Blackbaud

Ted Hart speaks with Blackbaud npEngage experts Dennis McCarthy, Frank Barry and The Humane Society of the United States' Carie Lewis.

Since spring is now officially here, what better time of year to clean out the virtual dust bunnies that have accumulated in your donor database? Your nonprofit is probably well into executing on its strategic plan for 2013, and you may have a good sense of your outreach needs as you gear up for the year-end giving crunch. Ensuring that your database is thoroughly cleaned and scrubbed is a critical, but often overlooked, success factor for nonprofits.

Way back in November 2006, when "Web site" was still the preferred usage, Blackbaud's Charlie Cumbaa wrote a Net Gain column titled "Put Your Web Site to Work" that outlined best practices for website development and giving donors a personalized experience online.

The primary advice about social media is to take your time and do it right. You are building relationships, and that is not going to happen overnight. Be consistent, be true to your mission and stay active on these channels. It works.

Ted Hart celebrates the third anniversary of his Nonprofit Coach radio show with a slew of nonprofit and fundraising experts.

Blackbaud today released npEXPERTS: Online Marketing Insights for Nonprofits, a free e-book featuring ways nonprofits can connect with supporters, activate their donor bases and raise more money online.

Nonprofits have experienced a dramatically changed climate in the last decade — yet, unfortunately, most nonprofits have not changed themselves.

"Was fundraising up in 2012?" "Did the online fundraising channel continue to grow?" "How did organizations like mine perform?" The Charitable Giving Report is an industry trend analysis that provides size and sector specific evaluations of key charitable giving statistics including year-over-year changes both online and offline. The data is drawn from The Blackbaud Index which tracks $8 billion in US-based charitable giving on a monthly basis. Get your copy today.

A recent industry study in 2011 found that "too much" was only a problem if the messaging wasn't relevant. Hence, the questions we should be asking ourselves are what our donors expect, how they feel and what we're doing to drive a great communication experience with our brands.

In this May 2006 article, "All Hail the Mighty E-mail," Charlie Cumbaa, then vice president of products and services at Blackbaud, provides seven steps to mastering e-mail communications.