In this episode of 'The Difference', join host Jay Werth, and guest, Tom Ralser, Convergent Nonprofit Solutions' Principal and Director of Asking Rights.

Tom Ralser has a three-decade career in fundraising. He’s consulted with and added value to numerous nonprofit organizations, and pioneered applying return on investment principles to nonprofit fundraising.

In this episode, Tom will give an overview of "asking rights" and how it focuses on the value outcomes that nonprofit organizations deliver to donors or investors, a term Convergent stresses in its communications.

For more information to assist you with your fundraising efforts, visit convergentnonprofit.com.

Tune in to hear Jay Werth's latest conversation on 'The Difference' podcast with Convergent's Project Director, Andy Brubaker. Brubaker just finished an incredible two-week volunteer deployment with the American Red Cross in Georgia, where he supported disaster response and relief efforts. He describes what it was like to help Georgia’s communities affected by Hurricane Helene and witness the resilience and strength of those impacted. 

Mike Goorhouse, Founder of Inspiring Impact, explains how planned giving can be transformational for nonprofits.

Speaker Bio
Mike Goorhouse is Founder and Lead Consultant at Inspiring Impact, LLC, a firm dedicated to helping nonprofit and philanthropic organizations effectively inspire change in their community.

He has spent his entire career in philanthropy including working with Family Foundations, Community Foundations and Youth Grantmakers while at the Council of Michigan Foundations and serving as President/CEO for the Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area (CFHZ) for 10 years.

Mike’s most notable accomplishments during his time at CFHZ include successfully completing a $35 million unrestricted endowment campaign which included 100 new estate gift commitments and launching a multi-sector collaborative effort to significantly improve the affordability of local housing options. During his leadership, CFHZ tripled its assets from $40 million to $120 million, grew annual gifts from $5 million to $20 million and expanded its community impact strategies to include significant investments in strengthening the local nonprofit sector, impact investing and an equity focused grantmaking strategy.

Over the years Mike has been recognized for his commitment to philanthropy and the community. In 2011 he was named one of the top 30 Civic Leaders under the age of 30 in the nation by the National Conference on Citizenship. In 2017 he was named Young Executive of the Year as part of the MiBiz Best Managed Nonprofit Awards. Finally, he has been recognized as one of the Grand Rapids Business Journal's Forty Under 40 Business Leaders six times and three times has been named one of GRBJ’s top 200 most influential business leaders in West
Michigan.

Mike has served on numerous local, state, national and international nonprofit boards including: Association for a More Just Society, Bread for the World, Housing Next, Movement West Michigan, Grand Valley University Foundation and Kids Food Basket.

Mike has a degree in Secondary Education from Calvin University and a Masters’ degree in Public and Nonprofit Administration from Grand Valley State University.

In this episode of 'The Difference', Convergent's Jay Werth is joined by Gabe Cooper, Founder and CEO of Virtuous, a Responsive Nonprofit CRM & Marketing Platform. Cooper and Werth discuss the importance of listening and connecting to your donors, and how fundraising automation technology can give your organization valuable insight.

Guest Bio
Gabe Cooper is the Founder and CEO of Virtuous, a Responsive Nonprofit CRM & Marketing Platform helping nonprofits build lasting relationships with their donors. He is also the author of the top-selling books Responsive Fundraising and The Responsive Nonprofit: 8 Key Practices for Scaling Impact. After serving in a leadership role at a large nonprofit, Gabe went on to help build a series of successful software products in the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. His team's products have been featured in Wired, USA Today, NY Times, and Apple's WWDC. His drive stems from a passion to create market-defining software and help charities reimagine generosity.

Join Convergent Nonprofit Solutions' Jay Werth and Tom Ralser, as they discuss key takeaways from The Giving Institute's Giving USA: The Annual Report on Philanthropy in the latest episode of 'The Difference'.

Convergent Nonprofit Solutions offers fundraising services to nonprofits throughout the country that are looking to increase their funding and make a bigger impact. Let our team of expert consultants help your nonprofit today. Contact us to get started!

Larry Raff is President of Copley Raff Inc., a global consultancy to nonprofits in support of fundraising and management, and he's the Principal and creator of Abacus Major Donor Ask Calculator LLC. In his conversation with Convergent Principal Tom Ralser, Raff shares how to leverage objective donor giving, behavioral, and relationship data specific to your organization to determine pledge asks and goals. Raff and Ralser also discuss tried and true strategies and language for making asks and closing more gifts at higher amounts.

Guest Bio
Larry Raff, President of Copley Raff Inc., a global consultancy to nonprofits in support of fundraising and management, has a 40-year career in advancement. He is the Principal and creator of Abacus Major Donor Ask Calculator LLC and is of-counsel to Rising Tide Direct. Since 2011, he has authored the GivingTake blog with an international following. He co-created the Master Gift OfficerTM four-day immersion event and approach to training gift officers.

www.donorabacus.com

In this latest episode of "The Difference" podcast, Convergent's General Manager, Brian Abernathy discusses how a new analytical tool developed by Convergent for economic development organizations can help uncover revenue potential and effective fundraising strategies.

Convergent Nonprofit Solutions is pleased to announce the new EDO Revenue Benchmarking Analysis. This innovative tool is designed to provide actionable data and recommendations to economic development organizations seeking to understand their community's fundraising potential before they commission a feasibility study or embark on a high-gain, but high-risk capital campaign.  

Kate DiLeo is the Founder and CEO of Kate DiLeo Branding and its sister company The Brand Trifecta. She and Tom Ralser, Principal, Convergent Nonprofit Solutions, discuss how organizational value propositions help position nonprofit organizations for fundraising campaigns.

Kate DiLeo is a dynamic and seasoned speaker whose vibrant personality, robust expertise, and pragmatic approach shine from stage. She brings a fresh lens to the topic of branding by delivering practical yet powerful content that audiences can immediately apply to their personal and organizational brands. Visit her website for more information.

Deb Page, CPT, CPIF, HPLJ, co-founded The Institute for Performance Improvement in 2010 to provide training and certification for performance improvement facilitators. In her conversation with Convergent's Jay Werth, Page discusses best practices for facilitating performance improvement for nonprofit organizations. She shares how performance improvement includes more than traditional organizational development and gives strategic approaches for overcoming communication gaps and challenges.

Speaker Bio
As a senior executive for a Fortune 20 company, she led human capital management, quality management, and performance improvement. She led the start-up of the Georgia Leadership Institute for School Improvement. Her book The School Improvement Specialist Field Book (2013) was co-authored by Dr. Judith Hale and received ISPI Outstanding Communication Award.  She is a Certified Performance Technologist and earned the Brinkerhoff High Performance Learning Journey global certification in 2018.

The Institute for Performance Improvement is a training and performance consulting organization that applies the sciences of human performance improvement and adult learning to develop professionals and support organizations to reach their goals through collaborative performance improvement, innovation, and implementation. 

Howard Levy holds a 30-year track record of success in revitalizing organizational brands and creating effective campaigns that improve their visibility, increase engagement, and drive revenue. In this conversation with Convergent Principal Jay Werth, Levy discusses foundational concepts for using neuroscience for marketing and fundraising.  They discuss how understanding behavior economics can impact your nonprofit's fundraising campaigns.