Best Practice blogs
Blog Posts
-
What is the definition of insanity? According to Albert Einstein, it’s “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Does your nonprofit organization’s decision-making process suffer from this insanity from time to time? I know mine did! In a lot of organizations, we do things the way we do because—well, that’s just the ... moreCommentsin Best Practices on 10/10/2017 11:52 AM -
Nonprofit professionals can now showcase their fundraising knowledge through Blackbaud Certification! Blackbaud University is excited to offer a certified learning opportunity that recognizes student achievement and helps validate knowledge. We’re providing this development opportunity to reflect our students’ commitment to ... moreCommentsin Best Practices on 10/03/2017 10:51 AM -
I’ve been reflective this week – it’s the 20 th anniversary of my first job with a nonprofit organization. Coming from the hospitality industry where I worked evenings, holidays, and weekends, I was just thrilled to be working an office job, Monday through Friday! I didn’t even mind that my first three days were spent photocopying scholarship ... moreCommentsin Best Practices on 09/21/2017 04:41 PM -
Vote for Eileen Disken's bbcon video by liking this post. moreCommentsin Best Practices on 08/07/2017 12:13 PM -
Vote for Wendy Corn's bbcon video by liking this post. moreCommentsin Best Practices on 08/07/2017 12:06 PM -
Vote for Joycelyn's bbcon video by liking this post. moreCommentsin Best Practices on 08/07/2017 11:59 AM -
Vote for Stacie Dennis's bbcon video by liking this post. moreCommentsin Best Practices on 08/07/2017 11:50 AM -
Vote for Amy Dana's bbcon video by liking this post. moreCommentsin Best Practices on 08/07/2017 11:46 AM -
Vote for Lawrence Rush's bbcon video by liking this post. moreCommentsin Best Practices on 08/07/2017 11:41 AM -
Vote for Cathy Spencer's bbcon video by liking this post. moreCommentsin Best Practices on 08/07/2017 11:38 AM -
Vote for Lisa Taylor's bbcon video by clicking like on this post. moreCommentsin Best Practices on 08/07/2017 11:32 AM -
Vote for Lisa Bol's bbcon video by liking this post. moreCommentsin Best Practices on 08/07/2017 11:26 AM -
Vote for Nicholas Jensen's bbcon video by liking this post. moreCommentsin Best Practices on 08/07/2017 11:23 AM -
Vote for Karen Tuecke's bbcon video by clicking like on the post. moreCommentsin Best Practices on 08/07/2017 11:09 AM -
Vote for Matt Treski's bbcon video by liking this post. moreCommentsin Best Practices on 08/07/2017 11:01 AM -
Vote for Jenny Physioc's bbon video by liking this post. moreCommentsin Best Practices on 08/07/2017 10:49 AM -
Vote for Brent Troth's bbcon video by liking this post. moreCommentsin Best Practices on 08/07/2017 10:41 AM -
When working with our Target Analytics predictive modeling clients during consulting sessions, we often help them create action plans with their results with the use of an idealized potential gift table. We do so by utilizing the bottom end of estimated annual capacity ranges identified from their project (i.e., Target Gift Ranges or Principal ... moreCommentsin Best Practices on 08/02/2017 10:55 AM
-
Have you ever read through a particularly lengthy obituary and then thought – wow, I feel like I know so much about this person now? Obituaries can be very specific, but they can also be really helpful – especially if your job is to update information about people in your database. At International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), we add obituaries ... moreCommentsin Best Practices on 07/24/2017 01:30 PM -
Can you quickly produce a financial statement for a funder with the specific expense categories they require? Can you run a report to double-check the figures on your organization’s audit? How about reports to help prepare Form 990 or Census Bureau reports? If you can’t produce these reports quickly without resorting to exporting to Excel, you are ... moreCommentsin Best Practices on 07/24/2017 01:24 PM -
What do millennials want? Marketers are OBSESSED with this question! Product targeting and segmentation to millennials is key to promoting successful events, even for non-profit organizations. Understanding this group of constituents and targeting them will provide for growth to your organization. As a millennial myself, I want to support a ... moreCommentsin Best Practices on 07/24/2017 01:12 PM -
Creating a fundraising appeal is a little like asking your parents for a small sum of money. The goal is to explain your grand idea to the people you appreciate, show them the nuts and bolts of how their money contributes to your plan and thank them profusely for their involvement. Nuts and Bolts: Appeals help donors focus on supporting specific ... moreCommentsin Best Practices on 07/24/2017 12:54 PM -
I read community digest daily and am not surprised by how many people inquire about writing procedures and creating a manual. Here are a few tidbits that have helped our procedure manual be used daily. Organize your content much like your Blackbaud database is organized. Use bookmarks and create a table of contents. Date all procedures with date ... moreCommentsin Best Practices on 07/24/2017 12:28 PM -
If my memory serves me well, the above title is from a certain kids’ TV show that my four kids always watched. Somehow, the message of the TV moment never transferred to any of those wonderful children who are now all in their 20s. But, like many of our kids’ favorite electronic faves, I can’t get the words out of my mind. But, I can apply it to a good practice ... moreCommentsin Best Practices on 07/24/2017 12:12 PM -
ResearchPoint passionate? Not yet or completely? ResearchPoint can be summed up simply as an electronic phone book (yes I know I am dating myself) full of prospect information! Does anyone out there, oh I know you are there, remember trekking to the local or university library to conduct prospect research? Yes, I still am a public library advocate, ... moreCommentsin Best Practices on 07/24/2017 12:04 PM -
Over the last three years, we have shifted our focus to be on the donor (we call the partners in mission), not on the money we are raising. We focused on building relationships and getting "personal." We are not talking invasive personal, but relating to our partners in mission so they know we care about them and care about what they do for us. We began a ... moreCommentsin Best Practices on 07/24/2017 11:57 AM -
Like many nonprofits, our operations are divided into multiple departments. In Financial Edge, we give each one a 4-digit “Project ID” so we can track revenue and expenses to their respective source. However, we have one department that manages multiple activities that each have their own, stand-alone costs, and the department manager wanted the ... moreCommentsin Best Practices on 07/24/2017 11:50 AM -
Were you the kind of kid who wanted to know how things worked? Who took apart the telephone to figure out what was going on (back in the days when there were actually land line phones that is)? Did you love jigsaw puzzles? I love puzzles, I love solving puzzles and figuring out the best way to get things done. To take a process and refine it and then sit back ... moreCommentsin Best Practices on 07/24/2017 11:40 AM -
As a former non-profit auditor, now on the other side of the desk working for a non-profit, I am acutely aware of the time and effort spent on the annual audit process by all parties involved. However, my experience as an auditor allows me to streamline my annual audit by using Blackbaud’s reporting tools, so I can minimize the pain and disruption to my ... moreCommentsin Best Practices on 07/24/2017 11:34 AM -
Want to know a way that you can have triple the impact in your local community? Get an intern! Reflecting back on several of my internships, the experiences were incredibly valuable to my career as well as to the organization. I walked away knowing I grew a lot as a professional and the organization is in a better place. Unfortunately, I see many ... moreCommentsin Best Practices on 07/24/2017 11:27 AM -
One great tool that we have at The Citadel Foundation is active portfolios, which means they are always changing, moving, increasing or decreasing. Our research office is made up of only two staff members, myself, Lisa Ukuku, Director of Research and Libby Davis, Director of Prospects Management & Research therefore it is challenging to maintain ... moreCommentsin Best Practices on 07/24/2017 11:15 AM -
We're zealots for personalization, timeliness & gratitude at our small shop. Our database is uber-up-to-date thanks to our skilled & conscientious donor relations coordinator. Each donor gets a custom thank you letter within 48 hours of receiving the gift along with a personal handwritten note from the CEO if it exceeds $1,000.00 and a phone call ... moreCommentsin Best Practices on 07/24/2017 11:00 AM -
Update!! 150 recurring gift donors (paying by check) that migrated to Raiser's Edge during our conversion are tagged as Monthly Donors in Attributes but the gifts are not labeled as Recurring Gift-Pay Cash. So when I query on Monthly Donors and last Recurring Gift Date, the gift info doesn't show up! NEW TASK: 1. Go into each record 2. Establish the ... moreCommentsin Best Practices on 07/24/2017 10:55 AM -
Our year end direct mail campaign…. starts in the summer, just as soon as I’ve cleared up all our early summer appeals and have a moment of breathing room. This mailing reaches folks that have given gifts over the last five years, so first things first…we need to remember to reach out to that group in a friendly way about our mission and how they have helped. ... moreCommentsin Best Practices on 07/24/2017 10:45 AM -
Chances are, your appeals fall into one of just a few buckets. For my organization, those buckets include: Direct Mail, General Giving, Honor/Memorial, and one for each of our three big events. You probably don't have to think too hard about what buckets exist at your organization - this stuff is second nature. But a lot of DBAs I've talked to in the ... moreCommentsin Best Practices on 07/24/2017 10:36 AM