Customer Story

Transforming Donation Processes with Powerful Digital Workflows

Customer Story

Transforming Donation Processes with Powerful Digital Workflows

Customer Story

Transforming Donation Processes with Powerful Digital Workflows

Customer Story

Transforming Donation Processes with Powerful Digital Workflows

Customer Story

Transforming Donation Processes with Powerful Digital Workflows

Making more time for donor recruitment, engagement, and retention is key to the success of any advancement department or nonprofit. Using the Formstack Platform, University of Houston improved their internal donation processes by removing paper and automating tasks.
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Established in 1927, the University of Houston empowers students in their pursuit of learning, discovery, leadership, and engagement. Located in a sprawling metropolis, the campus provides students with cutting-edge programs, including undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, distance, and continuing education studies.
Higher Education
2019
Donation Workflow
Forms, Documents, Sign
HIPAA Compliant Workflows, Auto-Reminders, Advanced Data Routing
Customer Story

Transforming Donation Processes with Powerful Digital Workflows

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Customer Story

Transforming Donation Processes with Powerful Digital Workflows

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About the Episode
Episode Highlights
Meet our Guest
Episode Transcript

Challenge

University of Houston received more than $1.1 billion in donations from nearly 1.5 million donors in 2019, and many of those gifts required a lot of manual processing. When donations would come in over the phone, the gift processing staff would manually fill out an Excel sheet to designate the type of gift and how it should be distributed.

That data would then be shared through email, physically routed to the correct people, and manually entered into their systems. Once the data was compiled into a document, the data collector, relationship manager, and gift processor would approve and physically sign. The process was slow, paper-based, and often caused bottlenecks and data entry issues.  

Solution

The Advancement team created an entirely digital donation workflow using the Formstack platform of Forms, Documents, and Sign. The gift preparer enters data into the secure form, which then automatically generates a finalized donation document.

The document is automatically routed to the relationship manager and gift processor for approval and electronic signatures. Automated notifications ensure the document is signed quickly, eliminating bottlenecks and helping the process flow smoothly. Because the process was so easy to build and implement, other teams at the university are now looking into ways to adopt the Formstack Platform as well.

Results

Eliminated manual data entry and paper processes

Empowered employees to create their own digital workflows

Improved data security with HIPAA, PCI, and GDPR compliant processes

Consolidated software within their tech stack

Reduced process bottlenecks by automating reminders and document routing

Adopted digitization across multiple teams and processes

Customer Story

Transforming Donation Processes with Powerful Digital Workflows

Customer Story

Transforming Donation Processes with Powerful Digital Workflows

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Customer Story

Transforming Donation Processes with Powerful Digital Workflows

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Challenge

University of Houston received more than $1.1 billion in donations from nearly 1.5 million donors in 2019, and many of those gifts required a lot of manual processing. When donations would come in over the phone, the gift processing staff would manually fill out an Excel sheet to designate the type of gift and how it should be distributed.

That data would then be shared through email, physically routed to the correct people, and manually entered into their systems. Once the data was compiled into a document, the data collector, relationship manager, and gift processor would approve and physically sign. The process was slow, paper-based, and often caused bottlenecks and data entry issues.  

Solution

The Advancement team created an entirely digital donation workflow using the Formstack platform of Forms, Documents, and Sign. The gift preparer enters data into the secure form, which then automatically generates a finalized donation document.

The document is automatically routed to the relationship manager and gift processor for approval and electronic signatures. Automated notifications ensure the document is signed quickly, eliminating bottlenecks and helping the process flow smoothly. Because the process was so easy to build and implement, other teams at the university are now looking into ways to adopt the Formstack Platform as well.

Results

Eliminated manual data entry and paper processes

Empowered employees to create their own digital workflows

Improved data security with HIPAA, PCI, and GDPR compliant processes

Consolidated software within their tech stack

Reduced process bottlenecks by automating reminders and document routing

Adopted digitization across multiple teams and processes

Panelists
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Infographic

Transforming Donation Processes with Powerful Digital Workflows

Learn how University of Houston used the Formstack platform to revamp its internal donation processes with online forms, documents, and eSignatures.
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Challenge

University of Houston received more than $1.1 billion in donations from nearly 1.5 million donors in 2019, and many of those gifts required a lot of manual processing. When donations would come in over the phone, the gift processing staff would manually fill out an Excel sheet to designate the type of gift and how it should be distributed.

That data would then be shared through email, physically routed to the correct people, and manually entered into their systems. Once the data was compiled into a document, the data collector, relationship manager, and gift processor would approve and physically sign. The process was slow, paper-based, and often caused bottlenecks and data entry issues.  

Solution

The Advancement team created an entirely digital donation workflow using the Formstack platform of Forms, Documents, and Sign. The gift preparer enters data into the secure form, which then automatically generates a finalized donation document.

The document is automatically routed to the relationship manager and gift processor for approval and electronic signatures. Automated notifications ensure the document is signed quickly, eliminating bottlenecks and helping the process flow smoothly. Because the process was so easy to build and implement, other teams at the university are now looking into ways to adopt the Formstack Platform as well.

Results

Eliminated manual data entry and paper processes

Empowered employees to create their own digital workflows

Improved data security with HIPAA, PCI, and GDPR compliant processes

Consolidated software within their tech stack

Reduced process bottlenecks by automating reminders and document routing

Adopted digitization across multiple teams and processes

Challenge

University of Houston received more than $1.1 billion in donations from nearly 1.5 million donors in 2019, and many of those gifts required a lot of manual processing. When donations would come in over the phone, the gift processing staff would manually fill out an Excel sheet to designate the type of gift and how it should be distributed.

That data would then be shared through email, physically routed to the correct people, and manually entered into their systems. Once the data was compiled into a document, the data collector, relationship manager, and gift processor would approve and physically sign. The process was slow, paper-based, and often caused bottlenecks and data entry issues.  

Solution

The Advancement team created an entirely digital donation workflow using the Formstack platform of Forms, Documents, and Sign. The gift preparer enters data into the secure form, which then automatically generates a finalized donation document.

The document is automatically routed to the relationship manager and gift processor for approval and electronic signatures. Automated notifications ensure the document is signed quickly, eliminating bottlenecks and helping the process flow smoothly. Because the process was so easy to build and implement, other teams at the university are now looking into ways to adopt the Formstack Platform as well.

Results

Eliminated manual data entry and paper processes

Empowered employees to create their own digital workflows

Improved data security with HIPAA, PCI, and GDPR compliant processes

Consolidated software within their tech stack

Reduced process bottlenecks by automating reminders and document routing

Adopted digitization across multiple teams and processes

Collecting payments with online forms is easy, but first, you have to choose the right payment gateway. Browse the providers in our gateway credit card processing comparison chart to find the best option for your business. Then sign up for Formstack Forms, customize your payment forms, and start collecting profits in minutes.

Online Payment Gateway Comparison Chart

NOTE: These amounts reflect the monthly subscription for the payment provider. Formstack does not charge a fee to integrate with any of our payment partners.

FEATURES
Authorize.Net
Bambora
Chargify
First Data
PayPal
PayPal Pro
PayPal Payflow
Stripe
WePay
Monthly Fees
$25
$25
$149+
Contact First Data
$0
$25
$0-$25
$0
$0
Transaction Fees
$2.9% + 30¢
$2.9% + 30¢
N/A
Contact First Data
$2.9% + 30¢
$2.9% + 30¢
10¢
$2.9% + 30¢
$2.9% + 30¢
Countries
5
8
Based on payment gateway
50+
203
3
4
25
USA
Currencies
11
2
23
140
25
23
25
135+
1
Card Types
6
13
Based on payment gateway
5
9
9
5
6
4
Limits
None
None
Based on payment gateway
None
$10,000
None
None
None
None
Form Payments
Recurring Billing
Mobile Payments
PSD2 Compliant

Challenge

University of Houston received more than $1.1 billion in donations from nearly 1.5 million donors in 2019, and many of those gifts required a lot of manual processing. When donations would come in over the phone, the gift processing staff would manually fill out an Excel sheet to designate the type of gift and how it should be distributed.

That data would then be shared through email, physically routed to the correct people, and manually entered into their systems. Once the data was compiled into a document, the data collector, relationship manager, and gift processor would approve and physically sign. The process was slow, paper-based, and often caused bottlenecks and data entry issues.  

Solution

The Advancement team created an entirely digital donation workflow using the Formstack platform of Forms, Documents, and Sign. The gift preparer enters data into the secure form, which then automatically generates a finalized donation document.

The document is automatically routed to the relationship manager and gift processor for approval and electronic signatures. Automated notifications ensure the document is signed quickly, eliminating bottlenecks and helping the process flow smoothly. Because the process was so easy to build and implement, other teams at the university are now looking into ways to adopt the Formstack Platform as well.

Results

Eliminated manual data entry and paper processes

Empowered employees to create their own digital workflows

Improved data security with HIPAA, PCI, and GDPR compliant processes

Consolidated software within their tech stack

Reduced process bottlenecks by automating reminders and document routing

Adopted digitization across multiple teams and processes

Challenge

University of Houston received more than $1.1 billion in donations from nearly 1.5 million donors in 2019, and many of those gifts required a lot of manual processing. When donations would come in over the phone, the gift processing staff would manually fill out an Excel sheet to designate the type of gift and how it should be distributed.

That data would then be shared through email, physically routed to the correct people, and manually entered into their systems. Once the data was compiled into a document, the data collector, relationship manager, and gift processor would approve and physically sign. The process was slow, paper-based, and often caused bottlenecks and data entry issues.  

Solution

The Advancement team created an entirely digital donation workflow using the Formstack platform of Forms, Documents, and Sign. The gift preparer enters data into the secure form, which then automatically generates a finalized donation document.

The document is automatically routed to the relationship manager and gift processor for approval and electronic signatures. Automated notifications ensure the document is signed quickly, eliminating bottlenecks and helping the process flow smoothly. Because the process was so easy to build and implement, other teams at the university are now looking into ways to adopt the Formstack Platform as well.

Results

Eliminated manual data entry and paper processes

Empowered employees to create their own digital workflows

Improved data security with HIPAA, PCI, and GDPR compliant processes

Consolidated software within their tech stack

Reduced process bottlenecks by automating reminders and document routing

Adopted digitization across multiple teams and processes

Challenge

University of Houston received more than $1.1 billion in donations from nearly 1.5 million donors in 2019, and many of those gifts required a lot of manual processing. When donations would come in over the phone, the gift processing staff would manually fill out an Excel sheet to designate the type of gift and how it should be distributed.

That data would then be shared through email, physically routed to the correct people, and manually entered into their systems. Once the data was compiled into a document, the data collector, relationship manager, and gift processor would approve and physically sign. The process was slow, paper-based, and often caused bottlenecks and data entry issues.  

Solution

The Advancement team created an entirely digital donation workflow using the Formstack platform of Forms, Documents, and Sign. The gift preparer enters data into the secure form, which then automatically generates a finalized donation document.

The document is automatically routed to the relationship manager and gift processor for approval and electronic signatures. Automated notifications ensure the document is signed quickly, eliminating bottlenecks and helping the process flow smoothly. Because the process was so easy to build and implement, other teams at the university are now looking into ways to adopt the Formstack Platform as well.

Results

Eliminated manual data entry and paper processes

Empowered employees to create their own digital workflows

Improved data security with HIPAA, PCI, and GDPR compliant processes

Consolidated software within their tech stack

Reduced process bottlenecks by automating reminders and document routing

Adopted digitization across multiple teams and processes

Challenge

University of Houston received more than $1.1 billion in donations from nearly 1.5 million donors in 2019, and many of those gifts required a lot of manual processing. When donations would come in over the phone, the gift processing staff would manually fill out an Excel sheet to designate the type of gift and how it should be distributed.

That data would then be shared through email, physically routed to the correct people, and manually entered into their systems. Once the data was compiled into a document, the data collector, relationship manager, and gift processor would approve and physically sign. The process was slow, paper-based, and often caused bottlenecks and data entry issues.  

Solution

The Advancement team created an entirely digital donation workflow using the Formstack platform of Forms, Documents, and Sign. The gift preparer enters data into the secure form, which then automatically generates a finalized donation document.

The document is automatically routed to the relationship manager and gift processor for approval and electronic signatures. Automated notifications ensure the document is signed quickly, eliminating bottlenecks and helping the process flow smoothly. Because the process was so easy to build and implement, other teams at the university are now looking into ways to adopt the Formstack Platform as well.

Results

Eliminated manual data entry and paper processes

Empowered employees to create their own digital workflows

Improved data security with HIPAA, PCI, and GDPR compliant processes

Consolidated software within their tech stack

Reduced process bottlenecks by automating reminders and document routing

Adopted digitization across multiple teams and processes

Challenge

University of Houston received more than $1.1 billion in donations from nearly 1.5 million donors in 2019, and many of those gifts required a lot of manual processing. When donations would come in over the phone, the gift processing staff would manually fill out an Excel sheet to designate the type of gift and how it should be distributed.

That data would then be shared through email, physically routed to the correct people, and manually entered into their systems. Once the data was compiled into a document, the data collector, relationship manager, and gift processor would approve and physically sign. The process was slow, paper-based, and often caused bottlenecks and data entry issues.  

Solution

The Advancement team created an entirely digital donation workflow using the Formstack platform of Forms, Documents, and Sign. The gift preparer enters data into the secure form, which then automatically generates a finalized donation document.

The document is automatically routed to the relationship manager and gift processor for approval and electronic signatures. Automated notifications ensure the document is signed quickly, eliminating bottlenecks and helping the process flow smoothly. Because the process was so easy to build and implement, other teams at the university are now looking into ways to adopt the Formstack Platform as well.

Results

Eliminated manual data entry and paper processes

Empowered employees to create their own digital workflows

Improved data security with HIPAA, PCI, and GDPR compliant processes

Consolidated software within their tech stack

Reduced process bottlenecks by automating reminders and document routing

Adopted digitization across multiple teams and processes

Formstack gives me the ability to collect, process, sign, and transform information. One of the great things is the value of having all that interoperability in one platform, compared to getting all of those services individually.
Mark Walcott
Executive Director Advancement Systems
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Lindsay is a writer with a background in journalism and loves getting to flex her interview skills as host of Practically Genius. She manages Formstack's blog and long-form reports, like the 2022 State of Digital Maturity: Advancing Workflow Automation.