About Us

Our team has a strong background in the nonprofit sector that spans over two decades.

We are built by nonprofit professionals, for nonprofit professionals.

Our Founder:

Mike Smith

US Navy veteran Michael Smith has been building custom web applications since the early 2000s and has a specialty in nonprofit web operations and digital engagement.

He was the senior developer for one of the largest university alumni associations in the United States, The Association of Former Students of Texas A&M, for over a 15 years and was a CASE Circle of Excellence award winner during his tenure there.

His various custom-built transaction systems have cumulatively processed over $250,000,000 from 850,000+ transactions. He took his experience working with donors, fundraisers, and data teams and built it into Custom Donations.

BlueRidge Giving

BlueRidge Giving is a joint venture between BlueRidge Data and Custom Donations that brings to market a NextGen online giving platform and complementary giving solutions and services that support the fundraising and alumni relations efforts for Higher Education and K-12 Independent Schools. BlueRidge giving pairs data enrichment and matching gift services with streamlined online giving solutions

Steve Hafner

CEO of BlueRidge Data

After 20 years at the helm of HEPdata, Steve sold his firm in August of 2019 to SSB, a Strattam Capital portfolio company. Feeling the call to start something new, he founded BlueRidge Data (BRD) in July 2020 with a focus on helping fundraisers leverage real time liquidity events such as money-in-motion and people-in-motion. BRD also tracks career paths of young alumni to improve first destination reporting and to enhance career engagement.

Following the launch of a cryptocurrency donation solution with Custom Donations, he founded BlueRidge Giving. BlueRidge Giving is a joint venture of BRD and Custom Donations that brings to market a NextGen online giving platform and complimentary giving solutions and services that support the fundraising and alumni relations efforts for Higher Education and K-12 Independent Schools.

Deliver A Superior Donor Experience