BBS & Associates

What BBS & Associates does

BBS & Associates is a privately held, Akron, Ohio-based professional services firm that provides fundraising strategy and execution to Christian nonprofits and ministries. Founded in 1986 by Dale Berkey and Doug Brendel (originally as Berkey & Brendel), the firm has operated for nearly four decades with a staff of 40+ team members and a leadership team whose members together hold more than 150 years of ministry fundraising experience. Its core deliverables span fundraising strategy consulting, direct mail production and mailing, digital marketing (email, advertising, landing pages, giving funnels, marketing automation), mid/major donor program design, capital campaign consulting, donor research and analytics, publishing services, and disaster-relief fundraising campaigns.

The firm's go-to-market is sales-led and relationship-driven, with free discovery calls as the primary entry point and multi-year engagements as the dominant commercial structure. Several client relationships have endured 10, 20, or 30+ years, including Convoy of Hope (25 years) and Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah (20+ years). The firm's underlying capability stack is built on nonprofit fundraising technology (donor management, email marketing, marketing automation, analytics, digital advertising) layered with proprietary research assets such as the Missing Keys study, the Second Gift study (2,593 donors across 8 ministries), Lapsed Donor studies, Donor Confidence Reports produced with Campbell Rinker, and a Midlevel Donor Study produced with Grey Matter Research.

Revenue is generated through project-based consulting engagements and ongoing professional services contracts rather than through software licensing or transactional products; no pricing tiers, contract minimums, or revenue figures are publicly disclosed. The company markets itself primarily through content (blog, research reports, case studies), email, and direct outreach, and maintains an exclusive focus on the Christian nonprofit vertical, which serves as both a specialization advantage and a concentration constraint.

Name

BBS & Associates

Legal name

BBS & Associates

Website

https://servantheart.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

BBS & Associates is a privately held Akron, Ohio-based fundraising consulting firm founded in 1986 that provides strategy, direct mail, digital marketing, mid/major donor programs, capital campaigns, donor research, and analytics services exclusively to Christian nonprofits and ministries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Fundraising Consulting

NAICS

Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139)

SIC

Services-Direct Mail Advertising Services (7331)

akta.pro primary industry

B2B / Account-Based Marketing (ABM) Strategy Consulting (MPAAAFAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Family Offices & Philanthropic Advisors (Grantmaking) (BPAGAKAD)

Keywords

• Nonprofit fundraising consulting
• Donor strategy services
• Direct mail fundraising
• Major donor programs
• Ministry consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Akron

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Fundraising Strategy Consulting: Comprehensive consulting services for nonprofit fundraising including strategy development, donor acquisition, donor retention, mid/major donor programs, and capital campaigns. Revenue generated through project-based consulting engagements and ongoing partnerships with ministry clients.
2. Direct Mail Fundraising Services: Production and mailing services for direct mail campaigns including acquisition, retention, and emergency/urgent mailings. Services include strategy, creative, printing, and mailing.
3. Digital Marketing Services: Email marketing, digital advertising, landing page/donation page development, giving funnels, analytics and tracking, monthly giving programs, and texting campaigns.
4. Data Analytics & Research Reports: Donor research studies and reports including Donor Confidence Reports, New Donor Studies, Lapsed Donor Studies, and Midlevel Donor Studies sold or provided to nonprofit clients.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

BBS & Associates provides full-service donor fundraising consulting and execution for Christian nonprofits and ministries. Offerings span fundraising strategy development, direct mail campaign production and mailing, digital marketing (email, ads, landing pages, giving funnels), mid/major donor program optimization, capital campaign consulting, donor analytics and research, and publishing services. Revenue is generated through project-based consulting engagements and ongoing multi-year partnerships with ministry clients.

Product overview

BBS & Associates is a professional services firm offering a unified portfolio of nonprofit fundraising consulting and execution services for Christian ministries. The core offering centers on Fundraising Strategy Services, supplemented by specialized channels including Direct Mail Fundraising, Digital Marketing (email, ads, landing pages), Mid & Major Donor Strategy, Capital Campaign Consulting, and Publishing Services. Cross-cutting capabilities include Nonprofit Analytics + Data Insights and Donor Research (including Donor Confidence Reports and specialized donor studies). Additional services include Donor Acquisition, Donor Retention, and Marketing Automation. The company operates as a single integrated service offering rather than a modular software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Fundraising Strategy Services Comprehensive fundraising strategy development and planning for Christian nonprofits, including cross-channel communications strategy, donor acquisition, cultivation, and retention.
• Direct Mail Fundraising Direct mail campaign strategy and execution for Christian ministries, including emergency disaster relief mailings (Urgent Grams), donor acquisition, and retention programs with full service from strategy through printing and mailing.
• Digital Marketing Digital fundraising and marketing services for nonprofits including email marketing, digital advertising, landing page and donation page creation, giving funnels, analytics and tracking, monthly giving programs, and texting campaigns.
• Mid & Major Donor Strategy Midlevel and major donor consulting services for nonprofits including program analysis, department structure optimization, rep coaching and training, acquisition and growth strategy, and campaign management.
• Capital Campaign Consulting Capital and vision campaign consulting services to help nonprofits grow their ministry and mission through strategic fundraising campaigns.
• Nonprofit Analytics + Data Insights Donor data analytics services for nonprofits including wealth and demographic appends, segmentation optimization, lapsed donor reactivation, Donor Performance Index (DPI) reporting, and predictive modeling for new donor targeting.
• Donor Research Donor research services including Donor Confidence Reports, New Donor Studies, Lapsed Donor Studies, Midlevel Donor Studies, and custom ministry research conducted with partners Campbell Rinker and Grey Matter Research.
• Publishing Services Publishing services for ministries and nonprofits including book writing and release, e-book publishing, annual reports, and donor premium campaigns using books as thank-you gifts for new donor acquisition.

Quantifiable outcome

• 40-to-1 and 13-to-1 ROI on Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma Urgent Gram campaigns for Convoy of Hope
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Campbell RinkercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership for donor studies and Donor Confidence Reports. BBS conducts valuable research with Campbell Rinker to identify ministry and fundraising trends and provide insights for nonprofit strategy decisions. Published Fall 2025 Donor Confidence Report and other research studies.
• Grey Matter ResearchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Grey Matter Research to conduct the Midlevel Donor Study, discovering answers about evangelical mid-level donor giving patterns, preferences, and behaviors. Study provided exclusive insights unavailable elsewhere.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• CCS Fundraising: Large fundraising consulting counsel serving faith-based and secular nonprofits with campaign strategy, major gifts, and direct response work — a close peer in scope and delivery model.
• Crescendo Interactive: Multi-channel fundraising agency for nonprofits combining direct mail, digital, and creative services; comparable to BBS across integrated fundraising execution.
• Marts & Lundy: Long-established fundraising consulting firm focused on capital campaigns, planned giving, and major gifts for nonprofits and higher education institutions.
• Pursuant: Full-service fundraising agency providing direct mail, digital, and data services to nonprofits; overlaps directly with BBS across multi-channel ministry fundraising engagements.
• Bentz Whaley Flessner: Consulting firm offering fundraising strategy, campaign counsel, and advancement services to nonprofits with comparable practice areas.
• Graham-Pelton Consulting: Fundraising counsel specializing in capital campaigns, major gifts, and advancement strategy for faith-based, higher education, and healthcare nonprofits — direct overlap with BBS's capital campaign and major donor services.

Broad incumbents

• Russ Reid (Auxilia): Large, now-Auxilia-owned direct response fundraising agency serving faith-based and humanitarian nonprofits with direct mail, digital, and agency services historically directly competitive with BBS.

Emerging players

• Watershed: Software-led fundraising platform targeting nonprofits with analytics and donor management tooling; overlaps with BBS's data and digital practices as a tech-first alternative to consulting-led engagements.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bbsassociates
• Facebookfacebook.com/BBS1984

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about BBS & Associates