Express Pay feature is an excellent and hugely time-saving feature.”
Another improvement for CCI is the way the Event Software has helped each region’s staff move through planning their events and collaborating vital information. Creager reasoned that the tool reminds them of what tasks they should be focusing on —particularly helpful when volunteers rotate year after year.
Canine Companions for Independence® programs demonstrate that a proven method can work wonders between dogs and humans — they have embraced this philosophy as well with their fundraising solutions… and it works!
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