Learn (at your leisure) about Affluence Insight and details on the modeling process! more

Now that Giving Tuesday is over and the busyness of that day has settled down a bit, I have some suggestions for next steps that our Raiser’s Edge NXT clients with embedded analytics and who also have ResearchPoint should consider with any new, increasing and repeat donors: Next Steps for New and Increasing Donors in Raiser’s Edge for Major Gifts : Create ... more

So as a donor, I expect to have a different communication with a non-profit when I am giving $2,500 versus giving $200.  Most organizations are strategically engaging their mid-level giving donors with the hopes of transitioning them into being major donors down the line.  So your pool of donors/prospects are those with higher Annual Giving ... more

Synchronizing Affluence Insight™ Via RP-RE Integration Now that the ResearchPoint-Raiser’s Edge integration includes the ability to select Affluence Insight™ – formerly known as Target Analytics Affluence – data points with synchronizing records, clients are starting to ask if they should include these analytics when selecting which fields ... more

Twenty “average” planned gifts can provide $1,000,000 of mission revenue to your organization. That's based on a commonly-used average planned gift rule of $57,000 each.  For some organizations a few as 10 average gifts will provide $1 million; others may need more than 20.  No matter the number, year-end is an effective time to market the creation, or notification, of planned gifts .   Along with Tax Time (March and April), Travel Time (June through August), Year-End Time (November and December) falls into a natural pattern of financial planning urgency among our constituents.  Which means it's an excellent time to remind them of the impact deferred gifts have on our non-profit missions.     more

So I have been hearing great things about BBCON this year and I wish I would have been able to attend.  As with many conferences, we take away great advice, insight and a new excitement when returning back to our offices.  Normally with these blogs we provide ideas and/or perspectives of using your Target Analytics tools.  I would like to turn the table and ... more

I am very much looking forward to being at #bbcon 2018 in sunny Florida at the Orlando Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center .  If you have not registered yet, please do so here and find the overall Agenda At-a-Glance here .  I am hoping that I’ll see many of our Target Analytics clients (and prospective clients) at the conference and in particular at our ... more

As a strategic fundraising consultant with Blackbaud Target Analytics®, I have a distinct pleasure of helping hundreds (if not thousands) of organizations use data and analytics to raise more money for mission funding .  I’m convinced it’s no accident that I’m here - at this place -at this time.  In fact, from the age of 12, when my family moved from Peoria, Illinois to the quaint tourist town of Estes Park, Colorado (gateway city to Rocky Mountain National Park and home of the famous red-roofed white hotel in both The Shining and Dumb and Dumber) I’ve been preparing for this role.   more

I always say one of my favorite models is the Target Gift Range (TGR).  After all, this is what I tried to provide to my gift officers on their top prospects in their portfolios.  Wealth screening is great detailed information but a person may have all the assets in the world but what is the likelihood they will make a gift and a large gift even if they have $25M ... more

If you are a Raiser’s Edge NXT™ client or a Fundraising Essentials client, then please check out a webinar I will be doing on Tuesday, September 18, entitled, “ Using Analytics to Unlock Major Giving Potential ” , at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time.  During this session you will understand how to utilize the analytics from these two solutions to hone in on the best ... more

Last month, I began sharing interesting numbers around planned giving programs that help us to better understand planned gifts, our donors that make them, the marketing that we create and the collection and application of data surrounding all of these. You can read my original blog here  and Part II here .    To summarize so far: In the next 20 years, there may be $30 trillion or more inherited by the Baby Boomer population’s children and grandchildren with an estimated $1.5 - $6 trillion in charitable gifts going to non-profits   in the U.S. between 2017 and 2030. Are you poised to accept your share of this transfer?  95% of all planned gifts are in the simple form of a bequest in wills, trusts or through beneficiary forms designation gifts.   I’ve written a glossary of planned giving terms   to help you get familiar with these and other terms. Are you comfortable with simple terminology about deferred giving?  According to recent research ,  donors who make bequests  increase their current gift amount   in the 5 years following the planned gift creation by 75% .   A 75% in a $20 annual gift would be a $35 gift.  $1,000 increases to $1,750 and $10,000 rises to $17,500.  Looking for possible hidden bequest donors in your CRM?  Run a report to see whose made a 75% increase in their gift from 5 years ago and ask them directly if they qualify for membership in your legacy society.  An examination on IRS data on estates over $2,000,000 found that charitable bequests are the largest type of reported deferred gifts.  On average, they’re 2.74 times the total lifetime giving of a donor . Are you discussing charitable bequest options with your current investment-level donors?  Other studies indicate that 50% or more of them create this deferred gift option in their estate plans.   more

So Affluence Insight will be celebrating it's 18 month public launch in August.  I don't know about the rest of you but I have found this data exciting to work with and the almost endless possibilities of using the data and creating dynamic queries.  I would like to focus the discussion on two primary areas for now.   1.  How has this data been useful for ... more

I am coming to the conclusion of a blogging series on utilizing your Target Analytics data for identifying mid-level gift prospects.  My first blog introduced the series and includes a helpful question from a client as well as a reply back on ideas to help nonprofits define their mid-level donor levels.  My second blog discussed thoughts on how to ... more

In June, I started to share a series of interesting numbers around planned giving programs that help us to better understand planned gifts, our donors that make them, the marketing that we create and the collection and application of data surrounding all of these. You can read my original blog here . To summarize so far: In the next 20 years, there may be $30 trillion or more inherited by the Baby Boomer population’s children and grandchildren with an estimated that $1.5 - $6 trillion in charitable gifts going to non-profits in the U.S. between 2017 and 2030. 95% of all planned gifts are in the simple form of a bequest in wills, trusts or through beneficiary forms designation gifts.  I’ve written a glossary of planned giving words to help you get familiar with these and other terms. more

I am in the midst of a blogging series on utilizing your Target Analytics data for identifying mid-level gift prospects.  My first blog introduced the series and includes a helpful question from a client as well as a reply back on ideas to help nonprofits define their mid-level donor levels.  My second blog discussed thoughts on how to utilize your ... more

Every year when June 1st hits I start thinking of fiscal year end.  I lived that life for so many years I can't get it out of my head and I know for many of you it is obviously a reality.  I start thinking of budget and of course plans for the next year and is there anything I have not done.  Perhaps that is why I have been so preoccupied with subscription status in ... more

Earlier this year I read a great blog on a popular planned gift topical website written by Patrick Schmitt and Cathy R Sheffield sharing a series of interesting numbers around planned gift programs. Those figures were compelling and prompted me to think of other important numbers that we should know and share with others in our circle of influence. I’ve got too many to share in a single blog so I've decided to write a short series of blogs over the next two months.  I hope they excite your curiosity and prompt you to take some of my suggestions actions.  From the referenced blog, I’m sharing a few numbers interspersed with other numbers of interest. Let’s get started:   more

As indicated in April, I am in the midst of a blogging series on utilizing your Target Analytics data for identifying mid-level gift prospects.  To quickly recap, my first blog introduced the series and includes a helpful question from a client as well as a reply back on ideas to help nonprofits define their mid-level donor levels.  My second blog ... more

Generally when clients get back the predictive modeling results such as Major Giving Likelihood (MGL) and Target Gift Range (TGR) we will sort the results in descending order which is great.  However, in a discussion the other day we were talking about the fact that this particular client knew a majority of the high TGR donors who were unassigned.  So we ... more

I decided to begin my blog series – for which I will be posting over the coming months – on utilizing ProspectPoint ® models to help identify and rank your best prospects for mid-level giving opportunities.  If you are new to ProspectPoint ® models from Target Analytics, here is a link to more information at via our Blackbaud.com website.  Our predictive ... more

Mid-Level Giving and Your Target Analytics Data I am very excited about the blog series I am launching here in the Target Analytics Community over the coming months in regards to how our nonprofit clients can utilize modeling and wealth append/screening data from Target Analytics to help identify prospects for mid-level giving.  Let’s talk about ... more

I recently read a series of e-conversations on a popular discussion board related to planned giving.  The topical question was “Is Wealth Screening Useful for Planned Giving Programs?”  The consensus was that they’ve not been as helpful for planned giving prospecting as we would like them to be.  I’m sitting on both sides of the fence on this one.  more

I have been advocating professional development since I attended by first Apra Conference back in 1996.  It was transformational as a new researcher and new to the field of fundraising.  Now 22 years later I am still advocating for this investment line to be in every non-profit's budget.  I may be "preaching to the choir" with this group but championing ... more

Last week, I presented the second of four webinars for 2018 related to the integrated analytics in RE NXT – which is also the Fundraising Essentials service for non-RE NXT customers.  If you missed it – you haven’t really missed it – we recorded it!    more

Ok, let's be honest I know from my days of being a prospect researcher that you use wealth screening information to find major gift prospects.   However, having a very vivid memory of my prospect research budget, I always wanted to use any resource as creatively and effectively as possible.  In other words, think outside of the box.  I remember working ... more

Thanks to Terri Fritz, I put the incorrect image in my blog post.  I am not able to edit the post, so below is a screenshot of the following: Having a seminar to discuss planned giving for retirees? Create a query in RP using Who’s Who and Experian data to identify retirees based on top scoring Planned Giving Likelihood (PGL) prospects – Below is a ... more

Livin' la Vida Loca – Analytics Style! Now that I have your attention, I guess there isn’t a lot of crazy and wild things to say about analytics and the data we work with day in and day out, but how about having some fun with it?  How about having fun with data while at the same time making it meaningful and actionable?  If this sounds like you (I am a proud data ... more

When I work with people who use our data I often mention I was a Target Analytics client before coming to work here.  At the end of a recent call with a client, I got a thoughtful question… What do you wish you’d known when you were a new client that you know now? Easy!  I wish I’d had a better sense of when prospect research time was most productive. Basically, if ... more

The year 2018 seems to be giving us a financial ride.  We’ve already experienced both unprecedented growth in the U.S. stock markets, as well as, an expected correction in that growth.   You might be wondering what affect it will have on charitable giving.    more

If your nonprofit did a Principal Giving Segmentation (PGS) model and a very large number of unassigned Tier 2-4 prospects were identified , you may be wondering if there are recommendations on how to segment the results.  You may be asking how your organization can refine this list for gift officer assignment in a methodical and analytical manner.  ... more

I have had a great deal of fun working with this data over the last year.  The number of ways you can use it as a segmenation tool is almost endless!  I continue to think of new queries to help segment constituents.  When used with the predictive modeling data and/or wealth screening it becomes a very dynamic tool.  Here are just a couple of ways to include it ... more

Getting the Most Out of Your Major Gift Data Investment We’ve create a Resource Guide and Workbook that will transform your major giving program! Through our four-steps – laid out with a sample Case Study – and our guided calculations, we’re giving you a path to follow from the major gift revenue you raised this year to a significant increase next year, the year following and so on.   more

If you use the Data Screening Bundle (otherwise known as the Grateful Patient Solution), when was the last time you caught up with your consultant? If it’s been more than a couple months, the start of the year is a great time to prioritize a conversation—and some consulting time is included in each contract year for this product!  It’s always custom ... more

I hope that everyone on the Target Analytics Community experienced a joyful New Year and holiday season with family and friends.  Now that 2018 is firmly in place, I wanted to share three ideas that I believe will be helpful in ensuring you are utilizing your analytics and ResearchPoint subscription to start the year out with some productive next steps: ... more

There's a lot of talk about artificial intelligence (AI), but for Blackbaud, AI is just the beginning and our end-of-year present for you is the free three-part webinar series Intelligence for Good , where we tackle the many topics called: data .  From basic terminology, to how it fuels artificial intelligence (AI), we’re so committed to your data and how it will propel your fundraising and connections to advocates that we’ve created a myriad of resources for you .    Over the next few weeks or next two months, set a few calendar appointments for yourself to watch our three comprehensive discussions about Data !  The full series takes less than 3-hours of your time:  Big Data Artificial Intelligence Analytics and Expertise more

The month of December is beyond busy for development offices, and it can be hard to carve out time to get ready for the new year with so many other priorities front and center.  Knowing that, here five recommendations for quick and easy “housekeeping” things in ResearchPoint you can do in just a few minutes to take care of the basics. If you have users ... more

I saw a blog posting up on the Altru Community today about using Shortcuts in that software, and it made me think that I'd like to blog about the topic myself for our ResearchPoint clients.  Then I did a search up on the TA Community, and low and behold... I did a blog post up on the TA Community entitled, Using Shortcuts in ResearchPoint back in March 2015!  ... more

I was recently asked for more information on the Target Analytics Affluence Loyalty Index, a rating that is returned for each of the 5 distinct donor groups.  For example, is the Loyalty Index only looking at historical giving to my nonprofit, or all nonprofits in general?  How should we look at the Loyalty Index? The Loyalty Index is actually based on ... more

They are household names: Bill and Melinda Gates, Warren Buffet, George Soros.  These people, and many others like them, are not only among the wealthiest people in the world, they are also among the most generous.  They give many millions of dollars for good works that range from remedying the causes of poverty and disease to supporting education and ... more

So… Your organization just finished reviewing the results from your Target Analytics modeling project identifying prospects for major gift opportunities.  Whether you have Major Giving Likelihood (MGL) and Target Gift Range (TGR) custom modeling scores, Fundraising Essentials ‘M’ Donor Type and Next Ask Amounts of $1,001 or Raiser’s Edge NXT ... more

Check out the new 2017 Major Gifts Fundraising Benchmark Study to get a look at how nonprofits across the U.S. raise funds at the top end.  My npEngage blog looks at a few of their findings and asks the question:   Does Major Gifts Fundraising Get Enough Attention?   more

I love TA Affluence and the multiple ways you can go and segment out your contituents.  Such a great resource for annual, mid-level, major, planned giving as well as marketing and communications.  My concern is that I am not missing out on any prospects.  It could get pretty easy just focusing in on using the Wealth Segmentations.  However, you can get ... more

A new blog post casts a major giving prospecting eye on the recent results from the Blackbaud Institute's study, "Share of the American Wallet". more

IMHO your #GivingTuesday campaign isn’t just for lower-end donors. It’s an engagement tool for major gifts as well.  Since its inception in 2012, donations have increased by over 300%.  According to Blackbaud data, online giving on #GivingTuesday was up 20% on a year-over-year basis compared to 2015 . We processed more than $47.7 million in online donations for U.S. nonprofits on Tuesday, November 29, 2016.   more

A few weeks ago, I held a webinar to walk through our updates to the Capacity Formula - our newest feature in ResearchPoint 4.97. If you didn't have a chance to attend the webinar, you view a recording of that  HERE . I didn't have a chance to respond to all of the questions so I wanted to do a Q&A post and provide some answers.    more

Do you use the Prospect Research Report in ResearchPoint?  It’s one of my favorite features of the software, and it’s there so those of us who are in RP up to our elbows everyday have an easy, fast, professional way to pop research details out of the database. One of my clients told me recently about a way they used this feature that I loved, so I’m passing the ... more

I so enjoy working with clients during consulting sessions in our ResearchPoint software, as there is always some nugget of functionality or data insight they were not aware of. This brought me to the idea of putting forth a list of some of these ResearchPoint fun features that you may or may not be aware of! You can cold prospect for new prospects within ... more

HERE'S THE SCENARIO:  You’ve just finished a lengthy conversation with your Target Analytics STRATEGIC CONSULTANT about the wealth ratings and analytics in RE NXT .  Or, maybe you’ve just completed the Fundraising Essentials analytics training available from Blackbaud University …. either way, you’re ready to start using the returned results -- they're similar in their application.  Raiser’s Edge NXT Essentials and Professional level subscribers, as well as, all Fundraising Essentials users, now have one of six NEXT ASK AMOUNT RANGES   for each record from the analytics screening. Your Target Analytics Professional Services consultant presented a compelling case for using them to increase gift amounts from your donors.  You also thought that the CHARTS AND DIAGRAMS discussed were interesting -- you had a spark of an idea -- but now it’s fading…  WHERE DO YOU START?!   more

If we’ve been acquainted through a Target Analytics consulting project or in a conference presentation you’ve already heard me say that our predictive modeling products are the ‘Match-dating service of Fundraising’ – and I firmly believe that. more

When your modeling data are refreshed, should you keep multiple years of scores or only work with what’s most current?   more

If you’re old enough to remember the Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera commercial starring Wynonna and Naomi Judd espousing The New Generation of Olds and the tagline “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile – it’s my Mama’s” ... we’re in good company!  The year was 1989:  Boris Becker and Steffi Graf each won both the U.S. Open Tennis and Wimbledon events Volkswagen was known for its "Fahrvergnügen" Bart Simpson first uttered the phrase "Eat My Shorts", and  Prospect validation was an arduous task of manually searching, photo-copying and re-typing data into a document separate from your constituent management database – if you had one more

The past few weeks I’ve had a couple of clients that I’ve been consulting with who are looking for ideas on how to utilize their remaining WealthPoint batch screening records.  Then I started thinking that I’m sure this is a common question that many of our ResearchPoint clients must be pondering.  Before I give a list of ideas, I first wanted to make sure ... more

Last week I held a webinar to discus merging records - our newest feature in ResearchPoint 4.96. If you didn't have a chance to attend the webinar, you can register and view a recording of that HERE I didn't have a chance to respond to all of the questions so I wanted to do a Q&A post and provide some answers. more

Recently I was working with a Fundraising Essentials client who is on a multi-year subscription of this service.  Fundraising Essentials is Target Analytics' basic statistical modeling service to help identify annual and major gift prospects, what the specific potential next ask amount is for each prospect, and their overall identified public ... more

Our new Target Analytics Affluence data is being used by more and more non-profit fundraising shops every day!  It’s a unique combination of wealth estimates and philanthropic behavior groups that has applicability not only for major gifts, annual giving, mass solicitation, and direct marketing efforts, but also for planned giving.  Check out last week’s post by my colleague Liza Turcotte on annual giving ideas and today's post with some ideas about getting started using Affluence data with planned giving programs. Have you used Affluence data? Let us know in the comments below!   more

Learn more about how our newest solution, Target Analytics Affluence, can help you reach the right people using the best message.   more

In our ResearchPoint 4.96 release, we are introducing the concept of merging records. Through working with this over the past few weeks, I wanted to pass along a tip that you can do now to hit the ground running when this is released. more

My good friend and well-known planned giving expert Nathan Stelter wrote a blog with this title recently; reminding us that our nonprofit organization can’t be all things to all people.  He said “In the end, understanding that frees you to be everything to those who “like you for who you are” (your mission) and earnestly want to “help you do good things in life” (your programming and services). The key then is to focus on building a stronger web of support among those groups.”   more

I talk a lot in this forum about recent conversations with clients, and I’ll share another with you today. It’s about one of my favorite topics—making the most of your data. Here’s some background… Annual giving has carried fundraising efforts for one of my clients very successfully, and it will continue to be a dynamic component of their overall ... more

I guess this is where you might use the phrase "great minds think alike" - I was going to write a blog tomorrow about capacity formulas and then saw Deborah Drucker's post today asking about the same thing.  So here it is a day early! I love the idea of having the ability to have multiple capacity formulas in RP.  Just like every non-profit is not a like neither ... more

The prospect researcher in me loves building queries and of course confirming and rejecting data.  However, the lower matching can be a bit of a chore unless you incorporate a few tips! Each resource allows you to choose the column you want to see when you are viewing a prospects record.  So for instance with FEC data, the default view may look something ... more

Dynamic conversation between prospect research staff and development officers goes a long way.   more

Most charitable organizations don’t realize how much revenue from planned gifts is hidden among their silent donors.  For most of you, planned gift revenue is the secret weapon , waiting to be unleashed into your mission budget.  Yet, if you’re not cultivating it – asking for it – likely, you’re not getting it…. and I mean that in two of the kindest ways.   more

There have been many changes that have occurred over the last few months.  One of which is a whole new administration in Washington.  I keep thinking about how this impacts the work that we do as fundraisers.  This is not about being Democrat, Independent or Republican but rather what are we seeing and what can we predict about how this will impact all of ... more

When time and talent are limited it’s important to use your resources well. ResearchPoint—coupled with good guiding principles for its use—can help you be strategic when researching your top prospects.   more

It’s the new talk of town.. if you haven’t heard of “BoomerTrillion” you’re in jeopardy of being behind the times.  BoomerTrillion is the now-term used to describe the estimated $1.5 - $6 trillion in charitable gifts expected to be designated to non-profits in the U.S. between 2017 and 2030. more

Despite the long descriptive name, this area of ResearchPoint is very mysterious to most users I speak to. I'd like to demystify this for you and give you some tips on how to make this area in ResearchPoint supplement your existing research. more

Have you wondered how you can utilize your custom predictive models from Target Analytics, specifically AGL and TGR scores?  Let’s say you just received your results or you are new to your organization and are seeing these scores in your CRM database?  The consulting team here at Target Analytics has developed a helpful resource for your organization ... more

There is no question of the benefits that volunteers can bring to an organization. In 2015 the nonprofit organization Independent Sector valued volunteer time at $23.56 per hour [i] . Beyond the fiscal benefit, volunteers can help you to grow existing programs, create a more efficient workflow, and help increase your base of support. A truly ... more

For those of you in the prospect development world many of you are familiar with Helen Brown and the Helen Brown Group.  I had the great pleasure of working with her when we served on the APRA International Board together.  She and her staff are true talents and provide a great "wealth" of information to many.   There was a brilliant article recently that ... more

Planned giving – sometimes considered the “Cinderella fundraising program” by some organizations – can look intimidating to the untrained.   But with an anticipated $1-$2 trillion (with a ‘T”) in charitable gifts expected to be given by the Baby Boom generation over the coming several decades, marketing planned giving concepts is important to your bottom line.   more

Even more ideas to ensure ResearchPoint is up-to-date, organized, and ready to support your prospect research efforts!   more

Fundraising campaign appeal tracking is an art - but not hard to master. More than just calculating how many people responded to direct mail, it’s a constant series of tests that, over time, allow you to improve the results of your fundraising appeals and increase your return-on-investment (ROI). The Target Analytics’ professional services consulting team often recommends annual fund appeal tests to customers because they enable you to determine which marketing pieces resonate more with your target market , rather than merely relying on guesswork. Called an  A/B-split test , it should be a vital component of your annual fund, grateful patient or other mass-market solicitation mailing activities.  What a great thing!   more

     Have you ever used any of the Data Enrichment Services and received an email that your screening is complete and the file is ready for download? Then you plan on getting around to downloading the file, but other work responsibilities take precedence over it and you tell yourself you will get to it eventually. A few weeks roll by and you finally have ... more

Looking for some ideas to start 2017 with a ResearchPoint database that’s up-to-date, organized, and ready to support your prospect research efforts?   more

How do we incorporate prospect research into the annual fund and is it even possible?  Here are some ideas and please share your thoughts on this subject. more

Check out this helpful article from the Data Enrichment Services team for Raiser's Edge users.   more

Last week I was at the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP) Annual International Conference in the great city of Chicago.  I have to admit that the energy in Chicago was electric because their beloved Cubs made it to the World Series.  More importantly it was so wonderful to see many of our clients at the conference, as well as discuss our ... more

When your wealth screening results are sparse, it can be hard to know what to do next.  Keep reading for a few ideas to jump start your prospect research when WealthPoint isn’t bringing much to your attention.   more

Last week I received the most interesting email providing a plethora of information about recent email testing on planned giving topics.  Crescendo Interactive, Inc., a well-known planned giving marketing vendor, just published a white paper titled “Experiments in Email Marketing: Principles of Effective Emails Based on A/B Testing” .   more

I am often asked to do some micro-segmentation with my consulting clients in ResearchPoint, seeing if WealthPoint data contains information that will help them identify prospects with specific interests or affiliations for campaigns, initiatives, events, or giving programs (planned giving for example).  There is a lot of data that can help with ... more

Bonjour , Kalimera, Guten Morgen and  B uenos Dias  all mean the same  thing:  “Good morning!” Yet saying the right words to the right recipient changes how you’re perceived and responded to.   You won’t likely say “good morning” in Greek when enjoying a croissant on the Champs Elysee – it’s better used when climbing the winding path to the Acropolis in Athens.   more

Are you thinking about your year-end appeal?  If so, help is a few clicks away. more

Well summer is over and we all know that means that event season is ramping up!   Whether it is for football, seminars, house parties or events at your institution this is the time of the year that they ramp up.  I remember having to create weekly bios for all those who accepted the "special" inviation to attend a pre-game football party and sitting at the ... more

I got a great question from a client recently--one I bet a lot of us have had—and for that reason it’s been on my mind to bring the question to this group for tips and tricks.  I bet there’s some great advice out there, so I hope you’ll share your approach in the comments section. more

The importance of professional development for prospect researchers. more

Last week it was the Republicans’ National Convention – this week, the Democrats' – the race is on to elect our next President of the United States (or ‘POTUS’ for all you West Wing and Veep addicts).  Does all of this activity make a difference to your fundraising efforts?  Blackbaud’s Giving in an Election Year report indicates that it does…. But is the trend a positive one or not?    more

Video Blog: Four questions to ask yourself if you want to sync your solicitors from the Raiser’s Edge to ResearchPoint.   more

Do you ever find yourself wondering about prospecting for donors who have affinity for projects like one that’s on your radar?  Here’s a way to comb through your WealthPoint screenings that might help. more

Last week’s post gave some great ideas for reporting your use of ResearchPoint at year-end (for those organizations that have a June 30 th fiscal year-end).  H ere are a few more items you may want to track and report.   more

June 30 th  for most people just simply means the last day of the month but for those of us in fundraising it can carry on a very different meaning.  Many non-profits (not all) have their fiscal year ending June 30 th .  more

How can the data you have on hand help your annual fund get more done for your organization?  Here are two easy ideas! more

For our clients who are not aware of this service, if you have not done so already, sign up for our NOZA Gift Alerts . more

This past weekend, we updated ResearchPoint standalone customers to the June 2016 (4.9) release. Here is a summary of the new features in case you missed the announcement in the product's help pane when you logged in after the update.  more

We know this innately – you get what you ask for.  It’s not magic – it’s human nature.  If you didn’t write a check or go online today to make a donation to a charity, it’s likely because you weren’t asked.  We respond to requests for action.  Making a donation to charity isn’t something you just do one day – you have to be asked - so do your donors.    more

Ask any researcher who has done a wealth screening and they’ll tell you that the best practice is to validate the results by a manual review.  I heartily agree!   more

Having worked or volunteered in small development shops or even small research shops I know personally that you wear many hats.  I would find it hard not to find a non-profit that does multi-task on many levels.   more

WealthPoint OnTime is a pre-screening wealth solution that identifies prospects who should be touched by your development office because of their capacity for giving. Blackbaud returns the results in 90 minutes, so you can quickly evaluate the results. more

I’ve heard a lot lately that clients plan to take advantage of the change of pace that comes when donors travel for the summer and colleagues (and hopefully you too!) take vacation.  It’s a great time to catch up on your research if the first few months of the year required your attention elsewhere—and an equally good opportunity to get ahead before the fall rush kicks in. more

What wealth data do you need in Raisers Edge? What biographical data do you need in ResearchPoint? I’ve been asked this question for years so let’s take a deep dive… more

Statistics.   For many, it is an impactful word with the power to send shivers down your spine, or tremors through your brain. But we're making it easier than ever to understand.     more

Have a special project, initiative, or event and need to find prospects for this endeavor?  Look no further than friendly your neighborhood ResearchPoint subscription! more

This weekend I joined three friends for a joint garage sale.  It sounded so easy when I said “yes”, but as the date grew nearer, my life became even more cluttered than I had suspected it was.  Workload, family-load, sump pump failure, kitchen remodel delays, and so on.  You name it – it happened .  I knew one of those things was for certain – the garage sale date was not going to change . more

I have seen so many discussions about professionally and personally doing spring cleaning lately.  There is really just something about this time of the year that makes us want to unload or make things cleaner in our lives.   more

Tips and tricks to avoid being locked out of ResearchPoint.  more

I was chatting with clients in a Learn session yesterday, and we were sharing an idea that seems particularly compelling—so I thought I’d bring it to the group too! more

Hello Community! I am Anthony Pisano and I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself as the Product Manager for ResearchPoint. more

For those of you not familiar with this wonderful resource, I hope you take the time to check out the latest and greatest version of our Fundraisers’ Guide to Data Sources up on our website.  more

The April/May AddressAccelerator update for the United States was released March 18, 2016.  more

Spring is a great time to clean out the house, garage, drawers, cabinets, etc. and organize everything, so I thought it would be great to do a spring cleaning top ten list… Target Analytics style! more

No matter where we turn, it seems we cannot escape hearing about the Presidential election this year. With each new TV ad there are seemingly a dozen emails being sent from candidates asking for even more support.   more

Graduation is coming and you will soon have a new group of young alums.  The time is now to ensure they will be future high end donors to you down the line.  Here are some ideas about engaging with these important constituents in your database! more

What do you tell your boss or board members when they ask how you can prove a return on the marketing investment?   more

How much mileage can you get from Target Analytics data?  Keep reading, because it might be more than you realize! more

Information on accessing the most recent and upcoming webinars regarding Target Analytics data utilization for Fundraising Essentials and Raiser's Edge NXT clients. more

Be smart about the queries you create and make your life easy! more

Late last week, we performed a data refresh for ResearchPoint. We updated NOZA, Federal Elections Commission (FEC), Dun & Bradstreet, and CoreLogic in our Target Analytics database. Now, when you perform WealthPoint screenings on a prospect’s wealth and ratings record, or when you perform a screening on your research lists, you'll have the latest ... more

To get the most out of your Target Analytics solution, it takes more than just data, donor models and software.  Ideally, you need a thorough understanding of the information, technology and best way to employ the components of your purchase.     more

We are excited to announce that you now have the opportunity to access to the power of ResearchPoint directly within Altru! more

We are in the process of improving how the Data Health Center in The Raiser's Edge sends information to Blackbaud!  The updates are awesome, but....  more

I am conducting all the Learn for Analytics courses this week, and I wanted to get the word out to our esteemed TA Community members the importance of your participation is attending the course or courses that pertain to the analytics services your organization has received from us.    more

According to Tech Impact , nonprofits have fully embraced digital fundraising. A survey of charitable organizations reports that three of our top four engagement channels are now digital. Websites Email campaigns Social media The only non-digital channel in the top four is in-person events.   Social media donations have increased 70%, while all ... more

Sorry in advance to those who have logged in after we upgraded you and had the help pane fly open to an error message instead of your 4.7 new features. Our help files are stored in the same place where we host our blackbaud.com website. While we're working very hard to resolve service, I thought you'd still like to read about the latest new features. New ... more

Did you know that you can nominate a support analyst for an MVP? more

Become a thought leaders during bbcon 2016! We're looking for inspiring, impactful, and insightful speakers to join the incredible line-up of events at our 2016 conference just outside of Washington, DC. If you're a game-changer, thought leader, storyteller, or simply passionate about sharing what you know with philanthropic professionals, we ... more

I have always been a “query junkie” and one of things I am always concerned about is that my query is too narrow and that I am missing out on my next million dollar donor!   more

The Enterprise Data Quality (EDQ) process is designed to be an easy and cost-effective way to help non-profits enhance the quality of their donor database, by minimizing postal costs, maximizing response rates, finding lost donors, and optimizing the information for data append or analytic use.  Some pain points that this service ... more

Let's say that you purchsed a preditive modeling or wealth screening service from Target Analytics in the past couple years.  Maybe at the time you didn't dig into the results and utilize it as much as you would have liked to have with all the competing priorities that life dishes up?  Or maybe you initially utilized the very top ... more

Maybe you're like me and you look to give certain things added attention in a new year, like increasing your exercise or you add a new item to your goals for the year, such as free your home of unwanted and unneeded clutter. I've already started my list and my pantry is now clutter-free!   more

Where has the time gone?  It is so hard to believe another year has flown by and it is only a couple more weeks to the beginning of 2016.  One of the many rituals with the coming of a new year is to set resolutions for the upcoming year.  Obviously in many cases, they tend to be personal such as “I am going to get to the gym more ... more

One of the many tremendous benefits of utilizing WealthPoint results from your ResearchPoint software is to discover age data, and when you do a single or group screening, you have two databases where age data is potentially returned.   more

I was recently asked if ResearchPoint could help build pyramid levels to begin thinking about the silent phase of a campaign.   Yes it can , and one way it can help is using Research Lists.  The beauty of the Research List is that you can begin with a simple query.  You could use beginning query criteria that would make up the structure of your ... more

Let's join together to help #goodtakeover this Giving Tuesday by updating your social media sites with these downloadable images! more

Black Friday. Cyber Monday. Giving Tuesday! more

Great news for our ResearchPoint users! This past weekend we successfully upgraded our hosted ResearchPoint customers to 4.6. Since our 4.5 release, we have refreshed the data for NOZA, FEC, GuideStar, CoreLogic, Dun & Bradstreet, Larkspur, and Marquis Who's Who. When you perform WealthPoint screenings on a constituent's wealth and ... more

As busy as we all are it is so easy just to use ResearchPoint and the models for just major and planned giving initiatives.  There are excellent opportunities for using this for events.   more

The Prospect Research Reports tool is a great way to quickly create a professional looking document that can be shared with your colleagues. Confirmed biographical data from Experian can be included in this report, but perhaps not where you might think. more

Sign up for our webinar, "ResearchPoint Roadmap" - presented by our Product Lead, Jackie Koesters. more

Halloween has just ended and I can still envision all of the cute trick-or-treaters that graced my neighborhood.  No sooner was the candy consumed then holiday commercials started to appear on T.V. My local craft store put out Christmas items a month ago!   more

Is your ResearchPoint running a little slower than usual? We have a helpful KB tip to walk you through how to optimize performance. more

Whether you are in the midst of a Target Analytics modeling project or looking to do a one, I think it is always a good idea prepare for the time you are going to spend with your consultant, as well as thinking about your expectations.   more

It's easy to stay up to date with bbcon happenings. This year, we've created a whole page dedicated to bbcon! more

Over the past few weeks I have been receiving quite a few questions in class about what fields sync and what fields don't when using integration between ResearchPoint and Raiser's Edge. I thought I would address this question this week as kind of a refresher!   more

You may have noticed that some text in ResearchPoint isn't lining up correctly when displayed.     more

Many ResearchPoint users are aware of and utilize the detailed WealthPoint data fields (such as specific fields within the various databases such as NOZA “Gift type”, real estate “Building area”, FEC (“Occupation”, etc.), that are available when creating queries.  more

Can we find wealth when a Post Office Box is the primary address?   more

Hello fellow ResearchPoint users! In the beginning of our training series, we talk about what ResearchPoint is and the basics of using it to build prospect profiles and screen your prospects through WealthPoint.  But how do you make ResearchPoint work more specifically for you and your organization?  What if the default selections of ... more

First, middle, last name? Busy, busy, busy! Autumn can not only be a beautiful time of the year with the changing of the leaves but we all know it can be one of the busiest times of the year!   One of the big goals then is to be sure everyone is in communication that we are not making assumptions.  This requires that we all meet together and ... more

If you knew there'd be $266 billion in planned gifts available would you change your marketing strategy?  Millenials are changing the way we do  everything !...... that should include how you think about your planned giving program. There’s a lot of buzz and talk about Millennials and wondering when is a best time to think of ... more

We're happy to announce that over the past weekend, we upgraded ResearchPoint customers to the 4.5 release. In this release, we provided performance improvements to WealthPoint screenings. We tested compatibility for ResearchPoint with Windows 10 and the Edge browser. And, we created two new videos to help you understand how to use the Home ... more

When using the Find new prospects search feature on ResearchPoint's Home screen, business names may appear in the search results. How can this be since ResearchPoint is designed specifically for researching individuals? This is typically due to a business being listed as the owner on a real estate record.  We do our best to ... more

Unfortunately we are looking into an issue that is preventing AddressFinder results files from being downloaded in CRM 3.0 and 4.0. After clicking Start Process in ‘Step2. Get file from Blackbaud’ you may receive the following error: An error occurred before executing the process ‘AddressFinder Get Process’ : Failed ... more

The other day while I was in ResearchPoint pulling together some detailed queries, digging into the data available within several fields to find specific criteria, and I was thinking about how far the world of predictive modeling and wealth screening has come in the 20 years (this past March) I’ve been in this industry.   more

Do your co-workers have unrealistic expectations when it comes to prospect research requests? Here are some tips about how to manage expectations. more

It’s almost that time of the year again when we “fall back” on November 1 st .  What are you going to do with that extra hour?  You might use it for some extra sleep (like I do).  In the spirit of Community, I thought a little about how we might save some time in prospect research as we start to get busier towards the end of the year. more

Last night, we performed a data refresh for ResearchPoint. We updated NOZA, Federal Elections Commission (FEC), Experian, and Thomson Reuters Business Intelligence (TRBI) MarketGuide in our Target Analytics database.     more

SIC (Standard Industiral Classification) Codes are how OSHA segments out all the various industries.   more

We have received a few reports that AddressAccelerator has recently started performing slowly for some organizations.  Please read the story below for more details: more

From time to time I come across a really great post that I'm compelled to share!  Here's one of them:  6 best practices for delivering progress reports to your major gift and legacy supporters .  Follow this link to see examples of really good progress reports and how to construct them.   more

Hey!  This blog has been updated August 16, 2017 - Click here to read the newest version!  Here’s the Scenario:   You’ve just gotten off of a webinar discussing your Target Analytics returned results.  You’ve gotten back six Fundraising Essentials Next Ask Amount ranges and the consultant presented a compelling case for using them to increase gift amounts for your most likely prospects.  The charts and diagrams were interesting and you had a spark of an idea……. but now it’s fading…….. Where do you start?! more

Sharing with you a trick I found that helped me confirm political donations quickly and efficiently! more

Have you moved recently or know someone who has? I know for me, I moved a few weeks ago and I had to send in a form to United States Post Office updating my mailing address. What happens to that data and how does that affect organizations that I give to financially? Well, that is through The National Change of Address (NCOA) is the USPS service that collects ... more

I wanted to share a workaround available to help assign Prospect Managers in RP in groups vs. opening up each prospect record and entering or updating the Prospect Manager field.  I have heard this from a couple clients recently and below is a list of steps and screenshots to give you a visual of the process.   First make sure that all of your ... more

Would you like to earn points redeemable for gift cards, swag, and discounts on Blackbaud products and services? Read on! more

Here is the logic behind why returned addresses from AddressFinder might be marked as Do Not Mail.   more

This past weekend, we updated customers to the latest release of ResearchPoint. When you log in to ResearchPoint for the first time after the upgrade, the What's New topic will open from the help panel and display information about our latest release! New Features and Updates for 4.4 Target Analytics Data Updates Unlimited Users for ResearchPoint ... more

This past weekend we successfully upgraded you to the April 2015 release (4.2) of ResearchPoint. In this update, we added the ability to sync social information from ResearchPoint to Raiser's Edge, added an indicator for records who may have more network connections available from GuideStar after a group screening, and updated the Target ... more

On behalf of the ResearchPoint product development team, I'm pleased to announce the 4.1 release of ResearchPoint. This past weekend, we updated all of our hosted ResearchPoint customers. In this February 2015 release, the new features and enhancements include: A new data service from Target Analytics, Social Media Finder Performance ... more

To improve the performance when users screen a group of constituents through WealthPoint, Target Analytics is making the following updates. Going forward, we will focus on returning the key relationships from GuideStar on a group screen: Known relationships (both people have been screened through WealthPoint and have a connection through an NPO ... more

This past weekend, we successfully upgraded you to the December 2014 (3.19) release of ResearchPoint. We're pleased to inform you of an update to real estate assets and the Target Analytics Prospecting Database. New Record State Column for Real Estate Assets Due to individual counties changing APN numbers, we've added a Record state column to help ... more

In ResearchPoint October 2014 release (3.18) , you can use Open Data Protocol (OData) to use and share data you query on from the Information Library outside of ResearchPoint. OData is a data access protocol designed to provide standard access. This format can then be  consumed by other programs. Best of all, with OData you are using a direct link to a ... more

On behalf of the ResearchPoint product development team, we're excited to announce our August 2014 release. In version 3.17, based on your requests for improvement, we're introducing a new integration with The Raiser's Edge. This integration not only replaces our old solution, but provides you new benefits utilizing the Blackbaud Web Services ... more

We're now only days away from getting the new Raiser's Edge integration for ResearchPoint into your hands. As we go into upgrade weekend for ResearchPoint, I want to help you get ready to configure your databases. Tip : Even if you previously integrated The Raiser's Edge with ResearchPoint, because of the shift to a better technology approach, you will ... more

As of the 3.17 (August 2014) release of ResearchPoint, we have a new, improved integration with The Raiser's Edge. The new integration utilizes Blackbaud Web Services to enhance the way the two databases work together. From data syncs to wealth screens, listen as ResearchPoint User Experience Designer, John O'Connell, talks about the work we did to ... more

In a world of vast data, finding the right prospects should be easy. Thanks to the newest update to ResearchPoint™, donor management and prospect research are now easier than ever before. After working with ResearchPoint users across the industry and our development teams here at Blackbaud, we are excited to announce a much-anticipated update to ... more

I am pleased to inform you that we recently updated NOZA data and added more than 11 million new gifts to the Target Analytics database for use in ResearchPoint. NOZA is the world's largest searchable database of philanthropic data.  NOZA’s data is comprised of detailed charitable donation information that has been collected from ... more

We are excited to tell you about work we're in development on for an improved integration between ResearchPoint and The Raiser's Edge for the upcoming ResearchPoint August (3.17) release. Many months ago, the request for a better integration came from you, our users, to our Product Manager, who prioritized this as a must improve. Then, our User ... more

On behalf of the entire ResearchPoint team, we are happy to bring you the following new features for February 2014 (3.14) release: Improved In-Product Help Additional Prospect Research Tracking Information Added to Query Add Queries to Favorites from the Query Record Updated Biographical Information Tab on Prospect Record For more information ... more

For nearly a year, the United States Postal Service (USPS) communicated that bulk mailers would need to comply with  Full-Service Intelligent Mail  standards by January 26, 2014.  As this deadline approached, many wondered how it would affect their use of Blackbaud's bulk mailing solutions.  Well, there's no need to worry now, as the USPS has ... more

We updated the MatchFinder database today. To ensure The Raiser’s Edge is pulling the most current matching gift information, download the latest files: In The Raiser’s Edge, go to Records > MatchFinder and click “Download and Update MatchFinder Database.” For detailed steps, refer to   How to update MatchFinder in The Raiser’s Edge . Remember that ... more

In this release of ResearchPoint, we overhauled what used to be our Research Groups functionality, renaming it Research Lists and transforming it into a robust research tool. This feature provides prospect researchers and key development staff with an easy to use list tool that allows them to build lists of prospects based on simple criteria. It ... more

In ResearchPoint 3.1 we enhanced your experience so right from the home search screen you can locate and screen new prospects. With just name and location information in hand, you can quickly find prospects in our prospecting database for which you’d like to run a full wealth screen. This new workflow removes the need to add prospects manually. It ... more

In ResearchPoint, we have streamlined searches of the Target Analytics database. Now, if several addresses are located for the same prospect, the prospect displays only once in the search results and all located addresses are rolled up with the single prospect. In addition, prospect researchers can now include up to five addresses in their ... more

List Builder in ResearchPoint is a powerful new feature that allows you to customize information included in lists available on a prospect's Wealth and Ratings page. You can now control the columns displayed in the grid, drag and drop columns to new locations within the grid, adjust each column so the width of the column is consistent with the width of ... more

Yes, it's true. We've made the ResearchPoint import process easier with the new Target Analytics Import App. You install the app on your desktop, and with it you point to your import file. The app automatically determines the delimiter used. It also attempts to auto map import fields. Any fields it fails to auto map, you can address by simply dragging ... more

April is almost here, which means it's time to update AddressAccelerator! If you are hosted by Blackbaud, no action is necessary - we will take care of this on your behalf. Otherwise, here's a quick overview of the process: Download  the update and save it to your preferred network location. Run the file on your server. Log in as a local admin on a user's ... more

What’s in a browser? Well, a lot, actually. If you’re running Internet Explorer 8, I have a few important facts and tips to share.  The first is that when Microsoft built Internet Explorer 9, one of the major improvements that had to happen to keep pace with Chrome and Firefox was performance, so they responded.  Independent benchmarks were performed ... more

We understand that looking through hundreds of philanthropic gifts is not the most effective use of your time. ResearchPoint 2.95 makes NOZA data easier to digest and more impactful when qualifying your prospect. We have added Address Match Codes to NOZA! This means that we will return name/address match combinations with a higher confidence than ... more

ResearchPoint uses formulas to create a calculation of your prospect wealth. In the 2.95 release, we are modifying the formula in relation to how real estate is calculated. In our previous release (2.94), we modified the way the Property Value is displayed. We use the calculation below to determine which value to use in the Total Assets calculation: ... more

We have an exciting enhancement to ResearchPoint 2.95 that allows you to save your favorites as shortcuts and manage them with one click.  This one will save time.  I didn’t want to say favorite tasks per se, because you can place pretty much anything as a favorite.  For instance, you can place the top 5 prospects you are working on, access Wealth and ... more

Now that you’ve seen the ResearchPoint New Features video , let’s take a look at some of the subtle but effective design improvements that simplify navigation. Here’s a quick look at four of them: 1. Search is such a big part of the system and is tremendously powerful.  You can search Raiser’s Edge records (if integrated), ResearchPoint records, and if ... more

I wanted to post today to ensure everyone knows about the changes coming on January 28, with mailing and the automation rates that are currently given if you use PostalSaver in The Raiser’s Edge to run your bulk mail. Many of you already use Intelligent Mail Barcodes as you have been prompted by your local postmaster or if you just wanted to get ahead of the ... more