The Advancement Office of 2015
Most of the hundreds of institutions we work with utilize one or two core systems to manage advancement operations and communications. Over the last couple of decades, vendors have built broad platforms that offer a “comprehensive suite of solutions.” They might be represented visually like this: Traditional Fundraising Systems It’s likely that you use the […]
Find Your Superdonors: What Fundraisers Can Learn From Velveeta
Like Velveeta, most of your institutions have been around for over 100 years. Like Velveeta, most of your institutions are recognizable brands in your community. Like Velveeta, most of your institutions change very slowly. Unlike Velveeta, most of your institutions did NOT generate $100 million in new revenue last year. So how’d they do it? As […]
Welcome to the Era of Social Donor Management
“Think outside your database.” Since founding EverTrue three years ago, we’ve had countless conversations with professionals across the advancement spectrum. We’ve spoken with major gift officers, annual fund directors, prospect researchers and alumni relations leaders. From our earliest conversations with Andy Shaindlin and Christine Tempesta to our ongoing collaboration with Andrew Gossen and Elizabeth Crabtree, […]
Three Take-a-Aways from a TechStars Alumnus
At a packed House of Blues near Fenway Park this morning, investors, mentors and entrepreneurs gathered to hear the pitches of the 6th graduating class of TechStars Boston. The TechStars team asked if I would say a few words reflecting on our experience in the TechStars alumni network. To this year’s class – welcome to our alumni community! […]
EverTrue is Excited to Partner with Bain Capital Ventures
I founded EverTrue in 2010 after spending many hours serving as a volunteer for my alma mater. I didn’t know where it would lead, but I believed that there was an opportunity to bring new technology to advancement given the rapidly changing mobile and social landscape. We planted our flag in the Boston startup community […]
Why LinkedIn is #wINnINg
I’ve given four presentations to higher education and independent school advancement professionals and alumni volunteers since the New Year. Each time, I’ve surveyed the room with two simple questions: “Who isn’t on Facebook?” “Who isn’t on LinkedIn?” Facebook has 1 billion users. LinkedIn has just 200 million users. So you might suspect that LinkedIn would […]
Southern Hospitality at CASE D3
Jesse and I spent President’s Day Weekend at the CASE District 3 Annual Conference in Atlanta. According to CASE social maven Lynn Wester (@donorguru), CASE 3 has earned the reputation as the “party district.” Our fellow attendees definitely balanced working hard and playing hard. At first, CASE 3 felt a little like playing an “away […]
Poll Your Alumni Association Board At Your Next Meeting
After a wrapping up a great CASE D1 Conference in Boston, I spent last weekend in Providence at my second meeting as a member of the Brown Alumni Association Board of Governors. Like many members of our team, I love volunteering for my alma mater outside of work. In particular, I enjoy the opportunity to […]
CASE-NAIS 2013: Social & Mobile on the Potomac
We just wrapped up an action-packed few days at CASE-NAIS 2013. It is fun to reflect on how much has happened since Jesse and I first met at CASE-NAIS 2011 in Chicago. Shortly after, we partnered with a vision of building a platform at the intersection of institutional advancement and rapidly evolving social, local and […]
CASE-NAIS 2013: Social & Mobile on the Potomac
We just wrapped up an action-packed few days at CASE-NAIS 2013. It is fun to reflect on how much has happened since Jesse and I first met at CASE-NAIS 2011 in Chicago. Shortly after, we partnered with a vision of building a platform at the intersection of institutional advancement and rapidly evolving social, local and […]
From Savannah to Boston Startup School
Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak to the new class of Boston Startup School on the first day of the program. I am a big fan of Aaron O’Hearn, Shaun Johnson and the entire BSS team. Many of the schools we meet at EverTrue are over two hundred years old. BSS is less than […]
When is Your Alumni Magazine Going Digital-Only?
“We have reached a tipping point at which we can most efficiently and effectively reach our readers in all-digital format.” – Tina Brown, Newsweek Editor. When will your alumni magazine go digital-only? Next year? Five Years? 20 years? Newsweek has been in weekly publication since 1933. Recently, it announced it would be going all-digital beginning in early […]
