Blackbaud

The Blackbaud Index reported that overall charitable giving increased 4.3 percent and online giving increased 9.9 percent for the three months ending September 2013 as compared to the same period in 2012. As reported in the Charitable Giving Report, overall giving grew approximately 2 percent for the full year 2012 and online giving grew by about 11 percent in 2012 compared to 2011.

The Valencia College Foundation took its six-week fundraising campaign, First One, online using peer-to-peer fundraising to supplement its offline campaign activities. At the end of the day the foundation raised $203,817, which included a matching grant, recruited 152 fundraisers on 36 teams, and attracted 170 first-time donors.

Donna Marino, Valencia College Foundation’s donor stewardship manager, shared some points of the foundation's success as well as some important lessons to take into planning for the next campaign.

Nothing keeps donors engaged like timely, personal acknowledgments. If donor acknowledgment is the key to retention, what are the keys to donor acknowledgment and recognition?

Fundraising Success is 10 years old! Here, fundraising pros recall the state of fundraising in 2003, and talk about what's changed and what they hope to see happen in the next 10 years.

The easiest place to look for new donors is among your member base. Current members understand your value and enjoy your work. So how do you convert your current financially motivated members into donors who are philanthropically motivated to help your organization achieve its mission? Here are four ways to use human psychology to convert your members to donors: 1. Tell your story. 2. Listen. 3. Segment. Thanks and reinforce.

At bbcon, two fundraising professionals shared the key attributes of engaging e-mail and ways to optimize e-mail communications in their session, "Email in a Social Media/Mobile Device World."

The final months of the year are going to be big months for nonprofits; that’s a given. The main question is: How are you going to capitalize on the philanthropic spirit?

Our research surfaced five actions nonprofits can take to grow their donor pools and maximize their exposures during the holiday season: 1. Get an early start. 2. Use digital to drive discovery. 3. Video turns viewers into donors. 4. Mobile is a must. 5. Build your brand around your mission.

Recent tweets from folks you should be following.

The bbcon session, "60 Tests in 60 Minutes," provided a great reminder for direct-response fundraisers of all missions, locations and sizes — if you aren't testing, you aren't really fundraising.