Blackbaud in the News: Going online for independent fundraising events

From the Philanthropy Journal:

By Mark Davis, director of Technical Solutions for Blackbaud and Meghan Dankovich, director of consulting for Event 360

Each year, people fundraise on behalf of their favorite nonprofits in any number of events like runs, walks, bicycle rides, auctions, car washes and hundreds of other creative ways.

We all are familiar with the large, nationally-organized fundraising events like the Heart Walk and the Memory Walk.

But what about the numerous smaller independent fundraising events that can be as small as a simple bake sale or a single runner training for a marathon?

While not as prominent as the better-known fundraising campaigns, these events have a distinct advantage in that they essentially cost nothing for the beneficiary organization, as the expenses are covered by the independent event organizer.

Blackbaud recently partnered with Event 360 on a research project to better understand the common denominators of a successful programmatic approach to third-party fundraising.

The analysis showed that online registrations, donations and fundraising-per-participant are increasing, and that independent fundraising events represent a growing revenue source, especially online, for many organizations.

Based on a Blackbaud assessment, there was an estimated $300 million raised in 2008 in the United States from these types of events, indicating that organizations should find better ways to cultivate these fundraisers and provide the support they need to succeed.

Read more.

Register for the February 3 web seminar and download the complete study at www.blackbaud.com/IFE.