Rainmaker Fundraising Podcast

John Kozyra is Chief Philanthropy Officer at St. Mary Medical Center, which is a member of the Providence Health System. Prior to his role at St. Mary Medical Center, John held senior-level roles at CCS Fundraising, Changing Our World, and St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance. John has led and managed capital campaigns for Catholic education, healthcare, and other causes that have raised more than $110 Million over the last decade.In our conversation with John, we tackle two issues. First, John shares with us about his career progression, and specifically discusses what the biggest challenges and learnings have been for him in transitioning between leading fundraising in two nonprofits and serving nonprofits as a consultant.We also discuss how to avoid the biggest capital campaign mistakes nonprofits make, from John’s chapter in 101 Biggest Mistakes Nonprofits Make and How You Can Avoid Them. In this portion of the conversation, John shares with us about these key mistakes and challenges:Lack of preparation for a campaignThe role of volunteer leaders in a campaignPreparing for the high level of activity necessary to sustain a campaignNot using a campaign to expand your relationships with high net worth members of your communityDownload the full transcript here

In our newest episode of The Rainmaker Fundraising Podcast we sit down with Adam Morgan, Senior Director of Development at Phi Kappa Psi Foundation. Adam is also a chapter author to Giving USA's 2017-2018 report, and a contributing author to the 2019 best seller, 101 Biggest Mistakes Nonprofits Make and How You Can Avoid Them. In our conversation with Adam we discuss some of the biggest leadership mistakes made in the nonprofit sector, why those are dangerous, and how we can navigate leadership challenges more effectively. You don't want to miss this discussion and the opportunity to learn from Adam's experience and guidance to help you become a better leader. Download the full transcript here: Adam Morgan Transcript

In our newest episode of The Rainmaker Fundraising Podcast we sit down with Adam Morgan, Senior Director of Development at Phi Kappa Psi Foundation. Adam is also a chapter author to Giving USA's 2017-2018 report, and a contributing author to the 2019 best seller, 101 Biggest Mistakes Nonprofits Make and How You Can Avoid Them. In our conversation with Adam we discuss some of the biggest leadership mistakes made in the nonprofit sector, why those are dangerous, and how we can navigate leadership challenges more effectively. You don't want to miss this discussion and the opportunity to learn from Adam's experience and guidance to help you become a better leader. Download the full transcript here: Adam Morgan Transcript

Jessi Marsh is Senior Director at Changing Our World, a leading global philanthropic consulting firm and member of the ONE HUNDRED consortium. She also happens to be a great friend, and all around smart marketer and fundraiser. I was lucky enough to get some time on her calendar recently (between her frequent trips to New York and Boston where she's consulting on various capital campaigns) to talk with her about communications and public relations, and how those disciplines can impact a nonprofit's fundraising results. The best part of this conversation is that Jessi comes at this from the perspective of someone who has done the work inside a nonprofit. Prior to joining Changing Our World she led the communications and development departments at Light of Life Rescue Mission, where she successfully put into practice everything she talks with us about on this episode.

Jessi Marsh is Senior Director at Changing Our World, a leading global philanthropic consulting firm and member of the ONE HUNDRED consortium. She also happens to be a great friend, and all around smart marketer and fundraiser. I was lucky enough to get some time on her calendar recently (between her frequent trips to New York and Boston where she's consulting on various capital campaigns) to talk with her about communications and public relations, and how those disciplines can impact a nonprofit's fundraising results. The best part of this conversation is that Jessi comes at this from the perspective of someone who has done the work inside a nonprofit. Prior to joining Changing Our World she led the communications and development departments at Light of Life Rescue Mission, where she successfully put into practice everything she talks with us about on this episode.

We recently sat down with Lisa Wolf, Vice President of Consulting with Westfall Gold, and a contributor/editor at Giving USA. We love talking with Lisa and other members of the team at Westfall Gold, because they really know their stuff. In fact, they recently crossed a major milestone, having now raised more than $1 Billion charitable dollars for their clients!Lisa was gracious enough to talk with us about what she and her colleagues are seeing in the market today, and what we need to be thinking about, particularly related to engaging high net worth givers.Here are some of the key points we gleaned from our conversation with Lisa:General donor giving is lower year-over-year (again), and retention is also down year-over-year. In fact, all the key performance indicators are down compared to last year.Major donor giving is fairly strong in 2019, lifting what would otherwise be a weaker year of philanthropic giving. We also see that more money is going into Donor Advised Funds, so complex asset-based gifts are now more likely than ever before.90% of all charitable giving in the US happens in cash. This is the inverse of how most Americans hold their wealth, especially as net worth increases. This means fundraisers are focusing on an ever-shrinking pool of resources because they are largely not engaging high net worth donors in conversations about how they can give from their assets instead of from their checkbooks.Westfall Gold's research shows that "expert" donors (those who are well educated on the process, etc.) give 3X the level of novice donors. Unfortunately, we also find that fundraisers are reluctant to bring other experts (like financial advisors) into conversations with donors to help educate them about their giving options. Westfall's research indicates this is largely because fundraisers are afraid that doing so will open their donors to other giving options and take money away from them/their organization. When we think about High Net Worth donors, we need to shift our thinking around engaging them. They are not "donating" to your organization. They are investing in the cause. This means they're looking for a return on that investment. And your ability to deliver that return, and to tell a compelling story around your impact will dictate how successful you'll be with high net worth donors.

We recently sat down with Lisa Wolf, Vice President of Consulting with Westfall Gold, and a contributor/editor at Giving USA. We love talking with Lisa and other members of the team at Westfall Gold, because they really know their stuff. In fact, they recently crossed a major milestone, having now raised more than $1 Billion charitable dollars for their clients!Lisa was gracious enough to talk with us about what she and her colleagues are seeing in the market today, and what we need to be thinking about, particularly related to engaging high net worth givers.Here are some of the key points we gleaned from our conversation with Lisa:General donor giving is lower year-over-year (again), and retention is also down year-over-year. In fact, all the key performance indicators are down compared to last year.Major donor giving is fairly strong in 2019, lifting what would otherwise be a weaker year of philanthropic giving. We also see that more money is going into Donor Advised Funds, so complex asset-based gifts are now more likely than ever before.90% of all charitable giving in the US happens in cash. This is the inverse of how most Americans hold their wealth, especially as net worth increases. This means fundraisers are focusing on an ever-shrinking pool of resources because they are largely not engaging high net worth donors in conversations about how they can give from their assets instead of from their checkbooks.Westfall Gold's research shows that "expert" donors (those who are well educated on the process, etc.) give 3X the level of novice donors. Unfortunately, we also find that fundraisers are reluctant to bring other experts (like financial advisors) into conversations with donors to help educate them about their giving options. Westfall's research indicates this is largely because fundraisers are afraid that doing so will open their donors to other giving options and take money away from them/their organization. When we think about High Net Worth donors, we need to shift our thinking around engaging them. They are not "donating" to your organization. They are investing in the cause. This means they're looking for a return on that investment. And your ability to deliver that return, and to tell a compelling story around your impact will dictate how successful you'll be with high net worth donors.

We recently sat down with our good friend Betsy Taylor, President of Accordant Philanthropy and author of Healthcare Philanthropy: Advance Charitable Giving to Your Organization's Mission, for a conversation about leading for philanthropic impact. It was a fascinating discussion about how C-level executives influence philanthropy throughout organizations, and how we as fundraisers can best engage those executives to advance our critical missions. Here are just a few of Betsy's key insights:Successful philanthropy is about much more than having a great development staff. It demands buy-in and active support from the Chief Executive, governing board, and key program leaders to be highly effective.If your chief executive doesn't believe in what you do, good luck to you. It's very hard to push that rock uphill.Any donor who is going to give you a significant gift wants to look the chief executive in the eyes. They want a relationship with you, the chief executive. They want to hear your vision, and know that you're trustworthy.At the highest levels of giving, donors aren't just investing in organizational mission. They're also investing in the vision of the chief executive -- donors need to know that person has the right vision, the right ambition, and the energy to lead and execute against it. If the chief executive is uncomfortable asking for money, that's ok. For the most part (unless you're a one-person organization), the CEO never has to utter the words, "will you consider a gift of $X today." Instead, talk about what you believe in. What you care about. Talk about how you see your organization fulfilling your mission. You have other key leaders and team members who can bring home the actual ask.Download the show notes here

We recently sat down with our good friend Betsy Taylor, President of Accordant Philanthropy and author of Healthcare Philanthropy: Advance Charitable Giving to Your Organization's Mission, for a conversation about leading for philanthropic impact. It was a fascinating discussion about how C-level executives influence philanthropy throughout organizations, and how we as fundraisers can best engage those executives to advance our critical missions. Here are just a few of Betsy's key insights:Successful philanthropy is about much more than having a great development staff. It demands buy-in and active support from the Chief Executive, governing board, and key program leaders to be highly effective.If your chief executive doesn't believe in what you do, good luck to you. It's very hard to push that rock uphill.Any donor who is going to give you a significant gift wants to look the chief executive in the eyes. They want a relationship with you, the chief executive. They want to hear your vision, and know that you're trustworthy.At the highest levels of giving, donors aren't just investing in organizational mission. They're also investing in the vision of the chief executive -- donors need to know that person has the right vision, the right ambition, and the energy to lead and execute against it. If the chief executive is uncomfortable asking for money, that's ok. For the most part (unless you're a one-person organization), the CEO never has to utter the words, "will you consider a gift of $X today." Instead, talk about what you believe in. What you care about. Talk about how you see your organization fulfilling your mission. You have other key leaders and team members who can bring home the actual ask.Download the show notes here

In our most recent podcast episode, Roy and I got to interview our good friend and leadership mentor, Stacey Girdner. Stacey is the Founder and Managing Partner of The PRAXIS Group, a firm that helps organizations become more effective through leadership development and coaching. We worked closely with Stacey when she was Chief People Officer at Russ Reid (where Roy and I both worked previously). And most recently, Stacey also authored what I think is one of the most impactful (if not the most impactful) chapters in my recent #1 Best Seller, 101 Biggest Mistakes Nonprofits Make And How You Can Avoid Them. You can download Stacey's chapter for FREE here. In our conversation we talked with Stacey about some of the biggest mistakes leaders make. Here are some key insights from that conversation:Mistake #1: Lacking self-knowledge - If we aren't self aware enough to recognize our own idiosyncracies and how they impact those around us, we stand to do real damage to the people we're entrusted to lead. And to our organizations. Mistake #2: Abdicating our power to influence our direct reports - As much as we might want our teams and our people to show up on day 1 as the perfect employee, knowing exactly what is needed and how to do it, that never happens. If we aren't mindful of how our approach, and how the things we do/don't do to support our people influence their success, we miss key opportunities to help them grow. Consistently abdicating this power (and responsibility) likely leads to disengaged employees, missed expectations, and eventually turnover. A key resource Stacey recommends to help leaders in this area is Marshall Goldsmith's book, What Got You Here Won't Get You There. Mistake #3: Thinking it's noble to burn the candle at both ends - Often leaders think they have to be the first one in the office, the last to leave, and the person who out-works everyone else. Stacey breaks down why this is a terrible way to think, and how it negatively impacts our work, our health, and our relationships at home.