Cornerstone University Cuts Costs, Increases Communication, and Streamlines Processes with eTapestry

“With eTapestry we have been able to turn around our gift processing department. Before we were looking to hire additional staff to enter gifts and now we don’t have to do that. Also, the reporting capability is so easy to use just about anybody can run a report. And lastly, I can rest assure that our data is safe and in the trusty hands of the folks at eTapestry.” - Allison Bradshaw, Director of Advancement Database Services, Cornerstone University

Cornerstone University is a Christ-centered university with a passion for global influence through the transforming power of the gospel. Cornerstone is interdenominational and located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The University offers traditional undergraduate programs, as well as adult undergraduate and graduate programs through its Professional & Graduate Studies Division, Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, and Asia Baptist Theological Seminary. Additionally, the school produces the multifaceted broadcast outreach of Cornerstone University Radio.

Challenge

Cornerstone University relies heavily on monthly recurring donors, especially for its three radio stations. The University was manually entering between 2,000 and 3,000 recurring gifts each month.

As a small shop, the University needed to be able to reduce the amount of time spent manually entering donations.

The University has a standard of receiving each gift within 48 hours and needed a solution to help meet this standard.

It would take about 24 hours to pull a mailing list out of the previous database.

Additionally, the University wanted a database that worked with its website.

Solution

eTapestry®, a Blackbaud solution, provided the ability to set up recurring gift schedules easily online.

The reporting provided by eTapestry is easy to use, functional, and data can be pulled and disseminated quickly.

Cornerstone selected eTapestry’s eCommerce site to handle online donations and the electronic transfer of those donations.

Because eTapestry is web-based, Cornerstone can access the system anywhere and does not have to worry about data security.

Results

The school has saved time that was spent manually entering thousands of recurring monthly gifts. Also, mailing lists now only take 15 minutes to pull, instead of a day.

The school saves between $5,000 and $15,000 a year in direct mail costs by using email to communicate with alumni, donors, and parents.

The school now sends about 40,000 emails a month, improving communications and constituent relationships.

Before eTapestry, the University was looking to hire more gift processors to handle volume. They no longer have to.

With eTapestry, gift officers can easily enter notes into the database, creating better and more usable information.

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