Blackbaud News : AFP

AFP New Orleans, here we come!

Melanie Mathos — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:23:00 GMT

We're getting all jazzed up for New Orleans and are looking forward to a great AFP International Conference on Fundraising.

This is our third year as full sponsor and we are very proud to be a part of the conference and the nonprofit community.

This year at our booth (501) we will be holding a series of “mini sessions”: short, informative presentations covering topics such as how to maximize donor potential and growing your Internet strategy. Attend one of our sessions so you can enter to win a daily raffle drawing - two winners each day will receive a $500 donation to their organization! You can see the full schedule of mini sessions and AFP Education Sessions presented by Blackbaud employees here.

For live from the conference updates, be sure to follow Blackbaud on twitter at www.twitter.com/blackbaud.

Stop on over to the Service to Others blog to read more about conference happenings.

See you in New Orleans!

Are You a Part of AFP’s Fundraising Effectiveness Project?

Melissa Dodge — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:48:00 GMT

Launched in 2006 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), this project aims to help nonprofit organizations measure, compare, and maximize their annual growth in giving. By participating, you will be able to identify areas where you can improve and make better-informed, growth-oriented, budget decisions to boost donor revenue.

What is the project?
The Fundraising Effectiveness Project is a simple way for nonprofits to compare their fundraising gain and loss ratios from year to year and compare against other similar organizations. The Project was created with one principle in mind: growth in giving from one year to the next is the net of gains minus losses, and growth in giving is increased both by maximizing gains and minimizing losses.

How can you participate?
It only takes five minutes, and it costs nothing to participate.

Blackbaud has partnered with AFP to make it easy to participate. And by participating, your organization will receive the compiled data when AFP publishes the report.

In the "Plugins" section of The Raiser’s Edge, users will find the “Fundraising Effectiveness Project Plug-in," which will allow them to easily compile the required information for the survey and submit it electronically. The survey does not transfer individual donor information, only statistics of the overall giving program (e.g., number of new donors, repeat donors, lapsed donors, etc).

The Fundraising Effectiveness Project Plug-in only takes a few minutes to fill out and run, and not only will it give nonprofits a better idea of their giving, but it will also help the entire nonprofit community by contributing data to the overall project.

Read more online about how to use the Fundraising Project Effectiveness Plug-in.

To learn more, attend our free web seminar The Fundraising Effectiveness Project: Why Aren’t You Involved? hosted by Jim Bush on February 24, 2:00 p.m. ET

Blackbaud in the News: Discovering Hidden Potential

Melanie Mathos — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:11:00 GMT

Lawrence Henze, managing director of Target Analytics shares his thoughts on planned giving trends in the January/February issue of Advancing Philanthropy, the member publication of AFP:

If you have ever heard the industry axiom that planned-giving prospects are both older and wealthy, you undoubtedly have realized that this most accurately describes only the tip of the planned-giving prospect iceberg.

Of course, it certainly is worth exploring the tip of that iceberg and the approximately 10 percent of the prospects who exist there, as these prospects are readily identifiable and capable of significant additional giving through planned gifts. Using today’s fundraising lexicon, these prospects are “low-hanging fruit.” You likely have established relationships with these donors, so it should be a natural extension of these relationships to include a planned-giving request since most major-gift donors are also valid planned-gift prospects.

However, most planned-giving prospects are submerged and have different characteristics, making it more difficult to identify them. Also, if these prospects are ever to consider a significant gift, most likely it will be through a planned-giving vehicle. This is a significant distinction, and it is important for fundraising staff to be aware that these individuals are first and foremost excellent planned-giving prospects.

To read the full article, check out the January/February issue of Advancing Philanthropy.