One Nonprofit’s Unique Approach to Welcoming Refugees
Soft Landing Missoula, a nonprofit based in Montana with a unique approach to helping refugees settle into their new community, is working on“exciting new endeavor,” says Carlyn Runnels, Director of Development. “We’re using food as a cultural bridge and a way to create supplemental income for interested refugee families,” she explains.
Soft Landing hosts monthly supper clubs called, “United We Eat,” that bring the town’s community together to share a meal prepared by a refugee chef. “Alongside this, we support refugees selling food at the Missoula Farmers’ Market and provide guidance as they work toward independent food businesses through a mentorship program and workshops.” Carlyn says the project is still new but that she’s incredibly excited about its potential impact on the community. Outside of this program, SLM’s services also include providing driver’s ed and English classes, providing in-kind donations to refugees, and hosting other events that help the Missoula community engage with refugee families.
It’s all part of SLM’s broader mission, which Carlyn highlights, “is helping make this a welcoming, supportive, and informed community in which refugees can integrate and thrive. To bring that mission to life with a small organization, SLM relies on donations from the community that come in at events, via mail appeals, and, increasingly, online. When Carlyn started planning for #GivingTuesday, the biggest online giving day of the year, she quickly recognized that she had a problem. “I didn’t realize how inconvenient our previous online fundraising system was until I started planning,” she says.
“I didn’t realize how inconvenient our previous online fundraising system was until I started planning.”
“We did online fundraising through PayPal and we couldn’t track donations in real-time without asking for reports from our fiscal sponsor every hour of that day. We were missing several pieces that are necessary to run a successful giving day, such as tracking progress, capturing donor emails for thank you notes, system-generated automatic thank you notes, you name it. ”
“So, I did a Google search to figure out what alternatives we have,” she says. “Give Lively was towards the top of the page, so I clicked on their website, looked around at their product, then typed a few questions in the chat box. [One of Give Lively’s Nonprofit Account Specialists] responded and, many months and many emails later, he is still my go-to guy. I drank the Kool-Aid right away. Give Lively gave us the tools to make significant changes to our online fundraising program.”
Once she started using Give Lively’s tech, Carlyn felt a huge burden lifted off her shoulders. “I’ve never worked with a fundraising platform that is so adaptive for clients’ needs. I know that donations come through within minutes. I know the system is working, that our donors can use it with ease, and that I don’t have to enter those gifts into Salesforce because it is synced with our Give Lively account. The platform also makes it easy for donors to set up recurring gifts, so we are excited to continue to maximize this tool in our messaging.”
“Without Give Lively, we would not have seen this success.”
All in all, Carlyn says, “working with Give Lively has been a total game-changer for Soft Landing,” adding, “we have exceeded our goals and raised over $17,000 in secure online donations since we started our partnership just a few months ago. Without Give Lively, we would not have seen this success.”
Last year, Soft Landing used funds raised online to help buy bikes for refugees in Missoula for ‘MissoulaGives’, an annual charitable drive in the community. “Missoula is a very biking-friendly community, and most refugees who arrive here don’t have cars,” Carlyn says.
This year, Soft Landing is expanding their “United We Eat” program to help refugees launch culinary careers. The nonprofit is also hosting a soccer tournament, the Second Annual World Refugee Day Cup, in June. Carlyn says they will also be partnering with Welcoming America, a national nonprofit promoting refugee resettlement and integration, for “Welcoming Week” in September. “In 2017, we hosted an amazing array of events, like an Eritrean coffee ceremony, a play written a directed by a group of Congolese refugees, a night of Iraqi food at a local restaurant, and an exhibit featuring Hmong art and music.”
She’s looking forward to seeing what else 2018 brings for Soft Landing. “Being a Give Lively member means I know I am giving the best secure online donation experience to our donors, that our needs will always be addressed a timely manner, and that the Give Lively platform will always be on the cutting edge of the services that are provided to members. I will sing Give Lively’s praises all day long.”
“I’m so excited to see how we can maximize Peer-to-Peer, Text-to-Donate, and the other new Give Lively services to support our work this year in Missoula,” Carlyn says.
