The Chronicle of Philanthropy is reporting that banks who are receiving bail-out money are being encouraged to honor their philanthropic and community reinvestment commitments. Organizations may look to this as a hopeful sign that they might not lose key funding and partnerships developed with some of the country’s biggest lenders. Now is the time to have some discussion with your contacts at banks/financial institutions affected.

WealthEngine is currently conducting research in order to compile and report on “Best Practices” in Higher Education prospect research and data mining. We are gathering information from practitioners on some of the following topics, amongst others:

innovative uses of research data,

the most worthwhile sources of data,

standards for appropriate data security,

strategic use of data in fundraising and advancement programs, and

effective and efficient information flow amongst departments within the fundraising program.

In mid-April we launched an online survey to many of our education clients. If you did not receive the survey email, and would like to complete the survey, please click here to be connected to the online survey. All respondents will receive a free copy of the report, scheduled for release in the fall of 2009. All responses will be kept confidential and will be reported only in aggregate.

If you would like to participate, but prefer to speak with someone one-on-one, you may participate in a confidential telephone interview by calling Sally Boucher, Client Service Manager at WealthEngine, at 240-744-1032. This will allow you to share in-depth information on any or all of the topics above.

Either way, we want to hear from you. Your participation will not only ensure you are amongst the first to receive valuable information that will enhance your research and fundraising operations, but you will be helping the profession by contributing to the collective body of knowledge.

If you haven’t registered for the Best Practices in Healthcare Webinar Series, it’s not too late! The series begins this Thursday, April 9th at 2pm EST.

Please click here to register or for more information on this series, or call us at 800-933-4446.