Minnesota Vikings Foundation
Foundations
Fans want to see success on the field and their team interwoven into the fabric of their community. Blackbaud solutions have helped revolutionize the way we enlist the help of our players, our staff, our fans, and our community as a whole.
For over 40 years the Minnesota Vikings have been tackling childhood health issues to improve the lives of children across the Upper Midwest. Today, the new Minnesota Vikings Foundation is taking a direct programming focus to these issues with the hope of advancing the well-being of youth through engaging health and education initiatives.
Scoring Big for Children with the Help of Blackbaud’s Community Giving and Engagement Solutions
Football brings families and friends together and provides a sense of community to fans rooting for the same team. For Brett Taber, executive director of social impact for the Minnesota Vikings Foundation, this natural connection between football and community is incredibly powerful.
“The Minnesota Vikings and the National Football League are near and dear to the hearts of people across the state of Minnesota,” Brett explains. “As we’re working to address some of the systemic issues facing children in our communities, it’s an honor to have our fans join us as we forge ahead together towards our mission.”
The Foundation has significant plans this year, including launching a food truck program to provide nutritious meals to underserved communities and collaborating with the NFL Foundation to increase youth participation in team sports.
“We can’t accomplish our goals alone. That’s where the right technology from Blackbaud comes into play,” says Brett.
Supporting the Minnesota Vikings’ Philanthropic Mindset
The Minnesota Vikings use Blackbaud GrantmakingTM to manage distributions made to the community. This includes autographed merchandise as well as donations made to a network of nonprofits in the area. “Blackbaud has given us a lot more control into how we operate. Blackbaud Grantmaking is helping us streamline internal processes around community giving and community impact, which will make participating an easier lift for our staff,” says Brett.
“Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT and Blackbaud Grantmaking have provided a system for us to learn more about who our fans are, what they want to accomplish through philanthropy, and what gets them excited as fans.”
Engaging Fans to Make a Bigger Impact
Engaging its fans is a large priority for the Foundation, which requires putting a lot of internal focus on the Minnesota community. Blackbaud’s CRM solution allows the Foundation to communicate with its fanbase and donors in an unprecedented way, driving meaningful conversations that go beyond the football team itself. Brett elaborates by saying: “Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT and Blackbaud Grantmaking have provided a system for us to learn more about who our fans are, what they want to accomplish through philanthropy, and what gets them excited as fans.” With this information, the Foundation can share opportunities for fans to get involved in their local communities. These natural touch points provide the Minnesota Vikings with more ways to develop and strengthen their relationships with fans and donors.
For the Minnesota Vikings Foundation, Blackbaud’s program management technology and CRM solution intersect naturally to provide the data and tools the Foundation needs to share its story of impact in its community. The outcomes reports in Blackbaud Grantmaking provide a way for the Minnesota Vikings to evaluate, optimize, and show successes from its programs with clearly defined metrics. That data can be pulled into marketing and communications to fans and donors with Raiser’s Edge NXT.
“Fans want to see success on the field and their team interwoven into the fabric of their community. Blackbaud solutions have helped revolutionize the way we enlist the help of our players, our staff, our fans, and our community as a whole,” says Brett.
“Before we had Blackbaud’s solutions, we were missing an opportunity to share a tremendous impact story about the kind of change the Vikings organization is supporting in the community.”
The Right Technology to Support a Winning Future
The Minnesota Vikings Foundation now has the right technology to support bigger goals in terms of improving children’s health and education in the future. “We’re planning to open a new facility soon entirely dedicated to youth,” Brett says. “We’ll use football as a leverage point to conduct meaningful education programs related to math and science. This will be a huge opportunity for us to contribute in closing the achievement gap prevalent in our state,” says Brett.
It seems nothing is going to stop the Foundation from moving forward. The ability to serve the community better is the Foundation’s number one priority, and the investment its made in technology will power that activity moving forward. Decision-making will be supported by outcomes data, providing insight into what steps need to be taken to reach established goals. Streamlined processes drive efficiencies that will help the Foundation get to those impact points faster. Finally, the ability to communicate the impact the Minnesota Vikings Foundation is having on local communities will connect the Foundation with even more donors and initiatives. With the Minnesota Vikings Foundation, local football fans can partner with their favorite team year round, guaranteeing a win for the home team.
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