Shows
The Build Good Fundraising Podcast#106: Live from Summit: The friction tolerance threshold and why it matters, with Salvatore Salpietro & Shital PatelSend us a textIn this short session with the Canadian Cancer Society and FundraiseUp, you’ll hear why people are less forgiving of nonprofits than they are consumer brands when they're letting go of their hard earned money. The nonprofit sector as a whole remains years, if not decades, behind ecommerce in their efforts to remove friction from the transaction. But new data shows that it's imperative to address this mindset shift with urgency.Don’t miss out on next year’s Build Good Summit. Get on the waitlist now, and be the fir...2025-07-2320 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#105: Live from Summit: Why journey mapping is the last, sustainable differentiator in a competitive fundraising marketplace, and how you can master it, with Michael JohnstonSend us a textThis fast-paced excerpt from a workshop at the Build Good Summit dives into journey mapping as a powerful strategy to cultivate donor relationships and build a supporter-centric organization. Designed for forward-thinking leaders in social impact, the session offers hands-on insights into using journey mapping to create a seamless, tech-enabled approach to engaging donors, advocates, and supporters. Participants will explore the essentials of 21st-century journey mapping, incorporating behavioral science, DEI, and AI. Through collaborative activities, you’ll learn practical mapping techniques for engaging multi-generational donors (Gen Y, Gen X, Boomers, Matu...2025-07-161h 23The Build Good Fundraising Podcast#104: Live from Summit: The personality test that’s secretly running your fundraising, with Kevin Schulman and Stefano Di DomenicoSend us a textMost fundraisers ask: Who do I send this appeal to? But the better question is, What appeal do I send to this person?We all recognize people are different—yet fundraising relies on a one-size-fits-all approach. Traditional segmentation—internal labels, past giving, or vague attitudinal groupings—fails to capture what truly drives a donor to give.And it’s not as simple as testing Issue A vs. Issue B to see which one "wins." That’s still a one-size-fits-all approach in disguise.Donors don’t give because of an issue o...2025-07-0932 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#103: Live from Summit: Building Trust—The Antidote To Donor Fatigue & Declining Retention, with Mike DuerksenSend us a textFundraising is at a crossroads. Donor trust is eroding, retention rates are plummeting, and yet, charities continue to rely on the same high-volume, bottom-of-the-funnel tactics—more asks, more urgency, more chasing. But what if the solution isn’t asking more, but becoming something donors want to say yes to?On today’s episode, we listen in to a recorded session from the Build Good Summit where we explored why trust is the most valuable (and perhaps only) asset fundraisers have left. We’ll introduce the fundraising flywheel, a model designed to build mo...2025-07-0237 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#102: The secret to successful fundraising events that don’t suckSend us a textThe way we’ve been doing fundraising events might be all wrong. We often focus so much on what happens at the event that we miss the bigger picture: what happens before and after matters just as much—if not more. In this episode, we explore how to use the fundraising flywheel to make your events work harder for you and leave less money (and momentum) on the table.We get into:Why your event shouldn’t be a one-night stand (for your fundraising strategy).How to think about y...2025-04-021h 09The Build Good Fundraising Podcast#101: Launching The Build Good SummitSend us a textAfter longing for the kind of event we wanted to attend, we decided to create it ourselves.Today, Hannah and Mike walk through why we’re launching The Build Good Summit, an in-person fundraising summit in downtown Toronto happening May 22-23, 2025. The lack of world-class fundraising conferences in Canada has left fundraisers with two choices: spend thousands of dollars to attend conferences elsewhere, or miss out altogether.We’re putting an end to that....2025-01-2237 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#100: Thoughts on 100 episodes of the podcast—and where we are goingSend us a textToday we're celebrating our 100th episode! Come sit down for a fireside chat (complete with Diet Coke) to share the honest story of how this podcast started, where it's headed, and what that means for BuildGood—and for you.Mike gets real about why the original podcast strategy was completely wrong—and why that might’ve been the best thing that could’ve happened. In today’s chat you’ll also hear how BuildGood has grown from a solo consultant to a team of 15 passionate fundraisers. Plus, you’ll learn some of t...2024-11-2743 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#99: Road To Summit: Research-backed ways to improve donor retention, with Nathan HillSend us a textToday we’re launching the Build Good Summit, and introducing the first speaker—Nathan Hill from NextAfter.Nathan and the NextAfter team recently analyzed how the fundraising of 211 nonprofits impacts donor retention.And in today’s chat, he’s sharing 3 key things you can do to retain more donors—backed by research and actual donor data.If you want to get fresh ideas to grow your revenue—and get together with other fundraisers who are doing interesting and innovative things to draw donors closer in to the mission—join...2024-10-3040 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#98: 4 easy ways to improve your fundraising copy—and 4 bonus ways to level up, with Hannah VermeerSend us a textToday, BuildGood’s resident fundraising copywriter delivers a masterclass in how to craft fundraising copy that leads people toward greater generosity. Hannah Vermeer gets into simple, easy and effective ways you can change the words you use in your fundraising—and changing the words you use is free. It costs you nothing. Whether it’s making your donor feel like they have an important and meaningful role to play, or crafting copy that’s easy to read and emotionally resonant, you’ll walk away with actiona...2024-09-1859 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#97: The 8 steps to building a wildly successful monthly giving program, with Dave RaleySend us a textIf you’re tired of riding the revenue rollercoaster—where your nonprofit’s cash flow is always dependent on a few key fundraising campaigns during the year— your big opportunity is building a strong monthly giving programGrowing recurring giving not only smoothes out your cash flow year round, it also increases the lifetime giving of your donors. And it’s a direct pipeline to mid-level, major and legacy gifts.But building a strong monthly giving program requires some thought and care. You ca...2024-07-1746 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#96: How to A/B test your way to fundraising success, with Ronen TalSend us a text“Always be testing”. That’s popular fundraising advice. After all, the only way to get new insights to grow your fundraising is to try new stuff, test, iterate and optimize. But how do you decide what to test? How do you set up a proper A/B test? And how do you make sure you learn something meaningful from it? That’s what we get into in today's chat with Ronen Tal, the Dir...2024-06-2647 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#95: How to use organic content to build trust at scale and attract donors, with Brynne KrispinSend us a textSocial media isn’t working for most nonprofits.If you’re watching your engagement drop while spending hours on content creation, you're likely about ready to give up on social media for good.And no one would blame you.That’s why we’re continuing our series on new donor acquisition by talking about these challenges head-on.We’re talking to Brynne Krispin from Cause Fokus about how to tap into the power of empathy to actually find supporters online through social media.In our cha...2024-05-1533 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#94: How Google ads can help you find new donors and grow your fundraising, with Kevin HarwoodSend us a textIn our ongoing series on new donor acquisition, we’re talking to one of Canada’s most sought after advertising specialists about how to use Google ads to boost your fundraising. Kevin Harwood manages more than $10m in ad spend for nonprofits across North America, and is at the forefront of what is working…and isn’t. On today’s show, we get into: How to think about online advertising (hint: it’s not about an immediate return on your investment) What options your nonprofit has when it comes to Google...2024-05-0845 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#93: How to attract new donors online using the Google Ad Grant, with Chris BarlowSend us a textWe’re continuing our series on new donor acquisition—and today we’re getting into the basics of how you can use the Google Ad Grant to attract potential donors through digital content offers.The truth is, most nonprofits aren’t taking full advantage of the Google Ad Grant because they don’t know it works, or because they don’t have a clear strategy on how to use it. In today’s chat, Chris Barlow gets into everything you need to know to get started with the grant—and he also share...2024-04-1748 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#92: How to use Meta ads to find and acquire new donors, with Dana SnyderSend us a textHave you ever used paid Facebook and Instagram ads to support your fundraising? Ads can supercharge your donor acquisition strategy, but they can also be a little scary if you’re just starting out—and if you’re new to digital marketing.To continue our series on new donor acquisition, we’re chatting with Dana Snyder from Positive Equation, host of the Missions To Movements podcast and Creator of the Monthly Giving Mastermind. Her mission is to equip nonprofits with the knowledge of how to use social media ads...2024-04-0337 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#91: How to acquire new donors online, with Jeff GiddensSend us a textSo you want to find new donors online?Then this is a foundational podcast episode for you to listen to.We’re beginning our series on online new donor acquisition with a master of digital fundraising: Jeff Giddens from NextAfter.In our chat, we get into: Why sending prospective donors to a donation page might not be effective if you want to actually get a first gift from someone Why trying to understand donors is a better strategy than trying to get them to understand your caus...2024-03-2053 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#90: The 4 core ways to acquire new donorsSend us a textYou need to retain donors if you want to grow sustainably—but you also need to find new donors. It seems simple enough, but we all want to skip to the “growing revenue” part without investing in both acquisition and retention. It doesn’t work. I’ve tried. You need to work on both, consistently and reliably. If you’re a listener of this show, you already know that listening to donors, engaging them, asking, celebrating and reporting is the best way to keep more of your donors connected, and giving. 2024-03-0637 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#89: How to set realistic growth goals for 2024—a step by step guideSend us a textMany nonprofits want to see 10-20% growth (or more!) year over year—and are tasking their fundraising team to make it happen without a clear-eyed view of what it takes. It’s not that sustained growth is unrealistic, but it becomes harder to raise more money year after year without investing resources (read: money and time!) in the right things to support that growth.On today’s podcast, we’re going to do a bit of easy math together to see if you’re prepared to meet your growth goals. ...2024-02-0829 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#88: The 5 principles of the pre-loaded year that can help you create the ultimate fundraising planSend us a textIn today’s episode, we dive into the 5 key elements of crafting a winning and simple fundraising plan using the pre-loaded year methodology.It’s the same method we teach in the Fundraising Academy—and the same method we use with clients in our agency work.A lot of organizations struggle to create simple and actionable plans they can execute on. That’s because for most small-to-mid sized nonprofits, complicated plans are…well, too complex to actually want to take action on.But without a plan, nonprofits risk falli...2024-01-2435 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#87: Can strategic planning really help you raise more revenue? with Kim BersinSend us a textDo you feel like you have a focused fundraising strategy? Or does it feel like you’re being asked to do something else every few months?Have you—or your leadership—been so derailed by that shiny, new opportunity (looking at you, TikTok) that you lose sight of what's important?A strategic plan might help—if you approach it the right way.Now, let’s be honest, you might already have a plan in place. It might be sitting on a shelf. Gathering dust. It mig...2023-11-1543 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#86: Fundraising trends from around the world, with Mike JohnstonSend us a textToday’s show is a special episode—a bit of a global journey of fundraising and discovery with one of Canada’s well known fundraisers. Fresh off a trip to Europe—including stops in Romania, Slovakia and Holland—Michael Johnston joins us to have a chat about what the social impact sector outside of North America looks like. And what we can learn from it. Michael was trained as a NATO analyst but ended up a direct mail fundraiser in 1987. Many books and clients later, he now works in over 30 coun...2023-11-0140 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#85: This is how you create digital fundraising content to 10x your reach, with Cameron BartlettSend us a textWhat if you could create content for your ads, emails and social media that reached more people than organizations that have 10X your budget? In our part 2 with Cameron Bartlett, we’ll into the formulas he’s used to reach over 125,000,000 people for social good. And the best part? These frameworks work to build an engaged following, whether you have a team of 20—or it's just you. Cameron has helped hundreds of charities like yours fundraise way more, by creating journeys that guide donors from your first interacti...2023-09-2055 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#84: This is how you use SEO to find new donors, with Cameron BartlettSend us a textMore people would give to your organization, if they could only find you.We know ads, emails, and organic social are great ways to reach new potential donors. But some of the scrappiest, most creative nonprofits use SEO to attract new supporters to grow their cause. How? On this week’s BuildGood Live, we’re revealing the playbook you can use to optimize your nonprofit’s online content so you can start attracting new donors. Cameron Bartlett has helped hundreds of charities like yours fund...2023-08-2351 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#83: How to lead your fundraising efforts with digital, with Erik RubadeauSend us a textWe live in the golden age of digital fundraising—the most efficient ecosystem in which to test, learn and refine. Digital has immense power to drive strategies that scale and connect deeply with our donors. AND it plays nicely with so many other channels, including direct mail.Yet most organizations use it backwards.Instead of leading with digital, they’re bolting on digital strategies on the back end of other efforts, hoping to get a boost.So how can we learn to lead...2023-08-0950 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#82: These core principles of servant leadership can make your fundraising more effective, with Evan WildsteinSend us a textCan the way you lead internally make your fundraising more effective? On today’s podcast, we chat with Evan Wildstein about 10 core behaviours of servant leaders—and how they might just improve the way you fundraise.Behaviours like listening, empathy, healing, building community, and much more. We’ll also get into some super practical ways to activate servant-leadership in your own shop to boost philanthropy.For 20 years, Evan has been a nonprofiteer, raising funds and developing inspiring programs for organizations like The Juilliard School, Rice University, and Asia So...2023-07-2652 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#81: If the donor isn’t the hero…who is she?Send us a textYou’ve likely heard that the donor should be the hero in your fundraising messaging. The phrase had a noble intent. It was meant to encourage us to shift our perspective away from meeting revenue targets, and toward finding alignment with our ideal donors’ goals and values. But over time, it became misunderstood. Misconstrued. And misapplied.The “donor as hero” metaphor turned into “the donor is always right”—causing some organizations to do real harm. So is it t...2023-07-1346 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#80: How to begin acquiring new donors with Meta ads—the smart way, with Ben StewartSend us a textIf you’ve ever tried running Facebook and Instagram ads to attract new donors, you may have realized it isn’t all that easy.Truth is, an effective paid ads strategy for nonprofits trying to attract new donors is a lot different than running ads for for-profits that are selling products. Yet most of the information you’ll find on running online ads is geared toward for-profits.On today’s BG Live, we’re getting into how you can start to acquire new donors with Meta...2023-06-2852 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#79: How to audit your email marketing strategy and increase engagementSend us a textEmail remains one of the most effective digital fundraising channels—but how do you know you’re doing it right? How do you balance asking for money, showing gratitude, reporting back on impact and surveying your donors? How much email is too much…or too little? On this week’s BG Live, we’re helping you audit your email marketing strategy—and give you some surefire ways to increase donor engagement.2023-06-1452 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#78: How email can support a magical generosity experience, with Tim SarrantonioSend us a textHow do you evaluate your email campaigns? If you’re a nonprofit—especially one that doesn’t raise tens of millions every year—you may have a hard time finding benchmarks from organizations like yours. Most of the data on benchmarks and proven practices comes from either very large organizations or from for-profit companies. Until now. On this week’s BuildGood Live, we’re talking to Tim S...2023-05-031h 00The Build Good Fundraising Podcast#77: How donors really feel about their relationship with you, with Justin McCordSend us a textAs passionate fundraisers, we’re all pretty good at thinking about how to talk to donors. But sometimes, we're not the best listeners. On this week’s BG Live, we’re joined by Just McCord from RKD about a brand new donor study that listened to donors across a variety of causes. Turns out, donors need us to listen more.In our chat, we’ll talk about: 1. What donors say makes for strong relationships.2. What donors say they want from their favour...2023-04-1955 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#76 How to raise the largest gift your organization has ever received, with Gudrun HofmeisterSend us a textDo you have donors on your file who could be making larger gifts…but you’ve just never asked? Chances are, you do. And chances are also, you might not even know where to begin to identify them and lead them toward greater generosity (otherwise you would’ve asked them already!).The good news is, it could be simpler than you think. Note: Simple, not easy.On this week’s podcast, we’re talking to Gudrun Hofmeister from Philanthropic Fundraising. She’s an expert in 6- and 7-fig...2023-04-061h 00The Build Good Fundraising Podcast#75: How to use storytelling to engage donors and retain staff, with Olga Moshinsky WoltmanSend us a textHumans are wired for stories, yet storytelling can be challenging. That’s why on this week’s BuildGood Live, we’re talking to master storyteller—and founder of LemonSkies—Olga Moshinsky Woltman about how to harness the power of stories.She’s worked with some of the most inspiring and transformative causes, including American Heart Association, the ALS Association, American Diabetes Association, and Special Olympics.In our chat, we’ll discuss what makes stories impactful, how to help and connect donors to the s...2023-03-1549 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#74: How I Built Good: The Adventure Project, with Becky StrawSend us a textIn a new segment of the pod we’re calling How I Built Good, we interview nonprofit founders, entrepreneurs and leaders on how they’re building good in the world. Starting with Becky Straw. She never set out to become a founder. But when she was let go from her job at fast-growing water charity, she bought a wireless printer the next day to start building The Adventure Project.With a passionate co-founder and a crew of volunte...2023-03-0845 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#73: 5 steps to get started with donor surveys, with Louis DiezSend us a textHave you ever surveyed your donors? We talk a lot about listening to donors through conversations. Surveys can be a great tool to compliment donor conversations, because they’re interviews at scale.They’re a great way to: EngageCourse-correct (are we going in the right direction?)Collect informationMake donors feel valued and seenIdentify donors for further cultivation and solicitationBut how do you get started designing a survey? And what meaningful and practical steps can you take with the information you get back? On this...2023-03-0158 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#72: Why community is the last great fundraising strategy, with Mark SchaeferSend us a textHelping your donors feel like they belong might be your ultimate fundraising achievement.Why? Years of stress, amplified by the pandemic, has created a “belonging crisis.” Record levels of mental health issues are putting an entire generation at risk. Many of us are more connected than ever before—and at the same time, lonelier than ever before. So what if your nonprofit created the kind of emotional connection that would not only make your fundraising a lot more effective—but could also help to enhance your donors’ sense of sel...2023-02-2244 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#71: How to know your audience to grow your audience, with Emily TaylorSend us a textHow often have you heard that you should “listen to your donors” and nodded along in agreement? But how often have you actually sat down to implement a system to continually listen to donors in a structured way and gain new insights? Make no mistake: getting to know your donors is a strategy with high returns.For-profit companies are investing in audience research like never before. They're getting insights from the very same people who will buy their product or service.And you can do...2023-02-1743 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#70: How to craft irresistible fundraising offers that open hearts and wallets, with Steven ScreenSend us a textThe offer is one of the most foundational—yet most misunderstood—tools in fundraising.Get it wrong, and your fundraising can flop. Get it right, and watch the response rate go up.So what is an offer anyway?It’s the thing you're asking donors to help make happen.The outcome.The ultra-specific and tangible difference their gift can make.And that doesn't just apply to direct response fundraising.Major donor visits? There's usually an offer at some point.E...2023-02-0847 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#69: The 5 parts of the Fundraising Flywheel with Becky LonghurstSend us a textHow do you achieve predictable fundraising success? Well, nobody can predict how much money you’re going to raise. But if you follow the 5 steps of the fundraising flywheel consistently—over time— your revenue will grow. And so will your career as a leader and fundraiser! So today we’ll walk through each of the 5 parts of the fundraising flywheel in detail. They are:ListenEngageAskCelebrate Report Master these 5 steps, and you will raise more money—consistently. Because you’ll have made donors an important...2023-02-0147 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#68: Introducing the Fundraising FlywheelSend us a textIs it time we ditch the marketing funnel and replace it with a flywheel?Today we’re introducing the concept of the Fundraising Flywheel—a 5-step framework to help donors become an important part of the team and improve your fundraising. The flywheel is simply our way of codifying the fundamentals of fundraising done well:ListenEngageAskCelebrate Report A flywheel is like a big, heavy wheel that helps things keep moving.It's like a toy top that you spin.Once you get it spinning, it keep...2023-01-2530 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#67: BG Live— How charity: water tests new fundraising channels like direct mail and DRTV, with Megan ToscanoSend us a textWelcome to the first ever BG Live—a live recording of the podcast on Zoom that anyone can join. To make sure you're invited to future BG Lives, make sure to sign up for our email newsletter at www.buildgood.com.---You probably know charity: water to be an admired innovator in the fundraising world. They do things so wonderfully different. And they've set the gold standard for digital fundraising and online engagement. But in order to keep growing and reach...2023-01-1259 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#66: The best of legacy givingSend us a textOn today's podcast, we're revising the best advice and proven practices on how to get more gifts in wills.For many of your donors, the gift they leave in their will might the largest gift they ever make to your charity. Not only that, but research has shown that donors who choose to leave a gift in their will, often times also end up increasing their giving while they're still alive. So in today's rewind, we're going back to some key insights our guests have shared on this podcast w...2022-11-0948 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#65: The best of monthly givingSend us a textToday we're taking a look back at the best practical advice on monthly giving our guests have shared on the podcast. From what it takes to build a flagship monthly giving product, to tactical advice on upgrading monthly gifts, to how to resource a strong monthly giving program—we're revisiting "can't miss" content that'll help you build your monthly giving program.Featuring conversations with Vik Harrison (charity: water), Harvey McKinnon and Erica Erica Waasdorp.---➡️ Join our FREE training on how to create compelli...2022-10-0531 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#64: The operating system you need to structure your fundraising shopSend us a textHere’s a common pain point for many nonprofit CEOs and fundraising leaders: we’re spending too much time on the operations of the shop, and not enough time connecting with donors. There is a way to reclaim some of that time. But it’s not sexy.It’s not glamorous. It’s kind of a pain to implement at first. It’s for sure never a priority.But it will—in the long term—make your life and your work so much more eff...2022-09-1447 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#63: 3 easy automations that improve the donor experience—without having to code, with Daniel LombardiSend us a textDo you shy away from building custom online experiences and automations because you think you need to hire a developer or know how to code?The good news is there are more and more completely no-code solutions available to nonprofits to actually build custom workflows and improve the donor experience. You don’t need to be a developer in order to build something that will improve your efficiency and make the giving experience more enjoyable for your donors.In fact, today you'll hear from a frontline fundraiser who...2022-08-1753 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#62: The 3 lanes of fundraising, with Michael DixonSend us a textYou’ve often heard us talk on this podcast about getting closer to your donors and leading them toward making their best gift for your organization—a gift that is meaningful to them and increases their own sense of wellbeing. But how do you move beyond fundraising communications to building personal, 1:1 relationships?On today’s show, we’re talking to Michael Dixon from Responsive Fundraising about a framework that will help you think about how to deepen the relationship with your donors beyond just fundraising communications. The framework...2022-07-271h 03The Build Good Fundraising Podcast#61: Fundraising when your donors are facing inflation and political turmoilSend us a textThere’s no way around it: our world is a mess.Giving has levelled off after a season of overwhelming generosity. We’re facing record inflation. The housing market is unpredictable. The stock market is a mess. Supply chains are broken. Society seems to be more polarized than ever before. And the ongoing war in Ukraine is ever-present in the public consciousness. Regardless of how serious you may think things are, make no mistake: most people are paying more at the cash register when they’re buyin...2022-07-1355 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#60: What's changed—and hasn't—in email fundraising, with Ben JohnsonSend us a textFor many of us who grew up with the internet, email marketing seems like a fairly established medium. But compared to most other forms of marketing and fundraising, email is still a relatively new format. And it continues to change.So for today’s episode, we sat down with a fellow Canadian fundraising agency founder to look back at the last decade of sending emails for charities.Ben Johnson founded Frontier Marketing in 2010 when, before "remote work" existed, he moved his family from Vancouver to Vict...2022-06-2947 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#59: Creative deviations in fundraising, with John LeppSend us a textWhat does a person get when they make a gift to charity? Most of the time, they’re not buying a product or service. They’re buying a story about the kind of person they are.And what they get in return is the way you treat them…and communicate with them…and update them. So, isn’t it our duty to put a lot of thought and care into our donor communications? Don’t we owe it to our community of supporters—and the people we serve—t...2022-06-1543 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#58: A better way to measure and improve donor satisfaction, with Kevin SchulmanSend us a textIf you’re a regular listener of this podcast, you know intuitively that the donor experience is more important than just getting the gift. Because a great experience leads to greater commitment, and loyalty and satisfaction…and yes, money in the long term. But before you can improve the donor experience—and increase supporter satisfaction—you need to know how to measure it in the first place. And we’re not talking about an annual donor survey. Today’s guest is going to share the methodology his...2022-05-2549 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#57: The 5 powerful questions to ask prospective funder to increase your close rate, with Mallory EricksonSend us a textHave you ever walked into a meeting with a prospective funder feeling nervous? Maybe you weren't sure how to lead the conversation. Maybe you felt a power imbalance. Or maybe you felt like you were there to beg for money, rather than being there as an equal partner or peer.If you've been there, today's episode is for you.Meet Mallory Erickson. Her mission is to help people like you fundraise more from the right donors WITHOUT hounding people for money. Without feeling like you’re...2022-05-1153 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#56: How to thank your donors using philanthropic psychology, with Jen ShangSend us a textHave you heard of philanthropic psychology….or phil psych for short? It’s the science behind fundraising that first and foremost cares about stewarding the love that is at the core of philanthropy. So instead of being focused on growing revenue from your donors, it’s focused on growing your donors' human capacity to love others—as well as themselves. And when you help people grow their love for others and themselves, well...the money follows. And you end up raising a lot more. Today on the podc...2022-04-2752 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#55: 6 layers of a wildly effective nonprofit culture and brand, with Ted Vaughn and Mark MillerSend us a textHow important is your organization's brand when it comes to the success of your fundraising? How about your culture? Today’s guests have a strong point of view: they’re out to prove that how a nonprofit brand operates on the inside is more important than how it looks on the outside. Mark Miller and Ted Vaughn have led nearly 100 rebrands for purpose-driven organizations with their team at Historic Agency. Now they’ve written a book called "Culture Built My Brand: The Secret to Winning More Customers Through C...2022-04-131h 08The Build Good Fundraising Podcast#54: This is how you create a successful phonathon for your nonprofit, with Clinton CrowSend us a textHave you ever run a phonathon? They're a tried-and-true way of engaging donors and raising money, especially for higher education institutions.However, running a successful phonathon in-house is no easy task.That's why on this weeks' show, we're talking to an OG phonathon strategist, Clinton Crow from LEAD Philanthropy. Clinton signed up to make phone calls at Alma Matter College when he was a student—and was named the school’s top student caller four years in a row. He’s never stopped calling s...2022-03-2340 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#53: Double your income every 72 weeks by building a digital fundraising factory, with Ewald VerhoogSend us a textWould you like to acquire, keep and upgrade new donors online? And do it all using marketing automation? It's possible—by building a digital fundraising factory. And it's not as complicated as you might think.Today on the show, we're talking to Dutch fundraising expert Ewald Verhoog on how to build a digital revenue engine from the ground up. Ewald is the author of "The almost definitive book about DIGITAL FUNDRAISING', the step by step method to double your individual income."The book details a bluep...2022-03-091h 03The Build Good Fundraising Podcast#52: How to implement Profit First at your nonprofit, with Mike MichalowiczSend us a textIs your nonprofit profitable? Do you plan to run a surplus every year? When you cost out projects for funders or donors, do you include a profit margin? If that sounds like something you would like to do, but struggle to do, today's episode is for you. Because we’re not talking about generating more revenue—we’re talking about how to keep more of your revenue, using Profit First.Simply put, Profit First is an easy method of distributing your income into different bank accounts that are designated for di...2022-02-2325 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#51: How Greenpeace Canada increased monthly giving by 330% using email onlySend us a textMonthly donors...we all want more of them! Today we're going to hear how Greenpeace Canada uses a simple email strategy to grow monthly giving. And the good news is: you can do this, too!Greenpeace Canada focuses on using open and honest emails as a core strategy to ask people who have signed petitions to consider becoming a monthly donor. And in just two years, they've grown monthly giving by over 330%, which is amazing.To tell us how they did it, we're talking to Miriam Wilson, who leads...2022-02-0947 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#50: How to turn unsexy offers into fundraising asks that pull in the dollars, with June StewardSend us a textYour offer is the single most important thing that makes a difference in your fundraising. It's how you move donors toward greater generosity and inspire them to give. But not all fundraising offers are created equal.Many fundraisers struggle to create compelling offers for their causes because they don’t provide urgent and tangible services like food and water and medical care. Their beneficiaries are not kittens or children or an endangered species.The truth is: it is harder to fundraise for some causes than for others. 2022-01-2648 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#49: Where fundraising is going in 2022Send us a textOn the eve of the new year 2022, there’s no mistaking that the world has changed—and that includes fundraising. The role of charity and public society has certainly changed, but so have the expectations of donors. Today, we invite a few smart fundraisers to share their prediction about what will matter most in fundraising in 2022. Today we will be joined by:[02:41] - Dan Sonners, VP of Conrad Direct [10:50 ] - Becky Endicott, Co-Founder and Chief Storyteller at We Are for Good[19:57] - The Jan...2021-12-2939 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#48: The proven framework to raise more money using the phone, with T. Clay BuckSend us a textFew nonprofits are using the phone to talk to their donors and raise funds. It might seem old school. It takes time, and it can feel awkward to call somebody up on the phone and ask for their support. But phone fundraising can be a very effective tool to not only raise funds, but also deepen your connection with your donors. And get to know them for who they are.Today is a masterclass on how to structure a call and how to write a phone script that you c...2021-12-0851 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#47: How to advance your donor's hero story with Dr. Russell JamesSend us a textGood fundraisers know that stories work better than statistics, that characters work better than calculations and that whoever tells the best story wins. Still, we sometimes neglect the donor's personal story...the story they are writing with their life. And if we start to understand that story, and those characters, it might lead to transformation gifts. But how do you advance your donor's hero story? What messages will resonate? Today, we are talking to Dr. Russell James, about how to do that. Dr. James is a Pr...2021-11-2450 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#46: The 4 steps to building your (personal) brand on LinkedIn, with Anthony JonesSend us a textLinkedIn is a powerful tool for staying up to date on career opportunities, but it can also make you more valuable as a fundraiser and nonprofit leader by building your personal brand. If you're on LinkedIn and you're not very active, you don't know what to post, or you're not sure it's even worth your time, this episode is for you.Today, we are talking to Anthony Jones about how to create a personal brand on LinkedIn. Anthony is the outgoing Director of Digital Media and Marketing for Ducks U...2021-11-1043 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#44: How to stop being a reluctant fundraiser and start loving your job, with Cindy WagmanSend us a textOn this podcast, we often focus on improving the craft of fundraising. But we rarely talk about the mindset is takes to be a fundraiser—and be proud of it.The truth is, most of us likely started out as reluctant fundraisers. We "fell into" the job, and learned to love it along the way. And while there is plenty of training out there to learn best practice fundraising, there is little support to help fundraisers change their thought patterns and beliefs around fundraising.Enter today's guest, Cindy Wagman. She...2021-09-2246 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#43: How to convert social media fans and followers into donors with Julia CampbellSend us a textIf you are struggling to use social media—particularly Facebook—to drive revenue and contribute to your fundraising, today's episode is for you.We are talking to Julia Campbell, the author of Storytelling in the Digital Age: A Guide for Nonprofits. Julia runs a digital marketing consulting business, where she helps nonprofits stop spinning their wheels on social media and start getting real results.You'll learn how to give donors and supporters what they want. You'll hear why you shouldn't use social media as a megaphone to just...2021-09-0842 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#42: How to turn monthly givers into legacy donors with Ligia PeñaSend us a textDid you know monthly donors are six times more likely to become legacy donors?They are the most committed and loyal to your organization. They're in the habit of giving to you every single month. And many have been with you for years.Yet, most nonprofits don't really consider monthly donors in their legacy marketing.That's why today's guest is going to show you a powerful way to create long term revenue for your organization by focusing on both monthly giving and legacy marketing together. 2021-08-2554 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#41: A 3-step framework to test donor preferences & behaviour with Cherian KoshySend us a textHave you ever wished you could read your donors’ minds? Today's podcast is going to give you a three-step framework you can use to gain some insight into your donors' preference and giving behaviour. We're talking to Cherian Koshy, Director of Development for the De Moines Performing Arts. Cherian is the world's only certified mind genomics advisor in the nonprofit sector. He spends a lot of time trying to figure out how donors think, how they make decisions, and how to use tools and research to actually lead...2021-08-1149 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#39: You've measured the data—now what? with Kirk SchmidtSend us a textYou've heard it on this podcast. You've heard it at conferences, in books, and from consultants and other fundraisers: You should be using your data to make better decisions about your fundraising. And you've likely tracked the data like retention rates, average gift, and lifetime value. But now you're looking at some numbers asking, “What do they mean and what are the next steps?”Well, we've got some answers for you on today's podcast. Our guest this week is both a mathematician and a fundraiser. Kirk Schmidt is the...2021-07-1449 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#38—5 next-level tactics to grow your monthly giving program, with Erica WaasdorpSend us a textYou already know that growing your monthly giving program, mid-level donor program, and legacy giving program are among the most lucrative fundraising activities your nonprofit can pursue. And chances are, you're already working on building all of them—but you're wondering if could be doing better. So if you already have a monthly giving program in place, today's show is going to be especially valuable for you. We're talking to Erica Waasdorp, author of Monthly Giving: The Sleeping Giant and a brand new book called Monthly Giving Made Easy. 2021-06-3050 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#37—How Amnesty built a succesful legacy program by doing things nonprofits of all sizes and budgets can implement, with Hala Al-MadiSend us a textFor many donors, the largest gift they will ever make to charity is the one they leave in their will. Carrying on their legacy and keeping alive the values that were important to your donors in their lifetime is a tremendous responsibility. It's also a tremendous opportunity for you to increase your organization's impact in the world. Most donors only include charities in their will that have done a great job of communicating shared values, stewarding them, and building the kinds of relationships that are mutually uplifting and significant....2021-06-1644 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#34: 5 behavioural economics principles you can't afford to ignore, with Nate AndorskySend us a textWhat compels donors to say yes? That’s the question most nonprofit fundraisers and marketers are trying to find answers for. Because understanding how people make decisions is a key part in making our fundraising more effective. We've talked about how behavioural economics can help your fundraising on this podcast before, but many of you said this was a topic you wanted to know more about. So, today's guest is Nate Andorsky, the CEO of Creative Science — a digital agency that applies behavioural economics and technology to help mission-driven orga...2021-04-2145 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#30: Can the Enneagram make you a better fundraiser? —with Marc PitmanSend us a textBuilding a successful nonprofit is about relationships. The people we hire on our team, and the volunteers we work with, are not cogs in a wheel. They are human beings who bring their humanity to work: their dreams, passions, insecurities, fears, and concerns. If we want to build a fundraising engine to sustain our mission, we need to start by building a healthy team, including a healthy us. We need to understand ourselves, and those around us.Because building better relationships with our team has a d...2021-02-1759 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#29 — How to create an email series that turns leads into donors, with John J. WalshSend us a textEmail fundraising is one of the easiest ways you can build a deep and lasting relationship with your donors. And it remains one of the most cost-effective tools you can use to increase donor loyalty and revenue.But most organizations struggle to acquire email addresses from donors or potential donors. And many don't have a clear strategy on how to turn leads into donors. One of the simplest ways to increase new donor engagement is to create an automated email welcome series that runs in the background.A...2021-02-0342 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#28: Barbara O'Reilly — 4 factors that influence fundraising successSend us a textDo you have a fundraising plan for 2021? Do you have a roadmap for how you will fund your mission during the next 12 months — and beyond?The simple act of developing a fundraising and development plan will already make you more likely to succeed, according to a new study co-authored by today's guest.But beyond just having plan, there are 4 main factors that influence just how successful your fundraising will be.Today we're talking to Barbara O’Reilly, president of Windmill Hill Consulting. She recently teamed up with the...2021-01-2048 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#27 — 3 things fundraisers should do more of in 2021Send us a textIn the last podcast of the year, we take a look at 3 things nonprofit leaders should do more of in the New Year to grow the value of their donor file.They don’t require you to completely change the way you do things. In most cases, they simply require you to prioritize your time and resources in a slightly different way. You might be weary and worn out from this year. Some of you lived through layoffs and budget cuts. You lived through having to keep the...2020-12-3034 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#26: Steve Bell — Fundraising as a singer-songwriterSend us a textOn a special Christmas edition of the podcast, we are getting a behind the scenes look at how an independent artist raises funds to support their mission. Today we’re talking with Steve Bell. Steve is a singer-songwriter, author, and speaker. He has been sharing his music and message for almost 30 years across Canada, the US and beyond. Steve has a two-sided business model. He tours and sells music — but he also raises funds and relies on philanthropy. Over the years, Steve has built a broad base of donors by giv...2020-12-1652 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#25: John Lepp — How to use design to raise more moneySend us a textA lot of direct response fundraising advice focuses on creating effective strategies, messages and donor journeys — but we rarely talk about the design of our fundraising. In fact, many organizations outsource the design of their fundraising to graphic designers who know a lot about how to make things look pretty, but know nothing about fundraising or how donors make decisions. The truth is, good fundraising design is less about how something looks, and more about how something works. To help us design fundraising materials and as...2020-12-0245 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#24: Dr. Kiki Koutmeridou — How to use identity to improve giving and donor retentionSend us a textIf you are serious about growing your fundraising and building meaningful and lasting relationships with your donors, then you have to start by understanding who your donors are — truly are. What motivates them? What values are important to them? How do they see themselves in the world? Discovering your donors' identity — and then creating donor journeys and communications based on those identities — is a strategy with high returns. It can strengthen the connection your donors have with your cause, and lead to an increase in commitment, engagement and giving....2020-11-1839 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#23: Dana K. Segal — 5 ways behavioural economics can improve your fundraisingSend us a textEvery day the human brain makes tens of thousands of decisions — most of them quickly and effectively, but not always rationally. And that can have a big impact on your fundraising.Today, we’ll learn from Dana K. Segal how donors make decisions, and how the science behind behavioural economics can be applied to improve your fundraising.Dana is a senior partner consultant at the Management Centre. Her consultancy portfolio includes NGOs across the UK, Europe and Africa. She has delivered decision-science training for clients that include Oxford University, RNLI...2020-11-0453 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#22: Brady Josephson — The state of multi-channel donor communicationsSend us a textMulti-channel fundraising — the concept that we should cultivate donors across as many channels as we can — gets talked about a lot.And for good reason. The data shows that multi-channel giving is the best way to grow and maintain revenue.But high-quality multi-channel communication is hard to do. So what exactly are nonprofits doing in their marketing to truly be multi-channel — and do it well?To help you figure out what works, and what other organizations are doing, today we’re talking to Brady Josephson about new research...2020-10-2147 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#21: Paul Nazareth — Why your planned giving program isn't working — and what you can do about itSend us a textWe are witnessing the greatest transfer of wealth in human history. Is your nonprofit benefiting from it?If you don't have a strong planned giving program integrated into everything you do, chances are you're leaving money on the table. You're not serving your donors well. And you're vulnerable to economic downturns and unexpected changes in revenue.But it doesn't have to be that way. You can diversify your revenue streams and build a reliable pipeline of strategically planned gifts supported by fantastic donor stewardship — starting today. Make no...2020-10-0739 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#20: Steven Shattuck — How to make fundraising more human in the digital ageSend us a textWe live in the golden age of fundraising. With so much software, technology and tools at our disposal, it's never been easier to capture the attention of donors, reach new audiences and generate revenue.And yet, fundraising performance as a whole remains largely stagnant. Can relying too much on technology actually hinder our ability to make meaningful and personal connections with donors? On today's episode, we'll hear from Steven Shattuck on how you can have the best of both worlds: strong relationships with your donors tha...2020-09-2350 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#19: Viktoria Harrison — How charity: water built a $17m monthly giving program — and what you can do to make yours succeedSend us a textOver the last few months it’s become clear to many nonprofits that monthly donors are the heroes we need, but don’t deserve. During COVID, most revenue streams have been shaky and unpredictable. But what seems to have remained very stable is monthly giving. And that has caused a renewed interest in acquiring, retaining and upgrading monthly donors.The problem is, most monthly giving programs are notoriously bad. You sign up, the charity charges your credit card once a month...and that’s it. And most monthly...2020-09-0947 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#18: Tycely Williams — How to increase equity and inclusion in your nonprofitSend us a text2020 has been a strange year, but one of the positives has been a strong movement towards equity and inclusion in the workplace. For too long, systemic oppression has held back our under-represented colleagues. The good news is many leaders are working through this issue in their own organizations, while also pushing the nonprofit sector to take a leading role when it comes to increasing equity and inclusion.In this episode of the Build Good Podcast, we’ll hear from one of them — Tycely Williams. Tycely is the chief development offi...2020-08-261h 03The Build Good Fundraising Podcast#17: Sherry Quam Taylor — How to find and secure larger gifts in your existing donor fileSend us a textThe last five months have shown us how volatile revenue streams can be. Almost overnight, nonprofit leaders had to figure out how to become less dependent on event revenue, grants from foundations and government grants. The best way to protect your organization from future volatility is to build a more resilient fundraising engine — one that focuses on leading individual donors already in your donor base to giving their best gift every year.On today's episode, we’ll hear from Sherry Quam Taylor. Sherry is a nonprofit fundraising coac...2020-08-1250 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#16: Sarah Durham — How to build your nonprofit's communications engineSend us a textIf you’re like most nonprofits, this year has been a wake up call that you need to step up your game when it comes to communicating clearly, effectively and authentically with your donors. Maybe you were getting by before, but when the system was put under stress, you didn't have the resources or the team or the tools or the strategy to move quickly – and confidently. Today on the show, we’re talking to Sarah Durham, author of the Nonprofit Communications Engine – a leader’s guide to managing mission-driv...2020-07-2946 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#15 — 5 mini plans your nonprofit needs to survive and thrive during the next 12 monthsSend us a textYou didn't see COVID coming. Nobody did. But now that the initial shock to the system is over, it's time to get back to business. While others might wait for "normal" to return, it's time for you to embrace "the now" by creating a concrete, simple, and clear strategy that will help you survive the next 12 months — and come out of the pandemic positioned for growth. On today's podcast, we talk about 5 mini plans your nonprofit should create right now to guide your fundraising so you can achieve predictable inco...2020-07-1521 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#14: T. Clay Buck — Why donor data matters to deepen relationships and raise more moneySend us a textCOVID-19 is testing the systems and processes of nonprofits like never before. And many organizations are finding that their lack of data practices and data quality are hampering their fundraising efforts.Strong, direct relationships with donors are crucial to withstanding times of uncertainty and crisis. And fundraising success is always a result of strong systems that manage data well, allowing you to maintain a close relationship with your donors.So what can you do to improve the way you manage donor data to help you build deeper connections with...2020-07-0144 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#13: Tim Kersten — Why you shouldn't cut donor acquisition right nowSend us a textFinding and stewarding donors is the foundation of any successful nonprofit. But during uncertain times, it's easy to shrink back and set donor acquisition aside, leaving yourself vulnerable in the future In this episode we hear from Tim Kersten, the CEO of the RKD Group, a fundraising and marketing agency with over 280 nonprofit clients across North America. Tim has 43 years of experience consulting with nonprofits to meet their fundraising goals. He is passionate about empowering and enabling individuals to have their voice heard in their society so they can m...2020-06-1644 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#12: Brad Phillips — How to handle tough questions from donors, employees and the mediaSend us a textIf you've ever struggled to find the right words to say when confronted with a tough question from a donor, team member or journalist, this episode is for you.On today's show we hear from Brad Phillips, the CEO of Throughline Group, a public speaking and media training company. Brad has trained thousands of media spokespersons and public speakers including a presidential candidate, members of Congress, Olympic athletes, top CEOs, directors of nonprofit organizations and heads of government agencies. In this episode you’ll get a crash course in fie...2020-06-0847 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#11: Julie Cooper — How to thank donors so they keep on givingSend us a textWhat is the secret of organizations raising record levels of money during the coronavirus pandemic?Many of the nonprofits thriving right now have one thing in common: donor-centric fundraising and stewardship. While it seems counter-intuitive, in hard times many donors actually increase their giving. They want to be part of the solution and help.But the key is, they only give to organizations they care about — and organizations that care about them. Organizations that share their values. That have done a good job at thanking th...2020-05-2237 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#10: Jamie McIntosh — How to be a better leader in an extended crisisSend us a textOne of the things the coronavirus crisis made clear is the importance of good leadership. Specifically, the importance of leaders who communicate openly and honestly and with enough vulnerability to admit what they don’t know.We sometimes think of leadership as only being important at the board and CEO level, but if you’re listening to this show and you work in the nonprofit and social impact sector, chances are people are relying on you. They’re relying on you to be a good teammate, a good fri...2020-05-0642 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#9: Amanda Rocheleau — How to look after your mental health in a time of crisisSend us a textAre you having a hard time staying positive and balanced and sane during these crazy times?The coronavirus pandemic brings a rare combination of a scary health emergency, human isolation and an economic crisis at all once. And I worry about you.I am not worried if you're going to survive this crisis, or if your nonprofit will survive the storm. I am worried about what the crisis is doing to you, and the toll it’s taking on you as a leader and parent and fri...2020-04-1757 minThe Build Good Fundraising Podcast#8: Mark Phillips — What you can learn from the past about fundraising during the Coronavirus pandemicSend us a textIf you’re like many nonprofit leaders, you’ve spent the last two weeks going back to the drawing board on what your fundraising and communications will look like now that everything is different. And make no mistake: everything is different. And that means all the careful planning and strategies, all the campaign rollouts and scheduled posts, and all the thank you letters and mailouts need to be reviewed and rebuilt to take into the account the impact of the Coronavirus. And I w...2020-04-0349 min