Strategic Investment from Rubicon Technology Partners will Accelerate Growth through Product Innovation, Customer Support, and Acquisitions
EverTrue, the leading advancement software platform, today announced a merger with ThankView, the largest personalized video platform for nonprofits. The integration of the two products will allow advancement and donor relations teams to automate personalized outreach based on continually updated engagement, wealth, interest, and career data, unlocking a modern and more effective approach to fundraising and stewardship that is unparalleled in the industry.
The combination of two market-leading companies is supported by a strategic majority investment from Rubicon Technology Partners (Rubicon), a leading private equity firm based in Boulder, Colorado, that is focused exclusively on investing in and growing enterprise software companies.
The combined company now serves more than 2,000 nonprofit customers, including more than 1,000 universities, colleges, and independent schools. Already, mutual customers can use the donor insights provided by EverTrue to send highly personalized video messages via ThankView.
“From the first time we met the ThankView team, it was clear that we shared a passion for this sector and delivering incredible experiences for our customers and their donors,” said Brent Grinna, founder and CEO of EverTrue. “We’re excited to scale authentic donor engagement across the entire giving pyramid.”
Higher education advancement teams assign less than 3% of their constituents to a gift officer [(source: EverTrue)]. This approach means that the vast majority of alumni do not have a one-on-one relationship with their alma mater. By introducing fundraising teams to the strategies and technologies used by for-profit sales and marketing automation platforms, EverTrue and ThankView will enable organizations to personally engage thousands more supporters and increase donor participation.
“The shift toward digital advancement exploded during the pandemic and it’s clear that now is the right time to build the category-leading platform to support the education and nonprofit fundraising sectors,” said JD Beebe, co-founder and CEO of ThankView.
Video consumption is up 120% since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic [(source: Wistia)] and in the last five years, 81.3% of donors at EverTrue’s partner institutions who received a ThankView video renewed their gift. And yet, at least one in every three donors who give $1,000 isn’t thanked personally [(source: EverTrue)].
“Alumni engagement is lead generation,” commented Brooks Hull, VP for University Advancement and Chief Executive Officer at the Louisiana Tech University Foundation. “As a longtime customer of both companies, this is one of the best partnerships I’ve seen in my career. By pairing this combination of data and technology, we will reach more of our supporters in an authentic and personalized manner, thereby increasing revenue and philanthropic impact in the short term while building a healthy long-term donor pipeline.”
In early 2022, EverTrue and ThankView will launch their first joint initiative, Career Moves. This offering pairs EverTrue’s human-verified updates every 90 days from LinkedIn to congratulate alumni who recently changed jobs or received a promotion with a personalized video via ThankView. In an early test of sending videos to graduates who had changed jobs, staff at the Louisiana Tech University Foundation saw engagement increase by 300%.
“Advancement professionals understand that legacy approaches to engagement are ineffective at reaching donors who increasingly expect a more personalized experience,” said Alex Kleiner, Partner at Rubicon. “Until now, there has been no solution in the market that could meet this need. Through the combination of these two companies, customers will be able to unlock insights and engage donors in a harmonious and data-based way like never before. We are excited to support Brent, JD, and the entire team during this next phase of growth.”
Horizon Partners served as the exclusive financial advisor to EverTrue and ThankView. EverTrue was advised by Goodwin Procter and ThankView was advised by Perkins Coie.
About EverTrue
EverTrue’s software, powered by exclusive TrueView insights, gives fundraising teams a comprehensive view of every donor by connecting their data to a hub of social and demographic information sources. Today, more than half of the top 100 colleges use EverTrue’s modern, mobile-first platform to engage alumni, fundraise, discover prospects, manage gift officer portfolios, and coordinate volunteer programs. EverTrue is a remote-first company that’s headquartered in Boston. Visit www.evertrue.com for more information.
About ThankView
ThankView’s platform empowers advancement teams to create compelling, personalized video campaigns that dramatically boost donor engagement. Multiple contributors can include content asynchronously to create unique, high-leverage content at scale that can be sent across email or text. ThankView is currently used by over 1,600 universities, schools, and nonprofits that seek to easily personalize their donor outreach, boost their engagement, increase donor retention, and learn more about their recipients through in-depth engagement analytics. Visit www.thankview.com for more information.
About Rubicon Technology Partners
Rubicon Technology Partners invests in enterprise software companies with proven products and talented management teams to help grow and scale their businesses. Rubicon enables companies to adapt to the changing requirements of their businesses as they grow and scale using a proven set of proprietary processes, best practices, and a portfolio-wide engagement model. Rubicon has over $2 billion in assets under management and is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, with additional offices in New Haven, Connecticut, and Palo Alto, California. For more information, please visit www.rubicontp.com.
Contact:
Mike Nagel
mike.nagel@evertrue.com
603-370-0954
