Founded in 2008, VOICE is a nonpartisan coalition of over 50 faith communities and civic organizations in Northern Virginia working together to build power in middle and low-income communities across Prince William, Fairfax, and Arlington counties, as well as the City of Alexandria.
With a grant from Progressive Multiplier, VOICE set out to engage their network to build and train a Growth Team that would identify, solicit, and add 160 new donors while building a system of engagement to retain them. The organization identified 20 people from their network to be part of the Growth Team, with two members planning to solicit their congregations for support and the remaining 18 creating lists of 20 people each to approach for donations. VOICE created materials to aid the Growth Team and began conducting one-on-one trainings, with staff providing coaching and support through December. The project revealed fundamental organizational truths about fundraising culture while building critical infrastructure for future success.
VOICE's approach centered on peer-to-peer outreach. The Growth Team recruited members from their volunteer base, each tasked with reaching out to their personal networks. Staff provided training sessions and created support materials to guide team members through their asks. In parallel, VOICE launched a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign using digital tools, asking 12 people to create fundraising pages. The organization also developed Friends of VOICE campaigns in end-of-year 2022 and spring 2023 to engage new and existing donors. Throughout the project, VOICE maintained monthly consultations with Progressive Multiplier staff to review progress and adjust their approach.
Cultural Shifts Take Time: VOICE discovered they were "not built to raise money" and needed to make fundamental cultural shifts before fundraising could succeed at scale. The experiment revealed that many leaders wanted more money but weren't ready to do the hands-on work required.
Invest in Professional Capacity: The project clarified that revenue generation requires dedicated expertise. VOICE realized their strategy team wasn't functioning as needed and that hiring a professional fundraiser was essential.
Systems Matter More Than Immediate Returns: While the peer-to-peer campaign had minimal impact on revenue, the systemic changes made during the project created exponential value. VOICE built analytics capabilities, established data-driven decision-making processes, and created infrastructure that would support future fundraising efforts.
Expert Guidance Drives Success: The monthly meetings with Progressive Multiplier proved invaluable for problem-solving and strategic thinking. As one staff member noted, they "would have done better with no money and more time" with expert support.
The real victory of VOICE's project lay not in immediate fundraising totals but in organizational transformation. The project forced honest conversations about fundraising culture and capacity, leading VOICE to make critical investments in professional fundraising staff. The analytics and data systems built during the project became embedded in all of VOICE's work, creating a foundation for data-driven decision-making across the organization. These systems positioned the future fundraiser to succeed in ways that wouldn't have been possible before the project. Perhaps most importantly, VOICE gained clarity about what works in their context. While peer-to-peer fundraising with volunteers proved challenging, the organization learned that systematic donor engagement and professional fundraising capacity were the paths forward. Using their own funds, VOICE launched into another experiment related to digital communications, demonstrating that the learning from this project enabled them to continue innovating. The project created transparency around fundraising processes and successes within the organization, building a foundation for the cultural shift needed to sustain independent revenue generation over time.