The ENGAGE Podcast

What is leadership? Knowing that management is directive and leadership is connective is a great place to start, but social good leaders often struggle with understanding and balancing these two.

To explore what leadership really means in a connected organization, Marc Pitman joins host Steve MacLaughlin on the podcast today to talk about the role of the social good CEO or executive director in fundraising, how to connect and balance internal and external leadership, and why continuous improvement is such a powerful way for organizations to focus.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• What fundraising leadership is really about
• Balancing external and internal leadership 
• Why nonprofits bring in COOs
• The different perspectives of founders vs leaders who were passed the torch
• The importance of continuous improvement 
• The key qualities leaders need to develop to be effective
• How to help your staff develop
• The importance of finding support from peers or coaches

Resources:

Marc Pitman

Blackbaud Institute: The Connected Office eBook

The Wake Up Call leadership research

Marc's framework for growing in confidence as a leader

The Executive Coach Project Report by Compass Point

Quotes: 

“Part of what leaders need to do is cast a vision of something that’s greater than… some better world, some better experience for whatever the mission is that they’re trying to solve.”

“Doing that really well, caring for that cause, doesn’t provide the revenue.”

“I have a growing appreciation for events – if they’re not solely for fundraising.”

As a charitable organization, how can you leverage the popularity of live streaming to fundraise? How do you find a live streamer to pair up with? And how can you build and have a successful relationship with live streamers? 

Today’s episode features Alyssa Sweetman, the Charity Program Manager at Twitch. Tune in to hear her talk to Roz Lemieux, director of Blackbaud Labs, about how nonprofits and other social good organizations can work with live streamers, also known as content creators, to raise money on live streaming platforms.

Topics Discussed in this Episode:

• What is Twitch?
• Who is a content creator?
• How to get started with partnering with a live streamer, or content creator
• The kind of support or assets organizations should plan to provide content creators to build relationships and aid them in fundraising
•  What makes for a good impact statement?
• How live streamers make nonprofit content engaging for viewers
• The most interesting fundraising live stream event Ally has seen
• The different ways content creators raise money on Twitch

Resources:

Twitch

Alyssa Sweetman

Article: How to Harness the Fundraising Power of Twitch

Questions for Alyssa? Email her at Alyssa: [email protected]

Quotes:

“If you build these relationships up, they can grow every year.”

“When we think about money, we don’t often think of instantaneously give it away. So it’s often about making an emotional connection.”

“People like to feel like they have a bit of control, power, and that they can contribute.”

Hill Days, also known as “fly-ins,” are an important part of social good organizations’ advocacy strategies in the U.S., bringing their supporters together to speak with their members of Congress to advocate for priority issues and legislation. Preparation is key for these fly-in days to be successful. So, what’s the best way to prepare for a meeting with a member of congress? How can people working in the social good community make sure that elected officials prioritize their concerns? That’s what today’s guest is here to talk about. 

Sandra Swirski, co-founder of the D.C. based advocacy firm Urban Swirski & Associates, has helped many charitable organizations and nonprofits run awareness campaigns, build coalitions and advocate their priorities to members of Congress. Tune in to hear Sandra talk with Sally Ehrenfried, Blackbaud’s principal government relations leader, about what makes a meeting with a legislator successful, how to prepare to walk into a meeting, and how to follow up after a meeting. 

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• What makes a meeting successful from an elected official’s perspective
• What makes a meeting successful from the social sector’s perspective
• Scheduling meetings with legislators
• How to prepare your organization and advocates for Hill meetings
• Deciding on your key messages
• What to say to fly-in participants who are disappointed to meet with congressional staff than with their representatives or senators
• Resources for training and developing talking points
• How to research before talking to elected officials
• Following-up after meetings to continue the conversations

Resources:

Sandra Swirski

Quotes: 

“What I do in Washington, generally, is I translate what is happening in Washington to the donor community and then I help donors translate what they do and their concerns to Congress.”

“I also find that the more gracious and firmer you are, the more likely you are to get what you want.” 

“Always start with timely, because that is very important to the member. That they will naturally be able to act on.”

This year, #GivingTuesday falls on December 3. While this feels far away now, it will be here sooner than you think, and it’s time to start preparing! Whether you work at a small nonprofit, a community hospital, a large museum, or anything in between, #GivingTuesday can help your organization attract new donors, re-engage old ones, or even just set the stage for year-end giving campaigns.

In today’s episode, Tanya Fitzgerald, senior marketing manager at Blackbaud, joins host Steve MacLaughlin to talk about how organizations can prepare for a successful #GivingTuesday and year-end giving season. Listen in to hear some #GivingTuesday success stories and to learn some key steps for preparing a campaign, how to develop messaging that resonates, and the key elements to include in a stewardship plan.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• What #GivingTuesday is and why it’s important to social good organizations
• How to prepare for #GivingTuesday and the end-of year-giving season
• Making sure that the entire organization understands the importance of end-of-year
• Messaging around #GivingTuesday and end-of-year giving to help you stand out
• Stewardship plans for different types of donors
• Thinking beyond just fundraising - creative ways to leverage the day to create awareness and thank volunteers and donors
• Stories of innovative success stories from organizations

Resources:

Tanya Fitzgerald

#GivingTuesday Toolkit

#GivingTuesday Best Practices Article Series

Quotes: 

“This to me is a global day of kindness, a way that you can connect with others, share your heart, and you can do it many different ways.” –Tanya Fitzgerald

“Your volunteers are your donors. They give more than just your donors.” –Tanya Fitzgerald

“You should really have a #GivingTuesday stewardship plan.” –Tanya Fitzgerald

New privacy regulations, data breaches and consumer attitudes about data privacy are constantly in the headlines. But it’s not just corporations that have to worry about data privacy - data privacy regulations are a serious topic for social good organizations as well.

Cameron Stoll, Principal Legal Counsel at Blackbaud, joins host Steve MacLaughlin to explore the topic of data privacy regulations in depth. Listen in to learn about the changing expectations of consumers and donors, the importance of transparency in data privacy policies, and how the GDPR is influencing data privacy regulations globally.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• The effect that Cambridge Analytica had on the privacy regulation discourse
• The penalties associated with data breaches
• The new normal when it comes to privacy regulations
• The changing expectations of consumers and donors
• Transparency around data usage
• Consent issues with data
• The differences between implicit consent and affirmative consent
• Creating privacy policies that live up to stakeholder expectations, above and beyond legal requirements
• Planning for new privacy regulations

Resources:

Cameron Stoll

Privacy Toolkit: An Introductory Guide to Safeguarding Your Constituent Data

Article: Two Crucial Themes from the GDPR Featuring in US-Privacy Legislation 

Quotes: 

“I think this one’s going to stick. July 2019 was the biggest month for privacy enforcement in history.” –Cameron Stoll

“Cambridge Analytica really changed the landscape of privacy and the concept of privacy in the everyday user.” –Cameron Stoll

“It really is a top-down effort, because privacy controls affect so many different aspects of an organization’s behavior.” –Cameron Stoll

An organization’s finance team is often one of the biggest overlooked strategic assets. However, in a connected office the finance team is a crucial part of driving success for an organization’s mission.

Joining the podcast today to explore this topic is Russell Pomeranz, President and CEO of Claverack Advisory Group. Listen in to hear Russell and host Steve MacLaughlin talk about the crucial role of finance in mission success, how and why the finance team should build relationships with other departments, and the importance of investing for the long term.  

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• The importance of financial leadership in mission success
• Why organization leadership can’t operate in a vacuum
• How to build relationships from the finance team outward
• Understanding the mix of different funding sources
• How finance can partner with other departments to make critical investments

• Thinking about the budget in non-traditional ways

• Investing for the long-term 

Resources:

Russell Pomeranz

eBook: The Connected Office: Your Guide to Creating a Cohesive Constituent Experience

Article: Three Roles of the Nonprofit CFO that Lead to Mission Success

Quotes: 

“Basically, mission success, fundraising success, marketing success, programmatic success, can’t happen without financial function leadership, and financial function leadership can’t happen without understanding the mission.” –Russell Pomeranz

“The drive and the alignment of finance and fundraising, and finance and programming, and finance and everything else is so important to get the organization to where it wants to go.” –Russell Pomeranz

“The notion of investing long-term is limited because finance committees and boards are so focused on the short-term they’ve stopped thinking strategically on the long-term.” –Russel Pomeranz

What’s the last thing you failed at? What did you learn from it? How you think about failure in the context of learning can make a big difference in future performance – both personally and as an organization.

Today’s guest is Kate Robinson, executive director of the film Failing Forward: On the Road to Social Impact. Kate talked to host Steve MacLaughlin about how nonprofits and social good organizations can use failure to make a bigger impact. Listen to the episode to hear what Kate Robinson has to say about learning culture, the questions that organizations should be asking to improve programs, and what role funders play in the process of failure and learning.

Topics Discussed in This Episode: 

• The purpose of Kate’s documentary, Failing Forward: On the Road to Social Impact
• The characteristics of a learning culture
• The pressure on nonprofits to appear effective
• Using data as a tool to learn and drive decision making
• Questions that organizations should ask to learn and improve programs
• Overcoming resistance within organizations to “failing fast”
• The dangers of not having a learning culture open to failure
• The role of funders in adjusting perspectives to make learning from failure a bigger part of the equation
• Building trust between funders and grantees to allow for more transparency 

Resources:

Kate Robinson

Failing Forward

Quotes: 

“I really set out to find an organization that I could use to kind of illustrate learning culture.” –Kate Robinson

“A learning culture puts learning as a very key priority for the organization.” –Kate Robinson

“To funders, I would say even if you think you’re being very extensive in your offer to hear what’s not working or hear the learning, I would say go even a step further” –Kate Robinson

Peer-to-peer fundraising continues to be an increasingly important part of the fundraising strategy for nonprofits and other social good organizations. But how do you know if your organization is successfully leveraging this fundraising channel? And what trends should you consider incorporating into your programs?   

On this episode, the authors of the just-released 2019 Blackbaud Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Study – Katie Walters, Tanya Turschic, Shana Masterson, Robyn Mendez, and Jennifer Cobb – join the podcast to answer these questions and more. Listen in to hear about different types of peer-to-peer fundraising programs, what motivates participants, the influence of Facebook on giving behavior, and why email is still an indicator of engagement.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• How organizations can use the study to improve their peer-to-peer fundraising programs
• Important benchmarks from 281 organizations across the U.S. and Canada
• Types of P2P fundraising programs
• The rise of crowdfunding and DIY fundraising
• What motivates P2P fundraisers the most
• The impact of registration fees on fundraising behavior
• Email as an indicator of engagement
• How to benchmark your organization against the study findings

Resources:

2019 Blackbaud Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Study

Blackbaud Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Resource Hub

Quotes: 

“The most popular programs that we see are DIY fundraising programs and crowdfunding programs.” –Robyn Mendez

“Fundraising performance benchmarks by participants and by fundraisers, they help you measure your event potential.” – Tanya Turshic

“Every organization who has ever had a peer-to-peer fundraiser, ever, has the same exact goal. They want to attract more participants, they want to have more participants fundraising, and they want to have more participants fundraising more.” – Shana Masterson

This episode was originally published on April 5, 2018 as part of Blackbaud’s previous Raise & Engage Podcast.

In recent years we’ve seen the power of movements. Movements can create trends, bring people together in support of a common cause, and drive meaningful and significant change. But how do they happen? What gets a movement started, and then what causes it to grow and accelerate?

Today’s guest, Henry Timms, talks with host Steve MacLaughlin about these questions and more. As a co-founder of #GivingTuesday during his time as president and CEO of the 92nd Street Y and co-author with Jeremy Heimans of New Power: How Power Works in Our Hyperconnected World--and How to Make It Work for You, Henry is more than familiar with the powers that drive movements. Listen to the episode to hear what Henry has to say about new power and how it is shaping and affecting modern movements for social good.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• The differences between old power and new power
• How movements like #GivingTuesday, the Ice Bucket Challenge, and #MeToo represent a fundamental change in the way that power is harnessed and used
• The importance of mobilization
• How new power is giving more people more agency to get involved in causes and make change
• Why people are more loyal to causes than to specific organizations and how that’s disrupting old models of power
• What Henry thinks movements will look like and how they’ll change over the next decade
• Which old power values are still important
• What can be learned from established movement-builders

Links and Resources:

Henry Timms

New Power: How Power Works in Our Hyperconnected World--and How to Make It Work for You

Article: New Power & Social Good: Thoughts from Jeremy Heimans

Quotes: 

“When you start to look at the world, you start to see these themes emerging, which is that the people who are coming out on top are the people who understand mobilization.”

“We’ve all realized now that the assumptions of the 20th century - that if truth was on your side you’d come out on top - we know that’s no longer true.”

“The key to a movement is that it’s only a movement if it moves without you.”

On The sgENGAGE Podcast, we’ve talked about the importance of engaging supporters in the mission and the work that social good organizations are doing. But what’s the best way to get supporters to move beyond engagement, to connection and even taking direct action? Have we been thinking about the data wrong all along? 

Today’s guest is Shana Masterson, a Principal Business Analyst at Blackbaud and peer-to-peer fundraising expert. Listen in to hear her talk with host Steve MacLaughlin about why it’s time to pay more attention to Gen X (and what will happen if you don’t), what the emerging trends are in peer-to-peer fundraising, and how new ways of fundraising are encouraging more donors to get involved.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• Why it’s important to pay attention to Generation X, and the risks that organizations take by not engaging them
• Factors to consider beyond generation when reaching out to potential donors
• Emerging trends and technology in peer-to-peer fundraising
• Different ways supporters are choosing to fundraise for charitable organizations
• How to engage with independent fundraisers
• How new ways of fundraising are encouraging more donors to give in novel ways
• The emerging importance of understanding analytics for engaging peer-to-peer fundraisers

Resources:

Shana Masterson

Article: Getting Serious About Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Data with Predictive Analytics

Webinar: The Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Revolution: DIY Fundraising and More

Quotes:

“Gen X, who has been remarkably ignored for a long period of time, is actually a group of Americans who are poised to become what we’re saying is the next big thing for philanthropy.”

“There are all sorts of behaviors that we really need to start looking at to form the picture of what are the clusters of the population that we need to look at and how can we segment them and market and communicate with them in a way that’s going to resonate most.” 

“Twitch, I think the last numbers that I saw, gamers have raised over 110 million dollars for charity. Doing what they love and watching what they love and are able to actually fundraise as a result of doing things like gaming marathons and challenges around their gaming.”