Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia enhances fundraising efforts with Moore, a Microsoft partner, and Microsoft Azure

Experts at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have delivered many firsts in pediatrics—from the first bilateral transplant to the first fetal heart surgery, and the breakthroughs for children continue to happen every day. They developed a new tool to better study genetic variants linked to childhood cancer and other diseases. And they are advancing an in-utero cure for sickle cell disease, which affects one in every 375 African Americans.  

“We provide some of the world’s leading pediatric care and research, pioneering approaches that help kids grow up healthier,” says Jon Thompson, Associate Vice President of Philanthropic Strategy and Technology at CHOP. As the nation’s first pediatric hospital, CHOP serves patients from around the world, consults on the most difficult cases at other hospitals, and invents life-saving strategies used across the globe. 

To fund this critical work, CHOP sought to maximize its fundraising through deeper constituent relationships. The children’s hospital partnered with Moore, the constituent experience management company that leverages data and predictive modeling to advance nonprofits’ fundraising goals. Moore is also part of the Microsoft Tech for Social Impact (TSI) Digital Natives Partner Program, which accelerates the impact of cloud-first software providers through technical, AI-focused expertise and go-to-market support.  

Moore developed a novel constituent identity solution and pipeline for CHOP using Microsoft Azure. “With Moore, we have built something that the industry hasn’t seen before—a data-powered, constituent-first marketing operation that links people and causes,” Thompson says. “Microsoft, specifically the Azure platform, allows us to scale that. This technology ultimately drives empathy and human connection.”  

Connecting to constituents authentically

“The north star of my team is to understand who our constituents are, what their relationship with us is, and how to maximize their greatest lifetime value,” Thompson says. CHOP found that conventional segmentation strategies limited their ability to understand and communicate with their diverse supporters. “By providing an alternative to traditional data analysis, we create new pathways of investment,” explains Steve Harrison, President of Moore’s Creative Direct Response (CDR) division. “Through audience identification and data, we can understand who constituents are and what motivates them. That allows CHOP to create a better experience and therefore long-term engagement.” 

Moore has integrated SimioCloud, its omnichannel constituent data platform, into CHOP’s data analytics engine. SimioCloud combines data on constituents’ history and connections to the children’s hospital to reflect nuanced portraits of supporters. That way, development staff tailor outreach depending on if a donor’s child underwent craniofacial surgery or whether a constituent was saved by the hospital’s Cancer Center, for example. 

CHOP uses that personal touch to fund even more of the care and breakthroughs the hospital is known for. “To understand our constituents’ relationships with us, we must listen. The only way to listen at scale is through data,” Thompson says.  

Moore’s Azure-based solution uses machine learning to process massive amounts of constituent data to reveal previously hidden patterns. This “listening” shows how varying combinations of constituent experience, attachment to CHOP, and wealth lead to different tendencies of giving. Moore has also built AI-powered models to create lookalike profiles, enabling the hospital to identify new supporters who are most likely to donate. 

To make the most of these relationships, Moore conducts both constituent lifecycle analysis and campaign analysis for CHOP. This Azure-enabled analysis reveals donor behavior trends and how effective segmented campaigns are performing, empowering CHOP to fine-tune campaigns for maximum effectiveness. “That data, plus the visualization in Azure, allows CHOP to move much faster,” Harrison says. 

Moore has also built predictive models in Azure to guide reactivation campaigns for constituents with lapsed engagement. Instead of relying on conventional recency/frequency/monetary segmentation, predictive models have identified “donors that would have otherwise been lost,” Harrison says. The proactive approach recently reengaged a donor who made a significant donation to CHOP. 

Importantly, Azure handles data securely. “We’re hyper-focused on privacy,” Thompson says. Azure’s multi-layered security solutions, including always-on cybersecurity intelligence, safeguard data and detect threats to protect CHOP’s constituents. 

“Our most sophisticated audience analysis is dependent on the platform we use—Azure,” Harrison says. The flexible cloud platform facilitates cost-effective scaling up and down as needed. “The extra processing power enables us to go much further, much faster, delivering both performance and results. With Azure, we’re advancing what philanthropy can look like for children’s hospitals.” 

Raising more money to save children’s lives

Using the cloud to analyze data generates insights at a level and pace humans never could. The analysis shows who is likely to increase their gift amount and who is ready to move from occasional supporters to committed donors, enabling CHOP staff to effectively focus their time—and raise more funds for their mission.   

CHOP has found this data-based approach increased their response rate by 85 percent and boosted gift size by 25 percent. It has also helped donors move through the major giving process 17 percent faster. “Take those numbers and apply them to hundreds of millions of dollars in philanthropy every year. This solution, and our partnership with Moore, is nothing short of transformative,” Thompson says. 

Moore is committed to building even more AI-powered solutions to accelerate the impact of CHOP and its 1,200 other nonprofit customers. As a Digital Natives partner, Moore recently participated in a Microsoft hackathon, where the team built an AI-based tool to generate fundraising insights and analyze campaign performance.  

“We’re not bound by anything but the imagination of the brilliant teams that surround us,” Harrison says. “Azure is the vehicle that allows us to reach further than we ever thought possible.”

That innovation funds the vital work that saves children’s lives. “Our work with Moore and Microsoft enables us to build more meaningful relationships with constituents,” Thompson says. “These technology investments ladder up to safer children everywhere.”