Fundraising Voices from RNL

Can we raise money in this challenging time? Well, many of our bigger donors have more cash right now, quite a few have seen investments balloon, and the need is very great.

Gail Perry spends her time helping fundraisers and non-profit leaders. And she thinks we should look at it differently.

It's not about a better "pitch." Sometimes, we just need to get out of our own way, maximize our use of emotional intelligence, the right metrics, and focus on the joy of giving for donors.

We unpack what's going on right now in the midst of a pandemic, the best ways that fundraisers can engage donors, and how philanthropy is thriving at a time we need it the most.

Find our more about Gail Perry's Fired Up Fundraising at GailPerry.com

Heard about remote engagement, P2P Texting, artificial intelligence, and visual caller ID and wondering how they work? Interested in the latest in crowdfunding, giving days? We've got something great for you.

Coming up on Sept. 17-18, we're hosting the RNL Advancement Innovation Summit, free and online. Part of the event is something we call Key Innovation Downloads - 6 sessions that get right into how these new technologies amplify donor engagement and help you maximize fundraising results.

On this episode, four RNL innovators drop an quick overview of what's happening with these technologies, and preview their Download sessions. Register for the Summit today - space is limited and we're filling up!

Planned giving is crucial to securing the long-term future of your organization. But to many fundraisers, it's mysterious, scary and something they shy away from. Lori Kranczer from Everyday Planned Giving unpacks why fundraisers shouldn't be afraid of planned giving, and how to work gift planning into just about every conversation. We also talk about shifts fundraisers are making during COVID to address planned giving.

Find our more about Everyday Planned Giving at everydayplannedgiving.com

If you're running a non-profit or a fundraising program, you're a juggler. Keeping all the balls in the air is tough, and only tougher in times of crisis. Sarah Olivieri at PivotGround knows this, and she's created a system that helps leaders find confidence, clarity and create the same in supporters. Check out our conversation to hear more.

Sarah Olivieri is a nonprofit business strategist, #1 International Best Selling author, and former Executive Director. She has been featured on over 50 podcasts and is the creator of the Impact Method™ - a framework that helps nonprofits simplify their operations, build aligned teams, and make a bigger impact without getting overwhelmed or burning out.

Check out PivotGround to hear more about the Impact Method.

I'm excited to bring back on today's episode Brady Josephson, managing director of the NextAfter institute. He spends his days conducting experiments, tests and looking deep into the data of donor response to see how we can do a better job communicating with and spurring action from our supporters. We cover what he's seeing as organizations reach out during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thinking critically about all aspects of your appeals is crucial – and testing and experimenting is a big part of challenging the norm and doing a better job with how we convert donors to action is really important right now. We unpack the fundamentals of how any organization can do that right away.

Check out NextAfter and their library of experiments.

Have you harnessed the power of artificial intelligence to personalize your communications to donors and supporters, based on what you can see they actually care about? Not too many fundraising shops have, and this is a huge miss.

Our RNL QuadWrangle experts, Solomon Grey and Peter Caron, join this episode to talk about the power of AI-driven communications, along with the special features of QuadMail, integrations with RNL Crowdfunding and Giving Days, and virtual events with giving.

Video rules in today's communication landscape. Whether it's powerful video for a campaign launch, educational video to help boost awareness of what you're doing, or even personal videos we can now make and deliver quickly to supporters, fundraisers and non profits need a strong video strategy.

We're in a world where Tik Tok and YouTube are the primary social currency, and if you're not investing in video, you're way behind the curve. I got on the line with Doug Scott at Tectonic, a company that works with great non-profits to produce powerful videos, to get his take on how this medium is changing, and the key things non-profit leaders need to do maximize their impact through video.

Check out Tectonic at Tectonic.video

It's a remarkable time for healthcare philanthropy. Every day, our healthcare heroes are on the front lines of the COVID -19 pandemic. And donors of all sizes are stepping up to support them. This virus impacts entire communities, and philanthropy is part of what is going to get us through this. We wanted to hear what it's like to be in the middle of this every day, so RNL consultant Greta Daniels and I got on the line with Allie Quick, Chief Philanthropy Officer at the Allegheny Health Network and Beth Heiter, Director of Development at the Office of Medical Annual Giving for Johns Hopkins University Medical.

In a world where we compete with spammers, scammers, and all kinds of causes contacting our supporters, it's become harder to get donors to pick up the phone. Great new solutions, including advanced whitelisting of numbers and visual caller ID can really help. You now have the ability for your organization's logo and even a call to action display on many mobile devices when the call comes in. And combining this calling with other channels like text, personalized video and integrated email really increases ROI. Shad Hanselman provides an overview of these solutions, and their impact.

We're changing things up a little bit here on the podcast. On this episode we hear from Emma Gawor and Sofia Bermejo, two daughters of RNL parents who had their college lives totally changed as their campuses responded to COVID-19. They're highly connected to their friends, they communicate at light speed, and they have a lot of insights on how this pandemic is impacting their education. They've been uprooted from their friends, but they're still doing homework, exams, group projects and now juggling life in social distancing. They're using everything from Zoom to Club Penguin to stay connected. They will be different students and different alumni after this. Hear what they have to say about college life in the health crisis.