Virtual version of chili cook-off brings
the heat with peer-to-peer fundraising

Consistently recognized as a top nonprofit in South Carolina, Charleston Animal Society has worked since 1874 to prevent animal cruelty and more recently established the first “No Kill” community in the Southeast within five years. Through its No Kill South Carolina 2024 project, the number of lives saved across the state has increased by half a million.

The nonprofit’s shelter, outreach, and other programs—which collectively protect not just dogs and cats but a total of 75 different animal species—couldn’t exist without fundraising, and over two decades, the annual CAS chili cook-off became one of the most effective vehicles for generating donations and support, with more than 6,000 people attending the
beloved competition each year.

When new state health department requirements and COVID-19 forced CAS to cancel its in-person events, Sean Hawkins had just joined the team as its first chief advancement officer, and he resolved with this team to keep the familiar chili cook-off on the front-burner by recreating it as a virtual event. “To cancel it would have been, of course, a hit to the bottom line, but also a hit to our relationship with the community,” explained Hawkins, a certified animal welfare administrator and certified fundraising executive.

Enhancing the Fundraising Experience

Hawkins had the advantage of video production experience, having previously owned Unleashed Public Relations in Los Angeles, which created and produced the Hero Dog Awards ® for American Humane Association and Hallmark Channel. But a critical ingredient for the new virtual cook-off would
be finding the best peer-to-peer fundraising platform for CAS to meet the moment.

After investigating several options, Hawkins and his team selected JustGiving from Blackbaud, which he said offered “gorgeous” graphics and layouts in its related custom-build packages, plus the advantages of easy integration with
other Blackbaud solutions CAS relies on, including Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT for fundraising and relationship management.

Thanks to that integration, the CAS team could seamlessly tap into their database and use email marketing to steer their constituents to the JustGiving microsite created for the virtual chili cook-off by Blackbaud.

That content included video segments produced with the “Lucky Dog” star Brandon McMillan. From the site, visitors could easily donate, form a cook-off team and recruit friends and family to join them in support.

“JustGiving from Blackbaud makes it simple for donors to sign-up to fundraise, preventing the drop-off that happens when they have to go to multiple pages,” said Kristen Lewis, CAS director of donor relations and reporting. “It also stores their information, making it even easier for them to sign-up and fundraise for future events.”

Saving Animals Together

CAS kept the competitive spirit of the chili cook-off alive with fundraising teams as well as celebrity chefs and a search for a spokesdog and spokescat to be featured on a local brewer’s “Rescue Brew Beer.” The campaign attracted national support, thanks to promotions by McMillan and the
Hallmark channel.

The campaign culminated with a two-hour Facebook live virtual event that was also aired on a local TV news outlet’s social media.

With sponsorships and 2,856 donations, the chili cook-off raised nearly $400,000—without in-person event expenses—to support Toby’s Fund, which treats injured animals at CAS. And thanks to the integration of JustGiving with Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT, staff didn’t have to design custom imports or spend hours matching donors to preexisting records in the database.

“All the donor information was pushed straight through into Raiser’s Edge NXT from JustGiving seamlessly for us,” said Hawkins. With JustGiving from Blackbaud, CAS acquired 181 new donors in 2020, largely through the virtual peer-to-peer fundraising pages that individuals and teams used to fundraise on behalf of CAS during the chili cook-off. The platform also allows supporters to create their own
fundraising campaigns for CAS. In either case, JustGiving’s integration with other Blackbaud solutions has made it simple for CAS staff to manage the flow of their supporters’ peer-to-peer fundraising with efficiency.