Fundraising firm RKD Group in Dallas, Texas made its second acquisition in as many weeks. This time the asset is MDM Fundraising, a Christian fundraising and marketing agency specialized in serving rescue missions and ministries.
The firm was formerly known as Milwaukee Direct Marketing. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Last week RKD acquired Heller Consulting, a strategy, planning and implementation provider of nonprofit technology and leadership training.
“I don’t plan this to be a weekly event. I do plan for us to continue to be a growth-oriented organization that delivers top notch for our clients,” said Chris Pritcher, CEO at RKD.
“RKD has always been deeply committed to the success of rescue missions, built on the legacy of missions fundraising giants like Ron Davis, Tim Kersten and others,” said Pritcher via a statement. “Today, we deepen that commitment with a dedication to audience-first shifts in fundraising, meeting the modern expectations of constituents.”
MDM Fundraising has four decades of experience in direct response services tailored to faith-based causes, according to Pritcher. MDM Fundraising, an RKD Group company, will operate as a subsidiary of RKD and continue to serve their 40 faith-based clients and combined with RKD is now 60 such clients.
MDM has 25 employees bringing RKD’s total to 575. MDM will continue to operate from its offices in Brookfield, Wisconsin. MDM President, Mike Davis, will remain with the firm.
Heller Consulting will also operate as a subsidiary of RKD Group. Founder Keith Heller will remain with the firm as a strategic advisor. CEO Jeffery Appell will be president of Heller Consulting, an RKD Group company.
Financial terms of that deal were not disclosed.
“The combination of RKD and Heller directly addresses two common challenges for nonprofits: foundational technology and data practices, as well as the strategic use of that technology to drive improved fundraising outcomes,” said Pritcher.
Managers at many nonprofits rely on their vendor partners to handle data. Pritcher said the acquisition of Heller Group changes that dynamic. “The nonprofit needs to own and manage their own data for the trust we want to build with donors of the future,” he said.
Appell said that mission is important, and people and process have to be involved in the data practice. “We have to extend the conversation beyond data. A big part of what Heller does is use systems more efficiently,” said Appell. “It’s addressing the tech needs so can they can implement the strategies.” He referred to it as data governance.
“Our joint vision is to help design and usher in the new era of nonprofit marketing and fundraising through our combined commitment to connection,” said Appell.
Pritcher said Heller’s consulting is in technology but also change management and in organizing people around technology.
RKD Group was formed in 2014 when LW Robbins Associates in Holliston, Massachusetts, a direct response fundraising agency, acquired KerstenDirect, based in Dallas, Texas. The companies merged operations and Tim Kersten was appointed CEO of the combined company. Kersten moved into the role of chairman in January 2023. Pritcher was brought in as chief executive officer.
In September 2019, RKD Group acquired Direct Point Group (DPG), a direct-response fundraising agency in Toronto, Canada. DPG was rebranded as RKD Direct Point, a division of RKD Group. The acquisition established RKD Group’s presence in Canada through a Toronto office. RKD was acquired by Incline Equity Partners of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in August 2022 from BV Investment Partners in Boston, Massachusetts.
Incline Equity Partners has been busy in the nonprofit space. Incline Equity Partners acquired iWave in October 2022. The firm had owned a stake in Foundation Source between January 2020 and September 2023, eventually selling the stake to GTCR, a private equity firm in Chicago. While terms of the deals were not disclosed, Incline Equity Partners is known to invest in growing companies with enterprise values of between $25 million and $750 million.
A new corporate umbrella called Kindsight was established this past February under which iWave, UC Innovation (which owns fundraising platform Ascend Fundraising Solutions), and NonprofitOS reside. iWave CEO Craig O’Neill is head of the new company. All three firms under the umbrella are funded by Incline Equity Partners.
