Brook Venture Leads Combination of Three Operations into Turnkey Fundraising Solutions Company

Brook Venture Leads Combination of Three Operations into Turnkey Fundraising Solutions Company, Allegiance Fundraising, LLC.

Brook Portfolio Company, Member Benefits, a provider of membership acquisition, retention, and loyalty marketing services to non-profit clients, has combined with DMW Fundraising of Plymouth, MA, a provider of both digital and direct marketing campaigns for smaller non-profits, and Allegiance Software of Fargo, ND, a provider of SaaS based CRM software and data analytics to small and medium non-profits. Brook led the investment and was joined by co-investor Plexus Capital of Raleigh, NC.

The newly combined entity will be known as Allegiance Fundraising Group, a turnkey non-profit fundraising solutions business. The three now combined entities will leverage highly complementary product and service suites to generate cross-sell opportunities that are expected to accelerate the growth of each division. “While the lion’s share of the fundraising market remains in print and direct mail channels, smaller non-profits who cannot afford traditional direct mail solutions are leading the way with a rapid adoption of digital, online, and mobile marketing channels – this investment skews to these digital channels” said Walter Beinecke, Chairman at Allegiance Fundraising and Partner at Brook Venture.

The Company will be led by Rich Aukland, the CEO of Allegiance Software. Debbie Merlino, the current division President of DMW will continue in her role as division President of DMW, and Joanna Adams-West will continue in her position as the division President of Member Benefits. “In my expanded leadership role at Allegiance Fundraising I’m looking forward to expanding implementation of proven sales-excellence processes across all three divisions to pursue a number of opportunities. We’re expecting to generate and close on new sales leads in a variety of verticals,” said CEO Rick Aukland.

About Member Benefits
For over 25 years MB has been the dominant provider of member benefit programs to public media broadcasters (both radio and TV) nationwide. MB manages a membership benefits network (through which members can obtain discounts at thousands of merchants nationwide) including the largest dining discount program in the US with over 14,000 restaurants and other merchants under contract directly with the Company. For more information, please visit www.membercard.com

About DMW Fundraising
DMW Fundraising has been providing strategic fundraising services, primarily to the public media segment, for over 30 years. The Company is one of two agencies which dominate the public media niche market, and manages integrated digital and direct mail fundraising campaigns for its clients. In addition to its public media clients, DMW also provides fundraising services to a handful of smaller non-profits including clients in the healthcare, civic/cultural, and higher education verticals. For more information, please visit www.dmwfundraising.com

About Allegiance Software
Allegiance Software was founded in the early 1980’s in Fargo, ND and developed a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software platform specifically designed to meet the needs of public media radio and TV broadcasters with a focus on tracking their donor database, contact data, donor demographics, and all fundraising campaign data. The Company’s product has evolved over the years and today is a fully functional SaaS CRM offering tailored for all types of non-profit broadcasters. For more information, please visit www.allegiancesoftware.com

About Plexus Capital
Located in Raleigh, NC, Plexus Capital is focused on subordinated debt investments in middle market companies and has raised $950 million across four funds since 2005. Currently investing out of Fund III and IV, Plexus invests in profitable businesses across all industries that are seeking capital for growth, acquisitions, recapitalizations and buyouts. For more information on Plexus Capital, please visit www.plexuscap.com

About Brook Venture Partners
Brook Venture Partners makes growth equity control investments in Information Technology and IT-enabled service companies located in the mainly in the United States. The firm focuses on initial acquisition investments of up to $15 million and specializes in both financing and providing the strategic and planning support necessary to effectively manage growth. Brook is headquartered outside Boston in Wakefield, MA. For more information on Brook Venture Partners, see www.brookventure.com