Carrie Watkins

Carrie Watkins is a senior content marketing manager at Blackbaud and has been writing about complex topics in the banking, technology, education, and nonprofit industries for more than 20 years. Before joining Blackbaud, she led the marketing initiatives for an educational technology nonprofit working to lower the cost of college credit. She regularly volunteers with organizations that focus on food insecurity in her community and has a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri.

Articles by Carrie Watkins

Grants Strategy

Grant Distribution Best Practices: 5 Tips for Funders

Your relationship with your grantees is more than a transaction. But it’s difficult to drive impact when your grantees can’t [...]

March 31, 2025 | 5 min Read

Audits

Financial Reviews vs. Financial Audits: Making the Right Choice for Your Nonprofit

Most nonprofit organizations work with a firm to do their annual financial audit. But some organizations might benefit from a [...]

March 25, 2025 | 4 min Read

Grants Strategy

Types of Grants That Every Nonprofit Should Know

Of the many ways a nonprofit organization can get funding, grants often seem like the holy grail. Fill out a [...]

March 21, 2025 | 9 min Read

Funding Uncertainty

How Nonprofits Can Manage Cash Flow During Financial Challenges

When times are good, knowing your cash flow can help you find opportunities for investment. But when your organization faces [...]

March 20, 2025 | 5 min Read

Internal Controls

Managing Your Operating Reserves During and After an Emergency

A strong operating reserve in a time of crisis helps everyone focus on helping the people who need to be [...]

February 14, 2025 | 4 min Read

Community Engagement

Responsive Grantmaking: Five Ways to Stay Connected to Your Community During Times of Crisis

From funding uncertainty to overlapping natural disasters to the possibility of another global pandemic, the modern grantmaker must be prepared [...]

February 1, 2025 | 4 min Read

Fund Accounting

Don’t Make These Common Mistakes When Filing Your Form 990

Your tax-exempt status may keep you from having to file traditional tax returns, but maintaining the designation comes with its [...]

February 1, 2025 | 4 min Read

Grants Strategy

Best Practices for Creating an Effective Eligibility Quiz in Grant Applications

There are thousands of organizations in the world doing amazing work in your impact area. As a funder, you probably [...]

January 31, 2025 | 4 min Read

Data Management

Building an Effective Partner Ecosystem for Your Grant Management System

Data visualization. Document signatures. Fund accounting. Gone are the days when each of those systems required a different login and [...]

January 14, 2025 | 4 min Read

Budgeting

How to Evaluate a New Revenue Stream

You see the writing on the wall. Your revenue is overly dependent on a handful of major donors or a [...]

January 13, 2025 | 3 min Read