RKD Group

What RKD Group does

RKD Group (legal name Robbins-Kersten Direct, founded 1970, Plano/Richardson, TX) is a privately held, North America-focused fundraising and marketing agency serving nonprofit organizations across six core verticals: Animal Care, Food Banks, Health + Hospitals, Humanitarian Action, Missions, and The Salvation Army. The firm operates through a platform-plus-services model in which proprietary technology products (Velocity, SignalLayer, Bytespree) are delivered alongside full-service marketing, fundraising, data management, creative, and strategic planning engagements. Headcount is reported at 475–500+ marketing professionals, supported by a family of wholly owned subsidiaries — Data Management Inc., Heller Consulting, MDM Fundraising, and Summit Marketing — and PE sponsorship from BV Investment Partners since 2019.

The company's technology stack centers on three proprietary platforms. Velocity is an AI/ML-powered predictive intelligence ecosystem that scores donors for likelihood to give, lapse, renew, or upgrade, and powers the Mid-Level Giving, Monthly Giving, and Lapsed Giving solutions. SignalLayer is a purpose-built website personalization platform offering dynamic gift arrays, abandoned donation lightboxes, and adaptive content with GA4 integration. Bytespree is a data connectivity layer providing 30+ prebuilt connectors (Salesforce.org, Raiser's Edge NXT, Bloomerang, DonorPerfect, Virtuous, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Stripe, Snowflake, Redshift) that synchronize 21+ billion records and execute 86,000+ jobs annually. Service offerings span digital marketing, paid media, SEO, email, direct mail, major/mid-level/monthly giving programs, audience development, creative, data management, advanced analytics, and market research.

RKD generates revenue as a B2B agency through retainer- and project-based professional services engagements, priced via custom quotes rather than published rate cards. Customer acquisition is driven by direct enterprise field sales, industry partnerships (GivingTuesday, AWS Nonprofits), and referrals within the nonprofit sector. Long-tenured client relationships include Coast Guard Foundation (since 2010), Save the Children USA (since 2012), and The Salvation Army. In January 2026, founder Tim Kersten retired after 14 years and was succeeded by CEO Kevin Jones alongside a new C-suite, signaling a strategic inflection toward combining nonprofit specialization with Fortune 500 commercial marketing rigor.

Name

RKD Group

Legal name

Robbins-Kersten Direct

Website

https://rkdgroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1970

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

RKD Group is a Plano, TX-based fundraising and marketing agency serving North American nonprofits across animal care, food banking, health, humanitarian, missions, and Salvation Army verticals, combining proprietary AI-driven platforms (Velocity, SignalLayer, Bytespree) with full-service agency capabilities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Fundraising and Marketing Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (541810)

SIC

Services-Direct Mail Advertising Services (7331), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

B2B Demand Generation & Lead Nurture Agencies (BPAFAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Fundraising & Donor Acquisition Calling (Nonprofit) (BPAAADAJ), Developer Portals, SDKs & Documentation Platforms (BPAMADAG)

Keywords

• Nonprofit fundraising services
• Donor engagement solutions
• Direct mail marketing
• Predictive donor analytics
• Data integration platforms

Headquarters

HQ city

Richardson

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Marketing & Fundraising Agency Services: RKD Group generates revenue by providing comprehensive marketing and fundraising solutions to nonprofit organizations. Services include strategic planning, creative services, data management, digital marketing, direct mail, analytics, and machine learning-powered donor engagement. The company operates as a full-service agency with retainer-based and project-based engagements.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

RKD Group is a full-service B2B marketing and fundraising agency that designs, executes, and optimizes omnichannel donor engagement programs for nonprofit organizations. Its core offering combines strategic planning, creative services, audience development, direct mail, digital marketing, data management, and analytics with proprietary technology platforms (Velocity, SignalLayer, Bytespree) to help nonprofits acquire, retain, and grow donor relationships.

Product overview

RKD Group operates as a nonprofit marketing and fundraising solutions provider with a platform-plus-services architecture. The core technology portfolio includes three proprietary platforms: Velocity (AI-powered predictive intelligence ecosystem for donor scoring, segmentation, and optimization), SignalLayer (purpose-built website personalization platform), and Bytespree (nonprofit-specific data connectivity through 30+ prebuilt connectors). These platforms are complemented by three focused solution packages (Mid-Level Giving, Monthly Giving, and Lapsed Giving) and delivered alongside a comprehensive suite of service offerings spanning marketing and fundraising, audience development, creative services, data management, strategic planning, advanced analytics, and market research. The integrated approach enables nonprofits to access data-driven donor engagement, predictive analytics, omnichannel fundraising, and personalization capabilities from a single partner.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Bytespree: Data connectivity platform that enables nonprofits to integrate and automate data collection across marketing, CRM, fundraising and analytics applications.
• SignalLayer
• Velocity

Products and services

• Velocity

Quantifiable outcome

• 15% lift in gross revenue for PanCAN
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration30 records

AI capability8 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered key, core and strategic.

• Positive EquationkeyStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 April 2026Partner in second annual Monthly Giving Awareness Week (May 11-15, 2026) to help nonprofit organizations develop sustainable recurring giving programs.
• American Diabetes AssociationkeyGTM or Marketing Partner · 23 April 2026Selected RKD Group as direct mail agency for nonprofit health organization.
• Humane ColoradokeyGTM or Marketing Partner · 23 February 2026Selected RKD Group as fundraising agency to enhance donor engagement and digital strategies for animal welfare organization.
• San Francisco SPCAkeyGTM or Marketing Partner · 23 February 2026Selected RKD Group as fundraising agency for donor engagement and digital strategies to support lifesaving impact and sustainable donor relationships.
• Tarrant Area Food BankkeyGTM or Marketing Partner · 27 January 2026Selected RKD Group as fundraising agency of record to support donor engagement, digital advancements, and revenue growth for North Texas food bank.
• GivingTuesdaykeyStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 July 2024Strategic partnership to release the GivingPulse Field Guide, a comprehensive resource distilling data from GivingTuesday Data Commons quarterly reports into actionable fundraising strategies. Also co-launched Monthly Giving Awareness Week in 2025 and 2026.
• Data Management Inc.coreOthersSubsidiary company of RKD Group providing additional nonprofit data management solutions. Part of RKD Group's family of companies including Heller Consulting, MDM Fundraising, and Summit Marketing.
• Heller ConsultingcoreOthersSubsidiary company of RKD Group providing consulting services to nonprofit organizations.
• MDM FundraisingcoreOthersSubsidiary company of RKD Group focused on fundraising solutions for nonprofits.
• Summit MarketingcoreOthersSubsidiary company working alongside RKD Group to offer complete range of fundraising solutions, particularly for The Salvation Army.
• Bytespree ConnectorscoreTechnology or IntegrationBytespree enables nonprofit data connectivity with 30+ pre-built connectors including Salesforce, Bloomerang, DonorPerfect, Virtuous, Raiser’s Edge NXT, HubSpot, Mailchimp, ConstantContact, Snowflake, Amazon Redshift, and more. Synchronizes 21+ billion records annually.
• SignalLayer PersonalizationcoreTechnology or IntegrationPurpose-built website personalization solution for nonprofits delivered by RKD Group. Enables real-time donor experience customization with dynamic content and first-party data capture.
• AWS NonprofitsstrategicTechnology or IntegrationAmazon Web Services nonprofit division providing cloud infrastructure and technology support. Hilary Noon, global head of strategy at AWS Nonprofits, appeared on RKD Group Thinkers podcast discussing data, technology, and analytics for nonprofits.
• Google Analytics 4 (GA4)coreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration with GA4 for advanced analytics capabilities and event-based donor interaction tracking to enable highly tailored personalization strategies.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• TrueSense Marketing: Full-service direct marketing and fundraising agency focused exclusively on nonprofit clients, offering direct mail, digital, and analytics services — directly comparable to RKD's integrated agency model for mission-driven organizations.
• Pursuant: Nonprofit fundraising and marketing agency providing strategic fundraising, creative, and donor engagement services; competes head-to-head with RKD across mid-level, major gifts, and direct response fundraising.
• The Lukens Company: Nonprofit-focused direct response agency specializing in multichannel fundraising, donor acquisition, and membership programs — a comparable peer across RKD's direct mail and digital fundraising offerings.
• Russ Reid: Legacy direct response fundraising agency serving faith-based and nonprofit clients with direct mail, digital, and media services — a long-standing comparable peer in nonprofit fundraising execution.
• Moore: Direct response and fundraising agency with a large nonprofit practice, offering creative, media, and data-driven donor engagement — comparable to RKD across multiple nonprofit verticals.

Broad incumbents

• Merkle: Large customer experience and data-driven marketing agency (Dentsu-owned) that serves nonprofit clients alongside broader commercial verticals; comparable as a larger incumbent with overlapping data, analytics, and personalization capabilities.
• Blackbaud: Dominant vertical software and services provider for nonprofits (CRM, fundraising, marketing); competes with RKD in donor data management, analytics, and increasingly in agency-style services, but at much larger scale and via software-led model.

Emerging players

• Bonterra: Nonprofit technology platform combining Network for Good, Social Solutions, and other giving/CRM products; an emerging peer that increasingly bundles donor engagement tooling that overlaps with RKD's Velocity/SignalLayer offerings.
• Funraise: Modern nonprofit fundraising platform offering donation forms, CRM, and donor management with built-in personalization — an emerging peer whose native tooling could displace portions of agency-led fundraising execution.

Others

• GivingTuesday: Strategic partner and sector convener for the global generosity movement; not a direct competitor but a closely adjacent ecosystem participant through co-developed Field Guides and Monthly Giving Awareness Week.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/RKDFundraising
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rkdgroup
• Instagraminstagram.com/rkdgroup
• Xx.com/RKDGroup

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles19 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A7 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about RKD Group