Product ShowCASE: Giving Day Solutions-Cushing Academy Case Study

Cushing Academy Case Study

Pdf Summary

Cushing Academy, a co-ed college preparatory boarding and day school in Massachusetts with 400 students, successfully transformed their fundraising approach by partnering with Boost My School, a platform designed exclusively for K-12 school development. Facing the challenge that their alumni generally feel stronger ties to their college alma maters—leading to lower engagement with the academy—they sought a platform to improve on-page engagement, track donor participation with custom leaderboards, and foster competitive and collaborative giving experiences.<br /><br />By adopting Boost for their 2024 Cushing Day of Giving, Cushing revamped their donor experience from a simple transactional model into an engaging event. Using Boost’s custom challenges, premium design features, real-time leaderboards, text marketing, and payment tools, they created a dynamic environment that appealed specifically to their alumni community. This approach encouraged repeat visits, competition among alumni decades, and new family involvement.<br /><br />The results were impressive: average time on engagement pages reached 1 minute 30 seconds, and 43% of page visitors made a donation, with 90% of donors covering transaction fees themselves. Additionally, 53% used modern payment methods, including 28% giving via Apple Pay. These tools contributed to a 15% increase in alumni participation and a remarkable 62% rise in overall giving compared to the previous year. The campaign also set new participation and giving records for the school.<br /><br />Greg Pollard, Director of Advancement, praised Boost’s ease of use, responsiveness, and powerful engagement tools, highlighting plans to expand its use for daily giving pages and event registration, indicating a strategic shift toward stronger alumni relations and streamlined fundraising operations. Overall, Boost helped Cushing Academy consolidate their development technology on a single platform and achieve record-breaking fundraising success.

Keywords

Cushing Academy

Boost My School

fundraising

alumni engagement

Day of Giving

custom leaderboards

text marketing

payment methods

donor participation

fundraising success