Ideas
Watch: The Stories We Tell
In a world where consumer activism is on the rise, it’s more important than ever for organizations to provide authentic, meaningful experiences to their customers, advocates, and donors. Take a look at what some of our amazing clients are doing to build trust and meaningful relationships.
Stop Losing Your Recurring Donors
Recurring donors are incredibly important to any fundraising organization — so how can we keep more of them around even longer? Will Moyle, Digital Analyst in our New York office, breaks down the different categories of cancellations and what we can do to keep those donors in the fold.
What #MarchForOurLives Says About the State of Activism
A handful of teens affected by gun violence just rallied hundreds of thousands of activists from around the country to march on Washington and other cities. Advocacy & Engagement Director Matt Compton discusses what this inspiring show of organizing says about the state of today’s progressive movement in the U.S.
Clients Creating Change: Female Leaders Speak out
To wrap up Women’s History Month, we wanted to reflect on the past, present, and future of gender equality. We spoke with several women who have achieved enormous success in the nonprofit, brand, and advocacy sectors to better understand how far we’ve come — and how far we still need to go — to increase female representation in leadership.
Creating a More Inclusive Blue State Digital
At BSD, we’re committed to progress for ourselves — for our organization, for our clients, and for the things we care about. To make that happen, we need people from all backgrounds putting themselves and their perspectives into the work. Michael Guzzetti of our HR Team writes about the thinking behind our recently launched Diversity & Inclusion page.
Tips for Implementing Data Validation in Drupal 8
Having trouble with data validation in Drupal 8? BSD’s Director of Technology Operations, Kelli Monahan, is here to help. Read on for some quick tips on how to add your own validation rules when creating or editing content.
BSD@Events: What we heard at DMA’s 2018 Washington Nonprofit Conference
Last week, Blue State Digital attended the 2018 Nonprofit Conference hosted by the DMA Nonprofit Federation. Our staff returned with thoughts on what they heard from our peers in the nonprofit and progressive space.
BSD@Events: What We Learned at the PAC Advocacy Conference
Last week, several Blue State Digital staff attended the PAC Advocacy Conference, where Director of Advocacy & Engagement Matt Compton spoke about “How to Build an Advocacy Story.” Here were some of their takeaways from the event.
Looking for Love in All the Right Inboxes
Love is in the air — and in our inboxes. Creative Director Dan Thain discusses some of his favorite Valentine’s-themed email campaigns from the past year and what we can learn from them.
Is This the End for Facebook — Or a New Beginning?
Facebook’s had a rough few years — can it right the ship in 2018? Haneef Khan, Account Director in BSD London, weighs in.
Facebook is Making Radical Changes to the News Feed. Now What?
Facebook is becoming less and less friendly to publishers who aren’t paying for ads on its platform. This month, Mark Zuckerberg announced that the News Feed will start favoring posts by friends and family over publishers and brands. Several BSD staff provide their thoughts on what this could mean for the brands and organizations that rely on Facebook for content distribution — including many of our own clients.
How Did the Weekend Year-End Affect December Fundraising?
In 2017, the tax deadline for charitable donations (December 31) fell on a weekend — we predicted this would present a challenge for nonprofit fundraisers. Now that year-end donations are in, our analysts took a preliminary look at the results and the effect this timing had on funds raised.
Why Year-End Doesn’t End in December
Year-end may be the most critical time of the year for nonprofits, but there’s plenty of work to do in Q1, too. Strategist Kaitlin Juleus lays out how you can follow up your fundraising blitz to welcome your donors into your community and build what you’ve learned into your 2018 calendar.
Download: 2017 Year-End Fundraising Toolkit
‘Tis the season of giving — and we’re presenting to you the 2017 Year-End Fundraising Toolkit. In this pdf, you’ll find practical tools to make last-minute adjustments, perfecting your fundraising program.
Will the GOP Tax Plan Kill Fundraising As We Know It?
The GOP seems intent on making its tax plan law by the end of the year. What does this mean for charitable giving and nonprofits’ year-end fundraising plans?
Living With HOPE: An Interview With Anthony Burrill
This holiday season, longtime BSD partner HOPE not hate is collaborating with acclaimed artist and designer Anthony Burrill to raise money for the fight against right-wing extremism. We interviewed Anthony to find out more about his creative process and what inspired him to participate in this project.
Watch: From Giving Tuesday to Intelligent Content: Your Year-End Fundraising Guide
Check out our recent webinar with Movable Ink, in which we look at fundraising data from 2016 and give tips for countering a potential drop in donations this year due to December 31st falling on a Sunday. From dynamic content to leveraging big moments, fundraising experts Chris Coletta and Brenna Foster cover how nonprofits can prepare for a weekend year-end.
3 Surprising Streams of Year-End Revenue
Ready for year-end fundraising, but feel like you’re missing something? Senior Strategist and email veteran Chris Coletta offers some unexpected ways to make your nonprofit stand out from the crowd during a competitive time of the year.
Can New Legislation Fix Digital Advertising?
This month, a bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation that would drastically increase the transparency required by digital advertisers. Facebook and Twitter announced their own intended reforms. Advocacy & Engagement Director Matt Compton weighs in on what these changes would mean for brands and organizations — and for the consumers and constituents on the receiving end of these ads.
Being The Change We Want to See in the Marketplace
This week, our COO Kate Swann spoke at the Digiday Agency Summit. In this post, Kate gives a taste of her presentation and talks about how Blue State Digital’s values have shaped our policies and our business.
