Press Coverage Highlights for July 2 – 14

Our data,  expertise and more were featured in many prominent publications, such as Forbes,
The Chronicle of Philanthropy, NTEN Connect, and The Agitator

• How Purpose Drives Profit: A Case Study
  Forbes ● July 17
  I recently sat down with Mike Gianoni, President and CEO of Blackbaud (my firm works with their sales group) to discuss the interplay between purpose and profit. During Gianoni’s first two years at Blackbaud (BLKB) he increased revenue from $504 million to $638 million and drove the stock price up over 70%.  What’s most notable is that Gianoni accelerated growth and financial performance by focusing on a Noble Purpose bigger than money.

• Fundraising is a leadership issue
  Marc Pittman: Concord Leadership Blog ● July 11
  Last year, I wrote about how a fundraising problem is a leadership problem. This post was based on my experience in the field and the experience of my clients. Now that the nonprofit leadership research results are in, the facts are in. Not only is philanthropy a leadership issue, but there are practical things for leaders to do to move fundraising forward. The numbers in the research caused the folks at Blackbaud to ask me to write a foreward to their latest npEXPERTS book, Philanthropy by the Numbers.

• Big or Little Charity? Fundraisers Wrestle With Career Choices
  The Chronicle of Philanthropy ● July 6
  Not all small nonprofits are laggards; some are models of fundraising efficiency and professionalism that punch well above their weight. Since 2011, small organizations have outpaced the largest groups in fundraising-revenue growth, according to Blackbaud. In 2015, groups that raise less than $1 million dollars annually saw a 5.5 percent gain; organizations that raise $10 million or more posted only a 1.4 percent increase.

• Technological Bridges Connecting Funders & Nonprofits
  NTEN Connect ● July 13
  In a recent, reasonably intelligent Adweek article reviewing giving by millennials, Dennis McCarthy at Blackbaud commented: “My 23-year-old son wouldn’t know what to do with an envelope.” I’d say the same about my 22-year-old daughter. Among other handicaps, she doesn’t have a checkbook.

• Starting Over #5: Growing Without Direct Mail
  The Agitator ● July 18
  In a brilliant commentary titled Direct Mailpocalypse, Steve MacLaughlin, the Director of Analytics at Blackbaud, put himself into a world where dependence on decades of direct mail suddenly came to an end.