What the Fundraising

When it comes to making consumer choices, it’s well known that humans don’t always act rationally. In fact, as amply documented by economists, we very often actually act against our own best interests! On this episode of What the Fundraising, we’re getting down to the science of giving. Behavioral science, that is! If you haven’t been using the powerful tools and research out there, Evelyn Gosnell, managing director at Irrational Labs, is here to demonstrate all the ways in which you and your nonprofit might be missing out. She shares a ton of fascinating research and practical tools for tackling common fundraising issues, like building organizational trust and recapturing lapsed contributors. Understanding the evolutionary conditioning and reflexive responses behind human decision-making is key – and a first step towards unlocking what motivates donors, who after all are also the everyday users of Lyft, Google and other platforms that Evelyn and her team advise. You’ll learn how to build specificity and concrete bite-sized goals into calls to action as well as why we fundraisers don’t always have to project perfection. Flaws are fine with constituents, says Evelyn, so long as we can demonstrate at least incremental progress. We also explore how to design in-house pilot studies that pinpoint why some pitches appeal to our base of supporters while others do not. What are their norms, what resonates with their identity? Are you communicating something personal and immediate? There’s so much packed into this episode that you might need to listen twice. And you’ll definitely want to follow up by checking out all the resources (and behavioral science food for thought!) available at Irrational Labs.  (01:55) About the mission of Irrational Labs and how it helps large organizations (02:58) The core principles behind behavioral economics. (04:49) The science behind human irrationality. (05:53) Warm-Glow Giving (07:10)  Goal Gradient Effect (09:20) Creating goals through the lens of behavioral science. (12:11) The evolutionary roots of the human tendency to react to things that are personally relatable, identifiable and immediate. (13:46) About the impacts of “recency bias” and the tension between transactional versus marketing-oriented fundraising campaigns (18:58) Evelyn highlights an Irrational Labs case study (20:46) How to reconnect with lapsed donors: (27:09) About norms and keeping our nonprofits relevant even when they are displaced by other compelling world events. (28:04) Considering demographic and behavioral norms as possible leverage in targeting and building up donor identity online and elsewhere. (29:01) Behavioral science-based strategies for building donor identity (30:45) What is donor trust really about and how do we maintain it?  (32:39) Thoughts on using behavioral science to challenge the Overhead Myth (37:31) Don’t miss out on all the tools, research and other eye-opening info available at the Irrational Labs website! Get all the resources from today’s episode here. Follow along on Instagram Connect with Mallory on LinkedInMany thanks to our sponsor, Feathr for making this episode possible. Our friends at Feather help nonprofits like yours level up their digital campaigns every day through their nonprofit marketing platform. Don’t rely on magic this year. Check out Feathr to streamline your digital marketing campaigns and exceed your goals. Learn more and get started today at Feathr.co.If you haven’t already, please visit our new What the Fundraising community forum. Check it out and join the conversation at this link.If you’re looking to raise more from the right funders, then you’ll want to check out my Power Partners Formula, a step-by-step approach to identifying the optimal partners for your organization. This free masterclass offers a great starting point

When we look at fundraising, we tend to silo marketing, acquisition, cultivation, and stewardship. But Simon Mainwaring, my guest on this episode of What the Fundraising, is explaining why in fact they are all a piece of the puzzle. He is breaking down for us the ways in which each element of the donor journey is a link in the chain that is indicative of the nonprofit’s overall brand. When we get the marketing right, our donors connect and invest for the long haul. As CEO of the strategic consulting firm We First Branding, Simon is all about locking in the messages that articulate purpose and motivate action. Working with nonprofits and for-profits alike, his focus is on heart-centered principles and storytelling that resonate universally. You’ll come away with actionable ways to define your organization’s narrative, audit the efficacy of its marketing messages, and make change through co-creative processes. If you’re looking for fresh ways to forge a meaningful and ongoing connection with donors in 2023, then you’ll want to join us in taking a look at the importance of perspective and tone. Are your fundraising communications too internally focused or self-serving? Do your contributors know exactly the impact their support is making? “If you tell the story in the right way it can really deeply resonate with people and inspire them to be a part of something larger than themselves,” says Simon. “And the way you do that is by building a brand.” It’s an iterative process and we’re here to get you moving in the right direction. (02:14) Simon tells about We First Branding and its mission (03:05) About the “We First” ethos at the intersection of branding and storytelling. (05:01) Simon defines the concept of branding. (06:41) Simon’s suggestions for foundations and nonprofits figuring out their brands (06:41) Why Defining Our Core Stories Is So Important (12:39) Key Questions to Ask When Defining Your Organization’s Narrative (19:33) How the most effective copy deploys the reader/viewer perspective. (27:40) How to do a quick internal audit of your branding best practices (29:36) Three Things Nonprofits Can Do to Assess Their Branding Effectiveness (32:39) Strategies for Leaders Trying to Make Change and Build Brand Cohesion (41:45) About the shift from marketing to movement-making.  (43:39) Where to find out more about Simon and We First Branding Get all the resources from today’s episode here. Follow along on Instagram Connect with Mallory on LinkedInMany thanks to our sponsor, Feathr for making this episode possible. Our friends at Feather help nonprofits like yours level up their digital campaigns every day through their nonprofit marketing platform. Don’t rely on magic this year. Check out Feathr to streamline your digital marketing campaigns and exceed your goals. Learn more and get started today at Feathr.co.If you haven’t already, please visit our new What the Fundraising community forum. Check it out and join the conversation at this link.If you’re looking to raise more from the right funders, then you’ll want to check out my Power Partners Formula, a step-by-step approach to identifying the optimal partners for your organization. This free masterclass offers a great starting point

Sometimes it’s our job as integral change leaders to be the reality check – even when it’s not easy or means leaving money on the table. Bessi Graham, my guest on this episode of What the Fundraising, is helping us think in new ways about bravery – the willingness to stand up as nonprofits and claim our value propositions, state our limitations and insist on donor partners whose values align with our own. With 20 years of experience working with business owners, governments, and large funding bodies, Bessi is uniquely positioned to counsel fundraisers on how to balance charitable purpose and pragmatic financial reality. She is sharing with us concrete strategies for reorienting difficult conversations in ways that not only break through miscommunication but set nonprofits up to succeed. It starts with defining sustainability and the tools we need to meet our mission. The first challenge for nonprofit leaders is to reject feeling beholden. No more approaching the donor table from a place of scarcity! “Shifting your own apologetic nature is on you. How do you show up in the room differently?” asks Bessi. “Because power dynamics shift immediately when someone is engaged as an equal.”You’ll come away from this conversation with a new framework for the difficult conversations we all need to have, at least from time to time. So much of what burns out nonprofit fundraisers is the struggle to make good on unrealistic expectations and navigate through unbalanced power dynamics that set us up for stress and failure. Bessi shines a bright light on how we can do things differently and this conversation felt like a great place to start! (02:21) Bessi frames her overarching mission to bring “doing good” and “making money” back under the same umbrella through sustainable business models. (04:53) About merging values that we’ve been programmed to feel are mutually exclusive and incompatible. (08:39) Bessi highlights what traditionally has been an unforced but perceived choice between careers designed to do good versus make money.  (11:51) Exploring the unquestioned binary prioritization of charitable purpose, mission, and values.  (15:04) Bessi takes a closer look at the unhealthy power dynamics and unsustainable expectations that hinder the ability of nonprofit leaders to do good in the world. (16:29) Navigating conversations with board members around overhead and responsible pay (21:28) Bessi urges nonprofits to look at relationships through a values-based lens that allows a different conversation. (23:23) How to reorient donor conversations (25:12) Making the distinction between ethical and impact investments  (27:07) Why the make-do mentality within the nonprofit sector skews power dynamics, creates perpetual scarcity, and ultimately limits the ability of nonprofits to deliver. (30:59) How nonprofits can leverage transparency to create realistic donor relationships and control funding cycles, expectations, and outcomes. (32:52) What it looks like when nonprofits push back on donor demands (39:42) Where to find out more about Bessi and her work Get all the resources from today’s episode here. Follow along on Instagram Connect with Mallory on LinkedInMany thanks to our sponsor, Feathr for making this episode possible. Our friends at Feather help nonprofits like yours level up their digital campaigns every day through their nonprofit marketing platform. Don’t rely on magic this year. Check out Feathr to streamline your digital marketing campaigns and exceed your goals. Learn more and get started today at Feathr.co.If you haven’t already, please visit our new What the Fundraising community forum. Check it out and join the conversation at this link.If you’re looking to raise more from the right funders, then you’ll want to check out my Power Partners Formula, a step-by-step approach to identifying the optimal partners for your organization. This free masterclass offers a great starting point

When it comes to Gen Z, there is a cultural investigation going on that is challenging older generations to reflect and in many cases reset. Danielle Farage, my guest on this episode of What the Fundraising, is a “Workplace Futurist” helping the first fully digital generation create a new sense of work-life harmony. As Director of Growth & Marketing at Café, a platform fostering development and collaboration within hybrid environments, Danielle’s mission is to leverage technology in bridging the gap between leaders and talent. The result? Workplace cultures that are more inclusive, equitable, and dynamic. Our conversation touched on everything from the biggest misconceptions about Gen Z’s collective commitment to self-care to the tendency among older generations to default to a workplace ethos that reflects different, less human-centric times. “We have an opportunity to reimagine the workforce and it’s not just about the younger generation. It’s about everyone,” says Danielle. “We have a serious opportunity to change the way things have been for the past however many centuries of work.”Applying her prism as an advocate and educator to the nonprofit sector, in particular, Danielle helped me explore further the tendency among hard-working, committed fundraisers to stay focused on altruistic, empathetic external goals while internally working under toxic conditions. We have to pause and consider: How can we effectively market the core values of our missions if our own workplace practices don’t align? For leaders and team members alike, it all starts with offering vulnerability and authenticity. You’ll discover in this dynamic give-and-take the opportunity we all have to reshape our definitions of work, play, community, compassion, connection, and even marketing. Says Danielle: “The better we create a relationship with ourselves, the more confidently we can show up at work – and in life.”  (02:23) Get to know Danielle, her journey and her work today. (07:11) Impact of mindset coaching on Danielle’s trajectory.  (08:05) How Danielle has helped evolve, rebrand and market the Café platform (11:25) Defining “Work Futurist”  (12:44) Work-life harmony  (17:44) Tips for re-thinking boundaries (19:23) How Danielle thinks about community engagement (and what it illuminates about fundraising dos and don’ts)  (23:16) Why the silo-ing of nonprofit goals (by department or budget line item) is often counterproductive (30:39) What Gen Z wants and the assumptions we hold that are all wrong  (37:42) What leaders can do to respond to the needs of Gen Z  (41:09) Where to find Danielle Get all the resources from today’s episode here. Follow along on Instagram Connect with Mallory on LinkedInMany thanks to our sponsor, Feathr for making this episode possible. Our friends at Feather help nonprofits like yours level up their digital campaigns every day through their nonprofit marketing platform. Don’t rely on magic this year. Check out Feathr to streamline your digital marketing campaigns and exceed your goals. Learn more and get started today at Feathr.co. And don’t forget to tell them that I sent you!If you haven’t already, please visit our new What the Fundraising community forum. Check it out and join the conversation at this link.If you’re looking to raise more from the right funders, then you’ll want to check out my Power Partners Formula, a step-by-step approach to identifying the optimal partners for your organization. This free masterclass offers a great starting point

Sharing that I’m a person with ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) has definitely sparked feedback and conversation, which should come as no surprise. As Margaux Joffe, my guest on this episode of What the Fundraising is perfectly positioned to explain, neurodivergence is a reality across all kinds of workplaces in every imaginable sector. “It represents the diverse range of human brains and neurocognitive functioning that exists in our species,” says Margaux, an innovator and advocate for people with disabilities of all kinds, but most especially those who are not “neurotypical.” She is helping us understand both the challenges and enormous strengths available to those of us whose brains work differently in a number of different ways. This first part of our in-depth exploration focuses on identifying boundaries in the workplace (or a lack thereof) and how to put in place systems to support ourselves or those we lead in staying focused, productive and fulfilled in our missions. You’ll come away with some practical tools to deploy and a clear understanding of just how much those of us with ADHD and other disabilities (some 1 billion globally) have to offer when it comes to energy, ideas and fresh approaches. It starts with working across disciplines to ensure accessibility, inclusivity and respect for differing styles of learning and execution. Margaux, who founded the Kaleidoscope Society platform especially for adult women with ADHD, brings not just her personal story but a wealth of experience that will fire you up about disability inclusion inside our organizations – and celebration!Get all the resources from today’s episode here. Follow along on Instagram Connect with Mallory on LinkedInMany thanks to our sponsor, Feathr for making this episode possible. Our friends at Feathr help nonprofits like yours level up their digital campaigns every day through their nonprofit marketing platform. Don’t rely on magic this year. Check out Feathr to streamline your digital marketing campaigns and exceed your goals. Learn more and get started today at Feathr.co.If you haven’t already, please visit our new What the Fundraising community forum. Check it out and join the conversation at this link.If you’re looking to raise more from the right funders, then you’ll want to check out my Power Partners Formula, a step-by-step approach to identifying the optimal partners for your organization. This free masterclass offers a great starting point

When it comes to accessibility, do foundation’s insides match their outsides? This episode of What the Fundraising – the second of two parts – takes a closer look at how (or whether) funders embrace the full spectrum of disabilities, not just in the projects they fund but in the accessibility of their funds in the first place. Staying aligned to our missions means ensuring our systems are integral – and inclusive. My guest, Margaux Joffe, a groundbreaking voice on behalf of those with ADHD and neurodiversity in general, is helping us take a deep dive into how to be intentional about opening up the funding process by building better, more accessible, systems. “It’s a mindset shift that we all need to make,” says our guest, “actually understanding that people with disabilities are also working in our companies and are leading. They are visionaries.”Accessibility is an issue that impacts our nonprofit workplaces just as surely as it impacts the “beneficiaries” we seek to support. My discussion with Margaux covers important measures that any funder can undertake to improve accessibility with the end-to-end grant application experience. For starters, that means recognizing that one in three U.S. households include someone with a disability of one kind or another, many of which are “invisible.” The good news is that there are all kinds of strategies to implement and certified experts available to advise us on the latest web accessibility industry standards. Margaux also highlights the importance of pushing the nonprofit platforms we all use to make their digital technologies more accessible to all. You’ll come away from this conversation with actionable ideas for making inclusion a baseline feature of your grantmaking process and framework for meaningful collaboration at every stage of the fundraising journey.If you missed the first part of this two-part discussion, you can find Part I at XXXX. And you’ll also want to check out Margaux’s exciting initiative, the GreatADHDReset, which is all about helping us find compassionate solutions to optimize our unique brains on our own terms!Get all the resources from today’s episode here. Follow along on Instagram Connect with Mallory on LinkedInMany thanks to our sponsor, Feathr for making this episode possible. Our friends at Feather help nonprofits like yours level up their digital campaigns every day through their nonprofit marketing platform. Don’t rely on magic this year. Check out Feathr to streamline your digital marketing campaigns and exceed your goals. Learn more and get started today at Feathr.co.If you haven’t already, please visit our new What the Fundraising community forum. Check it out and join the conversation at this link.If you’re looking to raise more from the right funders, then you’ll want to check out my Power Partners Formula, a step-by-step approach to identifying the optimal partners for your organization. This free masterclass offers a great starting point

Is so-called “dumb luck” really so dumb? Or is it, in fact, the result of an invitation? As my guest on this episode of What the Fundraising explains, there’s an art and science to this thing called “serendipity.” Christian Busch, author of "The Serendipity Mindset: The Art and Science of Creating Good Luck," is showing us how to cultivate the unexpected, with insights about why an abundant approach opens doors (and how staying small can literally cause us to miss good fortune right in our path). In addition to sharing fascinating research, Christian is also providing concrete strategies for shifting our luck – as fundraisers and humans. As he explains, incremental adjustments in the permission we give and the environment we create can make all the difference.And if you think luck somehow isn’t credible because, well … it’s just luck, Christian demonstrates the many ways that are not true. We can create an actionable road map to good fortune through flexible attitudes and frameworks. It serves no one to be overly attached to outcomes, says Christian, who highlights examples of organizations that have reaped the benefits of richer, more sustained connections. Make no mistake, says Christian, who also directs New York University’s CGA Global Economy Program, “You can prepare for the unexpected by creating the foundations for it.” Transformational change starts with the decision to open up our worlds and missions to results we can’t even imagine. Is your organization ready to invite – and harness the power of – serendipity? If so, jump in and join the conversation!Get all the resources from today’s episode here. Follow along on Instagram Connect with Mallory on LinkedInMany thanks to our sponsor, Feathr for making this episode possible. Our friends at Feather help nonprofits like yours level up their digital campaigns every day through their nonprofit marketing platform. Don’t rely on magic this year. Check out Feathr to streamline your digital marketing campaigns and exceed your goals. Learn more and get started today at Feathr.co.If you haven’t already, please visit our new What the Fundraising community forum. Check it out and join the conversation at this link.If you’re looking to raise more from the right funders, then you’ll want to check out my Power Partners Formula, a step-by-step approach to identifying the optimal partners for your organization. This free masterclass offers a great starting point

When my guest on this episode of What the Fundraising peers into the future, she sees a world in which well-being isn’t an afterthought but the centerpiece of creativity, innovation, and productivity. As Co-Founder and CEO at Quan, Arosha Brouwer is creating a platform to support sustainable workplace environments through science-based inquiry and behavioral insight. Whether in a for-profit or nonprofit context, the focus is on measuring team and individual performance not just by net productivity but on holistic, long-term outcomes.Arosha brings to Quan tools acquired over years of working to optimize operations in both the private and public sectors – perspectives equally applicable to the burnout-prone world of fundraising. She reflects on the hand-in-hand relationship between resilience and vulnerability as well as why the healthiest workplaces create structures that support psychological safety and the freedom to fail without fear. Above all, says Arosha, Quan’s mission lies in helping leaders support teams in identifying and protecting space for creativity and longevity. “If you’re constantly doing,” she says, “then you’re not stepping back to have those moments of insight that could be the inflection point to do something drastically better.” You’ll come away from this episode with a new understanding of how self-care and wellness fit into – and are in fact essential to – doing our best work and being of service to others. Get all the resources from today’s episode here. Follow along on Instagram Connect with Mallory on LinkedInMany thanks to our sponsor, Feathr for making this episode possible. Our friends at Feather help nonprofits like yours level up their digital campaigns every day through their nonprofit marketing platform. Don’t rely on magic this year. Check out Feathr to streamline your digital marketing campaigns and exceed your goals. Learn more and get started today at Feathr.co. And don’t forget to tell them that I sent you!If you haven’t already, please visit our new What the Fundraising community forum. Check it out and join the conversation at this link.If you’re looking to raise more from the right funders, then you’ll want to check out my Power Partners Formula, a step-by-step approach to identifying the optimal partners for your organization. This free masterclass offers a great starting point

This episode is a quick personal note from me to you. It includes some recap, a look ahead and what I am thinking about for the sector and fundraisers in 2023 and beyond. It also includes my deep gratitude for you, this community, our guests and our amazing sponsors.Some of the episodes I highlight in the recap include:Britt Frank - THE SCIENCE OF STUCK & HOW TO MOVE FORWARD IN YOUR FUNDRAISINGGabriel Kram - TRUE SELF-CARE: TENDING TO COMMUNITY, ANCESTRY, AND OUR NERVOUS SYSTEMSRuthie Lindsey - THE TRUTH ABOUT SELF-LOVE, HEALING, AND THE PATH TO REMEMBERING OUR DEEPEST SELVESLibby DeLana - TAKING THE NEXT RIGHT STEP: HOW A MINDFULNESS PRACTICE BUILDS ALIGNMENTWoodrow Rosenbaum - MOBILIZE YOUR MISSION: DATA-DRIVEN DECISION MAKING IN A RECESSIONSasha Dichter - MEASURING FOR SUCCESS: ALIGNMENT, DATA, AND DONOR CONFIDENCEMariam Nusrat - MOBILIZE YOUR MISSION: WHAT GAMIFICATION CAN TEACH US ABOUT ENGAGEMENT, RETENTION, & BUILDING COMMUNITYDominque Morgan - OVERHEAD MYTH, MISSION CREEP, SCARCITY MINDSET: A STUCK SECTOR AND WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT ITLynne Twist - HOW TO LIVE A COMMITTED LIFE & RAISE MONEY FROM THE HEARTSimone Seol - WHY BRAVERY & NUANCE MATTER: OUR MARKETING & FUNDRAISING MINDSET DEFINES THE DONORS WE ATTRACTNatalia Sanyal - HOW TO WRITE ANTI-OPPRESSIVE MARKETING AND COPY THAT CONVERTSSeth Godin - EFFECTIVE FUNDRAISING AND POWER PARTNER PRINCIPLESThank you for spending your time with us this year. I’m so grateful for you and the hard work you do to make our world a better place. I hope this holiday season you shine your light back on yourself for some celebration, rest, and rejuvenation. I am wishing you a happy holiday season and happy new year. I’ll see you again on January 3rd, 2023.Follow along on InstagramConnect with Mallory on LinkedInIf you haven’t already, please visit our new What the Fundraising community forum. Check it out and join the conversation at this link.If you’re looking to raise more from the right funders, then you’ll want to check out my Power Partners Formula, a step-by-step approach to identifying the optimal partners for your organization. This free masterclass offers a great starting point

It’s easy to feel intimidated – or even a little clueless – when it comes to leveraging potential funding sources like stock, cryptocurrency, ETFs, or IRAs. But when we’re avoidant, says my guest on this episode of What the Fundraising, we’re leaving money on the table. Vance Roush, Founder & CEO at Overflow isn’t suggesting that people running nonprofits need to become experts in any of these non-cash vehicles. We just need to partner well! That’s why this former Google employee, who recently raised $8 million in 45 days to secure a new church for the growing congregation he founded, developed a platform to manage and educate both donors and fundraisers. “We have an opportunity to unlock unprecedented amounts of generosity if we can remove that friction,” says Vance, who is tremendously optimistic about the future of solving problems like climate change and homelessness. Why? Because there is a palpable entrepreneurial energy among young people who want to do more than make apps and widgets. Vance has seen first-hand a growing wave of collaboration and innovation that he believes will move the needle on the most intractable social inequity. You’ll learn about how Overflow is working to create a giving platform that – with a single button – opens up entirely new windows of possibility for donors with stock, crypto, and other non-cash resources. The net result? An increase in average donation amounts. And who doesn’t want that? So, as Vance says, it’s time to harness Silicon Valley’s venture-capital approach to fundraising by getting bold, risking failure, and inviting our prospective funders to go on the journey with us!Get all the resources from today’s episode here. Follow along on Instagram Connect with Mallory on LinkedInIf you haven’t already, please visit our new What the Fundraising community forum. Check it out and join the conversation at this link.Please note: This episode is a part of a very special series called The People Behind the Products. More than ever, nonprofits care about the company behind their technology and service providers. What’s the underlying mission and vision of the company? What do they stand for? And how are they thinking about the sector and serving nonprofits? This series is an opportunity to get to know some of my favorite nonprofit technology companies so that the next time you’re making a tech decision, you can understand a little bit more about the people behind the product. There is no sponsorship or industry money behind the production of this series and the editorial content was at the sole discretion of the What the Fundraising team.