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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

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.

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

If you’ve worked in the nonprofit sector for more than 10 minutes, you know just how incredibly difficult it is to find and keep great people. The staffing challenges in our sector aren’t new, but it seems like the challenges have become more pronounced over the last few years. At least that’s what I keep hearing from clients and friends in our sector. 

Recently, my friends at Dickerson Bakker & Associates commissioned a new study on this topic, HELP WANTED: A National Study of Staffing Challenges in Nonprofit Fundraising. We sat down with Derric Bakker, President/CEO to discuss the findings, which I think you’ll find fascinating and helpful in your work (and you just might take comfort in having some hard data that validates what you’ve been feeling too!). 

Here are some of the key learnings from this new study:

1. Our sector is indeed facing a severe shortage of qualified fundraisers in the marketplace (this most significantly impacts major gift fundraisers)

2. The idea of the 18-month turnover cycle is largely a myth (though there’s a small group of habitual job-hoppers that muddy the water on this topic)

3. Sadly (and of great concern), only 12% of survey respondents strongly affirmed their Board and executive leadership were actively involved in raising organizational support

4. Turnover is a big problem (mostly) for small(er) organizations

5. If we want to fix these problems, nonprofit hiring strategy and practices need to change significantly. After all, retaining your best talent starts with making the right hiring decision in the first place (and this is NOT just about the candidates)

6. Too few organizations are addressing the key issues that lead to the departure of fun

This conversation with Rev. Jeremy Montgomery, MBA-MA, President/CEO at Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission in Philadelphia, PA, is a deep-dive into change leadership like you’ve never heard before! 

When he took the helm at Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission in 2018, the organization was barely surviving. Philadelphia is the 5th largest city in the U.S., and also the poorest large city in the country. The Mission is the city of Philadelphia’s largest provider of men’s shelter services in the city. When he arrived, the Mission was engulfed in gang and drug activity — local gangs were actually dealing drugs right outside their doors. 

The challenges they faced at the Mission were significant. From the external environmental risks of gangs and drugs to an internal culture that lacked clear communication, team members who didn’t understand what the goals were, how to achieve success, or how to partner and collaborate together to effectively achieve their mission. 

In this podcast episode Jeremy walks us through what it was like to come into an organization like this, how he approached guiding and leading the organization through significant change, and the difficult decisions he had to make to help the organization go from surviving to thriving. 

You’ll learn a ton about leading and navigating change in this conversation with Jeremy.

Glenn Cranfield is President and CEO at Nashville Rescue Mission, and Host of the Real Hope podcast. 

In this conversation, Glenn talks with me about four key values that guide his work and ministry at Nashville Rescue Mission, including:

Extravagant Faith – Sometimes we’re forced into situations where all we have is faith. Impossible situations where people think there’s no hope. 

Radical Hospitality – Understanding that the person who is with you in the moment is the most important person in the world, and treating them that way. Focusing on showing others love, dignity, and value. 

Excellence – We can’t ever be perfect, and we know that. But we can strive to be perfect, and in that, practice excellence in all we do. 

Culture of Honor – Imagine how amazing the world would be if we each individually would strive to put others above ourselves, and to show dignity, value, and worth to others. 

We also talked about conflict inside organizations. Unlike some leaders in our sector, Glenn’s perspective is that conflict is both good and necessary. In fact, he makes a key point by sharing that the popular scripture verse (Prov 27:17), “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens the wits of another” requires conflict — because it’s only in coming into contact that two pieces of iron can sharpen each other. In the same way, it’s only in conflict that two people can sharpen one another. That’s not to say that every time we experience conflict we’ll come out agreeing. But healthy conflict means we’ll engage directly with one ano

The definition of culture is the distance between who you say you are and how you act. 

Ken Brissa became Chief Executive Officer at Phoenix Rescue Mission in February of 2020, just days before the country went into full crisis mode in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

In the months since Ken began his leadership journey at Phoenix Rescue Mission, much has changed at the mission, throughout Phoenix, and across our nation. But the principles of leadership that helped shape Ken’s career before COVID have remained consistent.

We sat down recently to talk about Ken’s leadership journey and experience in the nonprofit sector. In our conversation we covered critical topics like: 

Why you should empower your team to build culture from the bottom up in your organization instead of pushing culture change from the top down.

The importance of making communication (quantity AND quality) a key component of your leadership strategy.

Why collaboration is a critical value for leaders, and how collaboration is more than just “working together”. 

The value of “what if” scenario planning, and how it can help your organization respond more quickly and effectively to crisis situations.

Why directly addressing conflict in your organization is essential to a grace-based culture. 

The importance of identifying and cultivating a creative outlet, and how that can impact your emotional health.

I’m continuing to explore a series of leadership conversations with nonprofit CEO’s, Executive Directors, and Chief Development Officers across our sector.

In today’s conversation, you’ll hear a discussion with Elaine Streno, Executive Director at Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee. 

With more than 20 years of leadership experience in East Tennessee, Elaine shares great wisdom and insights with us, including:

The importance of humility and how that trait can influence leadership success

Why working in the nonprofit sector shouldn’t mean personally sacrificing 

Understanding that as a leader, you’re always under the microscope, and why that requires deep integrity

How to have difficult conversations with employees without destroying relationships

The importance and value of having strong relationships with your board

Navigating the political and relational differences between front-line and administrative staff

The difficulty of parting ways with long-term employees, and how to have those difficult conversations with care and compassion

From entrepreneur to volunteer Board Chair, to nonprofit CEO, Erinn Rowe’s path to leadership at Harvest Hope Food Bank isn’t necessarily common, but neither are the needs of the food bank today. 

I sat down with Harvest Hope’s new CEO, Erinn Rowe recently to talk about her journey from board chair to food bank CEO, what she’s learned along the way, and key leadership insights she’s gained throughout her career. 

In this conversation we covered topics like:

How values like empathy, integrity, and honesty are the critical building blocks of leadership and successful organizations

The challenges of developing and cultivating corporate culture in an environment where some team members have never met face-to-face, and other COVID-related challenges

How empathetic leadership creates emotional and psychological safety for teams

The importance of honoring each team member’s humanity, and how an employee’s personal experiences impact their work

Insights on how to live out your core values daily as a leader

Why you can train for skills, but not for character — and how to address issues of character in your organization

What it’s like to transition from volunteer board chair to full-time CEO, and what you can learn from that transition

The value of clarity, honesty, and direct communication in organizations

This is a great conversation that any nonprofit leader or future leader will gain value from — I hope you enjoy it!