Bentz Whaley Flessner
BWF Zuri is a Minneapolis-based nonprofit fundraising and philanthropy consulting firm serving universities, health systems, and NGOs globally with campaign strategy, CRM implementation, and the IBM Watson-powered Donor AI analytics product.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1984
- HeadquartersMinneapolis, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Bentz Whaley Flessner does
Bentz Whaley Flessner, now operating as BWF Zuri following a 2026 merger under MissionWired ownership, is a full-service nonprofit fundraising and philanthropy consulting firm founded in 1984 and headquartered in Minneapolis. The firm serves colleges, universities, health systems, children's hospitals, NGOs, and arts and culture organizations across North America, Europe, Australia, Africa, and the Pacific Rim, organized around three primary verticals (Education, Health, Nonprofits). Its service portfolio spans campaign planning and management, prospect research and analytics, CRM selection and implementation (Salesforce, Slate for Advancement, Blackbaud), AI and data science, business intelligence, digital marketing, strategic communications, donor relations, and outsourced program management.
The firm's underlying technology stack combines partner-licensed CRM platforms with proprietary extensions and an AI product. The Expert Access suite bundles 32+ custom tools for Blackbaud CRM (including Velocity ETL, List Builder Generator, Outlook Add-In, Duplicate Compare Utility, FROGz mobile app, and Email Template Manager). Donor AI is a packaged predictive analytics product powered by IBM Watson that delivers prospect scoring, campaign outcome forecasting, and engagement optimization across Pipeline, Campaign, Engagement, Healthcare, and Membership offerings. Microsoft Power BI is implemented for client-facing business intelligence dashboards, and the firm integrates with wealth screening (iWave), prospect analytics (FundMiner), data integration (Omatic), and EMR systems (Epic) in healthcare deployments.
Revenue is generated through professional services engagements, managed services contracts, and productized offerings (Donor AI subscriptions, Expert Access licenses). Pricing is quote-based with multi-year contract cadences; no standard pricing tiers are publicly disclosed. The go-to-market is enterprise field sales: direct consultant outreach to organizational leadership, RFP responses, and thought-leadership-driven demand generation through webinars, white papers, case studies, and conferences such as AHP, AAMC, NACCDO, and Woodmark Group events.
Bentz Whaley Flessner firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Bentz Whaley Flessner
- Legal name
- BWF Zuri
- Website
- https://bwf.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1984
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- BWF Zuri is a Minneapolis-based nonprofit fundraising and philanthropy consulting firm serving universities, health systems, and NGOs globally with campaign strategy, CRM implementation, and the IBM Watson-powered Donor AI analytics product.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Bentz Whaley Flessner industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Nonprofit Fundraising Consulting
- NAICS
- Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services (5416), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (541)
- SIC
- Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Charitable Giving & Philanthropic Trust Advisory (FSAEAKAH)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Philanthropy & Foundations Advisory (Donor-Advised Funds, Endowments) (FSAAABAH), Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning (MEL) & Reporting for Donor Programs (BPADAOAL)
Keywords
Where Bentz Whaley Flessner is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Minneapolis
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Bentz Whaley Flessner business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Fundraising Consulting Services: Professional consulting engagements providing strategic counsel, campaign planning and management, prospect development, and organizational optimization for nonprofit clients.
- Technology Implementation Services: CRM selection, implementation, and managed services for platforms including Salesforce, Slate for Advancement, and Blackbaud.
- Donor AI Products: AI-powered predictive analytics packages (Pipeline, Campaign, Engagement, Healthcare, Membership) available for individual purchase or custom configurations.
- Managed Services: Outsourced program management covering campaign management, annual giving execution, direct marketing, and CRM administration.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Custom consulting engagements |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels5 records
Bentz Whaley Flessner product offering
Product offeringCore offering
BWF Zuri provides fundraising and philanthropy consulting services to large nonprofit organizations, universities, healthcare systems, and NGOs. Offerings span campaign planning and management, prospect development and research, CRM selection and implementation (Salesforce, Slate for Advancement, Blackbaud), AI-driven donor analytics, business intelligence, managed annual giving, strategic communications, and organizational strategy. The firm also sells two proprietary technology products: Donor AI (IBM Watson-powered predictive analytics) and Expert Access (30+ tools extending Blackbaud CRM).
Product overview
BWF Zuri (formerly Bentz, Whaley, Flessner & Associates) is a full-service nonprofit fundraising and philanthropy consulting firm offering a portfolio of advisory services organized across five main practice areas: Campaigns and Fundraising Strategy, Technology and Operations, Engagement and Donor Experience, and Organizational Strategies. The firm's product portfolio includes two named technology products: Donor AI (an IBM Watson-powered predictive analytics platform for donor prospect scoring and campaign forecasting, available in Pipeline, Campaign, Engagement, Healthcare, and Membership packages) and Expert Access (a suite of 32+ custom tools for Blackbaud CRM users, including Velocity ETL, List Builder Generator, Outlook Add-In, Duplicate Compare Utility, FROGz mobile app, and Email Template Manager). Beyond these products, BWF Zuri provides an extensive range of consulting services spanning campaign planning, CRM implementation (Salesforce, Slate, Blackbaud), AI and data science, business intelligence, prospect research, digital marketing, strategic communications, donor relations, and organizational strategy.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Donor AI: AI-powered predictive analytics solution for fundraising that helps identify top prospects, forecast campaign outcomes, and make data-driven decisions.
- Expert Access
Products and services
- Donor AI AI-powered predictive analytics product for nonprofit fundraising, powered by IBM Watson. Identifies top donor prospects, forecasts campaign outcomes, and delivers data-driven decisions through packages for Pipeline, Campaign, Engagement, Healthcare, Membership, and custom configurations.
- Expert Access for Blackbaud CRM Suite of 30+ custom tools extending Blackbaud CRM, including Velocity ETL, List Builder Generator, Outlook Add-In, Duplicate Compare Utility, FROGz mobile enhancement, and Email Template Manager.
- Campaign Planning and Management Comprehensive fundraising campaign planning and management services including feasibility studies, campaign readiness assessment, campaign management, volunteer engagement, and data-driven insights for successful fundraising campaigns.
- Managed Services Outsourced managed services including campaign management, multichannel campaign execution, managed annual giving, direct marketing management, strategic communications, CRM management, prospect development, prospect research, and data science/business intelligence.
- Systems Selection and Implementation CRM systems selection and implementation services including system needs analysis, selection facilitation, custom implementation planning, training and support, post-implementation review, and change management for nonprofit organizations across Salesforce, Slate, and Blackbaud.
- AI and Data Science AI and data science services including custom constituency analysis, predictive modeling, AI readiness assessment, strategic analytics assessment, portfolio optimization, performance metrics, and analytics training. Leverages Donor AI powered by IBM Watson.
- Reporting and Business Intelligence Reporting and business intelligence services including dashboard development, KPI formulation and monitoring, data governance, strategic data consulting, educational workshops, supplemental staff support, predictive modeling, AI-driven insights, and custom analytics solutions.
- Prospect Development and Research Prospect development and research services including prospect identification, wealth and philanthropic screening, donor profiling, data analysis and reporting, prospect pipeline development, portfolio optimization, prospect development assessments, strategic research, and prospect research training.
- Annual Giving and Digital Marketing Annual giving and digital marketing services including annual giving assessments, digital fundraising assessments, donor segmentation analysis, personas development, journey mapping, donor acquisition and retention strategies, social audience analysis, and authentic video creation.
Quantifiable outcome
- Reduced pipeline friction by 4x through AI modeling and HIPAA-compliant data integration
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Bentz Whaley Flessner
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Bentz Whaley Flessner technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration19 records
AI capability4 records
Feature5 records
Bentz Whaley Flessner partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.
- IBM WatsoncoreIBM Watson powers BWF Zuri's Donor AI predictive analytics platform, providing the underlying AI technology for fundraising prospect identification and campaign forecasting.
- SalesforcecoreBWF is a trusted Salesforce implementation partner providing strategic counsel, business process optimization, CRM implementation, and managed services for nonprofit organizations.
- Slate for Advancement (Technolutions)corePlatinum-level preferred partner providing Slate implementation services to support advancement teams' modern fundraising operations.
- BlackbaudcoreSeasoned Blackbaud implementation partner offering comprehensive services for advancement teams including Expert Access program with 30+ custom tools.
- Microsoft Power BIsupportingBusiness intelligence platform utilized for dashboard development and data visualization for client organizations.
- iWavesupportingWealth screening and prospect research platform integrated into BWF's prospect development services.
- FundMinersupportingFundraising analytics platform offered as part of BWF's technology partner ecosystem.
- Omatic SoftwaresupportingData integration and migration tools for nonprofit CRM implementations.
- BloomerangsupportingDonor management and engagement platform within BWF's technology partner ecosystem.
- DonorPerfectsupportingFundraising CRM platform offered as part of BWF's technology partner ecosystem.
- Tessitura NetworksupportingIntegrated constituent relationship management platform for arts and cultural organizations.
- Penry AdvisorssupportingPreferred partner for campaign strategy and fundraising advisory services.
- Level5 EventssupportingPreferred partner for campaign events and engagement activities.
- MissionWiredcoreParent company that acquired BWF to join with Zuri Group, forming BWF Zuri. Strategic consolidation to expand service capabilities.
- boodleAIsupportingAI platform partner referenced in engagement and donor experience services.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Bentz Whaley Flessner competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Blackbaud: Blackbaud is the dominant provider of CRM and fundraising software for the nonprofit sector, including the Raiser's Edge and Blackbaud CRM platforms that BWF implements for clients. They are both a technology partner and a broad incumbent that could expand into adjacent consulting services.
- Huron Consulting: Huron Consulting is a large professional services firm with a dedicated Higher Education and Healthcare practice that provides fundraising assessments, advancement optimization, and CRM implementation — competing with BWF on enterprise transformation engagements in BWF's core verticals.
Direct peers
- Zuri Group: Zuri Group was a CRM implementation and managed services firm for nonprofits before merging with BWF to form BWF Zuri. They provided systems selection, implementation, and managed services across Salesforce, Slate, and Blackbaud platforms — directly overlapping with BWF's technology operations practice.
- Graham-Pelton: Graham-Pelton is a fundraising and advancement consulting firm serving nonprofits, universities, and healthcare organizations. They provide campaign management, development counsel, and talent search services directly comparable to BWF's campaign and strategy practice.
- Ruffalo Noel Levitz: Ruffalo Noel Levitz (RNL) is a leading provider of fundraising, enrollment management, and student success services to higher education institutions. They offer campaign counsel, annual giving, and advancement services that compete directly with BWF in the education sector.
- Marts & Lundy: Marts & Lundy is a premier fundraising consulting firm specializing in campaign planning, feasibility studies, and philanthropic counsel for educational institutions, healthcare organizations, and cultural nonprofits — a long-standing direct competitor to BWF in capital campaign consulting.
- Grenzebach Glier and Associates: Grenzebach Glier is a leading fundraising and philanthropy advisory firm serving higher education, healthcare, and nonprofit clients. They offer campaign counsel, prospect research, and advancement services that directly overlap with BWF's core offerings.
- CCS Fundraising: CCS Fundraising is one of the largest fundraising consulting firms in North America, providing campaign counsel, feasibility studies, and development services to nonprofits, healthcare systems, and educational institutions — a direct competitor to BWF in capital campaign strategy and major gift fundraising advisory.
Regional players
- True North Custom Publishing: True North Custom is a fundraising communications and content agency serving hospitals and nonprofits, with strong presence in healthcare philanthropy publications and donor communications — comparable to BWF's campaign communications and strategic communications practices, particularly for health system clients.
Others
- MissionWired: MissionWired is the parent company that acquired BWF and merged it with Zuri Group to form BWF Zuri. MissionWired provides digital fundraising, advocacy, and direct marketing services to nonprofits and progressive causes — adjacent services that complement BWF's traditional fundraising counsel.
Market position
Strengths1 record
Weaknesses1 record
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Bentz Whaley Flessner social profiles
Digital presenceBentz Whaley Flessner financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Bentz Whaley Flessner leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Bentz Whaley Flessner funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Bentz Whaley Flessner M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A2 records
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Bentz Whaley Flessner
What does Bentz Whaley Flessner do?
BWF Zuri provides fundraising and philanthropy consulting services to large nonprofit organizations, universities, healthcare systems, and NGOs. Offerings span campaign planning and management, prospect development and research, CRM selection and implementation (Salesforce, Slate for Advancement, Blackbaud), AI-driven donor analytics, business intelligence, managed annual giving, strategic communications, and organizational strategy. The firm also sells two proprietary technology products: Donor AI (IBM Watson-powered predictive analytics) and Expert Access (30+ tools extending Blackbaud CRM).
Is Bentz Whaley Flessner a public or private company?
Bentz Whaley Flessner is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Bentz Whaley Flessner founded?
Bentz Whaley Flessner was founded in 1984. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Bentz Whaley Flessner based?
Bentz Whaley Flessner is headquartered in Minneapolis, United States, in the North America region.
How does Bentz Whaley Flessner make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Fundraising Consulting Services are the primary driver. The others are technology Implementation Services, donor AI Products and managed Services.
Who are Bentz Whaley Flessner's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Blackbaud and Huron Consulting. Direct peers are Zuri Group, Graham-Pelton, Ruffalo Noel Levitz, Marts & Lundy, Grenzebach Glier and Associates and CCS Fundraising. True North Custom Publishing is listed as a regional player. MissionWired is listed as an others.
Does Bentz Whaley Flessner have an API?
No public API is recorded for Bentz Whaley Flessner.
What industry is Bentz Whaley Flessner in?
Bentz Whaley Flessner's product category is Nonprofit Fundraising Consulting. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAEAKAH, Charitable Giving & Philanthropic Trust Advisory, with a secondary code of FSAAABAH, Philanthropy & Foundations Advisory (Donor-Advised Funds, Endowments). Its NAICS code is 5416 and its SIC code is 8742.