Case Study
Holy Family University
From Spreadsheets to Stewardship:
How Holy Family University Streamlined Donor Outreach Inside Raiser’s Edge NXT
Instead of relying on spreadsheets, exports, and manual follow-up, Holy Family University built automated stewardship workflows that support gift officers directly inside Raiser’s Edge NXT.
When advancement teams are short on time, donor stewardship is difficult to maintain.
Not because staff don’t care.
Because manual processes make personalization difficult to sustain.
At Holy Family University in Philadelphia, acknowledgment letters, giving tiers, milestone tracking, and personalized donor outreach all depended on manual effort. Staff were constantly pulling exports, updating spreadsheets, and piecing together follow-ups.
That’s where AutomateGenius came in. By building automated stewardship workflows directly inside Raiser’s Edge NXT, Holy Family University created a more organized, proactive, and sustainable approach to donor outreach.
The Results
More personalized donor outreach. More consistent stewardship. More time focused on donor relationships instead of spreadsheets.
And more operational support for a busy advancement team.
Holy Family University at a Glance
12+ staff
hours
saved per month on acknowledgment letters alone
Personalized
donor outreach
now happens in minutes
Giving tiers
updated consistently
for the first time
Additional
stewardship outreach
now includes birthdays, milestone gifts, and personalized thank-you emails
Gift
officers
equipped with ready-to-send donor outreach
The Challenge
Stewardship Was Too Manual to Scale
Like many advancement offices, Holy Family University’s team knew donor stewardship mattered deeply.
The challenge wasn’t commitment.
It was capacity.
Before AutomateGenius, donor acknowledgment and stewardship processes were heavily manual. Staff relied on exports, spreadsheets, and individual follow-up to manage donor communications and giving tiers.
For newer staff members, understanding donor history, giving milestones, and stewardship expectations often required digging through spreadsheets, exports, or relying on a colleague’s memory.
Even routine tasks required significant effort:
- Acknowledgment letters were prepared manually multiple times per week
- Giving tiers were tracked through Excel exports and manual review
- Personalized donor outreach depended heavily on staff bandwidth
- New staff members had limited visibility into historical donor engagement
Some stewardship processes simply weren’t happening consistently because the time investment was too large.
“Stewardship wasn’t personalized the way that the heartfelt emails are now. We often knew things like birthdays or giving milestones, but it was not feasible for our gift officers to do this on their own.”
Janet Linaweaver, Director of Advancement Operations, Holy Family University
The Shift
Personalized Stewardship at Scale
AutomateGenius partnered with Holy Family University to build automation workflows directly connected to Raiser’s Edge NXT that supported both stewardship and advancement operations.
Before implementation, Holy Family University’s team knew automation could help, but they also knew they didn’t have the time to build and troubleshoot everything on their own.
That’s why the AutomateGenius setup and support process mattered just as much as the automation itself. The AutomateGenius experts worked closely with the Holy Family team to understand manual processes, identify inefficiencies, and personalize automations around how the advancement office actually operated day to day.
Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all setup, the solutions were tailored around the university’s staffing realities and stewardship goals.
Automated email workflows now support:
- Milestone giving notifications
- Birthday outreach
- Personalized thank-you emails
- Prospect manager stewardship touchpoints
- Giving tier management and updates
- Faster acknowledgment letter processing
The biggest difference?
Staff no longer start from scratch.
Looking Ahead
Today, automation is part of Holy Family University’s daily advancement workflow.
- Personalized stewardship no longer feels impossible.
- Donor outreach no longer depends entirely on available staff time.
- And newer team members have stronger visibility into donor engagement and opportunities.
For teams using Raiser’s Edge NXT who feel buried in spreadsheets, exports, and repetitive processes, Holy Family University’s experience offers a simple reminder: You do not have to manage it all manually, or alone.
Automation can help your team right the ship and refocus on what matters most: donor relationships.
“With the premade templates and Gmail connector, it’s super easy to do a quick review, check it over, and send. Our gift officers LOVE this and they have seen good results, too.”
Julie Rempfer, Senior Director of Donor Relations and Prospect Management, Holy Family University
Need more support for your team?
AutomateGenius helps advancement teams streamline donor outreach, acknowledgment workflows, and stewardship directly inside Raiser’s Edge NXT.
