Case Studies & Testimonials » Orangutan Outreach

CASE STUDY

How crypto donations to Orangutan Outreach surpassed its previous year’s entire revenue

Accepting crypto donations with The Giving Block has helped Orangutan Outreach reach a new audience and build a new revenue stream that will help it protect orangutans for many years to come.

Mission

Orangutan Outreach protects orangutans in their native forests of Borneo and Sumatra while providing care for orphaned and displaced orangutans until they can be returned to their natural environment. If they cannot be released, the organization ensures they have a life of dignity and the best possible long-term care.

Where the organization’s crypto journey began

Initially, the idea of accepting crypto donations was met with resistance from board members. The pushback came from a place of misunderstanding around cryptocurrency and how the organization would accept and use crypto donations. But the key to success was education.

Richard Zimmerman, Executive Director, showed them that The Giving Block would be set up as a giant catcher’s mitt to only receive donations. There was no plan for the organization to invest in crypto, only hold it or convert it to dollars. That was going to be easy because The Giving Block automatically converts crypto donation to cash.

A big gift made everything click

One day, the organization received a 169 ETH ($389,000) donation from the Bored Ape Yacht Club, a hugely popular NFT project. That’s when everyone at Orangutan Outreach truly saw the potential in crypto donations.

“We brought in more money than we ever have, so much more than we were hoping for or expecting to get,” said Richard Zimmerman, Executive Director at Orangutan Outreach.

Platform features make crypto fundraising simple

One key factor that led to this success was The Giving Block’s support team, which helped Orangutan Outreach overcome its initial hurdles. Specifically, they broke down barriers and resistance surrounding the nature of crypto, understanding market volatility, and hesitancy around adopting new technologies. In this way Orangutan Outreach was set up to receive crypto correctly from day one.

“When you’re getting into crypto, everything is new. If you don’t have someone holding your hand you can make really big mistakes and mess everything up. But that headache went away for us with The Giving Block,” said Zimmerman.

The Giving Block’s ease of use also ensures that crypto won’t become a distraction that pulls the Orangutan Outreach team away from what really matters: its mission. And they won’t have to change their core values, appearance, or vision in order to meet new audiences of donors on their turf.

Defining long-term success

The 169 ETH donation from the Bored Ape Yacht Club was huge, but it wasn’t the only crypto donation success Orangutan Outreach has seen. As of December 2021, they’ve raised more through crypto donations than their entire revenue from 2020.

But at the end of the day, what matters most is the impact these donations allow them to make.

Now, Orangutan Outreach has the funding in place to expand the sanctuary space for the 100+ orangutans who can’t go back into the wild. It also allows them to fund new projects, train and educate new veterinarians and help cover the costs to transport veterinary specialists from around the world to provide care for orangutans in need.

Now, thanks to crypto donations, instead of having to set up a capital campaign and worry about falling short of their goal, Orangutan Outreach can start with a pool of funds they can hold onto—and hopefully grow—until they’re needed in the field.

“We’re going to incorporate crypto into everything we do moving forward. I’m not used to having the luxury of this arsenal and war chest behind me, but we’re going to make it bigger so we can do more good work.” Today, over 90% of crypto-fundraising nonprofits use The Giving Block, and over 90% of crypto donors give through our platform.