Case Study - Acorns Children's Hospice

Migrated from: Donorflex
No of Constituents: 180,000 +
Annual Income: £20,000,000 +
Charity Type: Hospice
Donorfy Package: Equivalent of Donorfy Enterprise

A parent never imagines their child will be diagnosed with a life limiting or life threatening condition, But, when the unimaginable happens, Acorns Children’s Hospice steps in. As the largest hospice in the UK and Europe, Acorns covers seven counties, offering vital care, while helping children and their families make precious memories and live their lives well.

In the past year, they’ve supported 781 children and 1,045 families across the West Midlands and Gloucestershire. From rehabilitative respite and pain and symptom management , to emergency and end-of-life care and psychosocial counselling, the highly specialist team delivers tailored care to the individual needs of each child and their family – all delivered with warmth, dignity and love. And despite many heart-breaking moments, the hospice is far from a sad place. As Carisa Coley, CRM and Compliance Manager, puts it:

Sadness happens, of course. But it’s also full of giggles and kids being gloriously naughty - just as they should be.”

Quick Glance

Smarter Segmentation

Automated segmentation now makes it easy to personalise asks with standout results — a recent campaign bought in 109% more income than projected.

Time Back

With over 49 automation triggers running in Donorfy, the team saves hours each week on manual admin, giving them more time to focus on strategy and supporter relationships.

Complete Picture

With 180,000+ records in one place, Acorns has instant access to supporter insights across teams, helping them plan, report and connect more effectively.

CHALLENGE

Outgrowing Old Roots

Acorns incredible Fundraising team has a huge task when it comes to generating income. To keep their services running, they need to raise more than £13 million per year - that’s £35,000 per day. Meeting that kind of target takes more than just passion. It takes technology that supports data-driven fundraising at scale.

Before Donorfy, they were long-time users of an alternative charity CRM - in fact, they were their very first client. The system served them well for decades, but Acorns ultimately outgrew it. Carisa adds:

It was built for who we were, not who we are now."

As Acorns supporter base grew and fundraising became more complex, they needed better segmentation, more automation, and flexible reporting tools to keep up.

We’d simply grown too large for our legacy CRM and needed a system that could better match our ambition and growth.”

SOLUTION

Planting New Seeds with Donorfy

After a full market review, Acorns ultimately chose Donorfy for its ease of use, transparent pricing and full suite of features that aligned with their needs.

We could see it was built with charities like us in mind,” Carisa explains. “We needed something dynamic, and Donorfy was that fit.”

The migration was fast-paced (understatement of the year: six weeks), but with strong support from partners MAST and Donorfy’s onboarding team, they went live with minimal disruption. Carisa adds:

It was absolutely a baptism of fire! But we have an experienced in-house Data team, and they worked with MAST to configure Donorfy to support our wide-ranging fundraising activities long-term.”

With Donorfy in place, the Acorns team didn’t just adapt, they optimised. Their skilled analysts now use SQL and Power BI to build custom dashboards and reports, while also enhancing their data with partners like Data8, appending company details, wealth indicators and other valuable insights.

We’re not just storing data, we’re using it to work smarter,” Carisa explains.

That combination of powerful reporting, dynamic segmentation and growing automation laid the foundations for real fundraising transformation.

IMPACT

Big Wins from Little Triggers

From legacies and in-memory giving to community fundraising, corporate partnerships and regular giving, Donorfy now underpins every strand of fundraising at Acorns.

The team instantly benefits from having everything in one place - a clear view of each supporter’s full journey, accessible across departments. But they haven’t stopped at the basics. With segmentation, automation and triggers firing on all cylinders, they’re building highly personalised, efficient donor journeys at serious scale.

Take their regular giving programme: with over 49 email automation triggers running in Donorfy, including a warm welcome journey for regular givers, the team ensures new supporters feel valued from day one, and are more likely to give again.

It’s a lovely experience for supporters, and it means we save time and build long-term value.”

Their segmentation strategy is another standout. In fact, effective segmentation led to their November newsletter bringing in 109% more income than projected. Yes, you read that right!

That campaign worked because we tailored the ask amounts based on giving history,” Carisa explains.

Instead of blanket appeals, Acorns calculated each donor’s ‘current value’ based on past giving, then used that to tailor ask ladders and increase the likelihood of a meaningful response.

For example, we asked lapsed donors for 50% of their past giving, as they’re not as warm. For warmer givers we gave the option to give at their current giving rate, plus the option to give a little more. It worked.”

Room to Grow: Future-Proofing with Access

As a long-term user with a big dataset and big ambitions, Acorns is excited about what the future holds now that Donorfy is part of the Access Group. In fact, they’re already actively feeding in their thoughts - and there’s nothing more valuable than collaboration.

You can feel the momentum,” says Carisa. “There’s resource, direction and opportunity to shape the product. And we’re ready to be part of that conversation. When Donorfy gets even stronger, so do we.”

That collaborative spirit is central to how Acorns uses Donorfy too: combining smart data use with human connection to power fundraising that’s both respectful and effective.

Donorfy helps us do what we do better. Our team is incredible at building strong, respectful relationships with the people who support us. We’re working smarter, not harder — and making every moment, and every penny, count.”

The Power of Personalisation

How Acorns Children's Hospice Drives Data-Led Fundraising Success

Quick Glance

Outgrowing Old Roots

Planting New Seeds with Donorfy

An integrated solution

Big Wins from Little Triggers

Room to Grow: Future-Proofing with Access

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