The Nonprofit Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Join Jena as she explores the strategic facets of nonprofit tax receipts! She delves deep into positioning them not merely as a legal obligation but, more importantly, as a potent tool recognizing their value in fostering donor loyalty. Refine your nonprofit strategy by fully leveraging the potential of seamless tax receipts. Jena provides insights into meeting legal standards and...

Send us Fan Mail Nonprofit burnout!! 😩   Feeling the burn after a whirlwind Giving Season? You're not alone!  Burnout is a common problem for nonprofit leaders and workers, especially at the end of the year. But you can beat it with some simple and effective steps. In this episode of The Nonprofit Podcast, Cara will show you how to recognize the signs of burnout, take charge of your well-bei...

Send us Fan Mail Nonprofit Thank You Letters For Donations Are Important! Knowing your loyal donors are there to support your mission can take a lot of pressure off making a meaningful impact by meeting your fundraising goals. But, you have to acknowledge your donors with sincere gratitude, and what better way than a well-crafted, personalized letter?  A thank-you letter shows how your donor’s gif...

Send us Fan Mail Year-end giving brings a surge in support for many nonprofits, but the real game-changer lies in strategically retaining these hard-won donors. Join Cara and Jena for easily implemented pro tips on seamlessly transitioning first-time, seasonal donors into steadfast supporters for your cause.  From making them feel seen and heard - and appreciated - to educating them on your cause,...

Send us Fan Mail Dreading getting down to writing that Nonprofit Annual Report? Not sure how to get your donors engaged?  Struggling to share your nonprofit organization’s impact?  Today Cara’s guest, Chad Barger, founder of Productive Fundraising, has answers that will help you achieve all of those tasks with less stress, and , in one powerful process! Chad is passionate about the untapped potent...

Send us Fan Mail Didn’t plan in time, and missed out on Giving Tuesday?  Don’t panic, we’ve got you!  With our top tips to optimize Giving Season fundraising, there's still time to make a big impact on your year-end goals. With 31 days to go, Giving Season is packed with goodwill and seasonal generosity (accounting for about 20% of annual donations), and we have tips to make the most of every...

Send us Fan Mail Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃  In the spirit of the season, Cara is joined by 3 special guests from Global Sojourns Giving Circle, who put gratitude at the top of their list today, and every day! We first met founder Priscilla Plummer and mentor Gloria Mubita just over a year ago, when we explored how the GSGC operating model aligned with their mission. They empower young women and girls...

Send us Fan Mail Do you want to make the most of your year-end email campaign and boost your fundraising results? Email campaigns are a key element of successful year-end appeals.  So why aren’t they working for you?  Join Cara and Kara Schmid for a 20-minute best-practice deep dive into planning email campaigns with maximum impact, and minimum stress! Email marketing is a key tool for engaging an...

Send us Fan Mail It's all aboard for the ‘Big Ask’ as Giving Season kicks in, but is your Nonprofit Board pulling its weight?   Cara is joined by frontline fundraiser and coach, Adam Morgan, who shares key insights into catalyzing and maximizing the impact, information, and inspiration we expect from these key nonprofit team members. Dig into the benefits of effective and ethical Board Outrea...

Send us Fan Mail Planned Giving shouldn’t be mysterious! Despite many nonprofits having everything a planned giving program takes, they’re not making use of a game-changing source of income.  Are you one of them? Join Cara and Tony Martignetti, host of Nonprofit Radio and Planned Giving strategist, as they tackle the what, why, who, and when of creating a planned giving program for nonprofits and...

Send us Fan Mail Blank mind, blank screen, and your appeal has to go out today?   If your powers of persuasion disappear the second you sit down to draft your year-end appeal, take 10 minutes to break the block and get the job done right. Cara shares 3 keys to unlocking powerful, personalized appeals that reach the hearts and minds of your donors.  Tweak your appeal letter writing with these three...

Send us Fan Mail A good tool improves the way you work. A great tool improves the way you think!  This 20-minute in-depth dive into everything a powerful online Giving Season toolkit needs, from strategies and software to top-performing techniques, sets you up for success this Giving Season. Join Cara and Jena for expert advice on building a campaign anchored in four foundational fundraising metho...

Send us Fan Mail Fundraising campaigns that incorporate video receive over 110% more funding than campaigns that don’t. So, why aren’t we all using video? Because gathering content is hard! Not unlike herding cats, according to nonprofits who have recognized the value but have been unable to create a content collection process that works. Carly Euler, Marketing Manager at Memory Fox, a platform th...

Send us Fan Mail In 2023 Giving Tuesday donations could reach up to $5.1 billion.  Are you ready to make the most of this wave of worldwide generosity for your organization? Cara and Lindsey Baker Bower tackle how to make your Giving Tuesday planning as easy as possible.  Covering five critical Must-Do steps for a successful strategy, they set out a well-paced plan to optimize every element for me...

Send us Fan Mail "30% of annual giving takes place in December, but making the ‘Smart Ask’ takes year-round planning - True or False? How many times have you heard that 30% stat in the last two weeks? Or, that 10% of year-end donations happen in the last 3 days of the year? Enough to make you break a sweat if Giving Season is one of those tasks you’ve postponed for the last nine months, we’ll...

Send us Fan Mail Everyone knows it’s easier to hold on to donors than find new ones, but how can you hold onto donors or win them back if you don’t know who they are? 😕 LYBUNT describes donors who gave “last year but unfortunately, not this year”, something we’ve all been hearing more often than we would like in the current economic environment. But, here’s the bright side. These are not disaffec...

Send us Fan Mail It’s that time of year again!  So, are you going to procrastinate, panic, or perfect your year-end giving campaign?   30% of all donations are made in December!  As enticing as that sounds to any nonprofit fundraiser, it also means having your campaign ducks lined up and ready to go long before November rolls around and Giving Season gets into gear. For all nonprofits, year-end ca...

Send us Fan Mail ⚠️ Do you struggle to communicate your nonprofit’s mission and impact online? If you have ever wondered how successful nonprofits get their mission and impact message across online with such clarity, join Jena and Zach Thanasilangkul for 20 minutes and change your nonprofit’s trajectory. Digging into frameworks and formulas that help clarify and hone brand awareness messaging for...

Send us Fan Mail Are you unsure about crypto and stock donations and how they can benefit your organization? Spend just 20 minutes with Alex Wilson, co-founder of The Giving Block , and gain the knowledge you need to make an informed decision. Today's donors are looking for modern and diverse ways to give. Alex and Cara discuss the benefits of accepting cryptocurrency and stock donations, whi...

Send us Fan Mail 🎙️ Finding the line between nonprofit advocacy and political action can be tricky! ⚖️   Discover how to navigate the sometimes blurred line between sharing the value of your mission and actively lobbying to influence legislation.  Join Jena and Lindsey Baker Bower to learn about the importance of nonprofit advocacy and how it can potentially affect your tax exemption status if it...

Send us Fan Mail Refresh your stewardship and donor retention strategies in just 6 minutes! Join Cara for four foundational learnings to retain the donors you’ve worked so hard to gain.  The busiest time of the year is on its way, so before we’re swamped with year-end strategies, appeals, and campaigns, take a moment to refresh your stewardship and donor retention strategies. Heading into Giving S...

Send us Fan Mail Does your nonprofit marketing feel like a guessing game?   If you are a nonprofit startup this is an absolute must-listen!  Jena and Zach Thanasilangkul, communications coach and founder of Mission Driven Impact, tackle six practical questions nonprofits need to answer to clarify their message, define their donor journey, and attract an engaged audience.  Mission Driven Impact hel...

Send us Fan Mail Keeping supporters informed and engaged is critical for donor retention! Donor stewardship is the key to building lasting relationships with your supporters and growing your nonprofit. Successful stewardship needs coordinated, authentic activities that keep pace with each stage of the donor journey, from thank-you notes to phone calls and more.  Keeping track of all these tasks an...

Send us Fan Mail True influence is about leveraging authenticity. No one knows this better than Nick Lynch, co-founder, and CEO of Collidescope.io, a social media measurement and data analytics platform that helps nonprofits, influencers, and organizations to collaborate and measure their impact on social causes. Join Nick and Cara for 20-minute dive into the power of social media influencers to d...

Send us Fan Mail 📨 How quickly do you thank your supporters for their generosity? Within 24 hours? After 48? ⏳ What happens when you treat your valuable, hard-won supporters like a number?  Short answer , nothing good .  Today, generic platitudes just don’t cut it! Prompt and personalized acknowledgment of a donation with a receipt and a heartfelt note can be the beginning of a long and fruitful...