The Classy Podcast

With nearly 500 recurring donors and a median recurring gift size of $79, the Miracle Foundation is a standout leader when it comes to monthly giving. In this episode, project manager Anna Marr and systems manager Kat Jones walk us through their main acquisition and retention strategies, the platforms they leverage, and their communications tactics that keep monthly donors in the fold.  

Feed My Starving Children considers their volunteer activities as their greatest donor acquisition model. In 2005, when Andy Carr Feed My Starving Children as VP of Development and Marketing, the organization was packaging around 18 million meals every year for their community. Since then, he’s helped the organization scale their impact to package 365 million meals every year. Learn how he engages new volunteers, retains them from event to event, and converts them into donors.

Tracee Henneke had over 12 years of nonprofit experience when she came on as annual giving manager at Mobile Loaves & Fishes. She shares insights on how to grow a recurring giving program, including tips on how to convert volunteers into monthly donors, test and track the success of appeals, and provide every possible option to give routinely.

Michael Prodor, Classy's technical engagement manager, shares the unique insights he’s gained from helping nonprofits implement fundraising software and solve business problems with technology. Learn how technology helps nonprofits grow and scale, the mistakes you might be making with your current tech stack, why you need to lean into conversations with technical-minded people to solve business problems, and more.

Joe Kraynak shares how an organization that’s over 90 years old is holding its own in the online fundraising space. Tune in as he shares how to use technology in order to streamline business and the back-end, how he relates consolidated donor data to social media platforms, how Shriners Hospitals for Children are evolving their fundraising model and growing their network with peer-to-peer fundraising, and more.

Christina Alford had over a decade of nonprofit experience when she came on as senior VP of development at Susan G. Komen. She shares a few of the lessons she’s learned along her journey, including why diversified revenue is key to successfully forecast and innovate, how to prioritize tasks in a resource-constrained environment, anecdotes about a major rebranding initiative, and more.

In this episode, we sit down with the senior vice president of development services at PBS Betsy Gerdeman to learn from her 20 years in public television. Hear her expert insights on managing a large network of affiliates, adapting to an ever-changing sector, and balancing suppor for hundreds of chapters that each have their unique challenges. You’ll see why Betsy believes a core message doesn’t change, only the way it’s articulated.