Gardere Community Christian School began as an after-school tutoring program in 2009 to serve children in the Gardere neighborhood.
The founder had taught for more than 30 years in New York City public inner city schools.
While driving through the Gardere area, she saw children everywhere and recognized it as a poverty-stricken area surrounded by more affluent neighborhoods. This led her to start the tutoring program.
At the time, the public schools serving the neighborhood were failing, and families living in poverty had no other options since they could not afford private school.
This prompted the idea to start a private Christian school and find a way to make it possible for any child to attend, regardless of income.
In 2011, the tutoring program became Gardere Community Christian School. The school’s goal is to make a high-quality Christian education available to every child in the Gardere community, regardless of their financial circumstances.
Today, 98% of students are low-income or poverty students.
We serve 99% low-income and minority students with a high quality, Christian education. Because our families do not have the capacity to pay for their child's education outright and our public funding is very limited, we rely on fundraising to make up the difference. Anedot is a valued partner in this endeavor. They are proactive in reaching out to make sure we are using the platform to our fullest advantage, and helping troubleshoot any issues that come up. I know my Anedot representative by name and can call on her at any time. That's service! Thank you, Anedot.- Cheryl Lott, Director of Development and Marketing
Challenges and goals
Before using Anedot, Gardere Community Christian School faced several challenges in their fundraising operations:
1. Limited donation methods: Parents initially paid primarily in cash, and the school did not have a system for credit card or digital payments. Donors began asking for convenient ways to give, including credit cards and mobile payments.
2. Difficulty managing multiple campaigns: As the school hosted fundraising events and supported multiple initiatives, there was no simple way to separate campaigns or direct donors to specific funds.
3. Need for recurring donation support: The school wanted to provide options for donors to give monthly, such as through the 120 Club, but lacked infrastructure to support recurring donations.
4. Efficient tracking and reporting: Managing donations, campaigns, and event contributions was challenging without a centralized platform, making it harder to stay organized and provide donors with clarity.
The school wanted to make it easier for donors to give conveniently and securely while supporting specific campaigns, recurring donations, and events, helping the organization continue its mission of making high-quality Christian education available to every child in the Gardere community.
In the early years, our parents paid mostly cash, and even when we offered credit card options, they didn’t use them. I think that was the impetus that led them to looking for a donation platform that would meet the needs, and Anedot was the most cost effective. - Cheryl Lott, Director of Development and Marketing
Anedot’s impact on simplifying fundraising and strengthening donor relationships
Gardere Community Christian School adopted Anedot to meet its fundraising needs, providing a cost-effective and easy-to-use platform that allows donors to give quickly and securely.
The platform enables the school to manage multiple campaigns and funds.
Campaigns include the 120 Club, which encourages monthly donations, and the Sponsor a Student program, allowing donors to sponsor a student for a semester or a full year.
Each campaign has its own page, guiding donors directly to the programs they want to support.
Key features and impacts include:
- Recurring donations: Donors can give monthly through programs like the 120 Club, helping provide consistent support.
- Donation upgrades: Donors can increase one-time gifts or convert them into recurring contributions, giving the school more flexible funding options.
- Event fundraising: Ticket sales, sponsorships, and donations for events are integrated into one system, simplifying participation and contribution.
- Improved donor engagement: Campaign-specific pages make it clear how donors can support different initiatives.
- Efficient tracking and reporting: Anedot helps the school manage funds and track donations for better donor management.
- Convenience for donors: Secure, flexible giving options, including Apple Pay, Google Pay, and credit card payments, make it easy for supporters to give.
Anedot has helped the school expand its fundraising efforts while supporting its mission to make high-quality Christian education available to every child in the Gardere community, regardless of financial circumstances.
I like the fact that you can set up the separate campaigns or funds. And it's not hard to do. That really helps a lot. We have several campaigns going on at all times. Being able to separate those out so that whenever people say, yes, I want to give to this campaign, they can go to that campaign page that tells them exactly what to do for that campaign. That really makes a difference. - Cheryl Lott, Director of Development and Marketing
Looking forward
Gardere Community Christian School is excited to grow with Anedot.
They plan to expand student sponsorships, launch new campaigns like the Leadership Cup, and make ticketing and sponsorships easier by integrating them directly on the platform.
With Anedot’s reliable tools and responsive support, the school can strengthen donor connections, simplify giving, and continue providing high-quality Christian education to every child in the Gardere community.
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