The Million Dollar Misstep: How Information Silos Are Sabotaging Your Institutional Giving
Institutional fundraisers risk losing multi‑million gifts when grant information is siloed. A $30,000 departmental request unintentionally blocked a $1,000,000 endowment ask, illustrating how fragmented data can derail major fundraising. The article shows that silos generate duplicate proposals, compliance gaps, and loss of institutional memory. Centralized tracking and a cultural shift toward transparency are presented as essential remedies.
Healthcare Philanthropy as Strategic Revenue: Why More Hospitals Are Rethinking Financial Growth
Hospitals face razor‑thin margins—just 1.3% in 2025—while labor costs rise 5.6% and Medicare reimburses only 83 cents per dollar of care. These pressures have pushed health systems to treat philanthropy as a strategic revenue source rather than a peripheral fundraiser....
How to Update Your Grant Application: Five Strategic Considerations
Grantmaking organizations should regularly review their application forms to keep them aligned with evolving missions, technology, and grantee needs. The article outlines five strategic considerations: matching questions to funding priorities, implementing a simple pre‑screening tool, simplifying the form with automation...
The Right Humans in the Loop: Why Fundraising AI Belongs Inside Your CRM
Fundraising teams face rising donor expectations and tighter budgets, driving interest in AI‑powered tools. Many vendors offer bolt‑on solutions that operate outside the CRM, creating data delays and governance gaps. Blackbaud’s Development Agent embeds AI directly within Raiser’s Edge NXT,...
How to Manage Your Arts and Cultural Nonprofit’s Revenue Streams in Uncertain Times
Arts and cultural nonprofits are shifting from rebuilding audiences to securing financial resilience. Leaders recognize that revenue diversity on paper often masks hidden dependencies on single events, sponsors, or grant cycles, leaving organizations vulnerable. The article outlines three tactics—ensuring truly...
Internal Controls Are Your Secret Ingredients for Grant Funding Success
Federal grant recipients must now embed internal controls across all operations, as required by 2 CFR Part 200 (Uniform Guidance). The guidance expands control responsibilities beyond finance to program management, procurement, payroll, and sub‑recipient monitoring, emphasizing daily compliance rather than post‑audit documentation. Strong...
How Narrative AI Insights Help Fundraisers Act Faster
Blackbaud has rolled out Narrative AI insights within its Online Giving product, turning raw donation‑form data into plain‑language recommendations. The AI synthesizes metrics, traffic sources and peer benchmarks to tell fundraisers not just what happened, but what to do next....
AI-Assisted, Human-Led: The Future of Higher Education Advancement
AI is reshaping higher‑education advancement by embedding analytics, recommendation engines, and autonomous agents into Blackbaud's Raiser’s Edge NXT and Enterprise Fundraising CRM. The technology surfaces likely donors, flags portfolio risk, and can initiate routine follow‑ups, dramatically speeding workflow. However, the...
How Nonprofits Can Avoid Buyer’s Remorse for Fund Accounting Software
Nonprofit leaders often rush software purchases, leading to costly buyer’s remorse. The article outlines a five‑step framework—forming a steering committee, documenting requirements, vetting vendors against those needs, scrutinizing implementation plans, and planning for the learning curve—to ensure the chosen fund‑accounting...
Your First Year as a Nonprofit Leader: A Practical Checklist for New Executive Directors
The ENGAGE Blog outlines a practical checklist for new nonprofit executive directors, emphasizing relationship building, strategic groundwork, and operational readiness. New leaders are urged to meet 50 key stakeholders, begin drafting a strategic plan, and establish succession and risk‑management frameworks...
Keys to Following Up with Disaster Response Donors
Effective disaster fundraising starts long before a crisis hits, relying on pre‑established benchmarks and conversion metrics. By segmenting donors based on payment method, channel, and designation, nonprofits can apply data‑driven strategies that move new, emotionally‑charged supporters toward lasting engagement. Rigorous...
3 Ways a Board Member Can Help Raise More Money (Without Making the Ask Yourself)
The article shows nonprofit board members how to boost fundraising without making direct asks. It outlines three low‑pressure actions: introducing interested contacts to the organization’s work, connecting prospects with the executive director or development team, and making three thank‑you calls...
People-Powered, AI-Enabled: Effective K–12 Fundraising
Private and independent schools are integrating AI tools such as Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT to streamline donor prospecting and stewardship. While AI can flag high‑propensity prospects and automate outreach, it lacks insight into a school’s culture, relationships, and nuanced donor...
Steering the Development Office From the Head of School Seat
The article argues that a head of school must view fundraising as a partnership with the advancement director rather than a peripheral task. By acting as chief relationship manager and storyteller, the head co‑creates data‑driven goals, personalizes donor outreach, and...
Where AI Agents Fit in Nonprofit Workflows (And Where They Don’t)
Nonprofit leaders face chronic budget limits and staff burnout, prompting interest in AI agents that can automate routine tasks without adding headcount. Defined as autonomous software that perceives, reasons, and acts, these agents go beyond chatbots by executing multi‑step workflows...