Kaia Swift, Author at Heller Consulting

Education

2021 Higher Education Trends: 3 Lessons for Colleges and Universities

I recently joined Heller consulting to lead our higher education business and empower colleges and universities with insights they need to navigate the ever-evolving world we live in today. As I reflect on the months we spent in pandemic lockdown, I am amazed at the adversity the higher education community faced. Early in the lockdown,

Kaia Swift June 28, 2021

CRM

Nonprofit CRM Implementation Best Practice: A Thoughtful Project Communication Plan

When undertaking a major initiative or a technical implementation, clear communication is critical at every step of the way. Proactive communication is one facet of change management that permeates and accompanies every phase of transition, from articulating a vision to easing staff through disruption and helping stakeholders adapt to and reinforcing the new status quo.

Kaia Swift June 21, 2021

CRM

How Food Banks are Using Salesforce Throughout the Organization

As food banks continue to meet the needs of their communities, a significant number are now using Salesforce Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP). They’re using this customer relationship management (CRM) solution as the core of their technology ecosystem to improve efficiency and effectiveness around everything from programs and fundraising to volunteer management. How food banks are

Kaia Swift June 18, 2021

Technology Strategy

4 Approaches to Building a Nonprofit Technology Stack

Twenty-five years ago, when Keith Heller first launched Heller Consulting (back when all fundraising systems were on DOS!), nonprofits selected a technology and a provider that came closest to meeting their functional and budgetary requirements. Today’s requirements and solutions in the market are vastly more complex and varied. The purpose of this article is to

Kaia Swift June 16, 2021

Education

Why We’re Excited About ascend Technology for Higher Education Advancement

In our work with higher education institutions, we at Heller Consulting have seen that many professionals working in advancement offices for mid- to large-sized colleges and universities share common goals: they’re looking to improve, streamline, and enhance fundraising operations so they can ultimately drive more and larger donations. They need the right technology to support

Kaia Swift June 8, 2021

Technology Strategy

Getting Started With a Text-to-Give Campaign

As a nonprofit professional, you’re on the cutting edge of what new giving strategies are emerging. Your organization is constantly going through transformations to update your best practices as technology continues to advance. Enter, text-to-give campaigns. Text-to-give is a digital fundraising method that’s been emerging in popularity over the last few years. During these campaigns,

Kaia Swift June 7, 2021

Technology Strategy

How to Implement Automated Gift Matching at a Nonprofit

This is a guest blog post from Double the Donation. Your nonprofit has a mission to serve its constituents and do good in your community. But neither of those outcomes are possible without funding. That’s why it’s essential that your team uses all of the resources available to bring in more revenue. However, exhausting every

Kaia Swift May 27, 2021

Team Heller

Sharing Our Partners’ Work Around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Most of the articles on this blog are about nonprofit technology. But from time to time, we find it important to share what goes on behind the scenes at Heller Consulting. Last year, we wrote about our work around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at Team Heller. Today, we continue our efforts to cultivate an

Kaia Swift May 25, 2021

CRM

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Price Considerations for Nonprofits

By now, you’ve probably heard about the technology offerings for nonprofits that have been coming from Microsoft. In case you haven’t, we’ve written about the growing potential of Microsoft solutions for nonprofits, and we continued to keep tabs on the latest offerings from Microsoft for nonprofits. You might be like many nonprofit professionals who have

Kaia Swift May 21, 2021

Microsoft

What to Know if Your Nonprofit is Considering a Move from Raiser’s Edge

If your nonprofit has been using Raiser’s Edge for a long time to support fundraising activities, you might be wondering if it’s time to move to another solution. You might find that it doesn’t support some of the newer fundraising activities you’re adding, such as online fundraising and events. Or it doesn’t easily integrate data

Kaia Swift May 7, 2021