Rainmaker Fundraising Podcast

Gabe Cooper is CEO at Virtuous Software, Founder of The Modern Nonprofit Fundraiser Podcast, and Author of Responsive Fundraising.

We got together recently to talk about the concept of Responsive Fundraising, and what it means for the future of the nonprofit sector.

What's exciting is that the concept of Responsive Fundraising doesn't require you to throw out everything you're doing and start over completely. You don't have to lose ground in order to improve donor relationships and increase revenue. 

Responsive Fundraising is really about applying the hyper-personalization that Americans are accustomed to in their daily life to their charitable giving experience. It's about using data you have at hand (or that you can get your hands on) to develop highly personalized donor experiences that communicate to your donors that you value them, you know them, and you are committed to providing them with a meaningful experience every time they interact with your organization. 

Here are Gabe's key points about Responsive Fundraising:

It's less about tactics and technology and more about shifting your mindset. 

The success of Responsive Fundraising requires that you Listen (i.e., collecting more and better data, and understanding how it influences donor behavior), Connect (i.e., how can you use simple marketing automation to deliver relevant messages to your constituents at the exact time they are most likely to want it and engage with it?), and Adjust (i.e., creating a feedback loop so that you are modifying your organizational engagement approach based on what you see and hear from your donors as you deliver  them this new experience). 

Responsive Fundraising doesn't require to stop mass fundraising activities like direct mail, email, and telemarketing. Instead, it gives you a framework for making those interactions more meaningful (and more valuable) to the donor. 

You don't have to burn your entire program down and start from scratch. You can start small, with just two or three key elements. Once you prove out the value in small ways, use that success to increase the scale of Responsive Fundraising in your charity.

Embracing and deploying a Responsive Fundraising philosophy and strategy in your organization doesn't require you to upend everything you're doing and change staff. It does, however, require that everyone be aligned around the goal, and willing to learn and change the way they've worked in the past. 

Change of any kind -- but especially change like this -- requires a willingness to take risk and embrace failure in the service of creating something better for those you serve. 

As Gab

Visionary leaders don't succeed with just great ideas. They succeed because they've built a framework that inspires others and provides their teams with the necessary tools to perform."I was recently blessed to have a fascinating conversation with Dr. Kent Ingle. In this fast-paced conversation, Dr. Ingle delivered huge leadership wisdom and value -- and I think you'll get a lot from this conversation. Dr. Ingle is President of Southeastern University in Lakeland, FL. He's also author of multiple books including Framework Leadership, 9 Disciplines of Enduring Leadership, This Adventure Called Life, and The Modern Guide to College. He also hosts The Framework Leadership Podcast.Here are just six of the key takeaways from our conversation:1. Focus on being self-aware and self-disciplined. Self-awareness allows you to understand who you are, your gifts, your passions, your abilities and experiences. And always knowing that helps you to understand the opportunities before you.2. If you want to succeed as a leader, you need to build habits of discipline. Whether they be physical, emotional, educational, spiritual, or other, your ability to be disciplined in your own life will greatly impact your ability to lead others. 3. People long for value and significance. As a leader, your responsibility is to help people understand their value and significance in the world. 4. Leadership is all about your relational connectivity and how you interact and influence and have impact. 5. One of the most difficult and challenging things for any organization is to be excellent at systems thinking where you see the big picture, understand how the individual parts really interconnect to each other to accomplish the big picture. Especially at times of change, if you aren't growing your systems at the same speed of your overall growth, you're probably going to hit some plateaus. 6. To be successful as a leader, when leadership requires you to build a map to a place you've never been before, you need a framework. A successful framework for leadership requires four key elements: Listening

Coral Dill is the Founder and Principal at Grant Writer Etc., and a contributing author to the 2019 #1 Best Seller, 101 Biggest Mistakes Nonprofits Make And How You Can Avoid Them. Coral is an expert grant writer and regularly helps nonprofits of all shapes and sizes become "grant ready", and has helped those organizations raise millions of dollars over the last decade. In this episode Coral talks with us about some of the biggest grant seeking mistakes and how to avoid them. According to Coral, the biggest mistakes she sees are:Starting with grants: So many organizations - especially start-up nonprofits - assume that the fastest way to significant funding is through grants. But the reality is that most funders want to see a track record of success and fiscal health outside of grants before they'd be willing to consider a funding request.  Sending unsolicited funding requests: Grant seeking my be functionally different from individual donor fundraising, but there's one major similarity. They're both deeply relationship-based. In the same way that you wouldn't think of calling an individual donor you'd never met before and making an ask on the spot, don't make that mistake with grant funders either. Assuming that everyone wants to fund you: Grant funders have specific focuses of their philanthropy. If your approach to grant seeking is to "spray and pray", you could end up sending a million grant requests and get the same result as if you'd sent none at all. Instead, invest the time to research, find funders that are aligned with your mission, and engage them deeply -- that's where you'll find success.Making poor revenue assumptions: This isn't unique to grant seeking, but it's critical to avoid. The mistake here is assuming that you're going to get funded by every funder or that they'll fund you at 100% of your request. It's rare that any organization gets funded at 100% by 100% of the funders they solicit. Make sure you're not executing spending plans based on poor assumptions like this.Not being prepared to manage the grant: Most organizations are prepared to accept the funds associated with a grant. But as Coral explains, often organizations are ill-prepared to handing the various stipulations, reporting requirements, and other aspects of actually fulfilling on the grant terms. If you're not prepared for those, you're not ready to solicit the grant yet.This conversation is full of great insights and context around the biggest grant seeking mistakes that organizations make, and what you can do to make sure your nonprofit doesn't make these same mistakes. You can download the full show notes here.

Coral Dill is the Founder and Principal at Grant Writer Etc., and a contributing author to the 2019 #1 Best Seller, 101 Biggest Mistakes Nonprofits Make And How You Can Avoid Them. Coral is an expert grant writer and regularly helps nonprofits of all shapes and sizes become "grant ready", and has helped those organizations raise millions of dollars over the last decade. In this episode Coral talks with us about some of the biggest grant seeking mistakes and how to avoid them. According to Coral, the biggest mistakes she sees are:Starting with grants: So many organizations - especially start-up nonprofits - assume that the fastest way to significant funding is through grants. But the reality is that most funders want to see a track record of success and fiscal health outside of grants before they'd be willing to consider a funding request.  Sending unsolicited funding requests: Grant seeking my be functionally different from individual donor fundraising, but there's one major similarity. They're both deeply relationship-based. In the same way that you wouldn't think of calling an individual donor you'd never met before and making an ask on the spot, don't make that mistake with grant funders either. Assuming that everyone wants to fund you: Grant funders have specific focuses of their philanthropy. If your approach to grant seeking is to "spray and pray", you could end up sending a million grant requests and get the same result as if you'd sent none at all. Instead, invest the time to research, find funders that are aligned with your mission, and engage them deeply -- that's where you'll find success.Making poor revenue assumptions: This isn't unique to grant seeking, but it's critical to avoid. The mistake here is assuming that you're going to get funded by every funder or that they'll fund you at 100% of your request. It's rare that any organization gets funded at 100% by 100% of the funders they solicit. Make sure you're not executing spending plans based on poor assumptions like this.Not being prepared to manage the grant: Most organizations are prepared to accept the funds associated with a grant. But as Coral explains, often organizations are ill-prepared to handing the various stipulations, reporting requirements, and other aspects of actually fulfilling on the grant terms. If you're not prepared for those, you're not ready to solicit the grant yet.This conversation is full of great insights and context around the biggest grant seeking mistakes that organizations make, and what you can do to make sure your nonprofit doesn't make these same mistakes. You can download the full show notes here.

In this second installment of Leadership Field Notes, I was lucky enough to sit down with Tim Smith, Managing Partner at Nonprofit DNA. Tim has over 30 years of nonprofit and development experience, having served as Chief Development Officer at both Food for the Hungry and the Museum of the Bible. Tim shares his top leadership insights from over three decades of leading organizations and advising C-level leaders inside other nonprofits. Here’s just a small sampling of the leadership wisdom Tim shares in this episode:Becoming a leader may require you to step into uncomfortable spaces that are beyond what you’ve ever done before. That’s ok. That’s part of growing.At some point in your leadership career, you’ll probably think you’re not qualified for the job. This is fear talking. Just keep moving forward — this is what you’re made for. Great leaders seek out mentors and invest in mentoring others in their growth. The most important values that a leader can display come down to the “Two L’s”…listening and loyalty (and how you can truly display both).The importance of a leader “knowing himself” and the positive impact this has on organizational culture and team cohesion.To be a great leader you really have to love people and want to see them succeed more than you want to promote your own success. Tim’s insights on leadership and personal growth are pure gold, and you won’t want to miss them! You can download the full show notes here.

In this second installment of Leadership Field Notes, I was lucky enough to sit down with Tim Smith, Managing Partner at Nonprofit DNA. Tim has over 30 years of nonprofit and development experience, having served as Chief Development Officer at both Food for the Hungry and the Museum of the Bible. Tim shares his top leadership insights from over three decades of leading organizations and advising C-level leaders inside other nonprofits. Here's just a small sampling of the leadership wisdom Tim shares in this episode:Becoming a leader may require you to step into uncomfortable spaces that are beyond what you've ever done before. That's ok. That's part of growing.At some point in your leadership career, you'll probably think you're not qualified for the job. This is fear talking. Just keep moving forward -- this is what you're made for. Great leaders seek out mentors and invest in mentoring others in their growth. The most important values that a leader can display come down to the "Two L's"...listening and loyalty (and how you can truly display both).The importance of a leader "knowing himself" and the positive impact this has on organizational culture and team cohesion.To be a great leader you really have to love people and want to see them succeed more than you want to promote your own success. Tim's insights on leadership and personal growth are pure gold, and you won't want to miss them! You can download the full show notes here. 

Special Offer From Our Episode Sponsor, Velocity Strategy Solutions:

In this second installment of Leadership Field Notes, I was lucky enough to sit down with Tim Smith, Managing Partner at Nonprofit DNA. Tim has over 30 years of nonprofit and development experience, having served as Chief Development Officer at both Food for the Hungry and the Museum of the Bible. Tim shares his top leadership insights from over three decades of leading organizations and advising C-level leaders inside other nonprofits. Here's just a small sampling of the leadership wisdom Tim shares in this episode:Becoming a leader may require you to step into uncomfortable spaces that are beyond what you've ever done before. That's ok. That's part of growing.At some point in your leadership career, you'll probably think you're not qualified for the job. This is fear talking. Just keep moving forward -- this is what you're made for. Great leaders seek out mentors and invest in mentoring others in their growth. The most important values that a leader can display come down to the "Two L's"...listening and loyalty (and how you can truly display both).The importance of a leader "knowing himself" and the positive impact this has on organizational culture and team cohesion.To be a great leader you really have to love people and want to see them succeed more than you want to promote your own success. Tim's insights on leadership and personal growth are pure gold, and you won't want to miss them! You can download the full show notes here. 

Special Offer From Our Episode Sponsor, Velocity Strategy Solutions:

You're in for a real treat today!This episode is packed with leadership value for you. Doug Smith is Director of Development at Light of Life Rescue Mission, and Founder/President at L3 Leadership, and organization that exists to  build and develop a community of leaders.My conversation with Doug is the first in a series of in-depth leadership conversations we'll be having. Top 10 Leadership Insights from my conversation with Doug Smith1. Leadership is influence.2. Everyone is a leader and everyone has to grow to maximize leadership impact.3. Leadership is about people. If the people aren't better as a result of your presence, you're not leading well. 4. Leading is challenging. As John Maxwell says, "If you're a leader, there will never be two easy consecutive days in your live." 5. If you wouldn't follow yourself, why would you expect others to follow you? 6. The power of "just relaxing" in your leadership.7. Telling people what you think they want to hear isn't leadership. You have to care enough to be candid, even when the feedback might hurt a little. 8. In leadership, character trumps skill all day long.9. The most influential leaders love people, but they don't depend on being loved by people. 10. If you're going to grow as a leader, you're going to have to take risks. You'll fail sometimes, but that's ok. That's part of the process.There's so much more in this episode than what I've outlined here. I guarantee you'll get a ton of value out of this conversation today!You can download the full show notes here. FREE RESOURCE: In our conversation, Doug mentions that his team at Light of Life uses a resource called The Information Wheel from The Wellock Group. You can get more information about this tool by contacting Rick Wellock ([email protected]) or Amy Staggs ([email protected]) . Special Offer from Velocity Strategy Solutions:

What does it take to lead effectively through crisis?That's the question that I initially posed to  Dennis Van Kampen, President/CEO of Mel Trotter Ministries. This conversation is timely and valuable because Mel Trotter Ministries provides the community social safety net in Grand Rapids, Michigan for men, women, and children experiencing homelessness throughout the community.The team at Mel Trotter Ministries is literally on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis in Grand Rapids, and Dennis is responsible for leading, inspiring, and caring for the Mel Trotter staff who run their programs every day. In this conversation we talked about Dennis' personal philosophy and view of leadership, as well as what it takes to lead teams through a crisis situation. Dennis shares his insights and perspective with us, based on 25+ years of leadership experience, on topics including:How to continue leading, day-to-day, during times of crisis. In times of crisis, how can you as a leader balance the need to accomplish your organization's mission, with the reality that you must also care for your team and those who work throughout your organization.What it takes to care for and motivate your team to continue showing up and doing great work during a crisis situation. As a nonprofit leader, how can you lead and influence others in the community (i.e., other organizations, city and county leaders, etc.), without having any statutory authority. How you as a leader can recharge physically, mentally, and emotionally while leading through a crisis. What's the organizational leader's role in communicating with and engaging the broader community of volunteers, advocates, donors, and the general public during a crisis situation.  The insights Dennis shares are valuable for leaders everywhere, whether you're facing a crisis like we all are today, or not. DOWNLOAD the full show notes hereSpecial Offer from Velocity Strategy Solutions:

Yesterday I sat down with Seth Perlman, Senior Partner at Perlman & Perlman LLP. Seth is one of the nation’s leading experts on nonprofit and philanthropic law, is an active leader in the philanthropic community, and a great partner to many nonprofit organizations and companies that serve the nonprofit sector.In our conversation, Seth shared his analysis of CARES Act and how it impacts nonprofit organizations. As a bonus, Seth shared some emerging industry trends and insights that he’s seeing across the sector. It’s an incredibly valuable conversation that you don’t want to miss.Seth helped us answer questions like:What are the eligibility requirements for nonprofit organizations to access the benefits of the stimulus package? Can organizations of all sizes access these benefits, or is this only for very small organizations?Are all nonprofits eligible – for example, can faith-based organizations access these benefits?Following up on that, I know a lot of faith-based organizations will be concerned about “strings attached” to this money. What can you tell us about those concerns, and whether there would actually be any government strings?What about advocacy and membership organizations – are they eligible to access the stimulus package benefits?What kinds of things can the loan funding be used for by nonprofits? Are there any limitations or restrictions?Can you talk about the loan forgiveness aspect of this stimulus package? Are there specific things that a nonprofit must do or must not do in order for these loans to eventually be forgiven?Are there any risks to nonprofits in accepting this stimulus help from the federal government?Can you talk with us about the Charitable Giving Incentive that’s baked into this plan? What’s included in that aspect of the stimulus. Do you see this as something that might be a one-and-done to impact charitable giving just in 2020, or is this something you think could get extended over the longer-term?Is there anything else about this stimulus package that you think nonprofit organizations should be aware of and/or concerned about?About Seth PerlmanSeth Perlman has been providing legal counsel to the philanthropic sector for more than thirty years. He works with large public charities, private foundations, fundraising professionals, for-profit businesses engaged in philanthropy, international NGOs and social enterprises.Seth assists clients to optimize their ability to achieve mission by advising on matters relating to organizational structure, governance, regulatory compliance and nonprofit commercial activities. He advises social entrepreneurs seeking to provide social benefit through non-traditional for profit organizational structures.Seth has litigated in several state and federal jurisdictions on issues relevant to the philanthropic com