Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware has partnered with DonorElevate to modernize how the organization engages the donors who fund its youth programs. After a clear proof of concept, the team made the platform a core part of how they steward their supporters.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware serves thousands of young people across the state with after-school programs, mentorship, and enrichment that help kids build the skills and confidence to succeed. Like every mission-driven nonprofit, the organization depends on a committed community of donors, and keeping those supporters close to the impact of their giving is essential.

Proof of Concept

Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware put DonorElevate to work on its Do More 24 giving-day campaign, and the results spoke for themselves. Before the campaign, BGCD had 1,662 contacts in a database with no measurable digital engagement. In just 10 days, 328 donors actively engaged and 157 of them clicked every single message, turning a static list into a living, segmented audience with clear signals of donor intent. Once the team saw that proof, making DonorElevate part of how they steward supporters was an easy decision.

What the Partnership Unlocks

With that proof established, Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware uses DonorElevate to make personal, year-round stewardship the standard rather than the exception. Specifically, the platform helps them:

Send personalized video updates that connect donors directly to the kids and programs their giving supports.
Steward donors consistently throughout the year, not only during giving days and year-end appeals.
Track engagement to identify their most invested supporters and surface new cultivation opportunities.
Re-engage lapsed donors before they are lost, and free up staff to focus on relationships rather than administrative work.

Community-Driven Impact in Action

In practice, this looks like much more than a newsletter. Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware engages a base of roughly 2,500 donors, analyzes how those supporters respond, and segments them so the right people receive the right message at the right moment. Instead of broadcasting the same update to everyone, the team shares additional, relevant information that invites a reply and builds a real two-way relationship.

A recent example shows the approach in action. The team shared a video featuring their Youth of the Year, Rashid, who has advanced to the Northeast Regional Youth of the Year competition in New York. Rather than a generic announcement, they sent his inspirational speech directly to donors and invited each supporter to send him a personal message of encouragement.

The actual message Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware sent to donors, with Rashid's speech playing right inside the thread.

The response was immediate. That single message brought in dozens of replies wishing Rashid luck at the competition, each one a small moment of connection between a supporter and the mission they believe in.

That is what community-driven impact looks like. It is about sharing your story with the people who make these stories possible, and making sure the impact is felt all the way back to the donors who put up the funds and volunteer the hours. Donors do not just hear where their dollars go; they meet the young people whose lives they are helping to change. Rashid is a direct result of that support, and he is now advancing into college and speaking publicly about his journey.

It is easy for supporters to forget, and just as easy for an organization to forget to engage them. Consistent engagement throughout the year is a proven way to make donors feel special and valued, to remind them their dollars are going somewhere meaningful, and to show them that real work is happening because of the help they provided. These small stories go a long way. So when the time comes to ask again next year, it does not feel like a cold ask. Donors have been along for the ride, along for the journey. They are not an ATM; they are emotionally invested in the mission.

Building on Momentum

For a nonprofit like Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware, donor stewardship is mission-critical: the stronger and more durable each donor relationship, the more young people the organization can serve. The proof of concept showed what is possible when authentic communication meets real engagement data, and the partnership makes that approach part of how the team works every day.

"Great stewardship is not about the ask. It is about sharing your story with the people who make it possible, and making sure they feel the impact of every dollar they give and every hour they volunteer. When you engage donors consistently, all year long and not only when you need something, they stop feeling like an ATM and start feeling like part of the mission. By the time you do ask again, they have been along for the journey with you. That is exactly what Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware is doing, and Rashid's story is why it matters."

Ben Graves, DonorElevate Founder & CEO

About DonorElevate

DonorElevate is a donor engagement and relationship management platform built for nonprofits and athletic programs. Through personalized video messages, engagement data tracking, and consistent outreach, DonorElevate helps organizations save time while deepening relationships with top donors and driving stronger fundraising results.

The stewardship approach behind this partnership reflects the same principles we explore in why donors stop giving and our guide to building a donor-first culture.

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