News and Resources
2 Keys to Giving Day Success – a Great Theme and a Major Donor
A lot goes into planning a giving day for higher education. There’s the online giving page, the ambassadors, communicating with colleagues across many different units and departments – all of it crucially important. Two specific tactics that have been attached to many of the success stories are based on big donors and big events: Connecting … Continue reading →
Client Advisory – CASE Campaign Report FY2013
Client Advisory - August 6, 2014 The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) released their 17th Analysis of Educational Fundraising Campaigns this week. We’ve compiled the highlights and summarized what we think they could mean for you: CASE Finding:...
Client Advisory – Maximizing the Return on Your Investment in Staff Development
Almost any development office can benefit from in-house training as part of a broader strategic talent management program to attract, grow, and retain a high-performing development team. Read about the seven advantages to an on-campus training series in this week’s Client Advisory.
Client Advisory – What Are You Doing Your Summer Months?
Client Advisory - July 16, 2014 Traditionally, this is a time when the office quiets down and the staff takes a breather before the busy fall begins. However, this time of year is also the perfect time for your institution’s fundraising services/operations services...
3 Tips on Slacktivism and Donor Retention from the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
You’ve probably seen it at least once in your Facebook News Feed – one of your friends dumping a bucket of water on themselves and asking that you either do the same OR make a gift to the ALS Association. It’s called the “Ice Bucket Challenge” and from a pure fundraising standpoint, it’s been wildly … Continue reading →
Client Advisory – Summer Stewardship
For most of you, it’s a new year. As you’re settling back in after the July Fourth holiday, it’s time to think about how you are going to steward all of your FY14 donors. Now, of course, you’ve been thanking them all year long and you likely have a few things in place...
Client Advisory – Strategies for Success with Millennial Donors
Hardly a week goes by without mention of Millennials and how generational differences are impacting institutions and societal norms. It is not so notable that these differences exist, but understanding what the differences are and how to relate to each group is...
Client Advisory – 5 Tips for Effective, Meaningful Performance Reviews
Client Advisory - June 25, 2014 It’s the end of June, ending many organizations’ fiscal years, academic terms, and fundraising cycles. Now is also the time of year that many organizations conduct their performance reviews, set goals for the next year, and think about...
Wabash Expands Culture of Philanthropy with Online Ambassadors
Online ambassadors lead to big fundraising results when their efforts are applied to short duration online giving events (a.k.a. “money bombs”). This was certainly true for Wabash College during the school’s inaugural “Day of Giving” online fundraising campaign, when 2,200 donors joined forces to raise $465,000 in just 24 hours. The thing is, those big … Continue reading →
Client Advisory – The 2014 Giving USA Report
Charitable Giving Rises to Over $335 Billion Last Year Bentz Whaley Flessner is pleased to provide key highlights of the data announced in the release of this year’s Giving USA report. Total charitable giving in the U.S. rose an estimated 4.4% to more than...
Client Advisory – Continuing Growth in Online Giving
In the first years that online giving became a more broadly used vehicle for fundraising, many organizations saw triple-digit annual increases because their programs were starting from nothing. The latest survey on online fundraising from the Chronicle of Philanthropy...
BWF_social to Tour West Coast with FREE Online Fundraising Workshop
Oh, the things we now know about online fundraising. For example, did you know that… Online acquired donors give twice as much to your organization as those acquired off line via channels like direct mail? (Blackbaud/Convio study) Donors who give online have much higher household incomes than those who don’t give online? (Blackbaud/Convio study) Social … Continue reading →
Client Advisory – Fundraising Analytics Today
Moving Beyond Internal Business Process to Better Understand Talent Analytics and the External Environment Fundraising analytics professionals are increasingly applying analytics to organizational issues that go beyond the basic fundraising business process of donor...
Facebook for Development Pros – Get Personal
Last month, we wrote on tips to help fundraising professionals get in the game on LinkedIn. In that post, we suggested (implored) gift officers – or anyone with a donor facing role – establish a strong presence on LinkedIn. If LinkedIn is the bare minimum, there are other social networks that can open your fundraising … Continue reading →
High-Performing Fundraisers Survey Results
BWF 2014 High-Performing Fundraisers Survey Results Bentz Whaley Flessner is pleased to release the results of our new study on traits and management of high-performing fundraisers. Success in development is driven by how well we can find, retain, and train talent. In...