Case Study: Ronald McDonald House Charities of Austin and Central Texas achieves 5× fundraising and 7× participation growth with Blackbaud's Friends Asking Friends

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Austin and Central Texas - Customer Case Study

Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Austin and Central Texas provides “home away from home” support for critically ill children and their families, serving more than 1,700 families a year. The organization needed an integrated system to manage its database, fundraising, and communications, plus a peer-to-peer solution for its annual Lights of Love 5K and Family Fun Run to handle runner registration and personalized fundraising.

They implemented Friends Asking Friends®, which integrated with their existing Blackbaud platform and allowed participants to fundraise in honor or memory of loved ones. The event expanded from a participant-only model to include teams and individual fundraisers, growing from 400 to over 3,000 participants and increasing revenue from $50,000 in year one to more than $250,000 in year five; peer-to-peer fundraising now accounts for about a third of event revenue and generates over $100,000 in individual and team donations.

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Austin and Central Texas

Missy Strittmatter

Development Director