Watch the full video interview with Natasha Jovanovic, Living City Organizer at Ecology Ottawa.
Every year Ecology Ottawa runs a Tree Distribution Program where they distribute free trees throughout the entire city with the goal of greening up their community. This year, Natasha had to navigate unprecedented obstacles during her first year running the event.
In order for Ecology Ottawa to run their program, they rely on the large public events they attend where they distribute the trees. Due to covid, all of the events Ecology Ottawa normally attends were cancelled and they were left with no method for administering the trees or collecting donations. Natasha knew she had to find a different way to fundraise this year and that’s when she heard about Trellis.
“The fundraiser really took its form once we got in touch with Trellis.” – Natasha Jovanovic, Living City Organizer at Ecology Ottawa
Natasha and the team at Ecology Ottawa were hopeful they could distribute trees by the end of the year, but they didn’t know what that would look like.
After attending a live demo, Natasha was excited for the opportunity ahead and had new confidence for what Ecology Ottawa could achieve. As the world started to open up and with Trellis’ help, she and her team were able to hold a tree fundraiser utilizing many of the platform’s revenue driving features. It was different from their normal tree distribution program but turned out to be even more successful than planned! They were still able to work with their nursery partner, Ferguson Forest Centre, to provide seedlings at a discounted rate through their Trellis page. Their donors were thrilled they were able to collect their seedlings at a covid-safe pickup location after the fundraiser was complete.
Great Customer Support
“What sold me on using Trellis was all the real people who were talking to us to actually help.” – Natasha Jovanovic
Like many event organizers, Natasha and her team have never built a fundraising page from scratch. They were able to create their fundraising page easily using the Trellis templates, which included an e-commerce store, donations, information on the cause, and details on how to pick up the trees purchased. By utilizing the live support chat during the design process, Natasha knew Trellis had her back and made learning a new platform easy.
Record Results
“The results were astounding! Our original fundraising goal was set at $5,000 and we surpassed that within a couple of days from launch. We ended up raising just over $18,000.” – Natasha Jovanovic
Ecology Ottawa was able to distribute over 3,000 trees through their Trellis fundraiser, which is going to help green up the community of Ottawa. Natasha and her team also included a donation option for people who didn’t have a place for a tree but wanted to provide someone else with one. They were able to raise an extra $500 which they are going to use to purchase more trees and donate them next spring!
“Trellis helps – there are people who actually respond to you. Dennis was very attentive and answered messages way more timely than I answer messages! He was so helpful and always checked in to make sure we were all good.” – Natasha Jovanovic
Because their event was such a success and the level of support they received, Natasha and her team at Ecology Ottawa are currently running their next fundraiser, The 14th Annual Eco Gala & Silent Auction using Trellis.
