Case Study: The Salvation Army Southern Territory achieves 139% year-over-year growth with Classy

How The Salvation Army Southern Territory Grew 139% After Leaving Blackbaud

The Salvation Army Southern Territory recognized that its legacy fundraising platform wasn’t meeting modern needs: donors were aging (average age 72), conversion and engagement were low, and leadership needed a solution to attract younger supporters and modernize design and checkout experiences. After determining Blackbaud wasn’t working, the team prioritized simplicity, data focus, and a donor-first approach.

They switched to Classy, drove staff adoption with hands-on demos, launched a proof-of-concept campaign with a refreshed creative and AWS-backed scalability, and re-engaged lapsed supporters. The results were dramatic: they surpassed their fundraising goal by 75%, achieved 139% year-over-year growth after leaving Blackbaud, and saw a 437% increase in donation page conversion rate.

The Salvation Army

Piper LeJeune

Director of Digital Strategy and Engagement