News and Resources
BWF Client Advisory – Selecting and Recruiting Campaign Volunteers
Read about best practices in selecting, recruiting, and engaging campaign volunteers.
Higher Ed Online Fundraising and the Rise of “Money Bombs”
Arizona State: $3.059 million in 36 hours … Columbia University: $7.8 million in 24 hours (after raising $6.8 million just one year earlier) … Santa Clara University: 2,600+ donors in 24 hours – by far their biggest day for donor participation ever. Short duration, online fundraising campaigns or “money bombs” are taking over higher education. … Continue reading →
Client Advisory – Physician Engagement in Grateful Patient Programs
Spouses and family members often have significant levels of influence in a prospect’s decision to make a significant gift. Prospective donors are also influenced by representatives from our organizations, and in the healthcare setting, no one has more influence than the medical and nursing staff. Bentz Whaley Flessner’s own research found that across all hospital types, it is this group that has the most influence on affluent donors’ giving decisions.
Donors Sweet on University of Michigan’s Victors Valentines
Content, content, content… In some ways, it’s the simplest concept: produce lots of good content and you’ll have more supporters and more goodwill among those supporters (not to mention online hooks that catch new supporters). The thing is, creating good content – especially on a consistent basis – is anything but simple. You need at … Continue reading →
How the Dalai Lama Helped Santa Clara University Prove Social Media ROI
When you’re selling shoes, the metric to prove social media ROI is relatively easy. Ultimately, it boils down to …how many shoes you’ve sold. (A lot of quantifiable engagement metrics lead to that end result, but ultimately, shoe sales trump all else). For many of us working in the nonprofit world – higher education, in … Continue reading →
Client Advisory – Tips for Hiring New Fundraisers
The size of fundraising programs across the nation is growing, but the talent pool of qualified, effective fundraisers is simply not growing fast enough to meet the new demand. Development shops of all sizes are competing for frontline talent, and very few are winning. BWF presents tips for what non-profits can do to better find, attract, and recruit fundraising talent.
What is a social media strategy for fundraising?
When I ask clients “do you have a social media strategy?” they will often point me to a list of guidelines for best practices on using social media. Make no mistake, establishing guidelines for your organization’s use of social media is smart …but it’s far from a strategy. An online and social media strategy – … Continue reading →
Client Advisory – Trends in Donor-Advised Funds
Client Advisory - April 16, 2014 Trends in Donor-Advised Funds Donor-advised funds (DAFs) are one of the fastest growing ways for donors to contribute to their favorite organizations. A 2013 study by the National Philanthropic Trust found that donor-advised fund...
ASU Raises More Than $3 Million During 2-day Online Campaign
There’s nothing like the feeling after an intense fundraising campaign ends with all the goals met. And of course, it’s great when your organization blows past its goals. But how about when you beat your goals by more than 3,800 percent? That was the glorious experience Arizona State University development pros enjoyed after ASU recorded … Continue reading →
Client Advisory – Retaining Campaign Volunteers
Retaining Campaign Volunteers: Getting the right people on board is a crucial step requiring careful planning, but retaining those volunteers can require even more strategic effort.
Five Techniques to COAST Through Prospect Development Visualization
Integrated efforts toward managing the flow of prospects through the pipeline continue to evolve at a rapid pace. Read Bond Lammey’s and Josh Birkholz’s COAST strategy for communicating prospect development data with the intent to pursuade at https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/afp/ap_2014spring/#/56.
Stop Telling Nonprofits They Can’t Raise Money Using Social Media
A message to social media managers, consultants, gurus, experts, etc – STOP TELLING NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS YOU CAN’T RAISE MONEY ON SOCIAL MEDIA. It’s cliche and it’s not true. But you don’t have to take my word for it… In October 2012, Columbia University launched their inaugural Giving Day. By all accounts, Giving Day 2012 was … Continue reading →
Client Advisory – Healthcare M&A: Impact on Philanthropy
Healthcare M&A – Impact on Philanthropy What happens to philanthropy when hospitals merge, acquire other entities, or create a joint venture? Experience would suggest philanthropy doesn’t always make the list of top concerns for hospital senior management during...
Creating Donor Centric Content Through Segmenting and HyperTargeting
Facebook ads, email, targeted content marketing …with the help of technology, we practically have the ability to know our donors better than themselves. Smart nonprofits will (responsibly and tactfully) use that information to create a personalized donor experience that delivers exactly what our supporters are looking for when they’re online. This leads to more satisfied … Continue reading →
Client Advisory – Tax Season: Best Practices for Receipting and Acknowledging Donors
Tax Season: Best Practices for Receipting and Acknowledging Donors April 15 is just around the corner, and donors are wrapping up their income tax returns. For many, this will mean itemized deductions for charitable contributions to your organization. Donors were a...