Long Bio
Consulting and Training:

  • Independent Consultant and Trainer on The Raiser’s Edge® since October 2005

  • In this time I have worked with over 35 organizations, on short to very long-term
    projects, and most have asked me to return for additional work based on the
    success of our working relationships.

  • From December 2006 through March 2008 I served as the contract Database
    Administrator for The Raiser’s Edge for two days a week at a San Francisco
    nonprofit organization ($4 million+ annual budget) in addition to my other consulting
    work.  After having been a consultant since 1996, this was an opportunity to
    “practice what I preach” to test and refine the consulting guidance I provide to my
    clients.                               

  • Principal Consultant for Fundraising Systems (The Raiser’s Edge), Blackbaud, San
    Francisco, CA, May 1998 - June 2005

  • A founding consultant of the Blackbaud consulting program in 1998; first non-
    Blackbaud consultant hired.

  • Dozens of clients in many states throughout the US and provinces in Canada,
    across the entire nonprofit spectrum, including two large universities, museums,
    zoos, schools, religious organizations, health foundations, youth organizations,
    social service agencies, and others.  Client evaluations rated 4.9 out of 5.

  • Senior consultant on the team, including work with Product Development to
    enhance The Raiser’s Edge, Blackbaud consultant training and mentoring, and
    extensive sales, conference and user group presentations on behalf of the
    company.

  • Senior Consultant, Information Technology, Brakeley Ltd (fundraising consultancy),
    London, UK, September 2001 – October 2002

  • Consulting on The Raiser’s Edge and other fundraising database products and
    technologies in England, Scotland, Sweden, Austria, Finland and Switzerland.

  • Director of Information Systems, National Headquarters of Junior Achievement, overseeing
    the organization-wide deployment of The Raiser’s Edge fundraising database in the
    organization’s 165 field offices, CO, November 1995 – April 1998

  • Program management, documentation, training development and delivery, custom
    reporting development and distribution

Development:

  • Director of Development, Junior Achievement of Central Arizona (Phoenix), responsible for
    over $400,000 annually, August 1991 – November 1995

  • Included corporate and foundation support, major gifts, direct mail, telemarketing,
    government grants, special events, rural programming and board management,
    and IT

  • Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) certification since 2005

  • Board, Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Golden Gate Chapter, 2004-2007;
    member throughout my career and advocate and adherent to the AFP Code of Ethical
    Principles and Standards of Professional Practice

Writing:

  • “Building a Case for Development Technology to the CEO” (forthcoming, tentative title),
    Advancing Philanthropy, spring 2008.  (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.  (click
    here; login may be required)


Speaking:
The following list highlights my recent and notable speaking engagements and reviews.

  • Blackbaud Conference for Nonprofits, Charleston, SC, November 11-14, 2007: “Getting the
    Best Success with Mailings from The Raiser's Edge” (highlighted speaker and session in
    Blackbaud marketing materials for this conference), “Reports You Should Run” and pre-
    conference session (3.5 hours) on “Achieving Perfection: Setting up the Ideal Raiser’s
    Edge Database” (Top 10 speaker at the conference)

  • Blackbaud’s Canadian Conference for Nonprofits, Vancouver, BC, May 31-June 1, 2007:  
    “The Roles and Tasks of a Raiser's Edge Database Administrator” (overall rating, 3.88/4,
    evaluation comments of “best,” “great,” “excellent” and “FABULOUS” [sic]) and “Integrating
    The Raiser’s Edge with Your Accounting Software” (speaker knowledge and presentation
    ratings, 3.82/4)

  • California Advancement Researcher’s Association Conference, Costa Mesa, CA, October
    2006:  “Major Gifts, Major Data—Major Headache?:  Managing Data for the Major Gifts
    Process in Your Fundraising Database” (Session Evaluation Forms averaged “Excellent”
    with comments of “Excellent Public Speaker, Expert on  Topic,” “very good at explaining,”
    “good ideas,” “good call to action on a powerful approach to philanthropy,” and “really
    wonderful.”)

  • AFP National Philanthropy Day Conference, Honolulu, HI, November 2005:  “Taming the
    Beast:  The Seven Most Common Mistakes Made with Fundraising Databases” and “Turn
    Your One-Time Annual Gifts into Recurring Gifts”  (“Your sessions were among the most
    well-received and rated among the highest.”)

  • AFP Fundraising Day, San Francisco, CA, June 2005:  “Using Technology to Implement a
    Recurring Giving Program”

  • AFP International Conference on Fundraising, Baltimore, MD, April 2005:  “Implementing a
    Recurring Giving Program” (overall rating, 6.52/7; speaker knowledge, 6.82/7)

  • Blackbaud’s 2004 European Conference, London, November 2004:  various topics (Top 10
    Speaker)

  • Blackbaud’s Conference on Philanthropy, Charleston, SC, October 2000-2004: various
    topics (Top 10 speaker every year)

Education:

  • BA cum laude from Yale University with distinction in the major of Economics and a double
    major in Religious Studies

  • MA from Brigham Young University in American History
Copyright 2006-2008  Bill Connors  415.861.5454

The Raiser's Edge is a trademark of Blackbaud, Inc.  Bill Connors is neither supported nor
endorsed by Blackbaud.
Bill Connors, CFRE
Expert, Independent Consulting and Training on The Raiser’s Edge