San Diego, California
Healthcare
With a commitment to local impact, Alzheimer’s San Diego (ASD) empowers caregivers and individuals living with dementia to navigate their journeys with confidence. They serve their community by offering resources, training for care partners, and connections to clinical trials.
Every dollar raised stays within the community, which ensures that their programs continue to make a meaningful difference in the lives of those affected by dementia.
Every year, the organization brings together hundreds of participants for two flagship peer-to-peer events: Walk4ALZ and Ride4ALZ. These events are more than just fundraisers; they are community-driven movements to support free services for those in need.
But, behind the scenes, the journey to creating these impactful events wasn’t always smooth.
Outdated Peer-to-Peer Tools Caused Challenges for Participants and Staff Alike
Alzheimer’s San Diego faced mounting frustrations with their old peer-to-peer fundraising platform. While their community was passionate, the technology they relied on was anything but empowering.
A major obstacle stood in their way: low participant engagement. Because their previous platform was so cumbersome, participants were unsure of how to navigate the tools available to actively fundraise, so they usually stopped engaging after registration. This led to missed opportunities to maximize peer to peer fundraising efforts.
This lack of engagement was compounded by another critical issue: the platform’s outdated and unintuitive design made it nearly impossible for participants to set up personal fundraising pages or share their campaigns. Staff members found themselves spending countless hours hosting technical training sessions and creating step-by-step guides just to help fundraisers get started. This burdened the team with administrative tasks, leaving little room to focus on more strategic efforts like community building and donor engagement.
“When we were on the old platform, we actually had to host tech-like classes to walk people through it,” said Caitlin Wion, Senior Manager of Data Operations at ASD.
To add to the frustration, data management was a nightmare. Registrations and donations had to be manually imported to the CRM, a tedious process prone to errors and inconsistencies. The team spent days cleaning up data, which delayed their ability to effectively engage with participants and focus on growing the event.
“There was a lot we couldn’t clean up,” said Wion. “Some of [the data] that got transferred over was inappropriate names, not-real names and addresses, and different things like that. Things that we’d find years later and ask, ‘Where did this come from?’”
These roadblocks drained valuable time and resources and prevented the Alzheimer’s San Diego team from creating stronger, more meaningful connections with their community.
A Turning Point: Switching to Neon Fundraise
Adopting Neon Fundraise wasn’t just a change in technology—it was a transformation in how Alzheimer’s San Diego engaged their community. After years of struggling with outdated tools, the organization finally had a platform that felt like an ally, not a hurdle, that empowered both participants and staff.
The impact was immediate. What once felt like an endless cycle of manual data entry and cleanup disappeared. Registrations and donations flowed effortlessly into Neon CRM (check their Neon CRM story), freeing staff from the spreadsheets that had drained their time reconciling records. With these burdens lifted, the team could refocus on what was most important: supporting their participants and nurturing event growth.
But it wasn’t just the back-end that improved. Fundraisers now had access to user-friendly tools that gave them more control over their efforts. Setting up their peer-to-peer pages was straightforward, and with email templates and QR codes at their fingertips, reaching donors became much easier. Even participants who had previously been hesitant to engage found themselves sharing their pages through personal emails and social media.
“The tools on our website and in Neon Fundraise are encouraging our riders to take more of a fundraising stance rather than just registering and showing up for the ride”
– Senior Manager of Data Operations at ASD.
Gradually, more people began to participate. As they gained confidence, the sense of momentum within the community grew, which resulted in more engagement and rising excitement around the events.
For the staff, this shift was a relief. Instead of hosting hours-long training sessions, they could simply provide clear, easy-to-follow guides. Fundraisers felt confident using the platform, and the need for constant technical support faded away. Participants could now focus on their goals without being bogged down by technology.
Neon Fundraise didn’t just streamline operations—it reenergized the entire fundraising experience. Now, Alzheimer’s San Diego has the tools they need to build stronger connections and create lasting impact within their community.
Transforming Events and Building Connections with the Right Tools
During 2024’s Walk4ALZ, ASD raised nearly $500,000—an impressive achievement that highlighted the effectiveness of their enhanced fundraising strategies. But beyond the numbers, the staff saw an even bigger impact in the way participants engaged. The platform’s intuitive design allowed fundraisers to focus less on the mechanics of fundraising and more on sharing their personal stories and building connections.
“With the old platform, it was a handful of people who were really into fundraising. Now, we’re seeing that shift where more and more people are into fundraising because it’s so intuitive compared to our old platform,” said Wion.
With time freed from manual processes and troubleshooting, staff were able to prioritize what mattered most: fostering a sense of community. Events became less about the logistics and more about creating an inclusive atmosphere where participants felt celebrated and supported. Walkers and riders began to see themselves not just as participants, but as part of a movement to bring hope and resources to families affected by Alzheimer’s.
Boost Peer-to-Peer Participation with Neon Fundraise
The right peer-to-peer fundraising platform can make it easier for people to get involved in your event… and it can save time and trouble for your staff, too.
Want to learn more about the platform Alzheimer’s San Diego used to engage their community and manage their event? Learn more about Neon Fundraise!
