Blackbaud News : Fundraising

Blackbaud in the News: Keeping it on the Mid-Level

Melanie Mathos — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:04:00 GMT

From Philanthropy Journal
By Amy Chase, Principal Consultant, Blackbaud

Facing an increasingly challenging funding environment, nonprofits are looking for new and innovative ways to maintain and grow support.

As a nonprofit professional, where should you start?

Should you invest in cultivating major donor prospects, increasing your sustainer program, or shift your focus to your most loyal donors? The answer may be closer than you think.

Organizations can look to their current donor base - specifically their mid-level donors - as a way to continue to build affinity and sustain, if not increase, their contributions.

First, you need to determine what a mid-level donor looks like for your nonprofit, as it differs for each organization.

How did they do that?

Melissa Dodge — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:25:00 GMT

On May 20th the Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT) helped raise $4 million for 353 Dallas nonprofit organizations! How is that possible? CFT accomplished this success because of support from 8,000 Dallas area donors, a dedicated staff, and help from the easy-to-use DonorBridge website created with Blackbaud Nonprofit Central™. Plus, great news coverage and social media reach helped get the word out. In one day, with the help of Twitter, DonorBridge news reached 10,000 people on that site alone with the group’s @DonorBridge account.

Below is a sampling of the coverage:

Dallas Giving Day raises more than $4 million
Robert Miller of the Dallas Morning News explains how the day was operated as well as describes it as the “Dallas Way.” Top 10 recipients are listed, the actual financial results will be announced in mid-June.

UPDATED with org list: Local charities pushing for donations on special 2-for-1 “Giving Day”
Pegasus News lists the many organizations that participated in Dallas Giving-Day.

DonorBridge Works Wonders
Phil Cubeta, of GiftHub.org explains how DonorBridge helped 8,000 North Texas donors find appropriate local charities, raising $4 million in 48 hours.

Blackbaud Launches Nonprofit Central for Community Foundations
Find out more information on Nonprofit Central and how other communities foundations can follow CFT’s lead.

Press Release: Blackbaud and PayPal Offer New, Low-Cost Web Tools for Nonprofits

Melissa Dodge — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:41:00 GMT

Charleston, S.C. and San Jose, Calif. (March 30, 2009) – Blackbaud, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLKB), the leading global provider of software and services designed specifically for nonprofit organizations, and PayPal, a leading global online payment service, today announced the availability of BlackbaudNow™, an affordable solution to help new and growing nonprofits reach their fundraising goals. BlackbaudNow offers nonprofits a point-and-click website builder with secure donation processing and the ability to send emails and record donors’ giving histories.

Read the full press release.

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: Take Your Nonprofit's Website to the Next Level

Melissa Dodge — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 19:04:00 GMT

Allison Van Diest, Blackbaud’s senior product marketing manager, talks with David Kinard, host of Marketing News Radio, about the challenges of effectively engaging constituents with online marketing. In this podcast, Allison covers subjects like event registration, email tactics, website analytics, online communication and fundraising, and donor development.

Listen to all four segments!

Blackbaud Delivers - Right to Your Desk!

Melanie Mathos — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:30:00 GMT

Blackbaud hit the road this summer with a seminar series called Blackbaud Delivers focused on fundraising during a recession. We've been to San Francisco, Bethesda, Boston, Minneapolis, New York City and just yesterday, San Diego. What if you were unable to attend one of our regional events? Don’t worry, you can hear the same great content from the exact same experts online at our upcoming web seminars.

The first online seminar will be presented tomorrow by Beth Isikoff, and will be focused on "Multi-Channel Marketing - A Strategic Advantage in a Recession."

Register now!

Here is a look at other upcoming seminars, both in person and online:

Seminar Locations and Dates

Charleston, SC	10/30/08	Register today!	Voting closed
Philadelphia, PA	11/06/08	Register today!	Voting closed
St. Louis, MO	11/13/08	Register today!	Voting closed
Toronto, ON	12/04/08	Register today!	Voting closed

Web Seminar Dates

10/23/08	Register today!	Multi-Channel Marketing — A Strategic Advantage in a Recession by Beth Isikoff
11/04/08	Register today!	Donor Retention: From Analysis to Action by Samantha Cohen
12/03/08	Register today!	The Right Message, The Right People, The Right Time — Making the Most of Email Marketing by Allison Van Diest

For more information on Blackbaud Delivers, visit www.blackbaud.com/blackbauddelivers.

Non-Profit Giving Slows in First Quarter of 2008 - Donors and Revenue Decline

Melanie Mathos — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:30:00 GMT

The Target Analytics Quarterly Index of National Fundraising Performance for the first quarter of 2008 was released yesterday. It compares trends in key fundraising indicators for more than 70 large national organizations every quarter.

Cambridge, MA (July 1, 2008) -- Organizations in the Target Analytics Index of National Fundraising Performance generally underperformed in the first quarter of 2008 (January through March). Overall donors and revenue both declined in Q1 2008, and the declines were evident across most of the sectors in the index.