Meet Holly Ivel: The Story Behind our New Operations Director
August 15, 2024 | 4 min read
We’re pleased to introduce Holly Ivel as our new operations director. In this role, she will collaborate with our board of directors, manage and drive the efficiency and compliance of The Blackbaud Giving Fund’s services, support client processing, work to retain and grow relationships through NPOconnect, and more.
Before joining The Blackbaud Giving Fund, Holly served as the chief analytics officer with The Redwoods Group. She focused on increasing customer renewals, redesigned the risk evaluation process, and chaired the risk management committee. Before that, Holly was the senior director of data services for Candid, where she enhanced the commercial viability of the company’s data services; as the senior director of business development, Holly led the sales, customer success, and data services teams.
Holly is no stranger to donation platforms like NPOconnect. She was the director of nonprofit and donor programs at Fidelity Charitable, where she improved donor features and functionality and supported nonprofit and company relationships.
I sat down with Holly to learn more about her career and her insights:
Matt Nash: What led you to work in the social good sector?
Holly Ivel: In many ways, I’ve always been involved with and passionate about the social good sector.
I began my career as a service-learning coordinator at a New England college, where I connected students with local nonprofits to apply their studies through volunteer work. This role ignited my passion for social good, leading me to the National Society of Experiential Education, where I studied community partnerships and learned the value of trust and collaboration. Even when I transitioned to the for-profit sector, I worked for an electricity company that placed a strong emphasis on serving the community. During this time, I learned the importance and logistical challenges of workplace giving programs through their annual giving program with United Way. Eventually, I returned to the nonprofit sector at Fidelity Charitable, overseeing international grants and enhancing data for their Grant Recommendation platform. This led to a position at Candid, managing their data services and supporting public sector research, which deepened my appreciation for the giving sector’s diversity and impact.
MN: What are you most proud of accomplishing in your career thus far?
HI: It’s not so much a project or accomplishment that I am proud of, but how I work. Looking back on my career, I am most proud of my ability to foster cross-functional teams and efforts, bring people together from different disciplines, organizations, and perspectives to get on the same page, tackle problems holistically, and drive better outcomes for everyone.
MN: What advice would you give nonprofits based on your background in data?
HI: It’s vital that nonprofits understand who their donors are and tap into cross-communication strategies that can enhance giving. What I mean by that is when a check is delivered to a nonprofit, it often goes to the accounting department without the fundraiser ever seeing it to understand the data behind it. Information comes into a nonprofit quickly, but the data behind the information is not always analyzed and used to create actionable and impactful fundraising strategies. Anything a nonprofit can do to better understand its volunteers and donors can help them develop more robust outreach strategies and retention efforts. Encouraging communication and collaboration between different departments in a nonprofit can help maintain and engage donors and volunteers.
MN: What are you looking forward to working on at The Blackbaud Giving Fund?
HI: Workplace giving and volunteering are only going to grow, which means that the impact of donors’ commitment to communities across the country and the world will expand. Helping nonprofits and companies understand the importance of relationship-building and best practices is critical to truly maximizing the long-term effects of these programs worldwide.
I’m looking forward to identifying where I can elevate the fund, nonprofits, and giving in general. I’m excited to be part of a team helping to nurture positive outcomes for communities and bringing my nonprofit and donor-advised fund experience, combined with my data, program management, and collaboration skills, to an already strong organization.
We look forward to having Holly on our team and seeing the positive impacts she has on propelling global good.
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