Rainmaker Fundraising Podcast

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 when I shared the results of a small test where 8 out of 10 organizations that received a contribution never sent a thank you letter or followed up on that gift in any way, either online or offline. Unfortunately, the fact that 80% didn't say thank you isn't the part that shocked me. What shocked me was that there's a subset of fundraisers and nonprofit leaders who came to the defense of that 80% and in some instances even suggested that it's a) wrong for donors to expect to be thanked, and b) that thanking a donor for their giving is akin to begging them for their support. This was such a crazy conversation that it sparked additional dialogue across the industry. I jumped onto the Responsive Fundraising Podcast and spoke with Noah Barnett, CMO at Virtuous Software about this. And recently my good friend Lisa Greer, author of Philanthropy Revolution and the Philanthropy 451 Blog wrote about this situation even last week. In the midst of this discussion, I had the opportunity to sit down with my new friend, Karen Paul, CFRE to talk specifically about this. Karen is Director of Development at Science Museum of Oklahoma, and I was particularly interested to hear her on-the-ground perspective on this issue.What I think you'll find is a very balanced discussion of this issue, that I hope adds value to your work and challenges your thinking in the process. Special Offer from Velocity Strategy Solutions, our Episode Sponsor:

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 things testing. This is one of Brady's favorite things to chat about. That shouldn't be a surprise, given his role as Managing Director at NextAfter's Institute for Online Fundraising.As a direct response fundraiser, I'm a big fan of testing. We test all the time. Sometimes we test something that makes a dramatic impact on revenue or results for a client. Other times, a test doesn't go the way we think. It "fails", if you will. But in the end, we still learn from it. To be successful with testing, you have to think differently about the philosophy and execution of tests. That's where Brady and I focused in this conversation. He covered a ton of important ground, like:Why testing is important to fundraising successWhat type of tests deliver the most impact and value (and which tests aren't worth your time)Creating a testing strategy/planDesigning tests for successful learningThe value of iterative testingLow value vs. High value testsThe importance of tracking, and why this is the first step in your successful testing strategyI hope you learn a ton from this conversation, and that you take this opportunity to create or refine your own testing plan for the next year!Special Offer From Velocity Strategy Solutions, Our Episode Sponsor:

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 out the top 5 insights I took from our conversation:True leadership isn't glamorous. It's hard, but highly rewarding.Great leaders endeavor to find their tribe and thrive with them rather than being all things to all people. If you don't have credibility as a leader, you don't have anything.The best leaders focus on developing other leaders -- that's the true measure of leadership success.Leadership is a 24/7 game. Finding micro moments to refresh and recharge in the midst of packed work and home schedules is critical to your mental, physical, and emotional health.Check out the entire conversation for even more great insights!

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 more 5, 6, and 7-figure gifts from individual donors, foundations, and corporate partners. This unique approach to crafting a compelling fundraising pitch has helped organizations raise millions of additional dollars. Yesterday, Trevor conducting an exclusive training for 70 Newport ONE clients and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. In our podcast conversation, Trevor distills some of those same key insights that you can start taking advantage of immediately.If you want to raise more 5, 6, and 7-figure gifts for your organization, check out this conversation. I promise you'll be glad you did!

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 processes, staff, etc. 

That's why I was so excited to sit down with Amy McFeely and Laura Olean from Category One Consulting recently. Their firm helps organizations maximize their effectiveness through human resources support, strategic planning, program evaluation, and needs assessments. 

When COVID hit, they jumped into action to create a Crisis Response Toolkit specifically designed to help nonprofits respond to the COVID crisis and succeed throughout the remainder of 2020. And even better, this Toolkit can easily be applied to help nonprofits navigate a crisis of any type and scope.

I hope you enjoy this conversation about preparing for and responding to crises, and take a minute to check out their Crisis Response Toolkit to get your nonprofit ready to respond to a crisis of any kind.

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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 on observations from more than 157 nonprofits that were and are actively fundraising during the COVID crisis. Brady is learning and seeing some interesting trends that you'll no doubt want to be aware of:As COVID took hold in early March, a lot of fundraising slowed or stopped. There was a marked decrease in email volume, as some organizations slowed down and some went entirely dark.Starting early in April, organizations began to emerge from the initial shock of COVID, and fundraising (particularly online) saw growth both in April and May (in both email volume and total revenue). This was further supported by the Giving Tuesday NOW initiative. Through late May and into early June, we've now started to see a correction (downturn) in email volume again. There is absolutely value in achieving first mover status when it comes to responding and communicating in a crisis. The faster an organization can get into market and begin to communicate with constituents, the easier it is to navigate a crisis situation. Organizations responding fastest and raising the most money during the COVID situation are those that are NOT focused on perfection, but focused on speed to market. They are willing to move quickly, test, learn, and adapt. The more human you can make your digital fundraising and marketing efforts, the better you'll perform.The elevated sense of empathy across the globe has resulted in increased giving across many different types of organizations, even those that might not typically receive increased funding during a crisis (i.e., arts, etc.).High dollar sustainers may be more apt to opt out of their monthly commitment right now. They are seeing this emerging in the U.S., and we have seen it more significantly in Europe. Since people are at home more right now, a lot more of our online consumption is happening on desktop vs mobile. That's good news because desktop experience tends to increase conversion rates. However, this may mean that when the country reopens and people return to work (whenever that is...), online conversion rates my drop again to reflect the shift back to mobile consumption. Special Offer From Our Episode Sponsor, Velocity Strategy Solutions:

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 to talk broadly about leadership trends, insights & learnings across the nonprofit sector. But...then George Floyd was murdered here in Minneapolis. Cities across the state -- across the nation -- erupted in protest against police brutality and racism. As any good leaders would do, we assessed our situation and changed our objectives to address the critically important issues of equity and inclusion in the nonprofit sector.This conversation is a bit more off the cuff, and maybe not as polished as our other episodes. It's a bit raw. A bit more unvarnished. But such a necessary discussion. I hope you'll give us just a bit of grace if the conversation is a little more meandering than you might be used to. I encourage you to listen all the way through, as we cover a ton of important ground.I'm so grateful to Kishshana for walking through this conversation with us, shooting straight with us, and not holding back. Special Opportunity From Our Episode Sponsor, Velocity Strategy Solutions:

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, organizational leadership, and overall joy in their work. Check out some of Mark's great offerings here.If you like The Rainmaker Fundraising Podcast, you can thank Mark. He's the person who inspired me to launch this podcast!I first met Mark when he and his team led the national marketing effort for the Paramount Pictures movie, Same Kind of Different As Me, and we worked together to craft a Red Carpet Event strategy to market this film nationally in support of Gospel Rescue Missions through a partnership with City Gate Network. 

In this episode, Mark and I covered a ton of ground in a very candid conversation about his personal leadership journey.Here are some of the key points we hit in this discussion:Mark's personal story of going 100+ miles per hour as a leader until he hit a wall...and it nearly killed him. He talks about how this experience helped him reset his priorities and focus, and create Inspiring Growth, his life's calling.The importance of caring for yourself as a leader in order to allow you to truly serve those you lead.The power of kindness, and how it helps you lead well.The importance of resilient thinking, and how that allows you to pick up  the pieces and move on after failure or setbacks. As a leader, why you should strive to believe the best about people, and how that can radically change the culture in your organization.How to use a post mortem or after action review to overcome failure and create learning that will move your organization forward in a healthy way, even when a major project or initiative doesn't turn out the way you'd hoped.

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 leadership, and to get Dr. Rosser-Mims' perspective on what it takes to be a great leader. Here are :Leaders don't sit on the sidelines and complain -- they jump in and focus on finding solutions to the problems of the day.The best leaders focus on collaborative engagement, not on being the smartest person in the room.Integrity is critical for leadership success.Great leaders are consistent communicators, making sure that everyone understands where the organization is headed, how they individually fit into the plan, and what is expected of them.Being an authentic leader means modeling what you expect of others. If you aren't willing to do something yourself, you can't expect others to step up and do it either.It's a great conversation, and I hope you enjoy it!Special Offer From Our Episode Sponsor, Velocity Strategy Solutions:

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 Bobby, great leaders:Are lifelong learners who focus on adding knowledge and skills regularlyLead THROUGH others rather than trying to do everything themselvesInvest in mentoring others so that skill-building becomes an ingrained focus across organizationsDevelop deep, meaningful relationships with those they mentor, rather than trying to rush the processLead through collaboration and consensus-building instead of dictatingEmbrace the power of relationships rather than focusing on authority-based leadershipGet close to people -- staff, donors, and clients -- in times of crisis, rather than pulling awayBuild trust by investing in people and relationshipsThere's some real leadership gold in this episode. You don't want to miss it!Special Offer From Our Episode Sponsor, Velocity Strategy Solutions: