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Riley Children's Foundation recently decided to switch from a paper contribution-tracking system to an eTapestry online form for its Riley Radiothons – a decision that has yielded significant results.

Riley Children's Foundation relies on radiothons to generate funds that help support Riley Hospital for Children. Radiothons also offer a chance to highlight stories of hope and healing found at Riley Hospital. Local radio stations commit 2-3 days of their broadcast for radiothons, and DJs engage the community in the effort by asking them to share stories and make donations.

According to Cassie Yowell, Radiothon and Special Events Officer at Riley Children's Foundation, the Foundation used the same paper system to record radiothon donations since the mid 1990's. A donor would call in, and a volunteer would fill out a triplicate pledge form by hand. Completed forms were transported to another location to be sorted by credit card then by gift type. Once sorted, Foundation employees would search the donor database to see if the individual had an existing account. If not, a new account was created. After all gifts were processed, pledge forms were destroyed. This process was lengthy and time-consuming.

"We considered industry standards for processing this type of donation and found room for improvement," said Pam Melady, Gift Processing Analyst at Riley Children's Foundation. "The old method had potential for human error through incorrect donor names, transposed credit card numbers or incomplete contact information. These errors could occur, and we wouldn't know until hours later, making it difficult to correct."

In 2007 Riley Children's Foundation decided to investigate other options for entering and storing radiothon information. This included examining the capabilities of eTapestry eCommerce pages. Impressed, the Foundation decided to move forward with eTapestry early this year.

eTapestry's Manager of Website Services, Aaron Bacon, worked closely with Riley Children's Foundation staff to create a customized online form for radiothons. Besides including scripts and prompts, it allowed volunteers to enter donor information. Aaron also attended a radiothon to verify the system ran smoothly.

"Working with Riley Children's Foundation last year was a wonderful experience," said Aaron. "I saw everything come together the morning of the radiothon. Through eTapestry, volunteers were able to process gifts instantly as supporters called in. It was incredible to see firsthand the difference the eCommerce form made to the flow and overall success of the event. I look forward to being a part of it again this year."

"eTapestry's online form addressed several best practices that we wanted to improve," said Pam. "We can now notify donors instantly through e-mail when gifts are processed. We also have the capability to send acknowledgement letters more quickly, provide better customer service to donors as well as ensure fewer errors and better security. Additionally, it's proved to be a huge time-saver, decreasing our data entry three to four times."

Jeanette Bogren, Development Services Manager at Riley Children's Foundation, added, "If there is an issue processing a credit card, we can handle it on the spot while we have the donor on the phone. Troubleshooting credit card issues properly and immediately is invaluable."

Another advantage of the simplified online form is being able to report on the progress of the radiothon in real time. "Before, it was difficult to keep an accurate tally of the amount generated during a given time," added Jeanette. "Now we can access totals throughout the event by running instant reports."

"eTapestry has proven to be a wise investment," said John Baldwin, Director of Information Technology at Riley Children's Foundation. "All of the gift and data entry are done, and the integrity of the information is very reassuring."

About Riley Children's Foundation

Riley Children's Foundation supports Riley Hospital for Children, Camp Riley for Youth with Physical Disabilities and the James Whitcomb Riley Museum Home. As Indiana's only comprehensive hospital dedicated exclusively to the care of children, Riley Hospital has provided compassionate care, support and comfort to children and their families since 1924. Each year, families turn to Riley for care more than 191,000 times. Children come from all 92 Indiana counties, across the nation and throughout the world. Riley Hospital's partnership with Clarian Health and its strong affiliation with the Indiana University School of Medicine make Riley Hospital for Children the leader in pediatric care in the state and the region. Visit RileyKids.org for more information.

About eTapestry

Since its release as the first web-based fundraising software for nonprofits in 1999, eTapestry has grown to a leadership position with over 5000 nonprofit customers worldwide. eTapestry provides On-Demand fundraising solutions, including a donor database, website development, ecommerce, and advanced email. To learn more, visit us at www.etapestry.com, or call us at 888-739-3827. eTapestry is a Blackbaud Company.