Established in 2000, the University of Maryland College Park Foundation is dedicated to managing and investing assets to support the University of Maryland. Since its inception, the foundation has significantly contributed to the university’s growth and global recognition as a leading public research institution and pioneer in entrepreneurship and innovation.

To better manage its 16 fundraising units and become a more transparent and professional advancement operation, UMD implemented Blackbaud Fundraiser Performance Management in 2019. Since its implementation, the advancement has grown from a 3-year average of $178 million a year organization to an average $234 million a year fundraising operation.

“We lacked a sophisticated tool to manage our fundraising operations, and while we had metrics, they were not displayed in an accessible way, which led to a lack of accountability,” said Jim Harris, vice president for University Relations. “Fundraiser Performance Management has allowed us to be more strategic in our efforts, as well as ensures that gift officers are accurately setting and achieving their goals.”

A Framework for Gift Officers to Succeed

Fundraiser Performance Management enables organizations to measure and optimize fundraising performance with standardized reporting across quarters, years, and campaigns. It also supports positive portfolio churn and as a result of having optimized portfolios, sets gift officers up for success.

“We needed the ability to predict fundraising attainment and track gift officer efficiencies over several years at a time,” said Harris. “Fundraiser Performance Management resolved this challenge, and we now have far greater informed attainment projections and goal setting, as well as greater optimization of portfolios.”

Program Director for University Development Eve Pomerantz explained that Fundraiser Performance Management is used throughout the advancement team. Its annual giving team leverages the software to analyze appeals, segment donors, and report on their performance. “The autonomy that our gift officers are given with Fundraiser Performance Management is incredibly valuable,” she said. “It provides coaching tools for managers and a framework for evaluations, making operations more intentional.”

Smart Tools for Savvy Teams

Leadership and managers use proposal data to strategically plan seating charts for presidential level events. They use Fundraiser Performance Management to keep track of processed gifts by tagging proposals to easily identify who the gift was planned for and which gift officer it should be attributed. Gift officers, especially new staff, also leverage Fundraiser Performance Management for discovery work.

The prospect research team uses Fundraiser Performance Management extensively. They ensure the cleanliness of proposal data and assist gift officers in pulling or requesting lists. Managers can easily review all asks, check the most recent contact report, and compare the capacity on file to the ask amount. Even the alumni association leverages the data and constituent data for their events. “We leverage Fundraiser Performance Management across almost every area of focus throughout our advancement operation now,” said Pomerantz.

The amount of transparency and feedback for coaching gift officers has proven invaluable for the University of Maryland. “As we enter our next comprehensive capital campaign, we know Fundraiser Performance Management will make a significant impact on our fundraising efforts,” said Harris. “We’re looking forward to leveraging its major giving predictive modeling against additional wealth screening data and additional ratings to optimize our gift officer portfolios.”