How Catholic Mission increased monthly revenue 55% and tripled regular giving

About Catholic Mission

Catholic Mission is the Pope's mission agency in Australia. As part of a global network with offices in 154 countries, they work with local partners to support communities in need across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Their work focuses on education, healthcare, and community development initiatives that create lasting impact — from supporting future church leaders to building schools and healthcare facilities in underserved communities.

The challenge: a journey to modernize their donation platform

Before implementing Fundraise Up, Catholic Mission Australia faced significant challenges with their donation infrastructure that were limiting growth and donor engagement.

The organization needed a solution that could:

• Integrate seamlessly with their CRM to eliminate manual data entry
• Support digital wallets and alternative payment methods beyond credit cards
• Enable donors to cover processing fees
• Provide robust campaign management capabilities
• Offer donor self-service options
• Handle complex receipting rules for Australian tax law compliance

The receipting challenge was particularly acute. “Because we’re a religious nonprofit, Australian tax law requires us to use separate ABN (Australian Business Number) codes for religious projects versus community projects,” explains Danielle Smith, Catholic Mission’s Digital Marketing Manager. Donors needed the option to choose which type of project to support, with receipts reflecting that choice for tax purposes.

The solution: seamless integration and expanded giving options

Catholic Mission launched Fundraise Up on April 9, 2025, replacing their custom donation form with a modern, donor-friendly platform. They chose Fundraise Up for its comprehensive integration capabilities, donor-friendly interface, and AI-powered tools for recurring giving conversion. The timing aligned with their transition to Salesforce CRM, making integration a critical factor.

"Going to something that seamlessly integrates with Salesforce, Fundraise Up was just the best solution that we found out there," Danielle said.

While Fundraise Up didn't directly solve the ABN receipting challenge, Catholic Mission found a workaround by turning off Fundraise Up's receipting functionality and handling receipts through their CRM — allowing them to maintain compliance while gaining all the platform's other benefits.

The results: 55% monthly income increase and transformative growth

Since launching Fundraise Up, Catholic Mission has achieved impressive results that demonstrate both immediate financial impact and long-term organizational growth.

In the six months following implementation, Catholic Mission experienced:

• 55% average increase in monthly online revenue year-over-year
• 155% increase in number of supporters
• 173% increase in total income from those supporters
• First-ever month exceeding half a million dollars in online donations

"Every single month has been better," Danielle explains. "On average, it's been 55% higher than what we made in the comparative month last year."

The organization's two major annual appeals — end of financial year in June and World Mission Month in October — both occurred after the Fundraise Up launch, providing clear before-and-after comparisons.

In June 2025, online revenue had increased by around 24% compared to June 2024. This was also the highest online income month that Catholic Mission had ever seen.

Recurring giving transformation

Perhaps the most significant impact has been on recurring giving, which nearly tripled in both donor count and monthly income during the April to October period compared to the previous year.

"The new donors signing up with regular gifts on Fundraise Up has been fantastic," says Danielle. "It's nearly tripled the number in that comparative time frame from April to October compared to last year. And the income as well has nearly tripled — monthly income from regular givers."

Catholic Mission attributes much of their recurring giving success to Fundraise Up's AI-powered features, particularly the AI Upsell tool.

"We have the AI Upsell at the start and the end — both of them turned on, and both of them have seen good conversions come through," Danielle notes. "We're not going to turn those off anytime soon because they are working really well. Regular givers are golden in the nonprofit space — that's what we need.”

Unlocking new revenue: processing fee coverage and payment flexibility

One of the most significant early wins came from a feature Catholic Mission had never offered before: the ability for donors to cover processing fees.

"We didn't have that option before, so we just covered it all," Danielle explains. "81% of our donors are covering their fees. We got told the average was 50% and we're like, 'Yeah, that's good enough.' So to see 81%!"

This single feature has generated $6,000 in additional revenue.

"That's $6,000 of donors' money that can actually go towards projects and people in need," Danielle emphasizes.

Unexpected discovery: global giving through multi-currency support

One surprise benefit was the ability to accept donations in multiple currencies. While Catholic Mission Australia primarily serves Australian donors, they discovered a global audience ready to support their work.

"We weren't expecting that many donations in other currencies," Danielle shares. "It's not a huge proportion, but it is still like, 'Oh, there's actually people around the world that are interested in donating to Catholic Mission Australia,' which is really nice. That's a data point that we didn't have before."

Donor acquisition: the key metric for long-term sustainability

While revenue growth is important, Catholic Mission's leadership team has been particularly impressed by the platform's impact on donor acquisition. This focus on building their supporter base reflects a strategic approach to long-term sustainability.

"Sometimes it's not about the money," Danielle explains. "Sometimes it's just we're getting more donors, and that's future-proofing our leadership is really interested in."

This emphasis on acquisition is particularly important given Catholic Mission's aging donor demographic and strong bequest program. The organization is focused on digital acquisition strategies to build the next generation of supporters.

"What we're concerned about is in 15 years when many donors have passed away and their bequests have come through, we have to start working now to get the next donor base," Danielle notes. "Having such a strong and easy donation portal for online acquisition is going to be a major key."

Looking ahead: tribute giving and multi-language

Catholic Mission is now focused on leveraging Fundraise Up's full capabilities to expand their fundraising programs. Their immediate priorities include:

Tribute and in-memory giving: The team has already created and tested a tribute giving page and is working through the business case for leadership approval.

"That's something where we definitely want to turn on the options for people to set up a tribute page to leave gifts in memory of or in celebration of," Danielle shares. "If we offer tribute, that will open us up to a different demographic that can then come and share us with their friends. We can get engaged supporters to advocate on behalf of our missionaries."

Multi-language support: Given Australia's multicultural population, Catholic Mission is exploring Fundraise Up's language features to serve parishes that speak languages other than English.

The bottom line: digital fundraising doesn’t have to be hard

For Catholic Mission, Fundraise Up represents more than just improved metrics — it's a fundamental shift in how they approach digital fundraising.