Helping grant wishes with technology

At Make-A-Wish Wisconsin, the mission is clear: “We grant life-changing wishes to children with critical illnesses,” says Haley Gengler, the organization’s wish experience manager. The nonprofit has fulfilled more than 9,000 wishes since its inception, covering everything from singing with an orchestra to a Parisian-style bedroom makeover and bringing home a goldendoodle puppy.

Not surprisingly, granting such a wide range of wishes creates significant procurement challenges for the Make-A-Wish Wisconsin team. “Every wish is special, whether for a travel adventure that would benefit from a guidebook or items specific to that destination, while others like wishing for a puppy might include fun extras such as toys and treats. The diversity of wishes makes coordinating and sourcing each one a detailed process,” Gengler says.

And for a long time, she says, the organization struggled to build a logistically sound process for managing its annual toy drive and coordinating wish lists for specific wish children. “Our staff shared a single login for a personal Amazon account, which created notable complications and an elevated risk of data mismanagement,” Gengler says. “We had no good way to track who was buying what off a wish list.”

Not only did that create time and accounting inefficiencies; the process also made it hard to acknowledge donors in a personalized way that would build stronger relationships between the community and Make-A-Wish Wisconsin.

Building meaningful connections

Like most nonprofits, Make-A-Wish Wisconsin operates with tight budgets and with staff and volunteers who wear a wide variety of hats. Process improvements can have a significant positive impact on the ability to deliver for the communities it serves. To that end, in 2021, Make-A-Wish Wisconsin partnered with Amazon Business, gaining access to a wide range of tools and services that have helped transform its operations.

Among the procurement and donor engagement solutions Amazon Business offers nonprofits, Mindful Giving has been particularly beneficial. These curated wish lists make it easy for individual and corporate donors to identify and purchase items—shopping directly through Make-A-Wish Wisconsin’s account—which gives them a deeper understanding of the kids they’re helping. In the process, donors can take advantage of free shipping and discounted pricing tied to Make-A-Wish Wisconsin’s tax exempt status, helping stretch contributions even further. Mindful Giving also facilitates cash donations, and Gengler says donors often will contribute the money they’re saving through discounted pricing.

From Gengler’s perspective, the most valuable aspect of Mindful Giving is how it helps Make-A-Wish Wisconsin develop deeper relationships with its donors, including corporate partners. The accounting features of Amazon Business add tremendous visibility, allowing Gengler and her colleagues to reach out personally to thank people for their contributions. “We can really follow up with those donors and engage them in future programs,” she says. “Our team can spend time making sure our donors feel a meaningful connection to our mission and hopefully stay involved going forward. These are the people who make our mission run.”

Meanwhile, the time, money, and energy previously devoted to navigating more chaotic procurement and accounting processes can be reallocated to activities that enhance the experiences of the kids Make-A-Wish Wisconsin serves and strengthen the meaningful connections with donors that make those wishes possible.

A tool kit for nonprofits

Casey Cameron, senior account executive, nonprofits at Amazon Business, says that Make-A-Wish Wisconsin is leveraging these tools exactly as they are designed to be used, allowing potential donors to easily identify items, purchase them, complete the donation process in a single location, and receive all appropriate accounting for tax purposes. The nonprofit gets detailed information that is critical for engaging and reengaging donors over time.

“For organizations like Make-A-Wish, the tool enables companies to become official wish makers through corporate partnerships, allowing employees to purchase specific items that directly fulfill individual wishes,” Cameron says. “With flexible use cases and scalable technology, the opportunities for impact are virtually limitless, and Mindful Giving continues to evolve rapidly to meet the changing needs of organizations and their communities.”

Over time, Gengler hopes to not only collaborate with Amazon Business to continue improving initiatives like the yearly toy drive, but also to leverage tools like Mindful Giving in new ways to create deeper connections between donors and the children they’re helping. “We can create a situation where a partner can help see a wish through from start to finish and have a hand in the experience in a unique, hands-on way, even seeing the reveal of that wish for the family,” Gengler says. “This could create a powerful experience for our donors.”

More broadly, Gengler believes the benefits of technology are significant for nonprofits like Make-A-Wish Wisconsin. High levels of support from Amazon Business have made integration smooth and helped her team tailor the solutions to their specific needs. “This is something we never would have been able to create on our own,” she says. “Technology has helped us expand our reach across the state and maximize the generosity of our donors.”

Originally published on the Wall Street Journal.