EverTrue

EverTrue, founded in 2010 by Brent Grinna and Eric Carlstrom, operates as a specialized software platform for fundraising and donor engagement, primarily serving educational institutions and non-profit organizations. The company's genesis stems from Grinna's personal experience as a volunteer fundraiser for his alma mater, Brown University, where he faced the challenge of working with outdated and inaccurate donor information. This firsthand frustration with the inefficiencies in non-profit fundraising, coupled with his background in finance at William Blair & Company and an MBA from Harvard Business School, catalyzed the creation of EverTrue. Grinna's vision was to apply the data-driven approaches of the for-profit sector to the non-profit world.

The firm's core offering is a cloud-based donor management platform that provides fundraising teams with a holistic view of donors by integrating institutional data with insights from various external sources, including social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook, Zillow, and U.S. Census data. This enables clients, which include hundreds of universities, colleges, and independent schools, to identify prospects, manage gift officer portfolios, and coordinate volunteer programs more effectively. Revenue is generated through a custom-priced, subscription-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. The platform's features include donor insights, wealth screening, campaign management, and mobile access, designed to support the entire advancement office from major gifts to annual giving.

EverTrue has strategically expanded its capabilities through a series of mergers and acquisitions. In October 2021, the company merged with ThankView, a personalized video platform, enhancing its ability to facilitate personalized donor outreach. This was followed by the acquisition of The Solas Group in March 2022, a specialist in predictive modeling and analytics for the education sector. Further acquisitions include Pledgemine in June 2022, a direct mail solutions provider, and Fundriver in August 2022, an endowment accounting and reporting software. These moves have consolidated EverTrue's position by creating an end-to-end solution for fundraisers to identify, engage, and steward donors across multiple channels. The company's journey includes participation in the Techstars Boston accelerator and has secured significant funding from investors such as Bain Capital Ventures and Achieve Partners.

Keywords: donor management software, fundraising platform, advancement services, alumni relations, non-profit technology, educational fundraising, donor engagement, prospect research, wealth screening, personalized video outreach, predictive analytics, endowment management, direct mail fundraising, SaaS, higher education technology, donor database, gift officer tools, campaign tracking, volunteer management, stewardship solutions