In Episode 71, we venture into another aspect of eCommerce: how it can benefit nonprofits with their fundraising efforts. And to help us understand how critical it is to have the most effective strategies in place, we are talking with John Haydon, long-time fundraising expert, coach and speaker. Running a nonprofit it a lot of work. John helps nonprofits who are looking to raise more money, improve marketing, and increase engagement. So if you are running or involved with a nonprofit in any capacity, in today’s show John shares some great tips in all three areas.

We chatted about:

* John’s top three strategies for fundraising

* The number one mistake that nonprofits make when they begin their fundraising efforts

* What a nonprofit should consider before starting to sell products as part of their fundraising plan

* How much of a viable solution is crowdfunding for a startup nonprofit

* What is on the horizon in tech that will play a critical role in helping nonprofits fundraise

Thanks to Our Podcast Sponsor: Bluehost

Transcript

You can also download a pdf of the full transcript here: WordPress eCommerce Show Episode 71 April 26 2017

Bob Dunn: Hey everyone. Welcome back to the WP Commerce Show. Bob Dunn here, also known as BobWP on the web. Today on the show we are talking non-profits, eCommerce, and fundraising. And I can think of no one better to bring on than my longtime friend, fundraising expert, speaker and coach John Haydon. It’s great to have you on the show today, John.

John Haydon: Thank you, Bob, I’m so glad to be here. Thanks for inviting me.

Bob: You know, you and I have been trying to get this podcast together for a bit, and between our two schedules it’s been a little crazy, and life gets in the way. Finally I got you here so I’m a happy camper.

John: Awesome. That’s great. Yeah, I feel like we’re- in a way we’re brothers. You’re in Washington and I’m in Boston. So we’re on the West and the East coast.

Bob: Yeah, exactly, and we’ve known each other for, it seems like, many many years. I won’t say many, many many years.

John: Lots of conferences.

Meet John Haydon, speaker, coach and fundraising expert

Bob: So John, can you tell us a little bit more about who you are, and the work you do in fundraising?

John: Uh, sure, yeah. I work with nonprofits. I help them with anything online. Online marketing, online fundraising, online communication. I work with organizations with their goals, whatever they are. Some organizations want to reach more people to provide impact. Other organizations they say, “We want to increase our volunteers.” Other organizations want to raise more money. Other organizations want to engage. So, each one has a different goal.

My job and my passion is to help nonprofits make a bigger impact, but use these communication channels- these new communication channels in ways that are smarter and more efficient, based on the somewhat limited resources that they have. The other thing I notice about nonprofits is that they don’t tend to be natural marketers. So, with my background, my career is mostly for profit side sales and marketing, I’m bringing all that experience plus now having done this for about nine years on my own, working with hundreds of nonprofits, I feel like I can offer a unique perspective and insight that a lot of organizations kind of miss.

So that’s what I do. I do speaking training, strategy development, consulting, all that stuff, and love it.

Bob: Very cool. I know that Judy and I,