Introducing Classy Academy, a New Online Training Platform for Nonprofits to Improve their Fundraising Prowess

SAN DIEGO, June 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Classy, a Public Benefit Corporation that creates fundraising software for nonprofits, announces the launch of Classy Academy, a free learning platform of on-demand courses to help social sector professionals best leverage its cloud-based fundraising tools for online fundraising campaigns. The new program was unveiled last week at Classy's Collaborative: Virtual Sessions, the company's annual conference designed exclusively for nonprofit professionals. This year's event attracted over 7,000 registrants and some of the top names in the nonprofit space, including Reshma Saujani, Founder of Girls Who Code and Marshall Plan for Moms; Alex Sheen, Founder of because I said I would; Trovon Williams, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications at the NAACP; and Kathy Reich, Director at BUILD Ford Foundation. 

Classy Academy sets out to empower nonprofits with fundraising best practices and step-by-step instructions to jumpstart, optimize, and scale campaigns on Classy's platform, as well as provide practical resources for day-to-day tasks, like creating compelling email templates to boost conversions. Over the past 10 years, Classy has enabled nonprofits to raise over $3 billion for their missions; Classy Academy leverages these years of experience and industry expertise to enable a culture of continuous learning for the organizations the company serves.

"With insights gained from over 6,000 organizations, the Classy Academy learning curriculum and certification program are a natural evolution in Classy's mission to mobilize and empower the world for good," says Soraya Alexander, SVP of Marketing and Customer Growth at Classy. "We are confident that providing all nonprofits a way to advance their education and online fundraising know-how will lead to increased funding and greater impact for their missions."

Classy Academy is launching with six interactive courses and content available in the form of video tutorials, product simulations, downloadable content, practical resources and templates, and more. Additional courses will be released on a biweekly basis and will feature guest appearances and instruction from Classy team members and other influential leaders in the nonprofit community. Courses immediately available at launch include:

• Account Setup: Get step-by-step instructions to set up your account, prepare to accept payments, and find your way around your Classy account settings.
• Building a Campaign: Learn how to pick the right campaign type for your needs, create and design a campaign, and set up automated emails to engage with supporters.
• Launching a Campaign: Navigate nonprofit marketing strategy and develop a communications plan for email campaigns, social media best practices, peer-to-peer strategy, and more.
• Supporter Management: From tracking transactions to updating recurring donations, this course teaches the essentials for managing day-to-day operations and supporters.
• Optimizing Donation Pages: Learn what it takes to optimize donation pages for conversion. This course dives into how to edit and improve your pages and practical actions you can take to test and grow. 
• Recurring Essentials: Learn how to approach a recurring donation program in a manageable way, recruit and communicate with recurring donors strategically, and use recurring features in your Classy campaigns.
• Measuring Your Success: Understand how to measure success with data through custom reports, and how to leverage data effectively to shape your campaign strategy.

Classy Academy is also launching a special course with NextAfter, a fundraising research lab and consultancy focused on online fundraising optimization, which will focus on best practices for acquiring donors online and tactical advice on how to convert new email subscribers into donors.

Classy Academy courses will offer curriculum for all levels of online fundraising comprehension, with beginner to advanced courses, complete with levels of certification that can be touted via one's LinkedIn profile and utilized as a differentiator on resumes. To learn more about Classy Academy and how to get started, please visit www.academy.classy.org.

About Classy
Classy is a social enterprise that creates world-class online fundraising software for nonprofits, modernizing the giving experience to accelerate social impact around the world. Based in San Diego, CA, Classy is trusted by organizations of all sizes, from the fastest-growing nonprofits to some of the world's largest social organizations. Classy also hosts the Collaborative conference and the Classy Awards to spotlight the innovative work nonprofits are implementing around the globe. For more information, visit www.classy.org or follow Classy on Twitter @Classy.

CONTACT: [email protected]

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