If you want to improve the donor experience and impact your organization exponentially, virtually overnight, start using the word “mattership” It’s the next level of stewardship. I shared this realization with an audience of nonprofit executives and college presidents who were in attendance at a recent ‘Meet the Donors’ forum BrightDot, the national fundraising firm I founded in 2015. We brought in our team of fundraising experts and three hand-chosen high- wealth donors who shared their experience and advice on how development teams can elevate their fundraising game in our ever-changing worl ..read more

What if I told you that you can exponentially multiply the impact that every person and every dollar has on an organization? Any organization. Particularly in the fundraising space. BEFORE: 1 person = 1 person                                  BEFORE: $1 = $1 AFTER: 1 person = 10 people                        &nbs ..read more

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – November 8, 2023 – Raleigh, N.C. – The Paths for Success Foundation in Alabama has taken a bold step to empower its community college executives and development teams with cutting-edge fundraising expertise. In a rapidly changing landscape where the demand for fundraising in higher education is skyrocketing, the foundation has partnered with BrightDot, a renowned organization specializing in executive and development training for higher education fundraising across the nation. In just 18 months, the Paths for Success Foundation has identified multiple strategies to ser ..read more

As new trends continue to shape the future of nonprofits, founder Bill Crouch recruits a successful fundraising professional and higher education leader to help lead BrightDot and its clients into the future. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Raleigh, N.C. – August 10, 2023 – “By 2030, the landscape of higher education will look a lot different from what we’ve known” reads a recent report from Hanover Research. “The cultural shifts happening throughout society will continue to drive changes at the university and college levels. These trends will transform higher education in the future.” The main headwi ..read more

“You have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”   This quotation by Audrey Hepburn is a perfect way to think of your enrollment initiatives and fundraising outreach. One hand is helping others – enrollment – and the other is helping yourself – fundraising. BOTH are required for success, and one cannot exist without the other. When deciding your college’s focus and priorities, choosing programs and campaigns that serve both your student audience and donor audience at the same time is just smart. Because without student enrollment and donor support, little else ..read more

Even the most successful organizations need guidance from coaches and consultants to help get to the next level. An experienced outsider looking in can give new perspectives, make things happen more quickly, and often results in greater outcomes and less resource expenditures. The phrase “This is how we do it here,” coined by entrepreneurial guru and bestselling author Michael Gerber has lived on for decades and been the basis on which top enterprises, in both for-profit and nonprofit arenas, organize, operate, and flourish.  “We wanted to entrench a team member into the daily inner worki ..read more

“BrightDot is fortunate to have the expertise of two remarkable women who both have served as Executive Directors of Community College Foundations and in senior executive positions at Fortune 100 companies.  Their experiences give them key insights into serving the mission and business of our clients.” Bill Crouch, Founder and CEO, BrightDot Fundraising Specialists Mamie Sutphin, Regional Vice President, North Carolina “It is an honor to partner with BrightDot clients to meet their fundraising goals. Celebrating their success brings me so much joy.” Mamie is an accomplished community l ..read more

“It took a few years for the timing to be perfect, but when something is meant to be, you make it happen,” laughs Bill Crouch, Founder and CEO of BrightDot, discussing his recruitment of Barbara Mulkey out of retirement. The fundraising consultancy focuses on building revenue for nonprofits and higher education. The two met when Barbara worked as General Hugh Shelton Leadership Center’s Executive Director. She hand-selected BrightDot from a crowded field to help the Center develop short-and-long range strategies for financial growth and endowments. Initially, BrightDot hosted a training retrea ..read more

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Raleigh, N.C. – February 1, 2023 – In the past months, most Americans have heard how genealogy and DNA testing is being used as a powerful investigative tool. Although it’s been less than 40 years since legal experts first won a case based on DNA evidence, public interest in genetic genealogy continues to flourish.   A 2022 study found that 21% of Americans have taken a DNA test in an effort to learn more about their family history. * This is a dramatic increase since a 2019 study. What people may not know is that a deep dive into your family’s paper trail can ..read more

Raleigh, N.C. – January 31, 2023 – Mike Reynolds is expanding his current role as Senior Consultant with the seven-year-old fundraising leader, BrightDot. He is charged with the expansion of their Talent and Recruitment Division to include full-service training, recruitment, and placement for skilled fundraising into organizations that are building their development team, crafting a new campaign, and seeking their largest donation ever. Bill Crouch, BrightDot’s founder and CEO, explains that they receive dozens of requests from organizations that are not currently clients of the company. “To m ..read more