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CLIENT CASE STUDY

Mary Nelson beside stacked boxes of school-supply donations for the Backpack Giveaway in Syracuse, NY.

Mary Nelson Youth Center: Automating Community Impact

From a DIY Wix site to a fully automated donor and registration pipeline—how a Syracuse nonprofit
freed up precious time, raised over $30,000 online in 60 days, and turned everyday supporters
into recurring donors.

💸 $30,000+ online in 60 days
⚡️ Donor receipts 100% automated
🗓️ Event registrations moved online
📧 Email list grows every signup

The Challenge

In November 2020—mid-COVID—Mary came to us through the Wix Partner Program. She was doing everything herself and struggling to update the site. What should have been “easy” edits became blockers, and important programs
(like the annual Backpack Giveaway) still relied on paper signups. Donation acknowledgments were typed by hand,
one letter at a time. Time she didn’t have.

  • DIY website that was hard to maintain
  • Paper/Excel workflows for major events
  • Manual donation receipts and filing
  • No connected database or email growth engine

Our Solution

1) New Foundation

  • Rebuilt the site off Wix onto a flexible, nonprofit-friendly platform
  • Modern donation page with quick checkout and optional monthly giving
  • Online registration for Backpack Giveaway, Christmas Gift Away, and new events (like the Gala)
  • Every form feeds a central contact list—no retyping data

2) Receipts That Send Themselves

We productized the pain point: donor receipts. The workflow is simple, fast, and bulletproof:

  1. Google Sheets (Manual Control): staff toggles a row to RUN when a receipt is needed.
  2. Zapier: detects RUN and passes the row data into the pipeline.
  3. PDF.co: generates a polished IRS-friendly PDF receipt from our HTML template.
  4. Google Drive: saves each PDF with a smart, unique filename (date-name-amount) so staff can
    re-send or audit later—without asking Mary.
  5. Brevo (email): sends a tracked, branded “Thank you” email with the PDF attached and a clear CTA
    to become a monthly supporter via the Membership page.

3) Story + Community

We volunteered, filmed, and helped tell the story of the Center’s impact. The site now showcases sponsors,
events, and media attention (Oprah, HGTV features)—and makes it incredibly easy for the community to give and get involved.

Results

  • $30,000+ online in 60 days—a strong new baseline for digital giving
  • Hours saved weekly—receipts and follow-ups run automatically
  • Clean audit trail—receipts archived in Drive with searchable filenames
  • List growth by design—every registration and donation builds the email audience
  • Frictionless events—families register on the site; staff gets organized rosters instantly

“We’ve raised $30,000 in donations on our website alone in the last two months.
The receipts send themselves, and I finally have my nights back.” — Mary Nelson

Nonprofit “Receipts-in-a-Box”

Turn manual donor letters into a one-click workflow. We’ll clone Mary’s setup for your organization:

  • Google Sheet control (RUN column)
  • Zapier automation orchestration
  • PDF.co receipt template (IRS-friendly)
  • Google Drive archive (smart filenames)
  • Brevo thank-you email (tracked) + monthly-giving CTA

Here’s a testimonal from Mrs. Mary Herself! 💖

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