We are thrilled to announce the winner of Winspire's first Donation Give-Away drawing of 2018! Congratulations goes to Kristin Melton, Marketing & Development Director at Bloom Our Youth. The Fayetteville, Georgia-based charity (just south of Atlanta) provides safe shelter and physical, educational, and emotional support to children who have been the victims of abuse, neglect and other tragic circumstances. It's our honor to be able to donate a $1,000 Saks Fifth Avenue shopping spree for their use in an upcoming fundraiser.

In the midst of tragedy across North America, last week's wildfires in Northern California hit especially close to home. Winspire has many friends and partners in picturesque wine country, and we are deeply saddened by the loss of life, health and property for all victims of the wildfires. Despite the devastation, we are hearing amazing stories of community, compassion and resilience. People and businesses in Napa and Sonoma are helping each other and coming together in remarkable ways. It is heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time.

We are thrilled to announce the winner of Winspire's fourth Donation Give-Away drawing of 2017! Congratulations goes to B.J. Menter, Special Events Coordinator at Arc of Onandaga. The Syracuse, New York-based charity is passionate about empowering individuals with developmental disabilities to achieve their fullest potential. It's our honor to be able to donate a $1,000 Hilton gift card for their use in an upcoming fundraiser.

By now, you've probably seen the images on the news. Category 4 Hurricane Harvey has brought torrential rains and massive river flooding to southeast Texas, leaving 30,000 and counting without shelter. The destruction and damage has been widespread and, in some cases, fatal.

RAISE 2017, sponsored by BidPal®, is the first national conference for event fundraising professionals. The one-day conference will take place September 25-26 in Washington, DC. and will be preceded by a half-day user conference and cocktail networking reception.

When it comes to benefit events, unknown variables come with the territory. You can't know for sure if you'll reach your fundraising goals, get bids in the live auction, smoothly execute the night's agenda and more.

So many nonprofits are scared to ask for what they want. "I'm being an imposition." "Asking for the organization sounds like I'm asking for myself." "They'll probably say no." Sound familiar? Fact is, if you don't ask, you can't further your programs and multiply your impact.

What a year it has been! The world of event fundraising is evolving every day, and we have the articles and resources to prove it. This past year, we covered a wide range of fundraising topics, including donor development, event production, unique travel Experiences and more - all to help nonprofit professionals raise more for their causes. Read on for the top 6 most-viewed posts of 2016, including tips to write sleek "Save the date" invitations, secure new event sponsorships and get creative with silent auction baskets. We hope you'll gain new ideas to surprise, inspire and engage donors in the year ahead!

Did you know charitable giving is at an all-time high? With ever-increasing revenue goals and more need than ever, this may seem hard to believe. But there's plenty of reason to be optimistic about the state of giving as we look to 2017. Take #GivingTuesday 2016, for example. Online fundraising software provider Blackbaud reports a year-over-year growth of 20 percent! Any area of fundraising with double-digit growth, particularly in online and mobile donations, merits a closer look. And while the final numbers from 2016 are still being tallied - with the two most important giving weeks of the year ahead - the momentum and record-breaking trajectory of 2015 successfully set the pace for another groundbreaking year. Check out today's post for an infographic detailing positive trends in charitable giving. (Also note: Limited spots remain for next week's webinar on improving auction timelines. If you haven't saved your spot, click here to register in seconds. Then invite committee members, auction chairs, volunteers, board members and more to sign up for what's sure to be a lively session!)

We are excited to announce the winner of our first Donation Give-Away drawing of 2016! Morgan Stewart of San Francisco, California will be using the $1,000 Fairmont gift card donated by Winspire to help raise money for California State Parks Foundation (CSPF) where she works as Special Events Coordinator. CSPF is a member-supported nonprofit dedicated to protecting, improving and advocating for all of California’s state parks. Their mission is to deliver innovative solutions to create an excellent parks system by facilitating park improvements, inspiring stewardship, supporting partners, advocating for sound policies, and connecting people to parks. "Over 75 million people visit California's 280 state parks each year," Morgan explains, "so it's our goal is to ensure that the natural beauty, rich culture and history, and recreational and educational opportunities are available for everyone to enjoy now and for generations to come."

What a year it has been! So many new and exciting things are happening in the event fundraising world, and we have the articles and resources to prove it. For this post we compiled a list of the top six most-viewed Winspire News articles from 2015... but our helpful content didn't stop there. This year we dedicated ourselves to covering a wide range of topics designed to help nonprofit professionals improve everything about their fundraising events. We discovered the top 12 charity event themes and paired them with auction items, highlighted best practices for promoting a fundraising event, published a variety of interesting nonprofit infographics and discussed the importance of tapping into donor travel budgets. It has been an honor for all of us here at Winspire to be a part of your fundraising journey and help with so many incredible events in 2015. Here's to another successful year!