Speaking

Bill is a frequent speaker on Raiser’s Edge and fundraising database technology:

  • Podcast interview by Dr. Patton McDowell on “Three Technology Traps All Nonprofit Leaders Must Avoid,” indicated by Patton as one of the three most downloaded of the 300 he has conducted; listen here
  • bbcon, the Blackbaud Conference: Bill has spoken at all but three of the conferences since they began in 2000
    • 2025: See Resources for more info on his two sessions
    • 2024: Keep or Delete Data?  Latest Thoughts for Consideration DOWNLOAD
    • Also 2024: Optimizing Gift Entry Flow DOWNLOAD
    • 2023: Updating Addressees and Salutations for Today’s Cultural Environment: The Fundraising and Technical – see Resources
    • 2022: Mastering Fundraising with the Raiser’s Edge NXT Web View (one of the “Top Sessions Watched This Year”) DOWNLOAD
    • bbcon “Top 10 Speaker” for the 8 years the honor was announced and the “Top-Rated External Speaker” the year after
  • bbdevdays, the Blackbaud conference for developers of every skill level
    • 2024: Just Because You Can, Does It Mean You Should? Evaluating When to Build a Customization and Proceeding Thoughtfully DOWNLOAD
  • Webinar series in March and April of 2021 on Security in Raiser’s Edge in partnership with Blackbaud; recordings, slides, “handouts,” and FAQs here
  • Blackbaud K-12 UC, the Blackbaud User Conference for K-12 Schools
    • 2019: Best Practices in the Use of Raiser’s Edge Constituent Codes DOWNLOAD
  • Association of Advancement Services Professionals Summit (annual conference)
    • 2025: Stop the Export Madness: Strategies for Increasing Security and Better Equipping Fundraisers than Giant Spreadsheets
    • 2024: Reshaping Fundraising Data Storage?: Changing Perspectives on Keeping Data in an Age of Breaches
    • 2023: Implementing DEI in Your Fundraising Database: A Case Study Using Constituent Names (“Really relevant and thoughtfully done”)
    • 2022: Meeting the Challenges of Advancement Services for Small and Midsize Organizations (“Amazing session!”, “favorite session of the week”, “fantastic speaker”)
  • Other speaking engagements have included
    • Blackbaud conferences in Canada, the United Kingdom, and San Francisco and other Blackbaud events throughout North America and online
    • Association of Fundraising Professionals International Conference on Fundraising
    • Association of Fundraising Professionals chapter events: San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Wine Country, Sacramento, and Hawaii
    • California Advancement Partnership for Schools Conference
    • Northern California Planned Giving Council
    • California Advancement Researcher’s Association Conference
    • APRA Houston, Texas, chapter
    • and numerous local Raiser’s Edge user groups around the United States
  • Attendee comments
    • “Your session on the reality of RE NXT was ‘worth the price of admission’ to the entire event, so thank you for that.”
    • “I attended your session at bbcon, and I have to say, your session (w/Ed, Wed. morning) was my absolute FAVORITE!!!!”
    • “Every. Year. Standing room only and EXCELLENT discussion. Lots of learning here.”
    • “My favorite session at the conference” and from another, “the most useful session at the conference”

Writing

In addition to the book Fundraising with The Raiser’s Edge, Bill has written the following articles:

  • “Making the Case for Technology: How to plan for a successful fundraising technology ‘ask.’” Advancing Philanthropy, May/June 2008: 35-37. (Advancing Philanthropy is the official bimonthly magazine of the international headquarters of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.)
  • “Being Good to Your Database.” Advancing Philanthropy, May/June 2007: 37.
  • “Tracking Diversity in Your Organization’s Data.” Advancing Philanthropy, March/April 2007: 14-16.
  • “Database Due Diligence.” Advancing Philanthropy, November/December 2006: 32-34.
  • “Implementing a Recurring Gift Program.” Blackbaud White Paper, January 2004.
  • and see the numerous whitepapers and other resources available on the Resources page of this site.

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“We are so fortunate to have you as a resource, and I’m really glad that you were able to be part of our project team. I really think there’s no way we’d have been as successful in completing these conversions and implementing RE NXT had it not been for you.

“Your genuine interest in wanting to understand our organization, along with your guidance, wisdom, expertise, and patience were vital to our project being a success. I most appreciate how you truly became part of our team; helping us get into all the nitty-gritty details that we needed to address in order to strategically set up and effectively utilize our new database for long-term success.

“I think it’s rare to find a consultant who really cares as much as you do about the long-term success of the organizations you are helping. I’m so confident in how our database has been configured and in our staff’s ability to effectively use it.

“I’m certain I would not have this level of confidence, especially in my own abilities as database manager, had our conversion and implementation assistance been limited solely to that of Blackbaud’s trainings and resources. I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done to help us. Seriously, anyone doing a database conversion needs to have you on their team.

“There’s so much to learn in RE NXT and the numerous tips and insights you were able to give us that we didn’t get from trainings are why I know our database is set up so well. I really don’t know how we could have done it without you.”

Director of the Annual Fund & Donor Analytics
Foundation in the San Francisco Bay Area

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