Where I live, we have one of those fancy nitrogen ice cream places where they make you an ice cream concoction from scratch based on what you pick from their plethora of choices. Every time I go there, I'm always overwhelmed at first by what to select. But then I take a breath, carefully work through the menu steps, and always end up with an amazing treat. ...
Musicians like John Mayer, B.B. King, and Jimi Hendrix have made the guitar synonymous with soulful expression. Well, let me tell you… a lot of very exacting steps have gone into the chunk of wood they are holding that allows them to be so creative. Trust me, I know! My garage looks like a pile of guitars exploded inside! I have six or seven guitar necks, each ...
You’ve heard it a thousand times: “We need to increase our memberships!” However, increasing memberships and increasing the number of returning members really go hand in hand. How can you best accomplish both of these goals? By increasing targeted engagement . Why engage current members? If we engage our current members, we’ll create ambassadors ...
Great New Year’s news— Blackbaud University 2019 Certifications are available now! Follow this link for more information!
My family members all seem to have birthdays around this time of year—the holidays. The thought of so many events, with so many people, and all within three months is both joyful and nerve-racking! Trust me, the event planning can really become chaotic. Events can also be chaotic for many organizations. But the event planning process doesn’t need to be. ...
My family is thinking about buying a new car. This is quite a process for us—we research, research, and research some more. In the first phase of our research, I discovered how easy it is to operate each car. Gone are the days of putting a key into the ignition and manually rolling down a window. Now just being near a car with the key fob can unlock it or open the ...
Most people don’t like math. And most people don't send paper mail. However, if you work in a nonprofit, you know that direct mail is not dead. Here's where the math comes in ... in the nonprofit world, the average direct mail response rates range from 3-5%. That's about 100 times more than the response rate for fundraising emails, currently at .06%. What ...
My husband is allergic to peanuts. He loves PB&J sandwiches, but because of his allergy I make him almond butter and jelly sandwiches. He wants to still call them PB&J’s, but I disagree and think they should be AB&J’s. The most important ingredient in peanut butter and jelly is the peanut butter. Without the peanut butter, it’s almond ...
Use Raiser's Edge to set up and manage your campaigns efforts. Yes, Raiser's Edge is more than an expensive rolodex! Here is an essential checklist to complete before embarking on a new campaign. Set up your campaign, fund, and appeal records. Be sure to go into the campaign/fund/appeal tabs within these records as you can set defaults and limit which ...
Surprise eggs are all the rage with kids right now. So, what is this new phenomenon? A surprise egg is a plastic egg, ball, or cylinder that contains a treasured surprise for the lucky kid who gets to open it! Discovering the novelty inside a surprise egg is much like discovering the Blackbaud Online Express add-on that nestles inside the powerhouse egg we ...