Good Fundraising Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Budgets: love them, loathe them, fear them--they are an unavoidable part of fundraising.  And they don't have to be dreaded.  If done well, the annual budget process can help your organization align on priorities, set clear goals, and plan ahead for future years.

Fundraising veterans Erica O'Brien and Courtney Lewis have helped clients budget better for decades.  Now, at Fuse Fundraising (formerly MindSet Direct), they continue to support everything from integrated direct response programs, to the optimization of high-value and monthly-giving programs. 

Welcome back to Season 2 of the Good Fundraising Podcast.  Today I am speaking with Kirsten Bunch--coach, speaker, bestselling author, and former fundraiser--about mental fitness and why it's so important.

Kirsten is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach™ with hundreds of hours of coaching experience.  She incorporates neuroscience-based practices and adult developmental theory into her programs, and importantly for this audience she understands the challenges of this sector.  Before she was a coach, Kirsten worked for decades in global development.

If you are interested in working on your own mental fitness, Kirsten is offering a discount to Good Fundraising Podcast listeners for her next workshop coming up in April.  Go to   https://www.kirstenbunch.com/fundraisers to learn more and enroll. 

I have some great guests lined up for this season, and as always if you have an idea for a topic or interview, please email me at hello@goodfundraising.net.

It's our very first Ask the Fundraiser!  Fundraising experts Karin Kirchoff and Jennifer Deerr from K2D Strategies answer fundraising questions submitted by you.

There were so many great submissions, we've broken this into two knowledge-packed episodes, so join us later this month for part 2.

Giving has been up for many organizations, but revenue alone doesn't tell the whole story.

As the COVID pandemic unfolded, the team at Blakely and their partners began surveying donors in Canada and the U.S.  Kimberley Blease, EVP at Blakely, joins me to discuss the findings of their latest survey through the end of May.

Resources:

You can find recordings of Blakely's webinars and findings on donor sentiments during COVID on their website.

Fundraising events canceled?  You're in good company, but in the age of zoom you have more options than ever before.

 I'm joined by Oliver Hibbs, Director, Digital and Strategy Integration at Blakely Inc, to discuss strategy for how to not only bring your offline events online but also to engage new groups of donors with virtual event options.

Resources:

Digital engagement in 2020 and Beyond from Blakely

Creating an Amazing Donor Experience from Blakely

To change or not to change your CRM.  It's a question more and more nonprofit groups are facing. What should you consider before making such a big investment in time and money?

In this episode, I speak with Smita Vandakekalam, COO and Senior Strategist at Heller Consulting, about how she helps nonprofits navigate decisions surrounding CRM changes, and Heller's new white paper on the topic.

Resources from Heller:

What to consider before replacing your CRM

Nonprofit CRM pricing

Combating burnout during a CRM implementation

Between COVID, long-overdue social justice reforms, and record unemployment it's tempting to settle for the "ok" or "good enough" job right now.  But you can still take the reins of your career and make steps towards better--yes, even now.

I'm joined by Amy Koop, a career coach who will share some thoughts and frameworks for approaching professional challenges and change.

Amy has had a bit of a unique career, with 20+ years of experience in the marketing agency world, including 6 years leading the nonprofit vertical for PMX Agency out of NYC, during which time she co-chaired the DMA Nonprofit Federation Conference and was a frequent speaker at nonprofit industry events.  She made a pivot in her career a few years ago, moving from NYC to San Francisco to lead PMX's retail digital marketing team, and for the past 3 years she's been with InnerWorkings agency, where she leads the Retail & Consumer Packaged Goods vertical supporting brands like adidas, Levi's and Nestle.  She's a Co-Active Trained Career and Life Coach as well, taking on a small number of clients on a referral basis and leading workshops on topics like Life Purpose and Career Planning.

Resources:

• Amy's coaching website is www.mindsetpilots.com. 
• Martha Beck at marthabeck.com.  
• Designing Your Life, which is the model out of the Stanford Design Lab 
• Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, and she has a great blog and podcast. 
• Brene Brown – any of her TedTalks or her book The Gifts of Imperfection or Dare to Lead are wonderful.  
• Another book recommended for people who are challenged by feelings  of insecurity or negative self-talk which is called “Positive  Intelligence” by Shirzad Chamine.  
• Meditation apps: 10% Happier, Calm, Headspace

Are you getting questions from leadership about whether or not you could make TV work for your organization?  Or maybe you think now is the time to take the leap but you don't have puppies, kittens, or millions of dollars to invest so you think it's off the table?

I'm joined by Adrian White Slagle of Full Hearts who shares her extensive experience in the channel and demystifies some of the less visible aspects of a successful TV program.  We talk about audiences, investments, creative and how changes in media delivery might make taking the leap more possible now than ever before.

Resources:

IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau). Their mission is to empower the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy.  This is an important resource for performance-based marketers to find info and "keep up" with the evolution of marketing:

https://www.iab.com/ 

 iSpot.tv is a great resources for exploring what kind of creative is out there. There are DR and brand advertising spots as well as PSAs. 

https://www.ispot.tv/browse 

Full Hearts was founded in September 2019 and is made up of a team of professionals with an average of 20 years experience, each. With direct marketing and brand advertising backgrounds on both the nonprofit and commercial side, this hybrid agency structure brings the best of two worlds to clients to meet their individual needs: a focused, dedicated core team plus expansive agency resources through partnerships.

http://withfullhearts.com/

Nick Ellinger joins me to talk about why and how to start a donor-centric fundraising approach in your program.  Nick is the Chief Brand Officer of Moore and author of The New Nonprofit: Six Models to Raise More Money.

To hear more from Nick please check out his blog for Moore at mooredmgroup.com/blog, and you can purchase his book on Amazon.

Got an idea for a topic?  Let me know at hello@goodfundraising.net!

In this episode I recount some long-simmering thoughts about the bad habits non-profit leadership can get stuck in, if there's hope for change as the sector grapples with  fundraising and covid-19 response, and why it's important to try new things in our ways of working.

Starting with our next "real" episode I'll be bringing you interviews with nonprofit thought leaders on a range of topics including when and how to launch new channels and what they might be, diversity in senior leadership, how funding impacts organization culture, and why so many of us talk a good game about donor-centric fundraising but aren't really doing it.  

Got an idea for a topic?  Let me know at hello@goodfundraising.net!