Case Study: Iona Senior Services achieves stronger donor engagement and a new recurring giving program with Blackbaud

Iona Senior Services adapts to provide ever-expanding services to a growing older population in Washington, D.C.

Iona Senior Services, founded in the 1970s, has grown from a single community building into a comprehensive provider of day services, wellness programs and helpline support for older adults across the Washington, D.C., region. As its programs expanded to meet a rapidly aging population, Iona faced more complex fundraising and engagement needs, limited visibility into performance, and manual processes for recurring gifts.

Partnering with Blackbaud, Iona implemented Raiser’s Edge NXT for donor management and Luminate Online for marketing, enabling centralized interaction logging, modern dashboards, and robust list segmentation. The new tools automated monthly giving through a simple web form, saved staff time, improved transparency to year‑to‑date goals, and boosted engagement (their newsletter now posts a 43% open rate), helping Iona cultivate deeper donor relationships and scale services.

Iona Senior Services

Rosie Aquila

Annual Giving Manager