Thought Leadership

BWF is a recognized and respected thought leader in the philanthropic sector. We are constantly assessing the fundraising landscape and providing timely guidance and insights.

BWF is a recognized and respected thought leader in the philanthropic sector. We are constantly assessing the fundraising landscape and providing timely guidance and insights.

Is the Giving Tuesday Turkey Overcooked?

The “season of giving” is just around the corner, so it’s an appropriate time to discuss a question we often get from clients: Should we participate in Giving Tuesday?

Read More

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations: What was Old is New Again

DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) have the power to revolutionize giving to the organizations we support and may lead to new ways of thinking about equity and impact in philanthropy. BWF explains the advantages of DAOs and what nonprofit organizations can expect from this new (and old) form of giving.

Read More
building rapport

Four Ways to Build Rapport with Development Staff

As prospect development professionals, we are often called upon to leverage data to drive decisions. BWF shares these four tips to help prospect development professionals establish and maintain positive working relationships with frontline fundraisers in order to be a strategic partner in achieving fundraising success.

Read More

Due Diligence Isn’t Just for Gift Acceptance Policies Anymore

Due diligence is not a policy or program any organization wants to implement. Who wants to turn away much needed support or gifts to an organization, much less divert additional hard-earned resources to implement a process to support it? But as fiduciaries of our donors’ resources, we must. So where do you begin?

Read More
Data Governance

Mission Control: Perform a Data Inventory in Preparation for a Successful Data Governance Launch

Data governance is becoming an increasingly salient aspect of fundraising operations and is rapidly gaining ground among top organizational priorities. For many organizations, one of the most challenging aspects of developing a system of data governance is figuring out where to begin. BWF provides these helpful tips to help you get started and plan strategically.

Read More
Giving USA 2022

Giving USA 2022 Report Insights

BWF is excited to share the key findings from this year’s Giving USA: The Annual Report on Philanthropy. Presented by the research team at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and the fundraising professionals at Giving USA Foundation, the Giving USA report is the longest-running, most extensive report on philanthropy in the United States. BWF is proud to be a member of The Giving Institute.

Read More

Multi-Vendor Partnerships

Fundraising operations has grown increasingly complex over recent years due to advances in technology and the need to support multichannel fundraising initiatives. Whether the topic is cloud computing, crowd fundraising, text-to-give, or a CRM upgrade, the choices for platforms and support are numerous and sometimes dizzying. This article explores this complexity as many organizations turn to outside support for implementation to provide strategic advice on how to navigate multiple consulting partners.

Read More

What’s on the Menu? What Advancement Communicators Can Learn From Lunch

Nonprofits can learn much from the restaurant menu. Just as every restaurant has the menu as its primary point-of-sale marketing tool, a beautifully designed and well-written case statement serves as the heart of campaign communications. Learn how this idea can drive a campaign’s central document, contain larger messaging, define a graphic identity, and tell stories that tie the goals of the campaign to the organization’s greater purpose.

Read More

A Trusted Partnership, Customized Solutions

The departure of the University of Central Florida’s AVP of Advancement Services led to the need for interim staffing and managed services. In addition, UCF wanted to improve its prospect discovery lists by better understanding which prospects were likeliest to accept a visit from gift officers. BWF provided embedded leadership that helped prioritize and shepherd projects and built a customized visit likelihood model to inform decision making.

Read More