Allegiance Color Guard is on a unique mission to build children’s character, confidence, and self-esteem through the vibrant art of Color Guard– sometimes also known as flag corps, or flag spinning. This performing arts non-profit gives young people the opportunity to learn, perform, and compete in the Color Guard. 

“Our mission is to provide life-enhancing educational and performance experiences for young people.”  Kirsten Miller, Executive Director

Background 

Dating back to 2010, Allegiance Color Guard of Dundee, Illinois offers children and young adults living in the Chicagoland area and beyond, the opportunity to participate in Color Guard, a unique and vibrant marching pageantry art form. Three levels of performance and educational programs are offered to young people ages 9-23. Our two competitive groups and one performance based group fosters lifelong friendships, builds confidence and promotes teamwork. 

Before making the switch to Zeffy, Allegiance struggled with the astronomical fees associated with most fundraising platforms. To make matters worse, these systems were overly complex and inaccessible to anyone without a technical background. Allegiance Color Guard’s Executive director Kirsten was disappointed with the lack of support offered to nonprofits, especially given the high prices. 

“The platforms we used didn’t talk to each other seamlessly and were not easy for non-technical volunteers to utilize.” Kirsten Miller, Executive Director 

Allegiance Color Guard was spending $5,425 a year on fundraising software. This was frustrating for Kirsten, who wanted to put this money to better use on the organization's members. Performing and competing can be costly, and $5,000 is the approximate cost of travel and accommodation for World Championship Week, the biggest and final competition of the season. To keep their organization sustainable, the Allegiance Color Guard reluctantly raised their membership fees.

Kirsten learned about Zeffy through research into more affordable, accessible fundraising alternatives. She was intrigued by the breadth of features Zeffy offers, including, but not limited to, reporting, email, and e-ticketing. These features were perfect for a nonprofit like Allegiance Color Guard, which comes with complex financial and fundraising needs. Not to mention, Zeffy is 100% free. 

“We found out about this amazing platform to facilitate, manage, and organize our growing financial and fundraising needs. Zeffy quickly rose to the top of our short-list of vendors which checked all our boxes.” Kirsten Miller, Executive Director

In 2023, Allegiance made the switch to Zeffy, right at the time membership fees were due. Kirsten was curious to see how the members and team would take to the new system, and she was excited to find that Zeffy received rave reviews from members and administrative volunteers alike. Soon, Allegiance Color Guard had expanded to use Zeffy for all transactional touchpoints. By May 2024, Allegiance had moved all fundraising operations to the platform.

Since switching to Zeffy, Allegiance Colour Guard has saved over $5,425 in fees–money that’s far better spent on members than on fundraising software. For example, $5000 is the equivalent cost of one required floor covering for competitive productions. Even better, Zeffy has simplified fundraising, to make it more efficient. 

“Zeffy has launched our organization's financial efforts into the 21st century, saving us thousands in fees…the full breadth of functionality has saved not only money - but precious time ... and more than a few gray hairs.” Kirsten Miller, Executive Director