Ignite Philanthropy Acquires Data Analytics Firm Blue Fox LLC
Expands data analytics and management solutions for non-profits and charitable foundations
Ignite Philanthropy announced the recent acquisition of Blue Fox LLC, a data consulting and analytics firm that exclusively serves the non-profit and philanthropic sector to help manage, analyze, and leverage data to improve donor relationships and inform community funding decisions.
Recognized by Cincinnati Business Courier as a Fast 55 company in 2020, Ignite Philanthropy provides fundraising and strategic consulting, grantmaking and staffing services to non-profit organizations and charitable foundations. In 2021, Ignite raised over $70 million for its non-profit clients and guided $11 million in community grantmaking on behalf of its private and family foundation clients.
Blue Fox’s founder, Will Lester, has joined Ignite’s team of 22 employees as its Vice President of Data Services, and he will lead the newly launched division, Ignite Data Services. Lester founded Blue Fox in 2017 and served hundreds of arts and cultural, advocacy and social service organizations throughout North America. Lester brings over 20 years of non-profit data management consulting experience to his role at Ignite and earned his graduate degree in Customer Analytics at Xavier University.
“Partnering with Ignite through the years has been a natural fit. I am excited to now join this incredible team of philanthropic leaders, and look forward to the many new and exciting ways we will serve organizations that are doing transformational work locally and across the country,” said Lester.
Prior to the recent acquisition, Ignite partnered with Blue Fox for more than 5 years to help provide specialized fundraising data analytics and sector insights to inform and drive its client campaigns and fundraising strategies. Two recent community efforts that were successfully achieved through leveraging data include The Freestore Foodbank’s $30+ million Growing Beyond Hunger Campaign and Bethany House’s $20+ million One Step Closer to Home campaign.
“Ignite’s value to our clients is deeply connected to our proprietary knowledge of the organizations, leaders, and supporters that make the non-profit sector thrive. With the acquisition of Blue Fox and the addition of industry data expert Will Lester to our team, we are doubling down on leveraging civic data to inform and support the continued success of our clients and the non-profit sector as a whole,” said Scott Provancher, President & CEO of Ignite Philanthropy.
Lester pioneered an array of sector-specific data services while leading Blue Fox, which will now be available to non-profits and foundations through Ignite Philanthropy’s Data Services Division. Ignite’s data services now include: database list management and segmentation, demographic research and customer profile modeling, trend analysis and response tracking, donor and patron behavior analysis, customer loyalty modeling, non-profit sector research and trend analysis, impact measurement and predictive modeling.
For more information, contact:
Scott Provancher, President & CEO | sprovancher@ignitephilanthropy.com | 980-333-8396
Will Lester, Vice President of Data Services | wlester@ignitephilanthropy.com | 719-505-5977