Rainmaker Fundraising Podcast

By Andrew Olsen, CFRE and Roy Jones, CFRE

What's Rainmaker Fundraising Podcast about?

Andrew Olsen, CFRE and Roy Jones, CFRE have 50+ years of combined nonprofit leadership experience and have jointly raised nearly $1 Billion in charitable gifts. In this podcast, Andrew and Roy interview high-level leaders from across the sector to bring you high impact insights and guidance to help you lead successfully and execute effectively.

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Rainmaker Fundraising Podcast episodes:

11.29.2021
Integrated approach raises $20+ Million for Freedom Alliance
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09.22.2021
The Storytelling Fundraiser, with Russell James, J.D., Ph.D., CFP
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....
09.20.2021
NeighborShare, with Diana Zhang
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...
08.30.2021
Changing Landscape of Nonprofit Agency Services
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...
08.25.2021
HELP WANTED: A National Study of Staffing Challenges in Nonprofit Fundraising
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...
07.19.2021
From Barely Surviving to Thriving with Rev. Jeremy Montgomery
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...
06.14.2021
Leadership Excellence with Glenn Cranfield
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 –...
06.01.2021
Leadership Culture with Ken Brissa at Phoenix Rescue Mission
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...
05.24.2021
Lessons From 20+ Years of Leading Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee
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...
05.17.2021
From Board Chair to CEO: Leadership Insights with Erinn Rowe
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...
05.10.2021
The Future of Fundraising, with Paul D'Alessandro
The world of philanthropy is changing by the day right now. From the pandemic to artificial intelligence, to the dramatic increase in giving through Donor Advised Funds (DAF), and even the gamification of giving. So much is changing so quickly. But...
04.27.2021
Nonprofit Innovation and Growth with Sarah Lee
Sarah Lee is Chief Operating Officer at New Story, an innovative, growth-focused organization that behaves more like a Silicon Valley start-up than a traditional nonprofit. New Story is on a mission to solve the global homelessness crisis by creating solutions that...
04.17.2021
Courageous Fundraising with Julie Ordonez
If you want to be a successful major gift fundraiser, one of the most important traits you'll need is courage. Courage to overcome the fear of failure that so many of us face in asking donors to invest in our...
04.15.2021
COVID's impact on Food Bank Fundraising, with Matt Hackler
Matt Hackler is Vice President of Strategic Capacity Building with Feeding America. Like many of us, Matt says he "fell into" fundraising before joining Feeding America. In his current role, Matt leads a team of experts across multiple disciplines to...
04.05.2021
Talent Development with Brent Hafele
Brent A. Hafele, M.A., is Senior Vice President of Talent Development at Dickerson Bakker & Associates. Early in his career, Brent held various leadership roles inside nonprofit organizations, including Development Director and Executive Director. Today, Brent leads talent development efforts for...
03.29.2021
Leading Global Social Change with Abby Maxman
As President & CEO of Oxfam America, Abby Maxman is responsible for leading global social change to alleviate the injustice of poverty across 90 countries. This fight is not a new one for Maxman, who has made a career of giving...
03.24.2021
Leading Generously with Bill High
The fifth child in a family of six, Bill High grew up "dirt poor and on welfare." The son of an alcoholic, Bill describes his childhood as "pretty dysfunctional."Around age eight or nine, Bill was introduced to the idea of...
03.22.2021
Global Online Fundraising Scorecard, with Brady Josephson
Our good friend Brady Josephson at NextAfter joined us for a third episode here on the podcast recently. You might remember Brady from our conversation about COVID fundraising observations, or fundraising Testing. This week we connected with him to learn about...
03.16.2021
Nonprofit Leadership Masterclass with Marc Pitman
You might know him as The Fundraising Coach, the Founder of Concord Leadership Group, the author of Ask Without Fear, Fundraising Kick, or the brand new book, The Surprising Gift of Doubt: Use Uncertainty to Become the Exceptional Leader You...
03.08.2021
The State of Philanthropy in 2021, with Bob Carter
Bob Carter is Founder and Chairman at Carter Global, the leading global philanthropic consultancy serving nonprofits, international non-governmental organizations (INGO's), and ultra-high net worth philanthropists. Bob is personally an expert in the development of major and mega gift fundraising campaigns...
02.28.2021
Global leadership lessons, with Dr. Charles Owubah
Dr. Charles Owubah is the visionary leader currently serving as CEO of Action Against Hunger. He's also a member of the Forbes Nonprofit Council. We spoke recently about global leadership lessons, and you won't want to miss this conversation!In our discussion,...
02.24.2021
#HalfMyDAF, with Jen Risher
Unless you live under a rock, you'll know that in 2020 the nonprofit sector saw HUGE increases in giving through Donor Advised Fund (DAF) giving accounts. There was an outpouring of generosity across the nation, and many donors with DAF...
02.14.2021
Leading for the long-term, with Burt Rosen
In this episode I talk with Burt Rosen, President & CEO at Knox Area Rescue Ministries about leading an organization over the long-term, and the most important aspects of leading well, including: The importance of taking a stand when you see...
02.04.2021
Becoming a Great Fundraising Organization with Alan Clayton
Alan Clayton is Chairman of Philanthropy and Fundraising International, and Director of Philanthropy and Fundraising North America. He's also a brilliant fundraiser.I had the absolute pleasure of visiting with Alan this past week to talk about great fundraising organizations...what makes them...
02.02.2021
Philanthropy and Leadership with Franklin Guerrero
Franklin Guerrero is Vice President of Major Gifts at AARP, and is a highly accomplished fundraiser and leader in the nonprofit sector. He and I recently sat down for a conversation about philanthropy and leadership.In our discussion, we talk about...
01.26.2021
Leading Change with Nancy Murphy
Change. Whether you like it or not, it's the topic of the day. 2020 punched all of us in the face with COVID-19, economic turmoil, and racial unrest across the country. And that's just the change that many of us...
01.05.2021
Conversational Fundraising with Kent Stroman
We kicked off 2021 with an awesome conversation with Kent Stroman, Principal and Founder of the Institute for Conversational Fundraising, and author of Asking About Asking. We covered a ton of ground in our conversation, focused primarily on how frontline fundraisers...
12.22.2020
Leading The Salvation Army Way
It was an incredible honor to sit down recently with Commissioner Kenneth Hodder, National Commander of The Salvation Army USA, and Joey Zumaya, Public Sector Leader at LinkedIn and national advisory board member at The Salvation Army. One of the things...
12.07.2020
Data Drives Strategy, with Jenny Floria
This conversation with Jenny Floria, Founder of Floria Consulting, is focused on the importance of data and how data drives strategy is an essential conversation for all nonprofit leaders and fundraisers. In our chat, you'll hear Jenny and I talk through...
11.30.2020
Leading a Major Gift Team, with Jennifer Diaz at The Salvation Army
Jennifer Diaz is Director of Major Gifts with The Salvation Army. She works out of the Philadelphia area, where she leads a team of five major gift fundraisers, and carries her own portfolio of top-level donor relationships.I first met Jennifer...
10.26.2020
Philanthropy, Financial Planning, and Year-End Giving, with Kurt Peterson, CFP
As we are quickly approaching the year-end giving season, it's more important than maybe any time in recent history that nonprofits understand how to effectively engage with high net worth donors and members of their communities. That's why I was so...
10.18.2020
The impact of brand and digital engagement on nonprofit fundraising, with Eric Ressler
Eric Ressler is Founder & Creative Director at Cosmic, a social impact creative agency in the Bay Area. We sat down recently to discuss how brand and digital engagement can impact a nonprofit's ability to scale revenue.While some in the nonprofit...
09.29.2020
Becoming a leader of impact, with Braden Douglas
Leadership has zero to do with position or title. It has everything to do with impact. But becoming a leader of impact doesn't just happen by accident. And it doesn't happen over night. It requires focus, intentionality, and a commitment...
09.17.2020
Accelerate Your Planned Giving Success, with Tony Martignetti
Tony Martignetti, host of Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio, and one of the nation's leading authorities on planned giving just launched a brand new program to help more nonprofit organizations access the transformational impact of planned giving for their organizations. The program...
08.29.2020
Nonprofit Email Strategy with John Walsh
John Walsh is one of the most innovative digital marketers in the nonprofit sector today. He currently leads email marketing at one of the world's largest Evangelical ministry organizations. In this episode, you'll hear John and I discuss all things email...
08.24.2020
Delusional Altruism with Kris Putnam-Walkerly
Kris Putnam-Walkerly is Founder of Putnam Consulting Group, and author of Confident Giving and The ImpactAssets Handbook for Investors. Kris has spent her career as an advisor to high net worth individuals, family offices, corporate philanthropy programs and foundations. She's also the...
08.19.2020
Impact of COVID-19 on Mid-level and Major Donor Giving, with Dickerson Bakker & Associates
How has COVID-19 impacted Mid-level and Major Gift fundraising? Are Mid-level and Major donors shifting their giving priorities because of this crisis? Are they holding back on giving? If Mid-level and Major donors did give during the COVID crisis, how...
08.18.2020
Philanthropy Revolution with Lisa Greer
Have you ever wondered what your major donors really thought of your work, how you engage with them, and the experience you create at your events? Have you ever struggled to connect deeply with high net worth individuals that support...
08.12.2020
Nonprofits in trouble: One-third of organizations may not survive pandemic, recession, with Bob McCartney
On August 3rd, 2020, Bob McCartney authored the article, Nonprofits in trouble: One-third of organizations may not survive pandemic, recession for The Washington Post. This article is a sobering assessment of the health and sustainability of nonprofit organizations in the Washington,...
08.06.2020
Talent Optimization with Ben Stroup
In many respects we're living through a period of time where we've forced a decade of disruption into (at this point) a 12-week period. Or at least that's what it's felt like between the COVID crisis and the ongoing struggles related...
07.28.2020
A Stewardship Conversation with Karen Paul, CFRE
Stewardship and gratitude are such integral components of successful philanthropy efforts. In my mind, it all comes down to showing appreciation for the people who make our work in the nonprofit sector possible.That's why I was shocked earlier this summer...
07.22.2020
Testing...Testing...Testing
It was great to have Brady Josephson back on the podcast today for a second conversation. If you didn't catch our conversation last month on COVID fundraising trends, you should check it out. But today, Brady and I talk about all...
07.06.2020
Leadership Field Notes with Jaimie Trussell, CFRE
Jaimie Trussell, CFRE, is Chief Development Officer and Vice President of Marketing & Communications at Adult & Teen Challenge USA. She recently sat down with me to talk candidly about nonprofit leadership. In this great conversation, Jaimie provided so much value!Check...
07.02.2020
7-Figure Fundraising Pitch with Trevor Bragdon
Trevor Bragdon is a behavioral scientist by training, and is Founder of 7-Figure Fundraising. He and his team have developed a proprietary training program that helps nonprofit CEO's, fundraisers, and board members hone their fundraising message (i.e., the pitch) to secure...
06.30.2020
Successfully navigating COVID, and other crises with Category One Consulting
Chances are your organization was NOT prepared for COVID-19. Even organizations that work in international relief and development or domestic emergency response weren't fully prepared for all of the impacts of COVID-19, and how it would impact operations, fundraising, internal...
06.22.2020
COVID-19 Fundraising Observations from NextAfter, with Brady Josephson
Brady Josephson, Managing Director of the Institute for Online Fundraising at NextAfter recently sat down with us to share what he's learning about the changing fundraising landscape during the COVID-19 crisis. This conversation and the learnings that Brady shares are based...
06.13.2020
Increasing Nonprofit Equity & Inclusion, with Kishshana Palmer, CFRE
We sat down last week for a leadership conversation with Kishshana Palmer, CFRE, CEO of Kishshana & Co., Founder of The Rooted Collaborative, and Author of Hey, I'm New Here. We scheduled this conversation months ago, and initially our plan was...
06.11.2020
Inspiring Growth As a Leader, with Mark P. Fisher
You are going to LOVE this conversation with Mark P. Fisher on Inspiring Growth as a leader!Mark is host of the Inspiring Growth Podcast, CEO, and Chief Encourager at Inspiring Growth, a firm he founded to help organizations increase revenue,...
06.09.2020
Leadership Field Notes with Dionne M. Rosser-Mims, Ph.D.
Dionne M. Rosser-Mims, Ph.D., is Dean of the College of Education at Troy University. She's an educator, author, and successful leader. She's also my longtime friend, and someone I'm incredibly proud of and inspired by.We recently sat down to discuss...
06.03.2020
Leadership Field Notes with Bobby Lewis at Love Worth Finding
Leading well is critical -- especially during the challenging times in which we find ourselves these days. That's why I think my recent conversation with Bobby Lewis, Executive Vice President of Operations at Love Worth Finding is so important. According to...

What's Rainmaker Fundraising Podcast about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Rainmaker Fundraising Podcast episodes:

Integrated approach raises $20+ Million for Freedom Alliance

The Storytelling Fundraiser, with Russell James, J.D., Ph.D., CFP

NeighborShare, with Diana Zhang

Changing Landscape of Nonprofit Agency Services

HELP WANTED: A National Study of Staffing Challenges in Nonprofit Fundraising

From Barely Surviving to Thriving with Rev. Jeremy Montgomery

Leadership Excellence with Glenn Cranfield

Leadership Culture with Ken Brissa at Phoenix Rescue Mission

Lessons From 20+ Years of Leading Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee

From Board Chair to CEO: Leadership Insights with Erinn Rowe

The Future of Fundraising, with Paul D'Alessandro

Nonprofit Innovation and Growth with Sarah Lee

Courageous Fundraising with Julie Ordonez

COVID's impact on Food Bank Fundraising, with Matt Hackler

Talent Development with Brent Hafele

Leading Global Social Change with Abby Maxman

Leading Generously with Bill High

Global Online Fundraising Scorecard, with Brady Josephson

Nonprofit Leadership Masterclass with Marc Pitman

The State of Philanthropy in 2021, with Bob Carter

Global leadership lessons, with Dr. Charles Owubah

#HalfMyDAF, with Jen Risher

Leading for the long-term, with Burt Rosen

Becoming a Great Fundraising Organization with Alan Clayton

Philanthropy and Leadership with Franklin Guerrero

Leading Change with Nancy Murphy

Conversational Fundraising with Kent Stroman

Leading The Salvation Army Way

Data Drives Strategy, with Jenny Floria

Leading a Major Gift Team, with Jennifer Diaz at The Salvation Army

Philanthropy, Financial Planning, and Year-End Giving, with Kurt Peterson, CFP

The impact of brand and digital engagement on nonprofit fundraising, with Eric Ressler

Becoming a leader of impact, with Braden Douglas

Accelerate Your Planned Giving Success, with Tony Martignetti

Nonprofit Email Strategy with John Walsh

Delusional Altruism with Kris Putnam-Walkerly

Impact of COVID-19 on Mid-level and Major Donor Giving, with Dickerson Bakker & Associates

Philanthropy Revolution with Lisa Greer

Nonprofits in trouble: One-third of organizations may not survive pandemic, recession, with Bob McCartney

Talent Optimization with Ben Stroup

A Stewardship Conversation with Karen Paul, CFRE

Testing...Testing...Testing

Leadership Field Notes with Jaimie Trussell, CFRE

7-Figure Fundraising Pitch with Trevor Bragdon

Successfully navigating COVID, and other crises with Category One Consulting

COVID-19 Fundraising Observations from NextAfter, with Brady Josephson

Increasing Nonprofit Equity & Inclusion, with Kishshana Palmer, CFRE

Inspiring Growth As a Leader, with Mark P. Fisher

Leadership Field Notes with Dionne M. Rosser-Mims, Ph.D.

Leadership Field Notes with Bobby Lewis at Love Worth Finding