Aloha United Way raises $3.5M+ for Maui relief

Aloha United Way has been a cornerstone of support for the island of Oahu for more than 100 years, working with corporate partners to strengthen the economic and physical wellbeing of the community. Digital tools carry a lot of that weight: fundraising, donor engagement, and the operations behind both.

The challenge: donor data behind manual exports

Before StratusLIVE, Aloha United Way ran on a legacy CRM that made modern digital tools hard to integrate. Donor information moved between systems by export and import, with a person in the middle. That consumed staff time, invited errors, and delayed outreach when speed mattered most.

The solution: one integrated giving stack

Aloha United Way now runs donation pages, events, and corporate workplace campaigns on StratusLIVE, connected directly to StratusLIVE 365 CRM. Donor information flows into the CRM automatically. As Director of Digital Fundraising Charmaine Viegas puts it: “We no longer needed a middle person to export and import lists of donors back and forth. It all happens automatically.”

When the Maui wildfires hit, the response took an hour

On the day the fires started, the team stood up a dedicated relief donation page within an hour and shared it across social media and the news. Corporate partners immediately asked for donation pages of their own to share with their networks. Page cloning made that a quick, deliberate process, and the community raised more than $3.5 million for relief efforts.

Corporate partnerships that outlast campaign season

By expanding employee giving to include events, Aloha United Way deepened partnerships with companies like Bank of Hawaii. Funds arrive directly and donor information is captured with the gift, which cuts administrative work and opens the door to personalized outreach. Companies get an easy, visible way for employees to give back.

More than 40 events on one registration system

From themed gatherings to affinity groups to their golf tournament, Aloha United Way has hosted more than 40 events with centralized registration and real-time tracking, using discount codes and sponsorships to grow participation.

From one-time gift to lasting relationship

With giving data and the CRM on the same platform, the team builds donor journeys that steward one-time donors toward recurring support. During the Maui recovery, one-time relief donors received ongoing updates about the work their gifts made possible, and an invitation to stay part of it.

Looking ahead

Aloha United Way plans to keep expanding digital giving across workplace campaigns, special events, and affinity groups, and to keep finding new ways to put these tools to work for the community.