Rainmaker Fundraising Podcast

In our most recent episode of The Rainmaker Fundraising Podcast I sat down with Amanda Fabrizio-Grzesik, Director of Development at Tennessee Tech University, and author of the Fab Fundraising blog. We had a fascinating conversation about building a culture of collaboration across development and programs (in her case, specifically with academic staff). This is often such a difficult bridge to build between the two camps -- but Amanda has some great real world tips and examples to help you do just that. If you've ever struggled to gain alignment between development and program teams, you'll want to check out this podcast episode. 

About Amanda

Amanda is a native of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania region, Amanda moved to Tennessee from the northeast in 2014.

 She is currently the Director of Development for the College of Agriculture & Human Ecology, College of Education, College of Engineering and the Oakley STEM Center at Tennessee Tech University. She also oversees regional fundraising for Kentucky, Virginia, the upper-Midwest and the Northeast.

 Amanda graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in Communications from DeSales University and her Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Lehigh University.

 Before Tech, she worked in communications at Lehigh's Industrial and Systems Engineering Department and in the university development offices at Immaculata University and Pratt Institute.

 Her husband, Danny, works in student affairs and met while they were both working at Lehigh. They have two fur children, Sonic, who is a seven-year-old Pomeranian, and Laney, who is a 3-month old Chiweenie (chihuahua/dachshund mix).

You can connect with Amanda via the following:

Fab Fundraising Blog

LinkedIn

Download the show transcript here

In our most recent episode of The Rainmaker Fundraising Podcast I sat down with Amanda Fabrizio-Grzesik, Director of Development at Tennessee Tech University, and author of the Fab Fundraising blog. We had a fascinating conversation about building a culture of collaboration across development and programs (in her case, specifically with academic staff). This is often such a difficult bridge to build between the two camps -- but Amanda has some great real world tips and examples to help you do just that. If you've ever struggled to gain alignment between development and program teams, you'll want to check out this podcast episode. 

About Amanda

Amanda is a native of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania region, Amanda moved to Tennessee from the northeast in 2014.

 She is currently the Director of Development for the College of Agriculture & Human Ecology, College of Education, College of Engineering and the Oakley STEM Center at Tennessee Tech University. She also oversees regional fundraising for Kentucky, Virginia, the upper-Midwest and the Northeast.

 Amanda graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in Communications from DeSales University and her Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Lehigh University.

 Before Tech, she worked in communications at Lehigh's Industrial and Systems Engineering Department and in the university development offices at Immaculata University and Pratt Institute.

 Her husband, Danny, works in student affairs and met while they were both working at Lehigh. They have two fur children, Sonic, who is a seven-year-old Pomeranian, and Laney, who is a 3-month old Chiweenie (chihuahua/dachshund mix).

You can connect with Amanda via the following:

Fab Fundraising Blog

LinkedIn

Download the show transcript here

In this episode we chat with two of the nation’s leading experts on nonprofits, Marc Stein and Bob Lipps. Marc and Bob are co-Founders of The Global Center for Nonprofit Excellence. The Center, as they call it, was created to bring together three diverse groups — Nonprofits, Funders, and Businesses that provide products and services to the nonprofit sector. What’s most interesting to us about The Center is that these two guys, with decades of experience in legal services, finance, operations, leadership, marketing, and development, have designed an organization with the sole purpose of optimizing the work done by nonprofits. Their goal is to help align nonprofit organizations with service providers and funders, and to provide key services that will help an organization enhance and optimize their work, across all aspects of the organization. In this episode you’ll hear more about their approach to serving nonprofits, and the distinct value that they provide.One very interesting tool they shared about on the podcast is their OpX360® product. OpX360®, which stands for Operational Excellence 360, is an assessment tool that nonprofits, boards, funders, or individual leaders can use to gain a clear understanding of how they and their organizations are performing across six key functional areas.  This is an incredibly valuable assessment tool that will be available to nonprofits worldwide starting in August. You can be one of the first organizations to take advantage of this new tool by registering on their waitlist today.As a special bonus just for our listeners, The Center is providing a generous $200 discount on OpX360® assessments. All you have to do is input the coupon code RAINMAKER when prompted. 

Download the show transcript here

In this episode we chat with two of the nation's leading experts on nonprofits, Marc Stein and Bob Lipps. Marc and Bob are co-Founders of The Global Center for Nonprofit Excellence. The Center, as they call it, was created to bring together three diverse groups -- Nonprofits, Funders, and Businesses that provide products and services to the nonprofit sector. 

What's most interesting to us about The Center is that these two guys, with decades of experience in legal services, finance, operations, leadership, marketing, and development, have designed an organization with the sole purpose of optimizing the work done by nonprofits. Their goal is to help align nonprofit organizations with service providers and funders, and to provide key services that will help an organization enhance and optimize their work, across all aspects of the organization. In this episode you'll hear more about their approach to serving nonprofits, and the distinct value that they provide.

One very interesting tool they shared about on the podcast is their OpX360® product. OpX360®, which stands for Operational Excellence 360, is an assessment tool that nonprofits, boards, funders, or individual leaders can use to gain a clear understanding of how they and their organizations are performing across six key functional areas.  This is an incredibly valuable assessment tool that will be available to nonprofits worldwide starting in August. You can be one of the first organizations to take advantage of this new tool by registering on their waitlist today.

As a special bonus just for our listeners, The Center is providing a generous $200 discount on OpX360® assessments. All you have to do is input the coupon code RAINMAKER when prompted. 

Download the show transcript here

During last month’s Citygate Network Conference, Shawn Saunders (Dickerson Bakker & Associates) and I got to sit down with Dan Balena of Atlanta Mission and talk about how he and the team at Atlanta Mission have energized their major gift program. After a long and successful corporate career at IBM, Dan felt called to the work of ministry, and later discovered that his skills and experience were a great fit for major gift work. In our conversation he talks about the way Atlanta Mission is engaging donors, telling better stories, and working to bring renewed excitement to the relationships they have with their donors — all in support of changing the lives of people in need throughout the Atlanta area. s

Download the show transcript here

During last month's Citygate Network Conference, Shawn Saunders (Dickerson Bakker & Associates) and I got to sit down with Dan Balena of Atlanta Mission and talk about how he and the team at Atlanta Mission have energized their major gift program. After a long and successful corporate career at IBM, Dan felt called to the work of ministry, and later discovered that his skills and experience were a great fit for major gift work. In our conversation he talks about the way Atlanta Mission is engaging donors, telling better stories, and working to bring renewed excitement to the relationships they have with their donors -- all in support of changing the lives of people in need throughout the Atlanta area. s

Download the show transcript here

Carlos Baldovinos leads The Mission at Kern County, serving those who are experiencing homeless in Bakersfield, CA and surrounding communities. I got the chance to interview Carlos at the Citygate Network 2019 conference earlier this month in beautiful Palm Springs, CA. My good friend Shawn Saunders from Dickerson Bakker & Associates was kind enough to guest host this episode with me. During our conversation with Carlos, we touch on the growing crisis of homelessness in California, and specifically in the Kern County area. He shares with us the approach The Mission is taking to increase capacity to serve more people in need, and how he and his team successfully executed a recent capital campaign to grow their Mission. What’s most interesting about this is that Carlos and his team decided not to engage a consultant in the process, and skipped the feasibility study phase of the campaign. Check out this podcast to learn how they did that, and what your organization might be able to learn from their approach. 

Download the show transcript here

Carlos Baldovinos leads The Mission at Kern County, serving those who are experiencing homeless in Bakersfield, CA and surrounding communities. I got the chance to interview Carlos at the Citygate Network 2019 conference earlier this month in beautiful Palm Springs, CA. My good friend Shawn Saunders from Dickerson Bakker & Associates was kind enough to guest host this episode with me. During our conversation with Carlos, we touch on the growing crisis of homelessness in California, and specifically in the Kern County area. He shares with us the approach The Mission is taking to increase capacity to serve more people in need, and how he and his team successfully executed a recent capital campaign to grow their Mission. What's most interesting about this is that Carlos and his team decided not to engage a consultant in the process, and skipped the feasibility study phase of the campaign. Check out this podcast to learn how they did that, and what your organization might be able to learn from their approach. 

Download the show transcript here

Have you heard of ViewSpark yet? They happen to be my favorite digital donor engagement platform, and if you don’t know them yet, you should check them out. I got to sit down with ViewSpark’s CEO, Jeff Kliewer, and Vice President of Marketing, Kat Landa, during the recent Citygate Network conference in Palm Springs to talk about how their platform is reshaping the way nonprofits engage with their donors. And the results are pretty stellar. In fact, in December of 2018 when many other nonprofits saw sharp declines in online giving, ViewSpark’s clients actually saw significant increases in online giving! Interestingly, Jeff and Kat share that their average client spends less than 10 minutes per day using their platform — and it still generates significant returns for them. Right now they’re offering a special 50% discount off their standard set-up cost just for our listeners. All you have to do is mention the Rainmaker Fundraising Podcast when you contact them! 

Download the show transcript here.

Have you heard of ViewSpark yet? They happen to be my favorite digital donor engagement platform, and if you don't know them yet, you should check them out. I got to sit down with ViewSpark's CEO, Jeff Kliewer, and Vice President of Marketing, Kat Landa, during the recent Citygate Network conference in Palm Springs to talk about how their platform is reshaping the way nonprofits engage with their donors. And the results are pretty stellar. In fact, in December of 2018 when many other nonprofits saw sharp declines in online giving, ViewSpark's clients actually saw significant increases in online giving! Interestingly, Jeff and Kat share that their average client spends less than 10 minutes per day using their platform -- and it still generates significant returns for them. Right now they're offering a special 50% discount off their standard set-up cost just for our listeners. All you have to do is mention the Rainmaker Fundraising Podcast when you contact them! Download the show transcript here.