I've always wanted to grab a gift officer right in the middle of donor visits and ask "how's it going." On this episode, Mike Herdlick from Tiffin University joins the podcast, live from a Hampton Inn. He was a professor, a Dean, and now he's a fundraiser. We talk about how relationships matter in getting appointments and boosting excitement about giving. And, how student affairs and teaching experience apply to our work in philanthropy. Check out Tiffin University

Our boards, who give us advice, guidance and often, big gifts, are an important area of support in our advancement efforts. But we're not doing great with diversity on our boards. Just 22% of board members nationwide coming from underrepresented backgrounds. We have work to do. GHJ and the GHJ Foundation have been hard at work on this issue, and we got on the line with Donella Wilson and Derrick Coleman from GHK to talk about key strategies to build an inclusive and engaged board.

Find out more about the GHJ Foundation

Meet Derrick Coleman

Meet Donella Wilson

Crypto donations have become a hot topic in philanthropy. The incredible growth in crypto token popularity and value, along some significant incentive give in order to manage taxes means we’re all going to see more crypto donors in the coming years.

And the cool thing is, these donors often work together. That’s what happened when a diverse group of donors participated in the largest charitable crowdfunding campaign ever, Constitution Dao, and raised over $40 million to bid on one of the 13 original copies of the constitution. Their representative was Endaoment, and I’m excited to welcome Robbie Heeger, President and CEO to the podcast to talk about the effort, and to get some insights into how we can embrace this growing group of entrepreneurial, social and action-focused crypto donors. Find our more about Endaoment

 

Creating great donor event experiences can go a long way toward inspiring philanthropy. Bob Westfall at Westfall Gold has helped inspire over $1B in gift commitments with their unique event strategy. Truly inspiring donors with the opportunity to make a transformative impact, giving them time to reflect, including great experiences, and surrounding donors with a community of like-minded givers is key. Bob breaks it down in this conversation.

Find out more about Westfall Gold.

Creating a positive environment for our fundraising teams is crucial to our success. How inclusive we are, how we behave as leaders, and how we value and support members of our teams makes a big difference.

Maryann Kerr, a fundraiser with a ton of experience, has just released a groundbreaking new book, Tarnished, on this topic. It combines research, the experiences of fundraisers, and Maryann’s own story to ask key questions about how we can do better in how we treat members of our teams and networks. I got on the line with Maryann to preview the book, and get her take on how we can 'untarnish' fundraising in the future.

You can order Tarnished here.

Donors want to make an impact. And when we think about transformative interventions, cleft palate and cleft lip surgery has incredible impact – literally changing lives of the recipients. Operation Smile has been around almost 40 years, providing this life-changing care.

We got on the line with Joanne Bowers, Lauren Lemmons, and Amber Leonti from Operation Smile, and the team shares how they have transformed donor engagement, kept engaged during the pandemic, and even made the decision to accept cryptocurrency donations.

Find out more about Operation Smile

That thing we used to call phonathon has changed. It’s now about engagement, and the place where that happens is the engagement center. Every day, hundreds of locations across the US and Canada (with a lot of remote activity too), fuels the philanthropic outreach for great institutions. And the people driving the engagement are our engagement center managers, who organize texting, video, calling and other outreach with student engagement ambassadors.

We got four of these rockstar fundraising engineers on the line to talk about what it’s like to run a modern engagement center, and tech-enabled engagement program. Here’s the conversation with David Fullenwiley, Lucy Heady, Savannah Lammers, and Joe Arra who are right on the front lines.

A job where you get to be part of a couple of teams, motivate young people, use data, new technology, and all for a good cause? We always have ECM positions available, across the country. So, if you or someone you know is up for this sort of challenge, check it out. It could be the next step in a great career with challenge and purpose. Head over to RuffaloNL.com and check out these and other great positions, and maybe join the team. We’ll be watching for your application.

Jim Harris, Assistant Director of Annual Giving at Ohio University joins the podcast with RNL's Theresa Jubert to talk about the power of crowdfunding to engage donors. Jim brings a wealth of experience and insights as a marketing and communications expert.

Ohio U set records for alumni engagement last year, and one part of that was the creation of Bobcats Give, launching with 16 initial campaigns.

Check out Bobcats Give at Ohio University, powered by RNL ScaleFunder.

One of the world’s top giving expert, Dr. Russell James from Texas Tech University joins MarketSmart’s Greg Warner to give a rundown on how some of the key research on donor decisions impacts our work as fundraisers.

A key goal in our donor engagement is tell the donor’s story, or better yet: let the donors tell their own story. Research shows that this is a key component in increasing giving, and it provides greater joy and a better donor experience.

Dr. James has a new book series out that explores these concepts. You can find out more at:

https://imarketsmart.com/donorstory

RNL's AJ Pennington offers insights from two decades of experience in talent management. AJ offers advice on how to assemble and submit a good application, key tips for the application process, and what it's like to work at RNL.

Check out the latest job postings at RNL

Marc A. Pitman, CSP®, The Fundraising Coach, joins the podcast to talk about how we've all adapted this year, the power of investing in your personal development, and key things fundraisers need to do as we transform donor engagement going forward.

Marc says: It's about finding your unique style. His new book, "The Surprising Gift of Doubt," challenges the ways we look at fundraising. Marc says, the questions you're asking may be as important as the answers. We're pulled in many directions as fundraisers, and our doubts tell us things about how we can best engage donors.

Find our more about Marc at FundraisingCoach.com