Case Study: UNCF achieves a 300% GivingTuesday surge and major year‑end digital fundraising gains with Blackbaud

UNCF - Customer Case Study

UNCF, the nonprofit founded in 1944 to help more African Americans attend and graduate from college, sought to amplify its GivingTuesday and end-of-year digital fundraising by creating more cohesive storytelling and a coordinated digital strategy across national and local offices. Despite early success, UNCF needed stronger digital design, messaging, and campaign orchestration to better engage donors and spotlight student success stories.

Working with Blackbaud—using Luminate Online, Digital Marketing Services, a dedicated creative consultant and integrated email/social tactics—UNCF sharpened its storytelling, donor journeys, and virtual event capabilities. The results: GivingTuesday digital revenue rose 7% over three years and end-of-year online giving rose 12% (pre-2020), then surged in 2020 with a 300% jump for GivingTuesday and an 86% increase in end-of-year giving; earlier, UNCF had tripled online giving after adopting Luminate Online and raised $17M online over the following decade.

UNCF

Denise A. Scott

National Director