Rainmaker Fundraising Podcast

What does a Bay Area pastor know about nonprofits and charitable giving?  Turns out he knows quite a lot.  At least if that guy is Vance Roush.  Vance is Founder of Overflow.co, a platform created to help unlock generosity across the globe.  Overflow is a platform that helps generous individuals give to charities and ministry […]

Do you have a theology of fundraising?  This was a fascinating question that Michael Mitchell posited on the show recently, and it led to a great conversation about what’s really important in our craft.  Michael is Director of Development and Discipleship at Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO).  In our conversation, Michael talked a lot about […]

Rebecca Hendrix is Chief Development Officer at Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas. She joined us on the podcast recently to talk about food bank fundraising, engaging donors throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and how to deal with the various challenges facing the nonprofit sector today. Some of the highlights from our conversation include: Understanding the complexity and challenges that arise with engaging donors in a purely virtual environment Navigating crises at your organization and caring well for your people in the process Helping fundraisers balance the desire to remain remote with the need to engage directly and deeply with donors Why fundraising is “the highest form of sales” The key traits for successful nonprofit leaders What your organization can do to meet donors where they are today and engage them well for the future   Your mission is critical. Your resources are finite. You need a partner that can deliver customized, scalable, and relevant donor communications that increase response and maximize net long-term revenue for your cause.   You need Altus Marketing.   

Kevin Feldman is Director of Development at The Salvation Army, Lake County, Indiana. He also advises small and emerging nonprofits on all things fundraising-related.  Kevin also runs a one-person development shop and has spent years fine-tuning his approach to donor engagement and fundraising.  We sat down recently to discuss the state of fundraising amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and how that’s changing the nonprofit landscape. Kevin had some great insights about the work and how we ought to be thinking about it. Here are some of the key insights we discussed: The number one factor in driving success for fundraising in an organization is the leader’s passion for the cause. Being “fearlessly sold out” for the mission is critical. This trait drives everything else, keeps you motivated in challenging times, and helps to define the culture for everyone else in the organization. Managing internal expectations around fundraising, donor relationships, revenue and expenses is equally as critical as managing your external donor expectations. In fact, bringing the board and other leaders into your fundraising plan — essentially making it their plan — will help bring shared ownership and greater success than trying to go it alone.  For the one-person shop, determining where to spend your time and energy is the most important decision-making challenge. Think about that decision from the perspective of, “will this activity help me retain more donors, grow the organization’s relationship with more donors, increase giving, or add more new supporters to our cause?” If yes, then do it. If no, pass on it.  As COVID-19 and other social issues continue to impact our country, one key observation (and a warning) is that nonprofits (especially small orgs) need to understand how giving is changing in the foundations and corporations that support them, and what organizations need to do to offset potential changes in their funding mixes.  The impact of social media on donor engagement and fundraising, and why LinkedIn might just be the best social platform for donor engagement, board recruitment, and developing potential major donor relationships.  Why it’s important for fundraisers to understand the program side of their organizations and how the last few years have significantly changed the needs in your local community — and why that matters for fundraising.    Your mission is critical. Your resources are finite. You need a partner that can deliver customized, scalable, and relevant donor communications that increase response and maximize net long-term revenue for your cause.  You need Altus Marketing.     

Anthony Jones is Founder of LinkedInOnePercentClub and formerly led all digital marketing, fundraising and social media strategy at Ducks Unlimited. He’s one of the most prolific digital marketers in our sector, and an all-around great guy.  Recently, Anthony made a HUGE move, leaving a 15-year career at Ducks Unlimited and launching his own company to help people like you and me improve our personal brands on LinkedIn.  In this conversation, Anthony and I talk about the importance of building your personal brand, why LinkedIn is the most important platform for personal branding, and how nonprofits can leverage LinkedIn for growth as well.  Our conversation hit key topics including: Why focusing on your personal brand on LinkedIn can put you in the top 1% of users on the platform. What content is and isn’t “LinkedIn appropriate”. How your nonprofit can gain attention and engagement on LinkedIn. Why nonprofits shouldn’t be afraid of their employees building personal brands on LinkedIn. Understanding how an employee’s personal brand can help build and grow your organization’s credibility.  How best to engage donors, potential board members, and future employees on LinkedIn (and how not to).  Don’t forget to check out Anthony’s FREE mini-course on personal branding on LinkedIn. You can also join the Linked In One Percent Club today!   Your mission is critical. Your resources are finite. You need a partner that can deliver customized, scalable, and relevant donor communications that increase response and maximize net long-term revenue for your cause.  You need Altus Marketing. 

 In our first episode of 2022 we sat down with Andy Carr, Vice President of Development and Marketing at Feed My Starving Children.  Feed My Starving Children is a Christian international hunger relief organization that will provide 370 million meals to people in need across the globe this year. That’s more than 1 million meals per day.  In our conversation with Andy, we covered many topics, including: The philanthropic power of an engaging volunteer experience. Crafting easily shareable messages. Why talking about the “big” problem actually keeps people from acting, and how you can boil the big problem down to a single key point. How to use a low-cost, tangible entry point to introduce supporters to your organization in a meaningful way.  The value of creating blended live/virtual fundraising events.  Andy is a dynamic, engaging speaker who is leading monumental growth at Feed My Starving Children. Take a listen — we’re sure you’ll find value in this conversation!   Your mission is critical. Your resources are finite. You need a partner that can deliver customized, scalable, and relevant donor communications that increase response and maximize net long-term revenue for your cause.  You need Altus Marketing. 

We recently sat down with Tom Kilgannon, President of Freedom Alliance.  Freedom Alliance is a nonprofit organization founded to support our nation’s combat wounded and deployed troops and their families. One of their greatest contributions to the military community is their scholarship fund for the dependents of military personnel who have been severely wounded or killed in combat. To-date, Freedom Alliance has given out $20 Million in college scholarships to the dependents of America’s fallen and injured heroes.  In our conversation with Tom about Freedom Alliance’s fundraising strategy and how they achieved this huge accomplishment of funding $20 Million in scholarships, here are some of the great insights Tom shared: An integrated approach to fundraising allows them to speak to each donor in the way that donor needs to hear the message in order to inspire generosity in their hearts.  Some fundraising offers / asks for support work better in-person, while others work better at major events, and even still, some messages resonate best when delivered via direct mail or email. You need to activate all viable channels to drive the greatest return for your organization.  The more you listen to your donors — to truly understand — not just to respond, the more likely you are to secure major investments from your supporters and investors. During the pandemic, they were able to activate significant support for the organization and those they support by regularly engaging donors, checking in on their supporters’ needs, and sharing stories of impact.  Focus on your donors’ needs and desires, and let those items drive how you engage and approach giving opportunities.  How you can use events strategically to make an initial donor contact, then build relationship over time via more personal engagement.  Tom shares some great insights in this episode on how this organization is making a huge impact for America’s veterans and their families, alongside thousands of incredibly generous donors.  Your mission is critical. Your resources are finite. You need a partner that can deliver customized, scalable, and relevant donor communications that increase response and maximize net long-term revenue for your cause.  You need Altus Marketing.

Welcome to the 100th episode of The Rainmaker Fundraising Podcast! I’m thrilled to have had the opportunity to visit with Russell James, J.D., Ph.D., CFP for this milestone episode.  If you know Dr. James, you know this will be a great conversation. If you don’t know him yet, you’re in for a real treat! Dr. James is Director of graduate studies in charitable planning in the Division of Personal Financial Planning in the College of Human Sciences at Texas Tech University. His research into human behavior and charitable giving has shaped how institutions large and small engage major donors and maximize revenue all across the U.S. Dr. James recently published a five-book series, the Fundraising Myth and Science Book Series. In our conversation, we talk extensively about one of those books, The Storytelling Fundraiser.  This new book series is also the foundation of a great new training program that Dr. James and Greg Warner at MarketSmart have partnered to bring to market.  We covered so much ground in this conversation. It’s an in-depth review of the book and the foundational thinking that went into it, including: The One Big Thing in fundraising, and why it’s something you might not expect. The difference between donor-centered and community-centered fundraising, and why organizations that want to secure transformational gifts should double down on donor-centered fundraising.  The neuroscience behind high-impact philanthropic activity, and how your organization and your donors can benefit from it.  Why talking to donors about giving from their wealth (assets) vs. their disposable income is critical to your organization’s long-term financial security and growth. The exact phrase(s) you should adopt to help your supporters unlock transformational generosity.  How philanthropy is both altruistic and self-serving at the same time, and what you need to understand to effectively navigate these differences.  The key decision-making processes that people go through when deciding to give a charitable gift, and how focusing on asset-based giving can help your donors make better decisions (for them and you!).  Why fundraisers have a difficult time talking with donors about legacy giving, and the exact language and tools to help overcome those difficulties (including his 65 video trainings available for FREE).  Why wading into math conversations with your donors may not be the best idea, and how to use storytelling to make key financial points that will motivate your donors to act.  The interconnected role of overhead and restricted giving in philanthropy, and how you can navigate these to unlock significant giving from your supporters.  These are just the top 10 highlights from our conversation. You owe it to yourself to pop some popcorn, grab your favorite beverage, and settle in for this great conversation. You’ll learn a ton, and be able to apply it immediately to positively impact your fundraising efforts! Dr. James is sharing his new book series for FREE with the world. You can download electronic copies below: The Storytelling Fundraiser The Epic Fundraiser: Myth, Psychology, and the Universal Hero Story The Primal Fundraiser: Game Theory and the Natural Origins of Effective Fundraising The Socratic Fundraiser: Using Questions to Advance the Donor’s Story Your mission is critical. Your resources are finite. You need a partner that can deliver customized, scalable, and relevant donor communications that increase response and maximize net long-term revenue for your cause.  You need Altus Marketing.

Diana Zhang left a lucrative career as a hedge fund executive in the midst of the pandemic to co-found NeighborShare, a new platform created to support front line heroes in the nonprofit sector, allowing them to match real community needs with donors interested in supporting them.  Discovering that 40% of American families can’t afford even a $400 emergency, Diana and her partners launched an organization designed to help provide this kind of emergency bridge funding to individuals in need, through everyday community heroes like nonprofit case managers, social workers, nurses, etc. She and her team of 25+ volunteers are on a mission to both disrupt and support the nonprofit sector by thinking differently about solving emerging needs in communities across the U.S.  As a first-time founder of a nonprofit, and career for-profit executive, Diana and her team are applying start-up business principles to NeighborShare while diving deep into community-building, connectivity, and honing their values to deliver the greatest value possible for local nonprofits and the individuals and families they serve.    Your mission is critical. Your resources are finite. You need a partner that can deliver customized, scalable, and relevant donor communications that increase response and maximize net long-term revenue for your cause.  You need Altus Marketing.

Every industry has experienced disruption over the last few years. The nonprofit sector wasn’t immune. One area where our sector has seen significant change (not just because of Covid, but even before) is in the way nonprofits engage and are served by agencies.  That’s why I was excited to sit down with Dan Sonners, Vice President at Conrad Direct, Board Member at DMAW, and host of the Dynamic Nonprofits podcast. We covered a lot of ground in our conversation, including: How consultants and agencies that serve nonprofits need to evolve to become more collaborative and supportive of nonprofits Why industry collaborations and engagement across service firms could be smart for nonprofits, and how to do this well Establishing shared goals and objectives and defining clear swim lanes in collaborative engagements The value of multi-channel supporters, and the challenges in building and running multi-channel programs Why attribution modeling is difficult, and how best to think about attribution Why you need flexibility in your budgeting process The role and responsibility of board and executive leaders in healthy nonprofits   Your mission is critical. Your resources are finite. You need a partner that can deliver customized, scalable, and relevant donor communications that increase response and maximize net long-term revenue for your cause.  You need Altus Marketing.