The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund moved their P2P campaign over to Raisely - and raised 21% more

The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund started using Raisely for their signature peer-to-peer campaign in 2022. We sat down with Angela Reid, Director of Development, and Jenna Courage Baz, Development Associate, Individual Giving, to learn more about their decision to switch platforms, how they engage the community, and their future campaign plans.

The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund (DWF) is a national charity that works to create a path toward reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada through 3 areas of focus: awareness, education, and action.

As a part of their broader programs and services model, DWF calls on all people in Canada to join our collective reconciliation journey and take reconciliACTION.

According to the DWF website, a reconciliACTION is “a meaningful action that moves reconciliation forward. ReconciliACTIONs aim to bring Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples together in the spirit of reconciliation to create awareness, share, and learn.”

One of their most popular reconciliACTIONs is encouraging individuals and communities to participate in Walk for Wenjack.

Walk for Wenjack was created to honour and commemorate the memory of Chanie Wenjack - a 12-year-old Anishinaabe boy who died after escaping residential school. He was attempting to reach his family 600km away.

“For a period of more than 150 years, First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation children were taken from their families and communities to attend residential schools which were often located far from their homes. More than 150,000 children attended residential schools. Many never returned. The schools were often underfunded and overcrowded. The quality of education was substandard. Children were harshly punished for speaking their own languages. Staff were not held accountable for how they treated the children.” - National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada.

Walk for Wenjack started as a grassroots initiative in 2016 with a small group of volunteers undertaking the task of trying to retrace the steps Chanie intended to take to reunite with his family.

Today it has grown into a national movement that encourages Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples from coast to coast to coast to participate in a local walk or host their own. However, it’s not just about fundraising – the campaign seeks to educate and raise awareness about the true history and impact of residential schools.

“It’s about the journey and understanding of how far Chanie would have had to travel to get home. So many Indigenous youth were extracted from their families and forced to attend residential schools.”

The Journey to Raisely

When Jenna joined DWF in January 2022, her first project was finding a new platform for Walk for Wenjack. Upon finding Raisely, she realized the platform checked a lot of the key boxes that DWF was looking for. “It was an easy decision for us and clear that Raisely was the right choice,” Jenna shared. Some of their must-have features included:

• Activity tracking and the ability for participants to track their activity manually in their dashboards or automatically with the Strava integration.
• Easily customizable templates.

"I was shocked at how easy it was to build a whole website. I’m not a designer or a coder, but I’m really proud of the Walk for Wenjack site, it feels so good to say I built that! Raisely is accessible tech for people like me."

• Easy to use on the front end for participants and donors, as well as on the back end for campaign admins.
• Automatic and CRA-compliant tax receipts and thank you emails.
• Cost-effective. “One of our teammates could not wrap their head around the fact that Raisely is free.”
• Continuous support.

"From email support to expert chats to recorded Zoom videos – the Raisely team is very accessible. The willingness to help our specific visions come to life is key to our fundraising success. The Raisely support team never says no, they say let's see how we can make it work.

Walk for Wenjack launched on Raisely in September 2022 and ended up raising over $142,000 – a 21% increase in fundraising after switching platforms.

Managing Community Connections

What makes this campaign unique is the fact that Walk for Wenjack encourages participation from all pillars of the community – from individuals to families to schools to businesses. The DWF team wants their campaign to be accessible to all. They find that some of the best ways to manage and engage with these community groups are:

• Customized sign-up flows to make it as easy as possible to register. Individuals, schools, and businesses each have different sign-up processes on the Walk for Wenjack site – they simply click the button that best represents them, and go from there.
• Providing webinars and resource guides to ensure participants understand the campaign, how to register, and how to fundraise. This has been able to cut down on the amount of participant questions and admin work for Jenna on the back end.
• Spreading the word and promoting the campaign as much as possible. Whether it’s through education initiatives with schools, corporate partnerships, or a highlight in their monthly newsletter, DWF is committed to ensuring that the campaign reaches every corner of the community.

Walk for Wenjack 2023 is now live – with a larger goal amount, improved sign-up processes, and a new timeline. Perhaps the most exciting change is that Walk for Wenjack is now officially a year-round event. “We decided we did not want to have a single moment where there is not a Walk for Wenjack site available. We want it to be accessible year-round, and encourage participants to host their own walk whenever they want,” Jenna shared.

September 30 – National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

In alignment with the commitment to year-round accessibility, Walk for Wenjack has now become an option for individuals, schools, and communities who are looking for ways to commemorate September 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada.

The day honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. Across the country, hundreds of local activities are taking place that commemorate the history and legacy of residential schools.

In preparation for this year’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, DWF is hosting its first-ever Truth and Reconciliation Week. From September 25 – October 2, they will be leading a week of learning and reflection, featuring two webinars and a series of resources and discussion guides to continue your reconciliation journey.

Learn more and register on the DWF website here.

On September 30, DWF is proud to partner once again with major media outlets and radio stations throughout Canada on A DAY TO LISTEN 2023.

This year’s theme is Mino Bimaadiziwin: Honouring Indigenous Identity. Mino Bimaadiziwin means ‘the good life’ in Anishinabemowin. By celebrating the diversity of Indigenous identity, we are honouring the good way of life.

Guests will speak about Indigenous identity through conversations about representation in sports and entertainment, the fusion of traditional and contemporary music, land protection and the impacts of climate change, and more.

To find a radio station near you, visit A Day to Listen on the DWF website here.

With Raisely's comprehensive features and easy usability, the DWF team has been able to streamline their campaign management, engage their community in more reconciliACTIONs, and significantly increase their fundraising. If your peer-to-peer program needs a similar transformation, request a Raisely demo today.