For nearly 60 years, TCI Works has empowered North Carolinians in the Rocky Mount area with disabilities or disadvantages by helping them prepare for and secure stable jobs. 

“TCI is dedicated to enhancing the lives of people who have disabilities or disadvantages through work assessment, job training and job placement. This is accomplished by providing outsource services to business and industry.”

TCI Works partners with local industry for production and manufacturing work, giving job seekers hands-on training across several industries, working to create a community “where every individual can unleash their full potential by developing a sense of belonging and contributing meaningfully to society.”

“In the tapestry of TCI Works' storied history, one thread remains constant: the unwavering belief that every individual, regardless of ability or circumstance, deserves a chance to shine.” TCI Works website

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Background

In 1966, a group of families led by Ben Greenberg came together to build a pathway to opportunity for children with disabilities. They transformed a warehouse in Rocky Mount, NC, into a training space to empower job seekers with disabilities.

Today, TCI Works has a large manufacturing space where employees with disabilities can secure skilled manufacturing work. TCI Works also provides day programs for neighbors with intellectual and developmental disabilities, working with them on skills like self-help, socialization, and prevocational training. Day program participants have the opportunity to volunteer in community programs, take Adult Basic Education Classes, or pursue vocational training. Other programs assist high school students with disabilities find work or support full-time employees with disabilities with their jobs.

TCI also offers work training to the wider community, helping anyone who wants guidance in setting goals, acquiring new skills, and applying to jobs. They work with job seekers from the very beginning of an employment search, providing vocational assessments and employment coaching to match people with their perfect jobs. That holistic support helps those whom others might overlook or underestimate to reach their full potential.

For all their decades of working with donors, government partners, and private enterprise, TCI Works hadn’t found the perfect fundraising platform. Eventually, they settled on a payment processing merchant through their local bank, and fees followed.

Lisa Couturier, Business Development Manager at TCI Works, said she couldn’t be sure exactly how much the payment processing fees added up to, but they were a frustrating drain on TCI Works resources.

“As a non-profit, every dollar lost or spent takes away from our programs that support individuals with disabilities.” Lisa Couturier

The merchant pulled “exorbitant” service fees that could have gone to training people who needed a boost to get back on their feet. Instead, TCI Works had to hand those funds over for the privilege of collecting the money they’d already raised. Couturier felt it was unfair that the beneficiaries of TCI Works’ programs were the ones missing out.

“The more money spent on fees, the less money we have for the clients in our long term support day program. We strive to enhance their lives socially, emotionally, mentally and allowing them to choose whether to earn some money on their own when they are here.” Lisa Couturier

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Couturier researched many different fundraising platforms, but she kept finding hidden fees when she dug into the fine print. It didn’t seem like TCI Works’ needs would really be that difficult to accommodate. TCI Works wanted a platform with no or minimal fees that was easy to navigate and offered a few easy automations. 

After seeing so many sites with hidden fees, Couturier did some extra reading before signing up for Zeffy. When she discovered that Zeffy’s claims weren’t too good to be true—that the platform was truly free—TCI Works decided to give it a try.

“As I went down the rabbit research hole, I discovered Zeffy. Signed up for a webinar, read reviews and was more than pleased with the support, how user friendly the platform was and that we could actually brand the forms for TCI.” Lisa Couturier

In the webinar she attended for research, Couturier created her first donation form in Zeffy. The webinar leader showed Couturier and a few others how to set specific permissions. She was able to customize the form so that all of TCI’s executive leadership could access to the back end of the form, but only TCI’s finance director and president could actually access the funds collected. Couturier was thrilled with how easy the process was and how accessible she found Zeffy’s training and support, all for free. 

“The ease of funds being deposited once a month automatically was another great ability creating more effectiveness and efficiency of our team. The support team continued to check in to make sure I understood and there were no issues. Then I was shown all of the other ways we can use the platform outside of our fundraisers.” Lisa Couturier

Zeffy helped Couturier set up a CRM to track donors and share the message of the great work TCI is doing. It made campaigns and events much simpler to pull off. But making the lives of TCI Works’ employees a little bit easier on an administration level was just a side benefit. The real benefit that Couturier found working with Zeffy was that TCI was able to provide more comprehensive services for their clients.

“Using Zeffy is bringing the organization to the current century, saving us money so that TCI can keep to our mission of  helping enhance the lives of those with disabilities.” Lisa Couturier