The Nonprofit Podcast

Send us Fan Mail ♻️Turning the forward-thinking potential of reverse logistics into a force for good!💲 For over 30 years, Travis Walls and WIN Warehouse have been empowering nonprofits to save more so they can serve more.  Today Cara chats to Travis to unpack how an innovative approach to reverse logistics has turned excess inventory into a force for good. By offering nonprofits significant savin...

Send us Fan Mail 💻 Being busy doesn’t mean being productive!  📊 Today Cara tackles how to get those high-value tasks that keep sliding down your To Do list done as you try to cram as much as possible into your day. So if you feel like you are always one step behind no matter how hard you are working, you owe it to yourself to take 10 minutes out for excellent advice on techniques and tech to hel...

Send us Fan Mail 🕵️ Looking for ways to make the most of every donation opportunity? 📈 Join us for 5 strategies to optimize your online giving that deliver a great giving experience for your donors, and boost your bottom line.  Today we cover 5 key donation-driving best practices, from setting up an engaging donation page to leveraging the power of recurring donations.  Plus tips on how best to s...

Send us Fan Mail 🔭Looking for strategies to reverse the decline in online giving?  Here are three tactics to set you on an upward trajectory! ☝️ Nonprofit fundraising is rewarding, but challenging, especially today. Online revenue for the average nonprofit decreased by 4% in 2022, and the trend continues in 2023.  What’s behind this drop-off, and how can you turn it around? In this episode, we di...

Send us Fan Mail ⚠️ Acquiring new donors is important, but nurturing recurring donors can provide stability and growth for your nonprofit. So where do you focus your resources, and why? 🔭 Today Cara and Jena set out a strategic approach you can put into play as we head into the summer slump. From discussing how to analyze donor-giving trends, and prioritize donor retention, to implementing tips t...

Send us Fan Mail ☀️Summertime and the giving ain’t easy! Join us today for 5 quick tips to sharpen your strategy and tackle the year-end Giving Season with cool-headed confidence.😎 From personalized donor communications to tackling team and leadership upskilling, creating fresh donation-driving content, plus whipping your website into shape, we’ve got you ! Packed with Pro-Tips and tactics to set...

Send us Fan Mail Are you ready to shake up your annual report to showcase your impact and win over donors? 📈 Today we declutter the path to effective annual reporting! Sharing tips and tricks on how to craft a compelling annual report that will boost your organization’s donor retention, transparency, and credibility.  Cara and Jena discuss techniques to confidently navigate the complexity of nonp...

Send us Fan Mail Not achieving your full fundraising potential?  It’s time for a development audit!📃 No need to call in the accountants though, this is all about maxing out the undeveloped capabilities and capacities within your organization!  A development audit looks at your data, systems, structures, and staffing and provides a clear view of your organization’s fundraising potential.  Today Ca...

Send us Fan Mail 🙏 Are you ready to turn ‘Thank You’ into revenue? 📈 Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things human beings can do for each other, and one of the most effective ways to gain, retain, or reconnect with donors!   Setting aside time to let your donors, current, new, or lapsed, know just how much their support means to your organization just makes sense! No on...

Send us Fan Mail Is it time to revamp your nonprofit’s efficiency? It’s a task we all put off, but now is the perfect time to tidy up your nonprofit’s systems with these pro tips, zeroing in on saving time, and money, plus enhancing efficiency at every level of your organization. From why nonprofit audits don’t have to be an anxiety-inducing nightmare, to maximizing your Board’s leadership potenti...

Send us Fan Mail Fresh trends, tips, and tactics from the fundraising frontlines! Never underestimate the strategic opportunities of conferences for fundraisers!  To fully understand the demands and changing realities of successful nonprofit fundraising, we headed to AFP Icon 2023 to explore what’s on offer.   And we can say without a doubt, this year, a lot is changing! After spending time networ...

Send us Fan Mail AI is everywhere at the moment and everyone has an opinion on how it has and will continue to impact nonprofit fundraising.  So we sat down with Shawn Olds, the Chief Executive Officer of boodleAI, the leading machine learning peer-to-peer platform empowering nonprofits to connect with, and engage, new donors and supporters, to hear just what to expect in the future, and how to ma...

Send us Fan Mail How can AI get you in front of the right prospective donors? Shawn Olds, the Chief Executive Officer of boodle. AI, is back with us for the second of two discussions thoroughly interrogating how AI helps organizations achieve significant lifts in conversion, engagement, and retention rates.   Today Shawn takes Cara through a deeper dive into the opportunities that open up when you...

Send us Fan Mail Summer is almost here - Are you ready for your quarterly strategy check?   As we head into the second quarter of the year we’re taking a moment to reflect, refocus, and realign the fundamentals that underpin successful fundraising strategies. Dipping into some real ‘mic drop moments’ from our most popular episodes Jena lifts up 5 key learnings to help you review your non-profit’s...

Send us Fan Mail No one really enjoys digging through dirty data but the benefits are worth the effort! So, what exactly will a data spring clean do for your summer fundraising?   Deliver a tightly segmented, personalized campaign based on solid donor relationships and key supporter insights, for starters!   Join Cara for a review of must-do tasks for superior summer campaigning, starting with why...

Send us Fan Mail Maximizing The Value Of Virtual Events. With virtual fundraising events here to stay, today’s show guides you through optimizing every element of your fundraiser.  Navigating virtual events is all about strategy, communication, and the tools in your tech stack.   From CRM integrations, ticketing, and email marketing tools that collect donations in real-time, to securing corporate...

Send us Fan Mail Have we really said goodbye to virtual events?   Or have fundraisers discovered a neat way to gain extra fundraising and awareness opportunities by supplementing in-person events with a virtual component? There’s a strong case to be made that virtual events are here to stay, so today we tackle some of the key questions you need to ask when deciding whether or not to add a virtual...

Send us Fan Mail Looking for ways to make your fundraising easier, save time but still raise more money? From easier account navigation with our new dashboard to inclusive accessibility, Donorbox has been steadily adding features, tools, and resources to help grow your nonprofit.  Join us to take a look at four Donorbox features that have made nonprofit fundraising easier i n the last three months...

Send us Fan Mail 56% of donors regularly attend fundraising events and + 84% of event fundraising pledges are fulfilled.  Just two reasons events are an annual fundraising mainstay! So it's no surprise that many nonprofits are hard at work planning as we head into the busiest time of year for fundraising events.  But , are you making the best decision for your organization?  A big bang event...

Send us Fan Mail Think golf fundraisers are old hat and more work than they are worth?  Think again! One in nine Americans plays golf!  The average player has a net worth of $768,000 and is aged between 25 and 55 , the group with the highest spending power. So, why aren’t you tapping into this prime donor demographic? Jena is joined by Jeffrey Brown, Chief Marketing and Development Officer at STE(...

Send us Fan Mail Turning crisis into opportunity takes planning and a well-developed strategy!   With rising inflation and dropping donor numbers, most nonprofits are already feeling the pinch of a tightening economy, especially coming hard on the heels of the pandemic.  As unnerving as this is, experience has shown that an economic downturn can be turned to your advantage with the right systems a...

Send us Fan Mail Donor-centered communication has been one of the keys to unlocking growth, funding, and community support for Sista Afya Community Care in Chicago.  Committed to maintaining excellent standards of care in everything they do, today Executive Director Camesha Jones shares how finding the perfect rhythm, tools, and touchpoints to communicate with their supporters and beneficiary comm...

Send us Fan Mail If your online fundraising is frustrated by underperforming donation pages our conversion-focused best practices will set you on the fast track to success. Online giving is a critical element of your fundraising strategy, so ensuring your donation pages and forms are fit for purpose is the logical starting point for all successful campaigns.  While your website is there to educate...

Send us Fan Mail Fundraising is about so much more than asking for money.  ‘The Ask’ may dominate, but don’t forget about Attract, Acknowledge, Account, and of course, doing it all Again! Each of these actions underpins one of the most important, but often overlooked, drivers of nonprofit growth, a strong communication strategy!    Today we look at ‘Nonprofit Communication Made Easy’ using an easy...

Send us Fan Mail Let mission-driven SMART goals drive your nonprofit’s success in 2023! Goal-setting is a necessary, but potentially painful, process to bring your strategic planning to life, so why not make it SMART and stress-free?  Join us for mission-moving tactics that will help you structure your goal-setting and make your strategic plan meaningful, implementable, and measurable! From practi...