When my guest on this episode of What the Fundraising peers into the future, she sees a world in which well-being isn’t an afterthought but the centerpiece of creativity, innovation, and productivity. As Co-Founder and CEO at Quan, Arosha Brouwer is creating a platform to support sustainable workplace environments through science-based inquiry and behavioral insight. Whether in a for-profit or nonprofit context, the focus is on measuring team and individual performance not just by net productivi...
Jan 03, 2023•39 min•Season 4Ep. 98
This episode is a quick personal note from me to you. It includes some recap, a look ahead and what I am thinking about for the sector and fundraisers in 2023 and beyond. It also includes my deep gratitude for you, this community, our guests and our amazing sponsors. Some of the episodes I highlight in the recap include: Britt Frank - THE SCIENCE OF STUCK & HOW TO MOVE FORWARD IN YOUR FUNDRAISING Gabriel Kram - TRUE SELF-CARE: TENDING TO COMMUNITY, ANCESTRY, AND OUR NERVOUS SYSTEMS Ruthie Li...
Dec 20, 2022•11 min•Season 3Ep. 97
It’s easy to feel intimidated – or even a little clueless – when it comes to leveraging potential funding sources like stock, cryptocurrency, ETFs, or IRAs. But when we’re avoidant, says my guest on this episode of What the Fundraising, we’re leaving money on the table. Vance Roush, Founder & CEO at Overflow isn’t suggesting that people running nonprofits need to become experts in any of these non-cash vehicles. We just need to partner well! That’s why this former Google employee, who recent...
Dec 16, 2022•33 min•Season 3Ep. 96
Note the disparity: while commercial businesses have a near 90% returning customers, the nonprofit sector has a staggering 40-45%. Surprising? Then you’ll want to spend some time with Jay Love, Co-Founder of Bloomerang, and my guest on this episode of What the Fundraising. After 11 years as the CEO and Co-Founder of eTapestry, Jay started Bloomerang specifically to address the donor retention issues we have in the nonprofit sector. In addition to our talk about donor retention, you’ll get insigh...
Dec 15, 2022•28 min•Season 3Ep. 95
Giving Circles have been around as a concept since the 1980s, but in combination with new technologies, those circles are wider and more generous than ever before. As we learn from Emily Rasmussen, my guest on this episode of What the Fundraising, having a platform around which to congregate strengthens the communities that are fueling movements. She founded Grapevine in 2018 specifically to facilitate multiple small donations – maximizing their impact and helping to connect the dots between peo...
Dec 14, 2022•25 min•Season 3Ep. 94
Have you met people in the fundraising space who think tech is a silver bullet? And because of that, they invest a lot of time and resources in making decisions around the tech adoption and fail to anticipate the implementation of the tech solution. It’s quite common, and the truth is that I was guilty of it as an Executive Director too. But we need to start talking about technology differently, as an facilitator and support system, with fundraiser enablement at the center of the product. And th...
Dec 13, 2022•26 min•Season 3Ep. 93
How’s your data hygiene? No need to panic! As we learn on this episode of What the Fundraising, our metrics don’t need to be perfect. In fact, according to my guest, Nejeed Kassam, Founder & CEO of Keela and Co-Founder of Fundraising Kit, missteps and gaps are a given. But that’s not the bigger problem here. The first hurdle is the tendency to bury our heads in the sand. Prone to perfectionism, many of us in the nonprofit world are afraid that our data isn’t pristine enough, and our numbers ...
Dec 12, 2022•30 min•Season 3Ep. 92
15 years ago Lynne Twists’ first book - The Soul of Money - completely changed the trajectory of my life, and it became the foundation for much of the work I do today. It is one of my greatest honors to get to interview someone on What the Fundraising who has been so instrumental in changing the course of my life and my relationship with money. Over the course of her extraordinary 40-year career, Lynne Twist has been recognized as a global visionary whose innovative ideas challenge received wisd...
Dec 06, 2022•57 min•Season 3Ep. 91
What might happen if we removed the veil and said that no one was a fundraising expert? I think it might lead to a lot more fundraisers trusting their gut, taking risks, testing, and realizing that their constant learning around fundraising is what matters - not being an ‘expert’. That’s what I’m talking about in this episode of What the fundraising with Tim Kachuriak, Chief Innovation & Optimization Officer at The NextAfter Institute. In the conversation, he highlights the forensic research...
Dec 01, 2022•42 min•Season 3Ep. 90
Today’s episode of What the Fundraising is a conversation with Emmie Erickson, my 3-year-old daughter. For months Emmie has been asking me to ‘make a podcast’ and I decided that GivingTuesday would be a great time for Emmie to read you her favorite book - I Am: Book of Reminders by Juana Medina. There are affirmations inside this book that feel particularly important to remind you of this GivingTuesday. Plus, scientific studies demonstrate that we release all sorts of feel-good chemicals when we...
Nov 29, 2022•5 min•Season 3Ep. 82
Are you ready to get uncomfortable? Whether in the nonprofit sector or the entrepreneurial startup space, my guest on this episode of What the Fundraising is advocating for a growth mindset that says “okay!” to rejection, makes friends with Imposter Syndrome and just says no to self-critic noise. Estelle Giraud, CEO & Co-Founder of Trellis Health, demonstrates the power of honoring ourselves – even when important funding conversations go south. Pitching a comprehensive health data platform i...
Nov 22, 2022•39 min•Season 3Ep. 88
Can you imagine a vibrant social impact marketplace built on outcomes-based data? My guest on this episode of What the Fundraising certainly can – because that’s exactly the platform he and his team at 60 Decibels are building out. CEO & Co-Founder Sasha Dichter explains the why behind creating a foundation for genuine benchmarks and repeatability when it comes to measuring nonprofit results. The goal is to give organizations a window into how their programs are performing relative to peers ...
Nov 15, 2022•30 min•Season 3Ep. 87
You could sit back and relax if only you had a big celebrity attached to your nonprofit, right? Well not quite, as my guest on this episode of What the Fundraising explains. For all her professional skills and the competent staff behind Usher's New Look, President & CEO Careshia Moore still works hard to keep the organization financially healthy, vibrant and strong. Even with the deep, long-term involvement of a major performer like Usher Raymond IV and his mother, Jonetta Patton, no organiz...
Nov 08, 2022•39 min•Season 3Ep. 86
In this episode of What The Fundraising, James Citron, Founder and CEO of Pledge, shares his top advice for nonprofits wanting to dream big and launch partnerships with companies. Having founded and/or led the growth of three of the largest mobile messaging and engagement companies in the United States and the world, James took a leap of faith eight years ago when he decided to dedicate his life to helping the world on a bigger scale: by creating Pledge, a fundraising platform powered by the gen...
Nov 04, 2022•24 min•Season 3Ep. 85
Here’s a thought: What if we had a platform for nonprofit grant writing like the online Common App that colleges and universities have adopted with such great success? That was similar to the initial inspiration for my guest on this episode of What the Fundraising, Gauri Manglik. Gauri is the CEO and Co-founder of Instrumentl, a platform that brings grant discovery, research, and tracking to one place. With Instrumentl, development staff are more effective and efficient at finding the right gran...
Nov 03, 2022•28 min•Season 3Ep. 84
Want to build trust with donors at first glance? That’s what happens when you have a solid, user-friendly platform like the one my guest, Justin Wheeler, has developed. As he shares in this episode of What the Fundraising, years of field experience are baked into Funraise, a digital ecosystem that streamlines nonprofit messaging and fundraising. Their state-of-the-art tool is designed to help nonprofits acquire donors at scale by tapping all the traditional and new fundraising channels available...
Nov 02, 2022•25 min•Season 3Ep. 83
SEO. The mention of those three little letters sends many of us in the nonprofit sector scurrying for cover. But spend a little time with my guest on this episode of What the Fundraising and I promise you’ll feel empowered to explore all things Search Engine Optimization! Rafi Norberg, President of Nexus Marketing, walks us through what it means to raise your online profile and shares some great (free!) tools to get even the most tech-phobic among us started. You’ll be interested in hearing how ...
Nov 01, 2022•30 min•Season 3Ep. 82
The truth is, all limiting beliefs aside, we can make giving fun. And Max Friedman and the team at Givebutter are proving this to be true each and every day. They have created a crowdfunding platform that seeks to raise funds that will empower the next generation of changemakers. In this episode of What the Fundraising I get to talk to Max about his entrepreneurial journey, from starting in his college dorm room, to what it’s like to be a 27 year old leader of a rising tech company. There are so...
Oct 31, 2022•27 min•Season 3Ep. 81
Here’s a data point worth highlighting: Dollars invested in female-founded startups offer an average 63% better return on investment than those with male founders. That’s not merely anecdotal, says my guest on this episode of What the Fundraising. Katica Roy, a Gender Economist, and CEO at Pipeline Equity, has all the stats and research to back up her assertions about intersectional inequity and its many costs – both social and economic. Her powerful Pipeline platform operationalizes gender equi...
Oct 25, 2022•44 min•Season 3Ep. 80
We’ve all been there: Ghosted by a donor and wondering why, why, why? My guest on this episode of What the Fundraising is showing us how to redirect our minds, dismantling the reflexive responses that play in our heads and inhabit our bodies. Britt Frank, a somatic psychotherapist, trauma expert, and author of "The Science of Stuck: Breaking Through Inertia to Find Your Path Forward," walks us through the many ways in which our reactions (and overreactions) are embedded within our bodies. Becaus...
Oct 18, 2022•50 min•Season 3Ep. 79
Are you a changemaker? The call to action on this episode of What the Fundraising is rooted in the notion that we can all be leaders of the change we seek. Alex Budak, a faculty member at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, believes leadership is ripe for redefinition – and has data to prove it! He walks us through how the human tendency to maintain the status quo impacts social change and why the greatest CEOs tend to balance confidence with a lot of humility. We’re also hearing all about ...
Oct 13, 2022•46 min•Season 3Ep. 78
Perfectionism can be sneaky. We think we’re just working hard, doing our best, and tirelessly serving others. And we are. But, as my guest on this episode of What the Fundraising points out, there can also be a lot of ego driving our behaviors and it needs to be explored. Kamilah Martin, Founder & CEO of Katalyst Consulting Group, leverages her decades of nonprofit experience to help align leaders in the sector – especially those whose organizations are experiencing transition. We are untang...
Oct 11, 2022•37 min•Season 3Ep. 77
We are looking at leadership strengths through a feminine lens on this episode of What the Fundraising with my guest, Natalie Rekstad. As Founder and CEO at Black Fox Philanthropy, Natalie is mobilizing resources in all kinds of innovative ways and – as importantly – makes them open source and welcoming to even the smallest organizations to tap a wealth of wisdom. In the process of helping domestic nonprofits and international NGOs build capacities and strengthen their leadership frameworks, Nat...
Oct 04, 2022•48 min•Season 3Ep. 76
What does it look like to come from a place of wholeness – fully embodied and aligned with our core values? And why is it so hard in this day and age to feel whole? In this episode of What the Fundraising, we start that conversation with an understanding of our nervous systems. Today’s guest, Gabriel Kram, is a convener of The Restorative Practices Alliance, Co-Founder of the Academy of Applied Social Medicine, and Founder and CEO of Hearth Science, Inc. In this conversation, Gabriel explains th...
Sep 27, 2022•45 min•Season 3Ep. 75
Political fundraising versus nonprofit fundraising. They might be very different animals, but there are still common lessons to be learned. My guest on this episode of What the Fundraising is offering fascinating insights into what does – and doesn’t – work when it comes to attracting and retaining a loyal donor base. A certified NationBuilder expert, Ian Patrick Hines knows how to leverage game-changing tools and why it’s important to differentiate between high-pressure, quick conversion campai...
Sep 23, 2022•44 min•Season 3Ep. 74
Feel like getting outside your box? Then spend some time with Mariam Nusrat, my guest on this episode of What the Fundraising! A lightbulb realization during her 12-year frontlines career working on educational policy and behavioral change in developing countries for the World Bank has transformed her into a video games visionary. As Founder and CEO of GRID (Gaming Revolution for International Development), she has unleashed a not-for-profit platform that is democratizing mobile games, advocatin...
Sep 22, 2022•51 min•Season 3Ep. 73
Many nonprofits are exploring a shift away from old-school donor-centric fundraising, but are unclear about what that would look like. In this episode of What the Fundraising, Erica Chomsky-Adelson is sharing the compelling, community-centric alternative she and her team at Culture Aid NOLA (CAN) have put in place. Born at the height of the pandemic, their non-traditional food bank knits donors, volunteers, and guests together in a vibrant ecosystem of mutual support. With demand higher than eve...
Sep 21, 2022•44 min•Season 3Ep. 72
Your head will spin with the data-driven insights and post-pandemic strategies my guest has to share on this jam-packed episode of What the Fundraising. Woodrow Rosenbaum, Chief Data Officer at GivingTuesday, brings a powerful lens on fundraising based on his previous career in commercial marketing as well as the detailed metrics he’s constantly scanning for clues to donor behavior. In large part because of the COVID-19 global impact and response, many of the nonprofit world’s old-school models,...
Sep 20, 2022•44 min•Season 3Ep. 71
My guest on this episode of What the Fundraising is challenging all of us to throw out self-limiting beliefs in favor of playfulness and transparency. Simone Seol, a coach, and host of The Joyful Marketing Podcast, shows us what it can look like to step away from self-doubt, fear of rejection, and perfectionism. “How we get to show up is our decision,” she says. “You get what you think you deserve and you call in who you speak to.” This is such a powerful message for nonprofits whose goal is to ...
Sep 13, 2022•47 min•Season 3Ep. 70
After last week’s episode with Seth Godin, we wanted to dig deeper into the marketing and content side of nonprofit fundraising. And this next episode definitely delivers. As nonprofits, we are constantly scrambling to come up with fresh, compelling stories to illustrate our missions, but are we being mindful? On this episode of What the Fundraising we’re pausing to take a hard look at content – and the harms our words can inadvertently cause. My guest Natalia Sanyal is applying a humanity-cente...
Sep 06, 2022•47 min•Season 3Ep. 69
