Nonstop Nonprofit (Funraise)

Innovation. What does innovation mean? Where does it come from? Why is innovation important to your nonprofit's impact? Today, we're talking to Brooke Codney, American Heart Association's National Director of Development Innovation, about how AHA, a worldwide leader in the nonprofit sector, relies on creative zero-gravity thinking from its global team.

From finding her job through a pretty traditional (and now kind of outdated) method—a newspaper listing, to being a leading innovator at American Heart Association, Brooke has guided AHA's culture of innovation, culminating in an Innovation Center—a dedicated function within AHA that has led to transformational growth for the organization.

But she hasn't done it alone.

American Heart Association's secret is its staff. They've got a collaborative collection of fresh eyes within the organization and rather than being intimidated by all the different perspectives and ideas, American Heart Association is tapping into it, from the CEO on through their boots on the ground.

American Heart Association is almost 100 years old. And there's a reason why they're not just a leader in coming up with new fundraisers and cool ways to engage with donors, they've made an art of changing the way we view something as fundamental as health.

Listen in to my conversation with Brooke and you'll see why Funraise and American Heart Association make the perfect pair when it comes to cultivating a culture of innovation.

Here at Funraise, we've long known that if only nonprofits were able to harness the power of data, they’d have the world changed in no time at all. In fact, nonprofits that embrace data tools like Funraise’s Fundraising Intelligence raise 7x more online annually and grow recurring revenue 1.5x faster on average.

Companies like VeraData are taking those results and multiplying them with Donor Science insights that result in even more funds raised and impact created. Today’s guest, Michael Peterman, is the Founder and CEO of VeraData: The Donor Science Company, a nonprofit fundraising consultancy turning insights into impact.

Listen in to hear Michael break down complex concepts like Donor Science and Predictive Analytics, give us a peek into the future of data-based fundraising, and send us off with ways any nonprofit can get started delivering results with data science today.

And for more VeraData + Funraise collaboration, check out VeraData’s webinar featuring Funraise CEO Justin Wheeler: Breaking Free From Tradition: How to Modernize Nonprofit Growth takes the concepts introduced here and takes them to the next level.

With over 30 years working in nonprofits, Michael Mantel knows a thing or two about sustaining change over a long period of time. And as the President and CEO of Living Water International, an organization making waves in the WASH space, as well as the author of Thirsting for Living Water, Michael also knows when to shift the way change is made.

By using the concept of Appreciative Inquiry, Michael shifted from a problem-solving perspective to an opportunity-seeking outlook, articulating a shared vision between Living Water and the communities that most benefit from their impact.

Listen in to hear Justin and Michael discuss supporting changes in goals and strategy, esprit de corps, and December 23 miracles.

Today, we’re talking about a serious subject that has inspired a seriously enlightened discussion: Retention in the for-good sector. If you’ve been working in this sector for any length of time, you’re probably aware that keeping mission-oriented staff is harder than ever.

But why? If you’re a nonprofit leader seeing your staff burn out and move away from causes that they’re passionate about, what can you do? Today’s guest, Amber Christoferson, is here to help you answer that question. With a career path that’s taken her from United Way to the Fortune 500 and back to the for-good sector as VP of DickersonBakker’s Executive Search Group, Amber is leading the conversation around this crucial issue.

Starting with understanding your organization’s identity and needs, focusing on setting your staff up for success, and building a culture of retention, Amber leans on the DickersonBakker 2023 Nonprofit Leadership and Fundraising study that reveals significant disconnects between the folks working the for-good frontlines and their leadership.

Among all the questions is one sure thing: the best way to solve this problem is to bridge the communication gap, so join the conversation!

Listen up! Nonprofit leaders and social entrepreneurs—if you're feeling frustrated because traditional charitable "best practices" aren't moving the needle, if you feel like the odd one out because you're more focused on the people you're helping than your donors, and if your idea of impact skews more transformational than a boring board report, then today's conversation is for you.

Hang in there, friends; you're not alone. We're talking to Evan Feinberg, Executive Director at Stand Together Foundation, a group of disruptors that you maaaaay relate to.

Not sure I'm talking about you? Let me assure you: Stand Together is supporting game-changers just like you! Take The Phoenix, a physical fitness addiction recovery program. The Phoenix's community-based approach results in just 30-50% of the relapse rates that the best clinical programs in the U.S. see—and The Phoenix expects to grow to 1M members by 2026.

So put your great-ideas thinking cap on and listen in as Evan and I break down top-down approaches to impact, venture philanthropy, compensation philosophy, and scratch the surface of measurement methodology. This is a discussion that a disruptor like you can't miss.

Crypto isn't a new giving channel, it's a new class of donors

Today's forward-thinking nonprofit leaders are investing heavily in donation methods that normalize cryptocurrency giving. What's your take on crypto's new class of donors?

In this conversation with Ettore and Pat, you'll see that even established nonprofits like Save the Children, the world's first global charity for children, can stay ahead of the game and meet donors where they want to donate. 

• Discover the questions that crypto answers (Jeopardy-style!)
• Explore what the future holds for post-pandemic fundraising
• Ensure your nonprofit appeals to both your grandchildren and your grandparents

Pop quiz, listeners: How much greater is the risk of suicide that our veterans and service members face versus their peers who haven't served?

Before we answer that, let us introduce you to the Nonstop Nonprofit podcast guests today: Nick Black and Tina Starkey. Nick is the founder and CEO of social fundraising solution GoodUnited and he also founded powerhouse nonprofit Stop Soldier Suicide. Tina, Stop Soldier Suicide's Chief Growth Officer, brings a wealth of experience in the social realm, coming from the American Cancer Society as their Sr. Director of Social Marketing.

By uniting their abilities and planting a flag in the sand, in 2020, Stop Soldier Suicide raised $4M and gained 100k new donors through Facebook fundraising alone, allowing them to shrink the gap that stretches between soldiers at risk for suicide and our national population. It's a big, bold goal: Service members and veterans have a 50% higher rate of suicide than the national average here in the U.S.

One of our biggest takeaways from this conversation is how Stop Soldier Suicide's big, bold goal completely flipped their perspective. Like any other nonprofit, the founders saw a need and wanted to help—but when Nick started thinking concretely and looked at their capacity for impact, he realized that deeper donor relationships weren't just mission-critical, they were the key to being Mission Accomplished.

During this conversation, Nick and Tina are the embodiment of expert-yet-excited nonprofiteers innovating on the fly, applying expansive strategies targeted to very specific donor segments, and infusing their work with an urgency that blows past the reservations that often hold donors back, offering them a chance to invest in the lives of those who have invested everything in our liberty.

Funraise CEO Justin Wheeler and Southland Strategies President Erin Chidsey sit down to discuss how you can implement strategies that'll have your board leading the charge toward your vision. These aren't secrets; they're things you want to do but don't know how.

Learn achievable methods for engaging your board as a whole and individually, directing your board's energy, and holding them accountable for progress toward your mission. These are the goals you've always had, just tackled with an all-new outlook. By the time you're done, even board members threatening to leave your organization will be begging you to let them stay.

Hi, there Nonstop Nonprofit listeners! Today’s interview offers insight into an unlikely pairing of nonprofit passion and for-profit practice.

It’s a method of leading and growing nonprofits that’s largely unused in the nonprofit sector: EOS. Amy Acton, CEO at Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors, implemented this aggressive growth system to expand PBS’ community and visibility to more than one million burn survivors, and it’s been a game-changer for them.

EOS, or Entrepreneurial Operating System, is more often used by for-profit startups because of its dynamic strategy, but when combined with the passion and dedication that nonprofit people possess, it has the potential to propel exponential growth.

Over her decades with PBS, Amy has been a part of an unstoppable team with a mission to unite the voices of the global burn community—and they make it happen through some of the most innovative swing-for-the-fences concepts and experimentation that we’ve ever seen.

If you’re looking for an explosive episode to break your nonprofit from its self-imposed bonds, this is a must-listen. And lucky you, you’ll have the whole summer to work on your exciting plans because Nonstop Nonprofit is on hiatus until September! Thank you, listener, for your continued support—we can’t wait to bring you new and exciting leaders in Season 4 of the Nonstop Nonprofit podcast.

Nonprofits have to answer so many questions these days: What’s the best way to invest in my nonprofit’s impact? How do I lead my team through today’s societal changes? How do I increase donor retention rates and hit fundraising goals and avoid burnout and stay on mission and still make a grocery run before dinnertime?

We’ve got a guest here who’s going to help us answer a few of these and hopefully change the way we approach relationships for the benefit of the whole changemaking sector. Andrew Olsen is Senior VP of Fundraising Solutions at Dickerson Bakker and a close friend of Funraise… and he’s going to blow your mind, listeners.

As a nonprofit consultant himself, David can relate to a lot of what Andrew is sharing, and in fact has explored that intersection of leadership, nonprofits, changemaking, and culture on his podcast.

But this conversation was different. Andrew dropped a bomb on us right at the end—a mindset shift that just turned everything upside down. We encourage you to listen as Andrew intentionally leads us down a path of long-term donor-organization relationship evolution and then changes the game with one sentence. When you’re done, listen again with that one key takeaway and prepare to unlock answers like never before.

As Nuka Solomon says, "Growth is an interesting word." She's right; depending on who's asking us—our board of directors, partners, or, heck, even a podcast host—we hold that concept of growth to the light and turn it to answer with the most beautiful kaleidoscope possible.

Nuka is a pro when it comes to nonprofit growth: as the CEO of Free Wheelchair Mission, she's taken the organization through the pandemic with flying colors, supporting expansion in finances, reach, and engagement. But she hasn't done it alone; Free Wheelchair Mission's team, from the board to boots on the ground, has a stake in achieving their ever-evolving mission.

Listen in as Nuka and Justin uncover how recent trends toward transparency, donor access and engagement, longevity of content, and deeper relationships have led to a paradigm shift in the way nonprofits define things like impact, growth, and investment.

If you're wondering how to get started with digital fundraisers, virtual events, peer-to-peer strategies, and social fundraising, listen to this episode's Q&A and consider how technology can be a natural next step.

Funraise firmly believes the future of charitable giving will spring from the way we uplift one another, which is why the nonprofit world's quick and collaborative response to the trying times we're dealing with is nothing short of inspiring.

If you need further assurance that You Can Do This, or if we haven't yet answered your question, email us at hello@funraise.org. There is a real person watching that inbox like a hawk, so you will receive a response.

Justin Wheeler, Funraise CEO and Co-founder, sits down with Cara Schwalbach of One Tail at a Time, a Chicago nonprofit that makes pet adoption a joyful and accessible experience, to talk about the success of their recurring program, their COVID-19 response, and making it A Thing. 

Tune in as Justin and Cara think through questions like...

• How can we ensure our donors know that we notice each and every one of them? (Because we do!)
• How can we upgrade first-time donors into recurring members?
• What kind of exclusive perks can we offer as we can only socialize distantly?
• How can technology make it possible to scale or jumpstart a recurring program? (Because I'm a department of one!)

You can make sure that your recurring program is strong enough to sustain your nonprofit through any economic crisis—it's all about nonprofit-specific technology, long-term planning, and the empathy that nonprofits are known for. (And animals, if you have them.)‍

It’s a safe bet that when nonprofiteers talk about their work, the word “passion” will come up pretty quickly. But does passion alone drive impact? Julie Ordoñez says character matters more than passion when it comes to fundraising.

From directing philanthropy and being a Major Gift Officer at organizations like New Story, Lift, and United Way of Greater Los Angeles to coaching leaders in raising game-changing gifts, Julie has a unique perspective for growing any organization’s impact—and that perspective hinges on courage.

Julie even leads an intimate program called Courage Lab designed to help fundraisers make bold asks of individual donors. So get ready, because listeners, today you’re going to get the best of the best advice on how to infuse your asks with character and courage for results that go far beyond the ordinary.

Nonprofits are no stranger to bringing the best possible outcomes out of bad situations—often with nothing but a wish and duck tape.

COVID-19 is next-level stuff, though. And since it's possible that the changes to... everything we know about everything we do (!) have you stressed, Funraise CEO Justin Wheeler and your dynamic digital godmother Kishshana Palmer are here to offer assistance and encouragement (and maybe deep breathing.) 

Let these experts walk you through the best way to manage through the mayhem and transition your nonprofit's fundraising strategy into the digital realm while keeping your fundraising revenue on track.

When Jon DeLange agreed to come on the Nonstop Nonprofit podcast, we planned a conversational angle to keep the discussion from spinning out—if you know podcasters, you know staying on topic can be tough!

Jon’s topic was "12 Rules for Fundraising: an antidote to tactical overwhelm during the EOY fundraising season”. As a longtime fundraising consultant and Summit Ministries’ Direct Mail and Digital Fundraising Manager (not to mention one of 2023’s top 25 Fundraising Experts in America), Jon relies on these rules to help fundraisers stay the course when it all gets to be Too Much.

So is it “12 Rules” or “One Weird Secret”? As we dug into Jon’s guidelines, we discovered that everything he shared with us pointed back to an illuminating, universal truth.

And that’s as close as we get to clickbait, friends. Listen in to discover what Jon and I uncovered.

Confidence is a tricky thing: it's simple to say, to talk about, and to identify, but confidence is difficult to reach, and it's even harder to hold onto. During today's Nonstop Nonprofit, Justin Wheeler, Funraise CEO and Co-founder talks to a fundraiser-turned-executive-coach whose confidence unlocked an almost 4X increase in her nonprofit's revenue. 

Justin's conversation with Mallory Erickson goes back to his time as a fundraiser. For context, while these days it's pretty common to follow loads of skilled specialists on social media, back then many fundraisers learned on the job... they weren't necessarily taught the stuff that Mallory brings to the table, and it's a shame—fundraising is so much easier when you view your nonprofit's value through a funder's lens.

Speaking of value, that's the key to confidence we mentioned earlier. Hearing Mallory lay it out, you'll see that it's all connected: when the value your nonprofit offers aligns with a funder, the dynamics of your conversation are fundamentally shifted.

Listen in as Mallory and Justin discover assets you never knew you had, smash the power dynamics of outdated fundraiser-funder relationships, and try on different lenses to reveal your true confidence as a fundraiser.

P.S. Access Mallory's Power Partners intro course for free today!
 

Today we're talking to a compassionate (former) banker. A guy who shifted to the nonprofit world from Goldman Sachs after fundraising for a cause close to his heart. Someone who can see how much the for-profit world needs to learn from nonprofits... instead of the other way around: Mitch Stein.

In both his capacity as both a nonprofit leader and the founder of a tech startup, Justin Wheeler, Funraise CEO and Co-founder, cheers this viewpoint and explains that it's a major reason that Funraise put so many resources into building a free product in 2020. Nonprofit growth goes hand-in-hand with impact growth, but it's often overlooked—most nonprofit vendors, funders, and yes, donors(!) default to that stubborn idea that nonprofit overhead is impact's ol' ball and chain, holding nonprofits back from great change.

Listen as Mitch puts a financial valuation spin on nonprofit investment, looks at nonprofits through the lens of expected future impact instead of the stigma of overhead, turns donors into equity stake investors clamoring for impact rather than profits, and paints a picture of a future where nonprofits are publicly traded based on their impact potential.

In 2012, Ashley Gutierrez experienced firsthand how the power of a story can shift the narrative. She took that experience and has brought it to nonprofits all over the world as a master storyteller with impact storytelling group Cliff.co.

Working for Invisible Children in Uganda during the KONY 2012 campaign, Ashley's role was to document its effects in East Africa, to tell the story from the perspective of local leaders. As Invisible Children's video went viral, the energy shifted; people felt heard and seen, and they understood that their stories mattered, which encouraged them to share their experiences on an even deeper level. 

As Ashley notes, the Latin origin of the word "emote" is "to stir, swell, or move", so our natural instinct to sway hearts and minds with emotional tales has a long, storied history.

Welcome back, nonprofit friends! Nonstop Nonprofit is kicking off our season 3 with a four-part series loaded with live interviews from AFP ICON 2022! Hang out at our booth with us and talk to nonprofit's brightest stars about trends, impact, and the future of fundraising.

Episode three of our compilation series features Karen Houghton, Bret Heinrich, Shiree Skinner, and Mallory Erickson.  Let's dive in! Listen to the full-length AFP ICON 22 live interviews on YouTube.

Adam Weinger's experience working for one of the heavy hitters in the corporate donation matching world, Capital One, led him to see the problem from a donor's perspective: while the company had a generous matching program, it got lost in the daily minutae and myriad communications from the company to its employees. Then, once he caught wind of the program, Adam didn't quite know what to do or how to claim the funds.

So, where's the breakdown? How can nonprofits raise donors' awareness of these funds, and how can Double the Donation help turn donation matching into a real source of income? Adam, President of Double the Donation, and Justin Wheeler, CEO and Co-founder of Funraise, sit down to hash it out.

Tune in to hear Adam Weinger's incredible case study, get guidance on centralizing your corporate donation matching into a unique revenue stream, and shine a light on ways that you can grease the wheels for your donors and close the gap on that unclaimed mountain of cash. 

Oh, and those corporate donation matching stats we mentioned... you've gotta check them out for yourself. 

If you’ve been involved in the nonprofit world for the last decade, you know that the landscape of nonprofit fundraising has significantly shifted to increase charitable giving as digital innovation drives donor engagement. But in order for innovation to truly change the fundraising game, it’s critical for innovators in technology and finance to direct their attention and their talents toward increasing social good. 

Steve Latham is doing just that. 

In 2020, while many of us were locked in our homes and navigating the uncertain terrain of a global pandemic, Steve recognized an opportunity to increase donations to nonprofits doing critical and life-saving work. As a fintech innovator, Steve leveraged his background in finance, technology, and digital marketing to found DonateStock, a tech platform addressing the historical inaccessibility of nonprofit stock donations by streamlining the stock donation process.

In the last two years, DonateStock has innovated the stock donation pipeline so that everyday investors can donate stock to nonprofits with ease, allowing donors to give more charitably and save their tax dollars in the process. 

By making stock donations a mainstream source of nonprofit revenue, DonateStock allows nonprofits to tap into a new pool of resources to elevate the financial infrastructure of their social good initiatives. Creating more opportunities for nonprofit fundraising? We love to see it.

Listen in as Steve introduces us to the world of nonprofit stock donations, and learn why stock is the “biggest pool to fish in” for nonprofit fundraising. You’ll want to listen until the end to hear about the exciting partnership between DonateStock and Funraise!

Make sure you listen to the entire episode to hear a bonus interview with Arup Banerjee, CEO and Co-founder of Windfall Data, recorded at The Nonprofit Innovation & Optimization Summit! You can watch and listen to the full interview here!

And if this episode gets you as excited about nonprofit stock donations as we are, be sure to create your Funraise free account to get started unlocking all the potential that stock donations has to offer. 

Ten meaningful segments from the Nonstop Nonprofit Podcast's full-to-bursting Summer 2020 season. Ten of our best, most enlightening, inspirational conversations, organized in brief, to-the-point clips. Hear Jason Russell, Co-founder of Invisible Children, discuss redefining charity and Jeremy Courtney, CEO of Preemptive Love, provide perspective from the front lines. Listen as Ramy Nagy, CEO and Creative Director of MADEO, reveals the hidden program your nonprofit never knew it had. All that and seven other stories from nonprofit influencers with inspiration.

NextAfter's extensive data showing nonprofits' pre- and post-COVID-19 activities, communications, and purpose is the perfect place for you to start making positive, numbers-based changes for your nonprofit. 

Listen as Justin and Tim evaluate valuable data from 150+ charitable organizations across a dozen nonprofit verticals:

• Total weekly email volume from organizations
• Which verticals are communicating the most
• Fluctuation in email volume over recent months
• Percentage of emails talking about COVID-19
• Ratio of fundraising emails to newsletters and cultivation content

To steal a quote from NextAfter's Brady Josephson, "...the work isn't done with a click." ... but your new normal can begin there.

Nonprofiteers have long known that our strengths lie in our passion for enacting change. More often than not, though, we see an issue and reach for it, only to find that we’re blocked by a lack of time, money, and helping hands.

Today’s guest, Ben Collier, is an aspiring—and inspiring—visionary whose nonprofit, The Farmlink Project, is poised to simultaneously hit the root of food insecurity and help farmers with an ambitious $100M fund designed to cultivate sustainable change in the sphere of food insecurity.

Not only that, but Ben and The Farmlink Project have an even broader vision, and the big question isn’t whether they can pull it off, it’s just how deeply this shift will shake our core.

Listen in as Ben and Justin dig into deep-rooted issues, challenge our perspective on food accessibility, and witness a $100 million vision being planted.

Looking for a way to pursue progress in the food system? The Farmlink Project's Shared Plate Pledge provides the framework and community to support and grow together. Sign the Shared Plate Pledge today.

When your donor base is reliant on relationship-building, how do you translate that to a COVID digital landscape?

When you've invested as much in building connections with your donors as Drew's team has, letting them go is like losing family. So when COVID-19 hit, they jumped into action, scheduling Zoom calls (and walking their donors through setting up Zoom!), telling stories of dealing with coronavirus across the 68 countries they have programs in, and finding out what their donors needed to make it through the pandemic. 

So far, these actions have connected their donor base and inspired confidence that has resulted in additional donations, support, and impact.

We're super stoked about this episode of Nonstop Nonprofit: if you've seen M+R's reports, campaigns, and content (and you have... even if you don't know it!), you know that we're talking cream of the communications crop, and getting Karen Hopper, speaker, strategist, and communications specialist, on the show, is a real win.

2020 showed us that between Doing Something and Doing Nothing... well, Doing Something always wins.

And we certainly saw that at Funraise. Heading into the pandemic was terrifying, but we saw 250% growth across our customer base, and it was due to nonprofits stepping out of their comfort zone and into the virtual unknown. Taking on new strategies, tapping into new audiences, testing pretty much every tactic under the sun.

So, Karen's emphasis on that element of communications—that there's always something else you can test, another lever you can pull—really confirms what we've seen: donors are ready to give, and they're looking for nonprofits that speak their digital language, your data is everything... when you put it in context, and social fundraising is here to stay—it's going to last past the pandemic.

And bonus! Karen recommends some rad free tools for nonprofits to use as they continue to dial into digital. Check out her suggestions and let us recommend one more: Funraise Free, your all-in-one nonprofit fundraising tech stack.

Optimizely A/B Test Sample Size Calculator

Optimizely Resource Library

M+R Benchmarks

M+R Direct Response Creative for Nonprofits: Theory and Practice

Many nonprofits struggle to deliver meaningful content in a way that engages their donor base. It tracks; you can have the coolest impact story, but if it’s just sitting on your website waiting for donors to come to it, it’s not truly making the impact it was designed for.

If that sounds like something your nonprofit struggles with, this episode is for you! Today, Funraise's Director of Growth Marketing, David Schwab, is talking to David Bowden, spoken word poet and Co-Founder & Executive Director of Spoken Gospel, a nonprofit that has a mind-boggling 50 million-plus engagements of their video, devotional, reading plan, and podcast-based content. They’ve got 151,000 subscribers to their YouTube channel!

We think “holy moly” is an appropriate response.

Plot twist: Spoken Gospel’s entire content creation model relies on lots of listening, not talking. David focuses on building individual relationships based on each member’s unique interests—and it’s paid off in a strong recurring program that responds to Spoken Gospel’s needs and asks alike.

Sure, David’s got the greatest story ever told to guide Spoken Gospel’s nonprofit story, but making the content itself approachable and relevant is key to attracting the type of donor that sticks around for the mission long term. So listen in!

John Walsh comes to the Nonstop Nonprofit podcast through a purely digital path that began with some of the hardest-to-engage audiences and then expanded to include broader digital strategies. These days, he advocates for nonprofits to lean into digital fundraising, with his specific passion being email.

As a self-proclaimed “digital guy” himself, our host David Schwab has seen how digital fundraising’s speed, directness, and consistency contribute to donor awareness and engagement in ways that direct mail can’t. But just like you all, he's still learning—and John makes that education exciting!

Listen in as John teaches us how a holistic communication strategy adds value to all of your fundraising channels, provides actionable first steps for email newbies, and shares his secrets to keeping digital fundraising fresh and successful.

We've cut out a lot of the jargon and focused on the nonprofit aid to help answer your COVID-19 stimulus-related questions—CauseMic's expert, up-to-date knowledge of the CARES Act makes them the perfect consultancy to tackle these questions for nonprofits. Listen to the recorded live Q&A and check out their in-depth overview of this far-reaching legislation. 

Start social fundraising, explain it to your team, or level up your strategies with this basics-to-bad-ass breakdown.

• Use your network to expand your nonprofit's reach naturally
• Amp up your current peer-to-peer strategies
• Connect your campaign pages to social networks to your donor database
• Meet your supporters where they spend their digital days
• Celebrate with your supporters as they fundraise for you on their streams
• Let your fundraisers lift the load, leveraging their connections to benefit your org

After the webinar, lock in a one-on-one follow-up with a social fundraising expert to talk pandemic response strategies, social donor conversion, exciting source tracking, or any other questions you need answered.

No matter how you spin it, the future of our nonprofitsphere includes social fundraising. Let's start now. 

Buckle up: there's a whole new asset class available to nonprofits.

...One that brings an entirely new donor set to nonprofits that they've never seen before.

...One that offers applications that can fundamentally improve the way nonprofits work.

...One that disrupts the underlying problems nonprofits are treating the symptoms of.

We're talking cryptocurrency with Anne Connelly, Faculty at Singularity University, expert in Blockchain.

Anne doesn't pretend that this precise and delicately complex subject matter is uncomplicated, but she demonstrates that it can be interesting and straightforward and—ultimately—attainable. She also advises a surprisingly exciting way to dip a toe into cryptocurrency: go online and buy $1 of bitcoin. 

***** 5-star webinar; excited to watch again. 

As an avid advocate of advocacy-based causes (say that 3 times fast!), Michele's advice for nonprofits looking for funding is to lead by example: invest the resources you have available in the same way that you're asking funders to invest in your mission. Rather than stretching your own programming budget, find a counterpart in advocating for your cause and strike up a collaboration. And Michele's number-one must-have is a healthy link between your theory of change and your programs.

Michele's story hits differently than most—being born with metatrophic dysplasia, a rare form of dwarfism, she's had every reason to be thrown off course by life's obstacles. But instead of being knocked down, Michele has looked up and treated every experience as an opportunity, smashing through that glass ceiling and becoming the first female president of the Caterpillar Foundation.

Michele and Justin Wheeler, CEO and Co-founder of Funraise, touch on the things that foundations like Caterpillar look for in investment-worthy nonprofits, ways to communicate the value of your cause, and the best way to present a nonprofit story that resonates with both donors and funders. So, dive with us into grassroots strategies and then come up for a birds-eye view of grasstops results, as we weave the two into a nonprofit field of dreams.

And if you want to hear more from Michele, go to LookingUp.com!

On today's episode of Nonstop Nonprofit, Dan Nisbet is in the studio (virtually, of course!) Dan's journey in the nonprofitsphere has led him to tackle fundraising for one of America's largest hunger relief organizations: Feeding America.

Because the pandemic highlighted the injustice of hunger in a way we haven't seen in generations, Feeding America was able to emphasize the scope of the problem to major donors and treat each potential donor as an investor in their cause. They devoted resources to connecting local communities and food banks and creating customized, compelling content for donors of all sizes, all while holding steady with their eyes-on-the-prize fundraising strategy.

Listen to Justin Wheeler, CEO and Co-founder of Funraise, as he and Dan lay out the rainbow shining after the pandemic perfect storm: despite disrupted volunteer efforts, an interrupted food supply chain, and an increased number of people experiencing food insecurity, the local relationships between donors and Feeding America's network of food banks became stronger than ever.

After an enlightening interview with Olga M. Woltman of LemonSkies (queue it up next!) left us pondering the role of storytelling in the nonprofit world, we realized that our focus on advanced fundraising practices parallels the aspirations of ethical storytellers.

Namely, ethical storytelling is the future of the nonprofit story (and the heart and soul of nonprofit fundraising).

But to fundraisers searching for the perfect nonprofit campaign, ethical storytelling can feel elusive and fuzzy. Like, what exactly is it and how exactly do you do it? Today’s guest, Philippe Lazaro, is here to bring clarity and direction to anyone struggling with making space for ethical storytelling.

Philippe, Creative Director of Plant with Purpose, TEDx speaker, and illustrator, has spent his career centering conversations around communities both global and local. And his advice is exactly what nonprofits need to take their storytelling efforts to higher heights.

Everyone in the nonprofit space has a moment where it all just clicks; in fact, you’ve probably had one or two. Today’s guest had one such moment that changed his perspective on nonprofit technology forever.

Tim’s Jerry Maguire moment came when he saw a statistic at an event that said, “90% of nonprofits collect data. Only 5% of nonprofits use that data to make decisions.” In that moment, Tim knew he had to rewrite the tech stack playbook to teach nonprofits how to get the most from their tech investment.

Join me as Tim and I discuss the importance of being a good data steward, highlight critical elements of a starter tech stack, and explain how implementing technology is like learning to drive.

Hear from eleven of the nonprofitsphere's brightest stars, and see the beautiful constellation their efforts have made in our sector.

Empowerment, leadership, trailblazing, and proof that you can't refute. Technology, the social element, and revolutionary data-based developments.

These are the segments that shone bright in 2021 and got us through some of our darkest days. Listen in as we celebrate 2021 and say hello to a new season of the Nonstop Nonprofit podcast!

So you want to check out livestream fundraising. 

You've heard about the $30 million raised for charity by Twitch streamers in 2017, the $40+ million they raised in 2018, and then $55 million they raised in 2019. It makes sense that you want a piece of that growth. 

Step into our office. 

We've got Alyssa Sweetman (@alykkat) and Justin Wheeler providing insider tips on how to (and how not to!) identify and reach out to streamers, escaping the Gamer persona fallacy, and the 3 things you need to get started with low-dollar, livestreaming, influencer fundraising.

As a nonprofiteer, you know what it means to put your heart into something. Like, you KNOW know. But when it comes to missions of the heart, your board may not see it as clearly as you do.

Today, we'll get both perspectives: Luke Womack is an Executive Director with passion while Pat Mullen is a board chair on a mission. Funraise CEO and Co-founder-slash-nonprofit board member Justin Wheeler is talking to The Go Fund leaders to discover how they found their footing together and uncover their secrets to board efficacy.

And the best part? What Pat and Luke deliver is stuff that every nonprofit can do: you don't need a big board budget to build relationships, ask the tough questions, or recruit the people who have proven their care and interest in your organization. What you need is a board who's willing to show up.

Listen as Luke and Pat channel their inspiration and motivation into no-budget-needed actions designed to take your board from barely breathing to fully functioning.

Getting through 2020 has been rough on everyone, and it's put a lot of pressure on nonprofits. In their work with organizations across the globe, both nonprofit consultant Julia Campbell and Funraise CEO and Co-founder Justin Wheeler have seen the effects play out, and in Justin's role as a nonprofiteer, he's experienced them firsthand. 

Julia's advice for nonprofits looking toward a post-pandemic future is hopeful, but doesn't rely on luck—she advocates for creative campaigning, democratizing fundraising, and building strong partnerships across nonprofits of all sizes, budgets, and causes.

So if you're looking for ideas to seed your nonprofit's plans for a digital future, tune in to this conversation between Julia and Justin—you'll find laughs, AHA! moments, and the realization that you're never alone. 

Discover your nonprofit's future with Julia at https://jcsocialmarketing.com/. 

Finally, Justin Wheeler, Funraise CEO and Co-founder and bad-ass fundraiser, met his match. This podcast guest is someone so invested in nonprofits, so into impact, so devoted to the sector, that he was barely able to scrape the surface of the topics on his agenda. Jarrett Ransom, aka The Nonprofit Nerd, is the Founder and CEO of nonprofit coaches The Rayvan Group and co-host of The Nonprofit Show. And today, Nonstop Nonprofit is bringing the show to her.

Justin prepares for every podcast and brings with him an agenda—points to hit and questions to ask—but Jarrett blew his agenda out of the water with compelling arguments, perspective shifts, and just straight-up data. It's clear that she's on the cutting-edge of nonprofit trends and she's used to these types of trailblazing topics.

Subjects on deck today: identifying our biggest challengers, using history to inform the future, women in philanthropy, corporate competition, and—buzzword alert!—nonprofit sustainability, capacity building, and infrastructure. Oh, and cute stories of kids' generosity, of course.

This is gonna be fast, furious, and full of unicorn moments, so buckle in and listen as Jarrett and Justin nerd out about the good, the bad, and the future of the nonprofitsphere.

Security should be so good, you never know it's there.

Check your to-do list real quick. Managing anti-fraud protection for your fundraising platform has been on that list since... since you made that list, right? What if we explained everything you need to know about real-deal, got-your-back protection? Here's your best chance to check that important box.

Let Funraise escort you down the transaction fraud protection rabbit hole—we'll shed light on all things security from OWASP to DDoS. Get expert answers to questions like these:

1. How does tough security help nonprofits build true connections with donors?
2. How can anti-fraud technology help nonprofits achieve their fundraising goals?
3. How is the COVID-19 crisis putting pressure on security and protection features?
4. What does my nonprofit need to do to ensure we're covered? How do I know how much support and security we need?

Welcome back, nonprofit friends! Nonstop Nonprofit is kicking off our season 3 with a four-part series loaded with live interviews from AFP ICON 2022! Hang out at our booth with us and talk to nonprofit's brightest stars about trends, impact, and the future of fundraising.

Episode one of our compilation series features Francesco Ambrogetti, Kishshana Palmer, Sommer Brock, and Jarret Ransom. Listen to the full-length AFP ICON 22 live interviews on YouTube.

When it comes to programming, some nonprofits choose a lane a mile wide and an inch deep while others dive a mile deep and an inch wide. The key is to know which lane your nonprofit thrives in.

Today’s guest is Phil Olaleye, Georgia State Representative and Executive Director of Next Gen, a nonprofit closing the opportunity gap for Atlanta high school students. Next Gen is expanding imminently, scaling its impact 10x, 100x, and hopefully more, and it’s doing it by staying in the lane it’s identified as the best fit for its mission, resources, and clients.

But identifying your lane is more than just seeing the existing structure; it involves using what’s missing to lay your path. Listen in for insights into the power of following up, expanding your village, and how to use scale to get to scalable.

This episode of Nonstop Nonprofit is for anyone who's struggled to get their board, executive leadership, and development team working on the same fundraising planet in the same budgetary galaxy. Sherry Quam Taylor, nonprofit growth expert, joins Funraise CEO and Co-founder Justin Wheeler for a conversation that's going to get your entire team focused on the bottom line—yeah, THAT bottom line: your budget!

Often, the part of these conversations with nonprofit leaders is the real-life success stories we get to hear; today, both Sherry and Justin throw down several examples of nonprofits that have accomplished great things through shakeups in their teamwork and perspective. These are moves that any nonprofit can make with patience, communication, and practice.

So if you're looking for a way out of that rut your nonprofit has fallen into, listen in now. This conversation is gonna show you how focusing on your budget leads to greater awareness of your org's needs, teamwork that's actually productive, and investment in your nonprofit's true capacity for impact.

If you know your DAFs, you know that donor-advised funding is growing with breathtaking speed. Charities are receiving money from DAFs at nearly the same velocity as private foundations.

But most people can't join in the party: DAFs require an initial investment of thousands of dollars with average account sizes in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. But today's everyone's lucky day, friends. DAFs are now within reach for everyone; Millie makes it possible to open your own DAF for $20. 

Listen as Rachel and Justin trade a few DAF factoids, then address topics like...

• unparalleled access to donors through workplace giving
• the effect of matching donations on company culture
• making matching donations less manual, even for small companies
• how letting nonprofits tell their own story promotes equity and impact

Let us ask you a question, fundraiser: When it comes to crunch time for your fundraising campaigns, do you feel intense pressure to find a poster child for your nonprofit, capture their iconic story, and optimize it to deliver maximum donations?

Look into our eyes, listener, and hear us when we say that’s a daunting task for anyone. It’s no wonder storytelling stresses nonprofits out!

But there is a way, and you’re about to hear the secret directly from one of the storytelling greats. Olga M. Woltman has the key to discovering, creating, and distributing stories that will compel connections and keep donors coming back time after time.

Spoiler alert: it doesn’t involve parading a poster child around, invading your clients’ privacy, or making something up.

Today, Olga and David Schwab, Funraise's Director of Growth Marketing have the scoop for you on how to ethically and empathetically uncover the captivating stories just beneath the surface, weave relevant impact stats and authentic conversations throughout, and choose the perfect moment to release them for incredible impact.

Talk about a jam-packed podcast episode—this conversation with Cameron Bartlett has it all: anecdotes, examples, trends, cautionary tales, solutions, trends, strategies… and did we mention cutting-edge trends from the trenches?

That’s right; as we talked, Cameron had a story and a trend that related to each and every topic we brought up. And it’s no surprise… Cameron’s a fast-moving, trend-setting, high-growth fundraising consultant who’s worked with nonprofits like New Story, IJM, Compassion, Cure, and World Vision—and is now Stop Soldier Suicide's Vice President of Performance Marketing—reaching hundreds of millions of people and drive important global initiatives.

As a veteran fundraising consultant himself, Nonstop Nonprofit podcast host David Schwab was excited to talk with a realistic optimist who sees the same extraordinary potential in nonprofits that he does.

So, if you’re looking for a dense discussion that will stimulate your strategies and transfer trends for fruitful fundraising, or you like alliteration, listen in to this episode of Nonstop Nonprofit!

Is your nonprofit uncomfortable with growth? I mean huge, mission-busting, stuff-of-dreams type growth, otherwise known as exponential growth?

Because if your comfy idea of growth is increasing donations and programming and impact by a solid 5% each year, that’s fine. It’s just that… well, with 10-15% inflation hitting everyone, that 5% growth isn’t quite the flex you think it is. (In fact, it may not even cover your end-of-year pizza party.)

Now that we’ve scared you—and sorry about that, by the way—we’ve got a special guest to get you psyched for growth like you’ve never experienced. Matt Scott is the author of The High-Growth Nonprofit, CEO and Co-founder of CauseMic, and a longtime friend of Funraise.

As the title of his book suggests, Matt is here today discussing proven steps to quickly double your nonprofit’s revenue and drive impact, and he’s backing up these actionable insights with stories, examples, and analogies galore. Seriously, there’s something for everyone.

So settle in for a conversation centered in thinking big and changing big for breathtakingly big growth.

Let's start with a phrase that we don’t say often enough: “Get that money, honey!”

Today’s guest, nonprofit leadership coach and major gifts consultant, Rhea Wong, comes to the charitable sector with experience as a recipient of nonprofit services, a green-but-hustling ED, a self-taught fundraising expert, and a charitable board whisperer.

And as we’ve established, the title of Rhea’s book Get That Money, Honey! The No-Bullsh*t Guide to Raising More Money for Your Nonprofit isn’t just fun to say, it’s full of actionable strategies and learn-from-my-mistakes moments—and Rhea is here to dig through it with us.

Prepare to be entertained and educated in this episode! Rhea and David discuss mindset versus skillset, untelling unhelpful stories, turning the ask into the win, and manifesting Big Donor Energy.

Your website. How do you currently think of it? Is it a Project, a Property, or... could it be a Program? 

Madeo, a Webby Award-winning, social-impact-focused creative studio has some pretty clever ideas on how to turn your website into an engagement experience on a par with your programs. With fancy stuff to analyze like KPIs and donor journeys and the "missed opportunity mentality", this interview is a mind-bending game-changer. 

Get ready for an incredible listen, with golden nuggets like...

• How to manage your website with a small budget
• The value of a "debrief culture"
• Viewing your tech team as program managers
• Implementing visionary investment strategies

And last, but not least, Ramy's Top Rebranding Rule: Don't do it. (Yet.)

Welcome back, nonprofit friends! Nonstop Nonprofit is kicking off our season 3 with a four-part series loaded with live interviews from AFP ICON 2022! Hang out at our booth with us and talk to nonprofit's brightest stars about trends, impact, and the future of fundraising.

Episode two of our compilation series features panelists from AFP: Julia Campbell, Cherian Koshy, and Rachel Muir.  Let's do it! Listen to the full-length AFP ICON 22 live interviews on YouTube.

The road to $1 million isn’t an easy or fast one to travel.

Only 9% of nonprofits in the Los Angeles area grow to manage a budget of $1 million. Ten years ago, when Richard Reyes founded the PLUS ME Project, his budget was $4000 and his vision was to provide mentorship and role models for youth through storytelling.

Today, an exciting part of this achievement is that PLUS ME’s own growth story is still unfolding, expanding, and providing guidance and inspiration to other nonprofits just as their mentors provide role models for the youth they lead.

As a nonprofiteer and consultant in the nonprofit space, Funraise's Director of Growth Marketing, David Schwab, has seen the results when nonprofits rely on storytelling to build supporter relationships—and what happens when those same supporters have their stories silenced. (Spoiler alert: it’s called donor churn.)

Join David and Richard as they discuss the ways that new fundraising tactics like peer-to-peer are a natural fit for PLUS ME's mission, what their COVID pivot-and-response taught the PLUS ME team, and how PLUS ME's usage of and reliance on technology has evolved on their road to $1 million.

For more info on the PLUS ME Project - https://www.theplusmeproject.org/
For more info on teenyBIG - https://www.teenybig.com/

Connect with the show contributors:
David Schwab - https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidlschwab/
Richard Reyes - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-reyes-25064173/
Emily Taylor - https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-taylor-teenybig/

Livestream fundraising has more in common with traditional fundraising strategies than you may know.

If you've been looking for a new-yet-familiar fundraising frontier to dip your toes into, here are a few quotes that'll pique your interest:

• “Q: What did you do to raise $1M? A: We did next to nothing.”
• “Your organization literally has zero effort to get started.”
• “Livestreaming fundraising is much more intuitive and much further reaching. It's just as simple, if not easier [than traditional fundraising].”

Discover a wealth of livestreaming knowledge from Jason Docton, CEO of Rise Above the Disorder, an organization that relies on livestreaming to fund almost all of their lifesaving efforts.

Listen in to a cliche-crushing, perspective-bending discussion of modern fundraising between Jason and Justin Wheeler, Funraise CEO and Co-founder. This conversation will stick with you, we promise. (And yes, we recognize the irony of watching a recording about livestreaming...)

Once you're ready to try livestreaming yourself, talk to a Funraise fundraising expert to find out more about how Funraise can support your organization.

Virtuous and Funraise are teaming up! You heard it here first, loyal podcast listener. CEO Gabe Cooper is leading Virtuous on a mission to expand the giving experience, retain donors, and move one-time donors to full-time, monthly donor status. Listen while Justin speaks to Gabe about  how to make that happen––and how Virtuous and Funraise are coming together to make navigating generosity a seamlessly simple experience. Make sure to stay until the end of the episode to hear Justin's mini-interview with Stephen Boudreau about giving trends! 

Your fundraising potential is anything but confidential.

Funraise's Sales Manager, Jenny Flack, and Dana Bakich, Nonprofit Social Media Coach and CEO of Positive Equation, take an eye-opening tour through all the fresh ways Funraise's nonprofit fundraising platform makes fundraising easy, donating easier, and cultivating donors the easy-breeziest of all. 

In addition to the exciting wins that Jenny and Dana discuss, you'll also get the scoop on...

• the surprising reasons that donation volume increased over 100% on Funraise during COVID-19
• Funraise features that offer you key data and what do do with it—how to get it, analyze it, and act on it
• keeping the faith—and how hope can land you with shocking success
• examples galore! Templates and peer-to-peer and microsites and streaming and virtual events and Facebook and so much more

The bottom line: Always be fundraising. Here's how to do it right and have a little fun at the same time!

Quick, before we start the podcast: If you're a nonprofit marketer and you haven't seen what happened when Action Against Hunger added Funraise's pop-up donation forms to their website, do yourself a favor and take a look. (We'll wait.) The results they saw are so incredible that you'll immediately understand why Action Against Hunger's Digital Lead, Andrew Chappell, said it was the single biggest contribution to their successful revenue gains in 2020.

Of course, after working closely with Andrew and knowing how he achieved these amazing results for Action Against Hunger, it became obvious that inviting him on the Nonstop Nonprofit podcast would result in gamechanging advice for nonprofits ready to increase donations.

We also took a chance and let Andrew take the podcast-hosting reins—he brought some hard-hitting questions to the table, and we believe our CEO, Justin Wheeler, answered everything with the same kind of openness and thoughtfulness that Andrew offered during his interview.

Now, a warning regarding this episode: We can barely contain the guidance that Andrew offers, so get ready to take notes and set up your own smart opportunities for nonprofit growth, an immensely improved giving experience, and infinitely increased donations. You won't want to lose a moment after you hear what he has to say.

This week's episode of Nonstop Nonprofit is special—listen in as Justin Wheeler, CEO and Co-founder of Funraise, speaks with his close friend and colleague, Hannah Song. Hannah's not just a tenacious leader, she's the CEO of Liberty in North Korea and a dedicated nonprofiteer passionate about changing the world...

...basically, you're gonna love her.

Hannah's here to tell you how LiNK tamed the virtual events beast and raised $1M during their gala: strategically planning every detail of the event, meeting the challenges that online engagement poses, letting go of pre-2020 expectations, and creatively redistributing their event budget.

Going even further, it's not surprising that LiNK found a silver lining to their virtual program. Their 2020 events allowed them to reach a wider audience, rake in the email signups, and relate to supporters on a whole new level. This conversation is one of our favorites; join us in recognizing this high-performing, highly-strategic team's successes despite the setbacks.

And for a deeper understanding of what it took to make this event happen as well as how you can achieve virtual event success, check out this Livestreaming from Beginner to Expert course from Chad Vickers, LiNK's resident filmmaker. 

You're gonna be an expert in no time!

• Understand how livestreams work and how to create your own
• Build a simple or advanced livestream using OBS (Open Broadcaster Software)
• Go live to one or multiple audiences simultaneously
• Put together a livestream that is engaging, entertaining, and dynamic

You won't find a lawyer who'll argue that a person innocent of a crime should do the time. It's not a negotiation. With this in mind, in 1992, Innocence Project embarked on a simple, yet revolutionary mission: use DNA to exonerate innocent people who have been incarcerated and turn those pardons into policy to prevent others from being wrongfully convicted. Fast forward to 2021, and Innocence Project is responsible for 232 of the 375 people who've been freed based on DNA evidence. Sounds like a win for everyone, right?

But these problems go deep, and as Christina noted, there's no one thing we can all do, and Boom!, no more innocent people convicted. These solutions go beyond the lifetimes of anyone working on them. So, how does she provide the Innocence Project team with the patience, focus, and optimism needed to stay this long, difficult course?

Listen in to hear how Christina does it; in her words, "We've got to remember that even the small wins are making a big difference in the big picture of this work." The excitement exonerees feel going outside to look at the stars just because they can. The flood of emotions as someone walks to true freedom. The beauty behind every Innocence Project team's efforts, win or lose—these are the short-term wins that fuel this long-range work.

It's estimated that 2% of the prison population—hundreds of thousands of people—are anticipated or expected to be wrongfully convicted in the United States. If you're interested in helping exonerate innocent people, get involved with the Innocence Project today.

Get that golden goosebump moment with Bobby D. Ehlert, world champion auctioneer and nonprofit events visionary, as he dishes on the future of nonprofit events (hint, it's all about the experience), event mistakes to avoid, and The Hug Squad.

Here's everything you need to know about taking events from Transactional to Transformational, straight from the pros. 

• 5 things you need for an unforgettable event
• Why is immediate gratitude so important?
• Crafting an event experience that culminates in beautiful donor relationships
• Why silent auctions are like garage sales
• Where does an event truly belong in the fundraising journey? (Hint, it's not the end)
• What is Fund-a-Need, or Paddle Raise, or Special Appeal, or whatever you call it?
• Event Tone: Extreme Gravity vs Uplifting Donor Experiences
• What-Not-To-Do in planning a transformational fundraiser

"Cultivation is the key to connection." The title of today's podcast, and a relatively core fundraising strategy. So why are we talking about it like it's news?

This quote right here: "It's amazing how many nonprofits opt out of communications during the giving season." Nathan Hill, VP of Marketing at NextAfter, isn't talking about being skimpy with the outreach. He's talking about 0 communications. Radio silence. During a month that brings in a third of the year's giving. Nonprofits, whyyyyy?!

So, while it may seem central to fundraising, there are bigger questions at play: Why aren't nonprofits talking to their donors? Which comms cut through the year-end chaos? What would make it a no-brainer for nonprofits to start building relationships? Is there an ace in the hole that makes cultivation a clear-cut tactic?

Listen in as Nathan and Justin Wheeler, Funraise CEO and Co-founder, tackle these tough questions and build a cultivation strategy that will take your nonprofit through the year-end giving season, into the new year, and produce results for year-ends to come.

Confession time! Here at Funraise, we're all huge nerds, so when we added Beth Kanter and Allison Fine to the Nonstop Nonprofit podcast schedule, our CEO and Co-founder (and biggest nerd) Justin Wheeler, was. stoked. And on the agenda? Smart tech.

But what is smart tech, exactly? "Smart tech" refers to AI and other advanced digital technologies that make decisions for people. It's not a tech evolution, but a revolutionary shift in power away from people and towards tech.

Beth and Allison, both well-known nonprofit consultants, trainers, and authors, have written a book called The Smart Nonprofit: Staying Human-Centered in an Automated World and for all you nonprofits wondering about the future, they've got answers to your questions about technology—specifically adoption, costs, ramifications, and the catalysts happening right now to launch us into an automated new world.

So listen in and get a sneak preview of The Smart Nonprofit, complete with examples, guidance for nonprofit leaders, and a whole lot of nerding out!

You already know why a recurring giving program is so important to your organization, but do you know how to get started? What are the most critical components? How do you measure your program's success?

Tyler and Justin discuss best practices for building and maintaining a recurring donor program that'll engage your donors and increase loyalty, reduce attrition, lower operation costs, and establish a more predictable revenue stream. 

Tyler plays an instrumental role in the strategy behind charity: water's monthly giving program; he'll share his most valuable secrets to inspire people to give every single month. Hear how charity: water has not only built a community of donors, but has helped influence the future of charitable giving by building a cultural legacy for generations to come.

Chris Hammond, CEO of Corporate Giving Connection, breaks down his method to peer-to-peer maximization in a personal CEO-to-CEO conversation with Funraise CEO and Co-founder Justin Wheeler. 

Chris takes us down both personal and professional roads—his path to CEO-status is strikingly similar to Justin's—and addresses the challenges that Black men in America face building businesses. 

He also gives compelling reasons to layer your peer-to-peer tactics, including all the non-digital tricks you've developed over the years.

In this webinar, you'll hear from Chris...

• How peer-to-peer can do more than just stand the test of time
• Examples of successful blended P2P campaigns
• The most valuable 10 minutes of research you'll spend
• Why messaging matters when you're talking fundraising success

You may just find that layering the best of off-and-online P2P tools leads to a whole new world of digital fundraising. 

Check out Chris and CGC at https://cgcgiving.com/

The winds of change are blowing, and nonprofits, ahem, the for-good sector, isn’t immune. Today we’re talking to a seasoned nonprofiteer who has experienced his share of change and made it his mission to shepherd for-good organizations through transformational moments.

In this conversation with Todd Hiestand, Co-owner of Liminal, a creative branding agency for nonprofits, we touch on the effects that change has on the for-good sector, how to foster these shifts, and the value of leaning into the liminal spaces where change happens.

One change that host David Schwab would like to see could be viewed as semantical—and it’s one that Todd and David air their views on in this episode: the movement from “nonprofit” language to “for-good”. It’s also one that he’d love to hear your views on, so please let him know your thoughts!

Join us now for a discussion on the merits of “for-good” language, the ways change and innovation intersect, and how none of us are alone on the road to better.

Be sure to pick up a copy of the latest ebook from Liminal, Effective Nonprofit Branding, available on their website now.

"[Artificial intelligence] helps you understand when and how much to ask from your donor base."

If you knew every donor's next gift date and amount, what would you do with that information?

Wes Moon, COO and Co-founder of Wisely, is an expert in artificial intelligence, and he knows exactly what you would do with it. In fact, Wisely's machine learning can help you break donors into portfolios and plan for how and when to not just facilitate predicted donations, but also grow those donations (by predicted amounts, natch.)

Wes also puts us on notice: truth is in the data of the beholder, so charitable organizations are the perfect champions of accuracy and integrity as we feed the machine brain. 

Money, budgets, funding, accounting—all nonprofits know how important these are to the success of programming and impact. But when you're a smaller nonprofit or just starting out, do you really need a CFO?

Today’s guest, Jason Kruger, has experience with a novel arrangement that’s allowing nonprofits to start from the ground up, building an accounting team and processes that fit instead of skipping a grade before you’re ready.

As President & Founder at Signature Analytics, Jason brings financial knowledge specific to nonprofits, like audit requirements, the benefits of transparency, and, best of all, a healthy respect for getting it all done on time! And as customers of Signature Analytics, Funraise is excited to assist our nonprofit friends in tackling accounting wherever you’re at.

Listen in to get clarity on how properly-fitted accounting contributes to the success of your impact, where to start and pitfalls to avoid, and signals that’ll tell you it’s time to professionalize your finance functions.

Wow! Today’s episode is so jam-packed, it’s practically bursting. Chive Charities has only been around about a decade, but they’ve got donor retention down like no other organization we’ve seen. We know you’re sitting there thinking, “How great can their retention rate be? 50%? 60?”

Well prepare yourself, listener: Chive Charities has a 98% donor retention rate.

And today, you get to hear from longtime Chive Charities employee, supporter, and board member, Erika Carley, as she breaks down their retention tactics.

We were prepared to hear Erika talk about Chive’s super successful monthly giving program, but what we didn’t expect was Chive’s excitement to try their hand at peer-to-peer fundraising. Why seek out new strategies when you’re already winning so hard?”

From the concrete to the philosophical, the creative to the predictable, and the consistent to the untested, Chive’s retention magic comes from within their essential culture of impact—and Erika is here to let you in on what it takes to do it yourself.

Coming from a cathedral of redwoods, from shared moments between a collective of concerned colleagues, this episode of the Nonstop Nonprofit podcast brings together visionary nonprofit leaders Justin Wheeler and Brett Hagler.

Justin is the CEO of Funraise and sometimes-host of the Nonstop Nonprofit podcast, and Brett is CEO of New Story, a nonprofit pioneering solutions to end homelessness. Together, they sat down at Camp Redwood, a creative gathering for social entrepreneurs, to talk about the state of the nonprofit industry—now and long-term.

As he and Justin discussed leaning into opportunities, Brett said, "The harder, more courageous decision will likely come with short-term pain, but ...the big idea that we have is going to be so much more growth that it's worth it." Knowing how and when to take that step is the crux of his conversation with Justin.

Tune in to hear nonprofit leaders just like yourself discuss stretch goal strategies, the crossroads of opportunity and obligation, and the value of using software as a strategy.

For full video interview --> https://www.youtube.com/@Funraiseplatform

Before we start the conversation, let us give you a little context: about a month ago, in January 2021, Funraise CEO and Co-founder, Justin Wheeler, put up a relatively controversial post on his LinkedIn page talking about the 100% model. Specifically, he wrote, 

"This won't be popular, but the 100% model charities adopt is broken.

At best, it makes a donor feel good about giving to you.
At worst, it perpetuates the idea that overhead spend is bad.

In reality, the reason why nonprofits that have adopted this model are growing fast is that they are spending MORE on overhead, not less."

While Justin stands by that perspective, he also loves open and productive discourse between passionate people, so when Brett and the team at New Story (an awesome team, btw) responded to that post with some solid counterpoints and a suggestion that we bring the discussion here, to the Nonstop Nonprofit podcast, Justin was all about it.

Normally, this is where we'd sum up the episode in a sentence or two, but today we're going to ask that you listen to Justin's conversation with Brett as they discuss his take on the 100% funding model and Brett shares why it's the foundation for New Story's team, mission, and vision. Afterward, Justin would love to hear your take on these ideas—don't be shy! Hit him up on his LinkedIn page or email him directly at justin@funraise.org and get your voice heard!

When Sarah Lee, told Funraise CEO Justin Wheeler, "Bold ideas attract bold people," she was talking to the right person. As an experienced fundraiser and nonprofiteer used to swinging for the fences, Justin constantly champions innovation above all.

And now, with COVID-19 affecting economies across the globe, nonprofits everywhere are asking the question, "How can my nonprofit make it through the Coronavirus crisis?"

Listen in on Justin and Sarah's interview and then brainstorm with the experts in a live Q&A session directly afterward.

After everything that the pandemic has brought, who would have guessed we'd be dealing with this next pandemic outcome: The Great Resignation? Tiffany Keesey, Co-founder of Conscious Culture, joins Justin Wheeler, Funraise CEO and Co-founder, on the  Nonstop Nonprofit podcast with emergency advice to keep your organization from being plagued by this latest crisis.

If you haven't heard the term, The Great Resignation refers to the 4M people quitting their jobs each month in the U.S. since April 2021. There are a lot of reasons so many people are exiting, but one that crops up a lot is company culture.

Tiffany puts it perfectly when she says that perks and policies are not enough to create real change. Justin's a little more blunt, though: "No one's gonna stay for ping pong if they've got a toxic boss." The message here is that you can't plop down a keg and a foosball table and call it culture.

But if it's not happy hour and dogs in the office, what is company culture? Listen in as Tiffany reveals how to tap into your real company culture experts, offers examples of great employer brands, and explains how to stand out in this highly competitive hiring market—especially if you're a smaller nonprofit.

And if you're hiring right now, you're in luck! Nonstop Nonprofit listeners get a discount on Conscious Culture's mini-course Create a Compelling Job Post as well as their free Engagement Survey Guide. Check 'em out!

It's any NGO's dream problem: raise $20 million in 5 days. Set the record for Facebook's largest crowdfunding campaign (since broken by fundraisers for Australia's wildfires.) Catapult your nonprofit's brand to household-name status. 

Now, what do you do?

Well, most importantly, you keep fundraising, thanking your donors, and looking for more supporters.

And if you're RAICES, you build parallel programs to add structure and strength to the legal services you're already providing and you show the public what you've done with their investment... All the while shifting focus to immigrants—in your story and the donors'.

Speaking to Liz Dunn, Chief Development Office of RAICES, is like watching a magician pull endless colorful scarves from their sleeves. Every time you think the conversation is settling down, Liz gives you another perspective or idea or nugget of truth. Her experience making asks through both calculation and intuition has paid off big-time for RAICES as they embrace her methods and their ongoing success.

Over the last few years, the United States has experienced a nationwide reckoning against racism and racial injustice. And while we've witnessed many steps forward towards antiracism, every sector has a long way to go to close the resource gaps created by structural racism.

Kia Croom is leading the fight against anti-Black racism in the nonprofit industry.

After twenty years of experience as a development executive and philanthropic strategist, Kia founded The Black Fundraisers' Podcast in 2021 to celebrate, inspire, uplift, and equip Black fundraisers with tools to "excel and positively impact Black communities." And we can all get behind that.

Through authenticity, radical honesty, and personal liberation—Kia has built a new table of access and resources for underrepresented fundraisers who historically have not been offered a seat.

Listen in as Kia talks to David Schwab about how nonprofit donors are directly involved in creating meaningful social change.

And if this episode gets you excited about moving the needle to increase representation and resources in nonprofit fundraising, be sure to create your Funraise free account to get started making the change you wish to see in the world.

Lisa Bowman has taken both The UPS Foundation and United Way Worldwide to new heights of sustainability and brand awareness during her two decades marketing the two, utilizing her professional superpower: marketing the sweet spot where profit meets purpose.

Her deep commitment to evangelizing new technology and investing in nonprofit infrastructure goes way back; Lisa was marketing tech before "tech" was a thing, accidentally selling a million-dollar tech consultancy to UPS, then turning it into a VP position with UPS developing new markets.

Aside from laying down new and old-school marketing strategies, in this conversation, Lisa reveals how her focus on purpose has guided her, why she modernized United Way's brand to appeal to multiple generations, how you're competing with for-profits, and steps you can take to use your superpower for good.

Invisible Children's KONY 2012 viral phenomenon (that little video with over 100 million views) sparked a movement due in large part to Jason's visionary storytelling, but the effects weren't all positive, especially for the Invisible Children team. While their hyperfocus on a singular goal led to incredible outward success, it also resulted in a breakdown of internal care—a topic that Jason has spoken candidly about in the years following the KONY 2012 campaign. 

Doing his part to normalize our conversation around mental health isn't all that Jason brings to the table, though. You'll hear him discuss Oprah and Obama, the spectrum of activism, his reaction to renewed racial tensions in America, and bringing activism to new generations through a radical new project, Broomstick Engine.

Today, we're talking in paradoxes: The secret to transparency, why nonprofits are twice the businesses that for-profits are, and the reason nonprofits need to choose donors carefully—instead of the other way around.

And to help shed light on these opposite viewpoints, we've got Melissa Vine in the house! Melissa is an entrepreneur, licensed mental health counselor, JD candidate, and nonprofit ED at Beacon of Life—basically, a changemaker in every sector!

I've long evangelized for nonprofit innovation and transparency—if you've listened to this podcast or read my LinkedIn, I probably sound like a broken record! But this message bears repeating because it's central to the growth of our sector... which means that these topics are the key to infinite nonprofit impact.

Melissa shows that these principles aren't all talk—in her first year as ED of Beacon of Life, she overhauled policies and programming, reduced investment in low-ROI efforts, and nearly doubled donations. And then she put that money back into her team in the form of raised compensation, advanced training, and increased diversity. The result? Donors who know what their donations fund, a strategic, radically transparent team, and clients who've been impacted in significantly expanded ways.

Listen in as Melissa and I discuss method and mindset and turning ideas into action.

Why is grant management such a freaking hassle (to put it nicely)?

Well, we don't have the answer for that, but today's guest does. She also has a solution. Ansley Fender, CEO and Founder of Atlas, a grant management platform, is here to light up your various spreadsheets and applications and revenue streams and transactions and explain the uncharted chaos that separate databases is causing your programs.

It's no secret that nonprofits struggle with the grant process, but Ansley's insight gave us a lot of hope for a world with democratized grant funding. Reimagining the funding lifecycle as a two-way street means more money, more support, and more impact—and it may be a reality sooner than we think.

Tune in for the future of grant management and stick around til the end to hear some of the best nonprofit solutions we've heard for grant-loving organizations like yours.

https://www.getatlassolutions.com/

Vroom, vroom! Let's rev up your nonprofit's revenue engine!

Today we're talking to a friend, colleague, and nonprofit sparkplug Deborah Barge, the Chief Development Officer at Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, an organization that you maaaay have heard of. 

Deb's track record working with charitable organizations that have a deep history of donor engagement, like March of Dimes and Muscular Dystrophy Association, has given her insight into not just ways to cultivate donors, but also how to fast-track changes internally to achieve maximum buy-in.

And that's not all Deb came to talk about—one of the things that brought Deb to Big Brothers Big Sisters was the pedal-to-the-metal way justice, equity, and inclusion are infused in everything they do, from the CEO on down to the youth they mentor, and how they've shifted gears thanks to COVID.

Hold on tight because this is a wide—and we mean WIDE—ranging conversation that follows its own roadmap from professional topics like nonprofit revenue generation and donor cultivation to Deborah's personal insights on the future of our youth and fundraising as a woman of color.

Before we dive in today, we've got two questions for listeners: "Have you ever heard of the Google Ad Grant?" and "Would it positively impact your nonprofit if you could reach more people searching the internet?" Those are the two questions that Nonprofit Megaphone CEO Grant Hensel asked hundreds of nonprofits in 2016.

It's kind of a trick question! Grant explains that the answer to the second question IS the first question, but when 75% of the nonprofits he spoke with had never heard of the Google Ad Grant, that obvious disconnect became the catalyst he needed to build Nonprofit Megaphone, a marketing agency focused solely on helping nonprofits get, use, and optimize Google Ad Grants.

So settle in and listen in to a true master at his craft. Grant will explain what a Google Ad Grant is, at what stage of growth your nonprofit should begin focusing on the grant, and how to identify opportunities that can function as a contributor to your cause as well as a revenue driver—and potentially even a source of long-term support for your nonprofit.

Finally, the bottom line is that Google Ad Grants are about the outcome, not the spend, and Nonprofit Megaphone has the experts to maximize that outcome as well as the data to back up their work.

Welcome back, nonprofit friends! Nonstop Nonprofit is kicking off our season 3 with a four-part series loaded with live interviews from AFP ICON 2022! Hang out at our booth with us and talk to nonprofit's brightest stars about trends, impact, and the future of fundraising.

Episode four of our compilation series features Taylor Shanklin, Madison Gonzalez, Chad Barger, and Courtney Gaines.  Let's dive in! Listen to the full-length AFP ICON 22 live interviews on YouTube.

With the US election coming down to the wire and Giving Tuesday coming up fast, Jamie McDonald's emphasis on transformation struck a note that resonated across all we've endured in 2020. In this conversation with Justin Wheeler, Funraise CEO and Co-founder, Jamie's advice might take Nonstop Nonprofit Podcast listeners by surprise—while Justin normally champions digital expertise as essential to our sector's future, Jamie's argument that digital fluency is less important than starting where you are is powerful... and accurate.

In this episode of Nonstop Nonprofit, Justin and Jamie talk nonprofit shop: the value of transformation in building your movement, separating successful strategies from digital fluency, the power of the collective to bring dreams to life, and what you need to start where you are.

It’s that time of year—the time that we’re all focused on new beginnings and upcoming trends, brimming with hope that there’s some groundbreaking tactic, tool, or trick on the horizon. (Unless you’re listening to this in August, of course.)

Nicole Nidea, Program Director at SODA, has lots to say about a trend that’s been sweeping 2023 and is poised to change the face of fundraising in 2024: What Nicole calls “findability”. We’re talking AI-assisted search experiences, long-game scaling strategies, social mixing tactics that target specific audiences, and more.

For example, using specialized SEO has made Nicole a champion of integrating awareness as a goal into every aspect of fundraising—and increasing that awareness, or “findability” allows SODA staff to focus their energy on the things that matter.

While Nicole brings to life a wonderland of awareness, that’s not all she shines a light on—listen in to hear all about SODA’s scale and scope, partnerships and peer-to-peer, and findability as a fundraising need.

Hard as we try, sometimes the individual gets lost in our fundraising efforts. Beth Fisher is one fundraiser working to change that where she can.

Beth is the Chief Advancement Officer at Mel Trotter Ministries, leading fundraising, development, and donor stewardship for an organization that’s been around—and growing—for over 100 years. In her previous life in software sales, Beth’s superpower was seeing her customers’ needs and selling targeted solutions.

So when she took the reins at MTM, she naturally turned to her clients’ needs, providing them not just with “three hots and a cot”, but dignity as well. Beth quickly recognized that her fundraising efforts also benefitted from that mindset—treating donors as individuals was her key to fundraising success.

Listen in as Beth and Justin Wheeler, Funraise CEO and Co-founder, discuss the overlap of corporate and nonprofit fundraising, the value of nonprofit storytelling, and the importance of the individual in fundraising.

For more info on Mel Trotter Ministries - https://www.meltrotter.org/
For more info on Positive Equation - https://positiveequation.com/

Connect with the show contributors:
Justin Wheeler - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wheelerjustin/
Beth Fisher - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethschrader99/
Dana Snyder - https://www.linkedin.com/in/danarsnyder/

If you're following Funraise CEO and Co-founder Justin Wheeler on LinkedIn, you know that Funraise is hiring. We have lots and lots of positions to fill and we're not shy about getting the word out. You may also be hearing the AWESOME public feedback that we're getting on our hiring process—even from candidates that we didn't hire.

What you may not know, though, is that getting to that point was not easy. To help us navigate these new hiring waters, we brought on an incredible recruiter, Angela Manginelli. Although she's only been with Funraise a matter of months, Angela has had a profound impact on our culture and practices, including starting and leading our new humane hiring movement, so we thought it was high time we had her on the podcast to share her wisdom.

Angela has lots of experience dealing with awful hiring processes—she started her own nonprofit guiding new graduates through their first job hunts. And although building a new hiring blueprint has had its challenges, watching Angela lead our candidates and staff through her hiring process has convinced us that a great company culture starts with that very first interaction.

Listen in as Angela explains how infusing the hiring process with equity, transparency, and a great candidate experience isn't just the right—and humane—thing to do, but the best thing for your bottom line as well.

And if you're looking for your next awesome nonprofit job, subscribe to Funraise's newsletter and keep an eye on our Cool Nonprofit Jobs section. At the bottom of each week's newsletter, you'll find ways to do your best good work ever.

"Keep it simple." Could it be that simple? Could changing the world be as simple as… keeping it simple?

When Bill Lutz says it, it seems obvious. Bill is the ED of New Path and Coach and President of Pinnacle Strategies—and he’s got an amazingly focused view when it comes to nonprofit leadership and fundraising.

But his advice to “keep it simple” isn’t as simple as it sounds. Bill recognizes that a great nonprofit leader does the work of building the structure and instilling discipline while passing along the simplified system to an empowered team. An illusion, that’s what “keeping it simple” is.

And even when they simplify, those same great nonprofit leaders continue learning. Speaking of learning, listen in as Bill explains how nonprofit leadership is like both baseball and poker, illustrates the value of preparing for future donors, and delivers the most valuable—and simple—advice of all.

Today, we’re catching up with Francesco Ambrogetti, Principal Adviser of Innovative and Alternative Finance for Children at UNICEF. A champion of innovation in funding and paradigm-shifting change, Francesco has pioneered new funding architectures like bank bonds to support fundraising, parametric insurance to cover children, the first outcome finance structure for polio, and socially-conscious ETFs.

The last time we talked to Francesco, we barely scratched the surface of the type of alternative funding that makes enormous change possible, fast. This time, though… get ready to get innovative.

Tune in to hear how social proof can affect fundraising, the effect of a mindset shift that takes donations from an afterthought to the forefront, and practical advice for championing alternative funding in an industry that’s slow to adopt innovation.

We're all looking for someone with answers. Ideally, someone who's been here before and can point us in the right direction. 

Problem is... this is all new. None of us have been here before. Who can lead us?

Why not you?

Justin Wheeler, Funraise CEO, and Vik Harrison, founder of The Branded Startup and co-founder of charity: water, are here to help you communicate clearly amidst the shouting and the sirens and the stir of our own thoughts.

Guide your nonprofit to wise decisions as you communicate

• How do we ask for donations without sounding insensitive?
• Will donors give to organizations that are not first responders?
• With all the uncertainty, are people still donating when they are focused on saving?
• Is my mission still important?

The world is looking at nonprofits just like yours and wondering how they can help. 

Show them the way.

What makes a leader visionary? How is visionary-ness developed and what does it look like in practice?

While the concept behind these questions seems nebulous, we’re talking today with someone who has concrete answers based on interactions with dozens of modern visionaries. Taylor Jones, Founder and CEO of Whiteboard.is, has stunningly simple advice on how anyone can develop their capacity for visionary leadership through practice and intentionality.

Whiteboard is a creative agency helping visionaries build a brighter future, in many cases through harnessing the internet for good—an intrinsically for-good concept. The formula they’ve perfected over a decade has resulted in a ripple of positivity turning into a wave of change.

Listen in to hear stories of visionary leaders, cautionary tales of ripple effects gone wrong, and the surprising books that have inspired leaders like Taylor and Justin.

Are you a visionary leader in the for-good space who wants to connect with your visionary peers? Apply to join Camp Redwood, a curated gathering for social impact founders and CEOs to focus on long-term thinking, innovation, and enduring growth.

Want more advice from Taylor? Peruse Whiteboard's book, Agency. 

Additional book mentioned, An Awesome Book.

Today’s guest doesn’t just skim us across the surface of AI in the nonprofit sector; he’s taking us to the forefront of the future of fundraising.

David Norris is a leader at three organizations that are making big things for nonprofits so they can make big things happen: Bold Crow, Proofpact, and The Nonprofit Hive all use trending technology to benefit the nonprofitsphere.

As soon as we said “trending technology”, you knew AI was joining the chat, didn’t you? You were right; we can’t talk about cutting-edge tech today without it. …But what’s there to talk about that you haven’t heard? We all know there are AI tools for almost everything—if you know where to look and how to integrate them.

And that’s where David Norris comes in. David builds custom AI agents and applications that address nonprofits’ specific needs. Stuff like automations that reduce weeks of work to 10 minutes and conversational AI guides that accompany you through the digital universe. David’s also sharing info you need around AI’s ethical considerations, explaining autonomous AGI agents, and predicting which roles will be most affected by artificial intelligence.

This conversation is a must-listen if you’re looking for a deep dive into the potential that AI will bring to the nonprofit sector, who artificial intelligence is affecting the most, and technology trends to keep your eyes on.

Shannon Scanlan is a champion of peer-to-peer fundraising. With an impressive career that has touched nearly every avenue of nonprofit fundraising, Shannon brings her expertise to the Nonstop Nonprofit podcast to break down top trends for P2P fundraising in 2023.

Listen in as Shannon talks to Justin about the untapped potential of P2P fundraising—and shares clever ideas to leverage P2P in new and innovative ways.

And if this episode gets you excited about P2P fundraising for your nonprofit organization, be sure to create your free Funraise account to get a head start on knocking those 2023 trends out of the park!

It’s a universal truth that people love to feel special. We all want to feel like we’re an indispensable part of something. It’s also true that each and every one of us has limitations on our time, money, and attention.

So with these realities coexisting, how can nonprofits interact with supporters on a personal level while not draining them of resources? Katelyn Baughan, nonprofit email marketing expert and consultant to Trevor Project, UNHCR, and Amnesty International, has more than a few tactics to share with Nonstop Nonprofit listeners.

As nonprofit fundraisers, you and I are used to feeling pressure to perform. It’s not uncommon for us to be told that without donations—literally our job, btw—our world will be a darker, sharper place. Katelyn’s antidote emphasizes speaking up during quieter moments, making magic happen in the harsh light of a screen, and elevating everyone’s experience through innovation.

So whether you’re in the thick of your busiest time of year or you’re a year-in-advance planner, Katelyn’s advice in this episode will help you use email to scale impact, retain donors, and align your communications—all while reminding you that you, too, are essential to our brighter tomorrow.

Sean Goode has a way of clearing up murky waters, idea-wise. Just one conversation with him makes previously sticky concepts seem obvious, possible, and right. As Sean would say, he focuses on possibilities instead of problems.

As the Executive Director of Choose 180, Sean's focus on transforming unjust systems led his organization to make an overdue-yet-unheard-of change in 2021: they moved to an organization-wide living wage policy. You heard that right; every employee at Choose 180 makes a living wage.

But rather than being a one-off problem-and-solution, Sean sees this as part of a larger journey toward justice. In this interview with Justin Wheeler, Funraise CEO and Co-founder, he points out that this step is exactly the type of injustice-busting action that his donors, engagement partners, and community are looking for—and they've stepped up to support Choose 180's choice.

Take a break and truly listen to what Sean is sharing in our conversation today. You'll walk away with clarity around his philosophy, "Philanthropy will follow" and the inspiration necessary to begin your own transformation.

Through Amplify Voices, Sean has a podcast of his own called (what else?) Possibilities Over Problems. Listen in as Sean exposes what success looks like in unorthodox ways.