From their mountainous headquarters in Bozeman, Montana, Sacred Portion Children’s Outreach supports the care and adoption of orphaned children all over the world. They help local birth mothers hoping to find the right family for their babies, ensuring the adoption process goes as smoothly as possible. Sacred Portion also gathers support for vulnerable children living in a care home in the Philippines. While these kids wait for their new homes, Sacred Portion sponsors their food, education, shelter, and essential needs.

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Background

Jan Druckenmiller, an early childhood development expert and adoptive mother herself, began Sacred Portion in 1998, after a trip to South East Asia. Druckenmiller built a partnership with Rehoboth Children’s Home, a local refuge for abandoned and orphaned children in the Philippines, and Sacred Portion has gathered sponsorships and for children living at Rehoboth ever since. Community Engagement Coordinator Brynne Spicer says they’re always thinking about the big picture.

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“As an adoption agency, we are more than just a place for families to find their forever children; we are a team of passionate individuals who are committed to solving the global orphan crisis by making a difference in the lives of children and families around the world!” Brynne Spicer

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To cover the cost of each child’s daily education, nutrition, and housing, Sacred Portion found sponsors in the United States willing to send $35 per month. Meanwhile, their partners at Rehoboth search for local family members who might be willing to adopt children in their care. 

At the same time, Sacred Portion works with birth mothers in Montana who are looking to place their babies with the right adoptive family, ensuring every child has carefully vetted, loving parents who will guide them for years to come. 

Sacred Portion  consists of just a few full-time staff who work hard to raise impressive amounts of funding to build strong families. For years, they used PayPal to collect monthly sponsorships and adoption fees, but the additional fees PayPal charged were both funneling vital money away from children and demoralizing the team. 

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“We were paying so many fees from PayPal, it was beyond ridiculous! As a nonprofit we work so hard to gain and maintain donations, to have even a cent taken out of each donation feels like we were working so hard just to have things taken away.” Brynne Spicer

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 Adoption fees can be hefty, so adding transaction fees to these charges is no small matter. With PayPal, adoptive families were saddled with additional charges that could have gone to feeding and caring for their child during an often stressful transition time.

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“When our adoptive families would pay adoption fees, they had to cover the costs of the transaction fees. That's not fair to people who are trying to make a positive difference in the world!” Brynne Spicer

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The other main portion of Sacred Portion’s work, their sponsorship program for children living in orphanages, is an efficient program where every dollar donated makes a huge impact. 

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“The Sacred Portion Children's Outreach lost $75 [to fees] a month in their child sponsorship program alone, which could have sponsored two more children a month with food, clothing, education, shelter, and other essential needs.” Brynne Spicer

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On top of fees, Sacred Portion employees found PayPal both complex and lacking in the features they needed to fundraise effectively. And when they did need help figuring out the platform, Spicer struggled to get anyone on the phone to help.

Sacred Portion wanted to send Reheboth the full fruits of their fundraising efforts, and they wanted to see their labors pay off all the way. So Spicer sacrificed valuable hours researching the pros and cons of different fundraising platforms. She was excited to find Zeffy, but she didn’t realize how integral the service would become to Sacred Portion’s work.

Zeffy’s fee-free fundraising meant Sacred Portion was able to care for more children from day one. But Spicer loved that Zeffy was more than just a fundraising platform. Using Zeffy, she can personalize her fundraising asks by showing donors exactly who they’re supporting. She was also immediately impressed by Zeffy’s flexibility and strong suite of supporting features. 

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“No more fees, easier to manage, more features, and we loved that we could send a fun and personalized form to our donors who love to know the story behind what we're doing which is easily accessible through the donation forms.” Brynne Spicer

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Sacred Portion uses Zeffy’s customizable donation forms for direct asks, they sell merch through the platform’s eCommerce capabilities, and host peer to peer campaigns on the platform. Zeffy personalizes every step of the fundraising process for donors and offers individual support for the Sacred Portion team, so fundraising is both free and less time consuming. That has changed the way they’re able to operate.