Nonprofit Answers
44 episodes - English - Latest episode: 12 months ago - ★★★★★ - 95 ratingsNonprofit Answers Podcast helps you raise more money to help more people by answering your marketing and fundraising questions
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Episodes
044 - How do I write a fundraising strategy?
May 02, 2023 14:00 - 24 minutes - 27.3 MBIn this episode of Nonprofit Answers, we explore the Three Question Fundraising Framework to help fundraisers simplify their approach to creating a successful fundraising strategy. We dive deep into each of the three questions, including donor acquisition, donor retention, and lapsed donor reactivation, and provide practical tips and insights for each area. We discuss the importance of donor acquisition and calculating ROI, as well as specific channels for acquiring new donors, such as dire...
043 - How do we communicate a common message in a variety of channels?
April 25, 2023 14:01 - 17 minutes - 18.7 MBIn this episode of Nonprofit Answers, we explore the challenge of communicating a common message across multiple channels, such as mail, email, web, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more. We provide eight expert tips for creating a message that resonates with your audience, including defining your target audience, starting with a clear message, tailoring your message to each channel, emphasizing the urgency, utilizing social proof, and monitoring and adjusting your message as needed. By f...
042 - How Can Nonprofits Use Innovative Strategies to Boost Monthly Giving?
April 18, 2023 14:02 - 16 minutes - 18.9 MBIn this episode of Nonprofit Answers, listeners will learn about creative approaches to monthly giving for nonprofits, including storytelling, gamification, and peer-to-peer fundraising. The podcast covers various topics, such as how to encourage supporters to become monthly donors, how to thank and recognize monthly donors, how nonprofits can leverage technology to enhance their monthly giving programs, how to convert one-time donors into monthly donors, how storytelling can inspire and re...
041 - How Do You Keep Monthly Donors Engaged and Giving?
April 10, 2023 14:00 - 17 minutes - 18.8 MBIn this episode of Nonprofit Answers, we explore strategies for retaining monthly donors, including effective communication, personalized engagement, and creative recognition. We discuss the benefits of having a monthly giving program for both the nonprofit and the donor, and provide practical tips for making the process of becoming a monthly donor as easy and streamlined as possible. We also discuss how to ensure that monthly donors stay engaged and continue giving over time, how to segmen...
040 - What are the Key Steps to Starting a Successful Monthly Giving Program?
April 04, 2023 14:00 - 18 minutes - 19.1 MBIn this episode, we discuss the importance of monthly giving for nonprofit fundraising, and provide practical guidance on how to start a successful monthly giving program. We cover topics such as determining the appropriate ask amount, best practices for creating and promoting the program, common obstacles to starting and growing a monthly giving program, and challenges that smaller nonprofits might face. Join us to learn how to create a reliable and sustainable source of funding for your n...
039 - How Do I Choose an Email Service Provider?
September 12, 2022 14:00 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBAn email service provider (ESP) is a company that enables organizations to send out mass emails. If you've ever signed up for a newsletter or clicked "subscribe" to receive updates from a website, chances are you've used an ESP. In the fundraising world, ESPs are commonly used to send out donor communications, like appeals and stewardship reports. There are a lot of ESPs on the market, which can make it difficult to decide which one is right for your organization. In this podcast, we'll b...
038 - Effective Calls to Action
October 12, 2021 18:39 - 5 minutes - 7.67 MBWe’ve talked at great length about the principles of good fundraising, from timing your appeal right to telling great fundraising stories. This advice will have a significant impact on your fundraising. Unfortunately, we often overlook one sentence in your appeal or on your landing page: your call-to-action. In this episode, Jeremy Reis explores how to write an effective call to action in your appeals, website, anywhere you're asking the reader to do something. You'll learn the secrets of ...
037 - 5 Great Year-End Fundraising Campaigns
October 05, 2021 16:06 - 12 minutes - 18.8 MBThe holidays are on their way, and it's time to start thinking about the year end fundraising. Whether you want to increase your donations, get new donors involved or create some buzz around your organization with a campaign that will last until the end of the year, there are plenty of ideas that will work for you. Here are five great ones! In this episode of Nonprofit Answers, Jeremy Reis shares five great campaigns to create more success at your year-end. You'll learn: How to create a ye...
036 - 10 Tips for Successful Year End Fundraising
November 09, 2020 15:45 - 20 minutes - 21.1 MBFor many nonprofits, the last two months of the year are the most vital time for fundraising. In this episode, Jeremy provides ten tips to make your year end fundraising a huge success! Learn everything from planning to follow up in this episode. Learn how to get a major donor to create a matching challenge fund. Learn a suggested amount of email appeals at year end. If you want to excel with your year end fundraising at your charity or non-profit, this episode is for you.
035 - How Do We Communicate with Major Donors in a Time of Crisis?
May 06, 2020 15:16 - 33 minutes - 27.7 MBAs we work through this time of crisis, it's vital to be in constant communication with major and mid-level donors. But what do you communicate? Do you ask for money? How to build relationship? How do you work with major donors when you can't visit them in person? In this episode of the Nonprofit Answers podcast, Jeremy Reis is joined by Tim Smith and Mike Meyers. Both have decades of fundraising experience and are considered experts in the field of major and mid-level donors. This episode i...
034 - How Do We Use an Email Welcome Series to Reduce Donor Attrition?
March 11, 2020 21:56 - 13 minutes - 18.5 MBA key to success for your fundraising efforts is to decrease donor attrition - the percentage of people who give and then stop giving - and get multiple gifts after you acquire a new donor. You need to build relationships with donors, have them feel valued and appreciated for their donations, and demonstrate impact. You can accomplish these things with a new donor email welcome series. In this episode, you will learn a four part email series that will help retain more donors and get that se...
033 - How Will the Election Season Impact Fundraising?
February 18, 2020 14:23 - 6 minutes - 8.84 MBThe election season is upon us in the US. How will this impact fundraising? There are a couple of factors to consider during the election season. First, donors will be distracted. There will be uncertainty and likely half the population will be upset about whoever is elected. There will be debates and rallies that will draw the donor's attention away from what we're doing. Second, there is a lot of money that will be given to candidates, parties, and other entities and this will impact non...
032 - Should We Move All of Our Communications Into the Digital Channel?
June 04, 2019 14:44 - 17 minutes - 24.2 MBDigital marketing has been a boon for many nonprofits. Digital communications offers many benefits: easy to communicate with people, reach a massive (and potentially new) audience, testing, quick access to results. There can also be some lack of clarity about the best uses for digital and whether or not you should abandon other channels and move certain communications to digital-only. Learn about which communications make sense for digital and how other channels still have a place in your co...
031 - Setting Annual Fundraising Goals to Meet Your Strategy
May 29, 2019 14:44 - 23 minutes - 32.9 MBYour nonprofit organization’s strategy determines the direction of where your organization is headed and the scope of what you’ll do. It is the thing that determines what your limited resources will accomplish for your beneficiaries, donors, and other stakeholders. A simple definition of strategy is “defining how we’re going to win in the period ahead.” In this episode, Kevin asks about how to set his goals and develop a strategy to contribute to the corporate strategy for 2022. We explore c...
030 - How to Say Thanks to Your Donors
May 20, 2019 14:25 - 18 minutes - 24.9 MBDemonstrating gratitude to your donors may be your most important job as a fundraiser. Why? A happy donor gives a second, third, and fourth time. A well thanked donor tells their friends. A donor that feels appreciated happily continues to support your organization, your cause, and the people you serve. If nothing else, say thanks because without your donor, your nonprofit ceases to exist. Donor acquisition is expensive and thanking donors has shown to increase the chance they stick around...
029 - Secrets to Effective Event Fundraising
May 14, 2019 14:34 - 18 minutes - 25.5 MBAt Food for the Hungry, we acquire tens of thousands of monthly donors each year from events. In this episode, you'll learn how we structure a sponsored event for the best possible outcome: a new monthly donor. Learn the format for the event, how to do an effective fundraising, and how to integrate volunteers. If you're looking to increase event fundraising at your nonprofit, this is the episode for you
028 - How Do I Move Affinity from a Staff Member to the Organization?
May 06, 2019 14:39 - 14 minutes - 19.8 MBWhat do you do if the affinity the donor has isn't for your organization but for a staff member? In this really intriguing question, Karen has a long-time staff member who is connected to donors and she'd like to explore ways to move the donors from connecting to the employee to the nonprofit. This can happen with major donor reps, or even a donor connecting to a beneficiary and not to your organization. Learn how to identify donors who have an affinity for your organization or cause instead...
027 - How to Acquire Digital Donors for Your Nonprofit
January 19, 2019 17:00 - 22 minutes - 20.4 MBYou need healthy donor acquisition to maintain or grow your nonprofit's revenue. In this episode of Nonprofit Answers, Jeremy teaches how to turn social media followers into donors through the A+B+C+D formula for new donor acquisition. You'll learn how to define an audience, develop your lead generation asset (the bribe), capture a lead, and develop the lead into a donor.
026 - How to Get More Attendees for Your Fundraising Gala
January 07, 2019 20:10 - 11 minutes - 10.5 MBThe annual fundraising gala. For many nonprofits, this special event is a crucial part of their fundraising plan. If you do fundraising events, you know part of the struggle is getting the right people to show up. In this episode, Jeremy answers a question from a new Christian high school fundraiser. He is worried because only about the half the normal number of people have RSVPed to their annual fundraising dinner. Jeremy discusses how to find out if there is a problem, how you can find new...
025 - Predictions for Fundraising in 2019
January 05, 2019 05:18 - 16 minutes - 15.4 MB2019 may be the most impactful year yet for the fundraising industry. Many nonprofits haven't fully embraced technology and marketing techniques that are commonplace in corporate marketing - but that will change in 2019. In this episode, you'll learn 19 predictions Jeremy has for fundraising and nonprofit innovation in 2019.
024 - Create an Engaging Nonprofit Annual Report
December 10, 2018 15:20 - 13 minutes - 30.1 MBJulia asks for tips on creating a more engaging annual report. In this episode, Jeremy explains how to create a great nonprofit annual report. You'll learn who the target audience is for the annual report, 5 goals for your annual report, and how to create an annual report your donors will love. Set yourself apart from other charities by creating an engaging annual report.
023 - How to Write a Great Fundraising Appeal
December 04, 2018 15:59 - 17 minutes - 39.7 MBIn this episode of Nonprofit Answers, you will learn how to write a great fundraising appeal. Though there isn't a perfect formula for a charity fundraising appeal, Jeremy walks through a proven formula that will get you results. Writing great fundraising direct marketing is part science and part art, but with this step by step process, you'll be writing fundraising letters that will raise more money for your organization.
022 - Building and Maintaining Donor Relationships
November 26, 2018 22:22 - 17 minutes - 39.4 MBIn this fifth episode of a special podcast series teaching the fundamentals of fundraising, you'll learn how to build and maintain donor relationships. Building and maintaining donor relationships is the lifeblood of any nonprofit organization. This is a crucial point to understand and to communicate into your organization. You will learn why building relationships with donors is important, how your current definition of donor relationship may be wrong, and how different donor audiences nee...
021 - Nonprofit Startup Funding
September 18, 2018 14:34 - 16 minutes - 37.4 MBIn this fourth episode of a special podcast series teaching the fundamentals of fundraising, you'll learn how to pursue nonprofit startup funding. Whether you're at a brand new nonprofit, are revamping a fundraising program, or need creative ideas for fundraising for a new campaign or project, this episode will give you actionable fundraising ideas. My teenage daughter is interested in nonprofit fundraising, so I've created a special series in Nonprofit Answers to help her learn fundraising....
020 - Donor Psychology - What moves someone to donate? Part 2
September 04, 2018 14:08 - 11 minutes - 26.3 MBIn this second part of a two part series on donor psychology, you will learn the reasons why people give. Jeremy has identified 15 different psychological triggers that moves someone to donate to your nonprofit. In this episode, Jeremy explains the second 7 motivations, or donor psychological triggers, that help someone make a decision to give to your nonprofit. This is a fascinating look at why people give and how you can change your messaging or produce events that create more donors. For ...
019 - Donor Psychology - What moves someone to donate? Part 1
August 21, 2018 19:13 - 12 minutes - 29 MBIn this second episode of a special series of fundraising education, you will learn donor psychology and the reasons why people give. Jeremy has identified 15 different psychological triggers that moves someone to donate to your nonprofit. In this episode, Jeremy explains the first 8 motivations, or donor psychological triggers, that help someone make a decision to give to your nonprofit. This is a fascinating look at why people give and how you can change your messaging or produce events th...
018 - Nonprofit Donor Motivations
August 14, 2018 21:34 - 23 minutes - 53.6 MBRecently, my 15 year old daughter Emily has shown interest in nonprofit marketing and fundraising. In this special series of Nonprofit Answers episodes, you'll learn all aspects of the fundraising process. In this episode, you will learn donor motivations and how your nonprofit presents an appeal or campaign to specific types of donors. You'll start learning the foundations of donor psychology and how to motivate donors to give.
017 - 5 Secrets to Successful Fundraising
July 30, 2018 17:58 - 7 minutes - 10.6 MBWhen I joined Food for the Hungry just over 6 years ago, there was a lot I needed to learn about fundraising. In this special episode, I reflect on the lessons I've learn over these years and share the five secrets successful fundraisers know. You'll learn how to demonstrate urgency, how to be more direct with your ask, a mistake you're likely making in how you talk to donors, a lesson on using facts to motivate donors, and key insights into showing gratitude. These lessons, learned over the...
016 - Effective Nonprofit Storytelling
July 24, 2018 12:27 - 8 minutes - 7.37 MBStorytelling is the foundation of excellent nonprofit marketing. Jeremy is frequently asked, "how do I effectively tell our story?" In this special episode, Jeremy Reis explores effective nonprofit storytelling that produces results. You'll learn the tips and tricks to writing great nonprofit stories that raise funds and builds relationships with your donors and stakeholders. Read the full transcript at http://nonprofitdonor.com/episode16
015 - How to Define a Major Partner Email Strategy
July 16, 2018 14:00 - 10 minutes - 9.63 MBIn this episode, Gary asks what, if anything, should we email major donors? This isn't an either/or answer, it isn't whether or not you send major and midlevel donors emails, but which emails and how often. Jeremy teaches you how to define a major partner email communication strategy and recommends which emails to send based on which segment the donor is in. This is a "can't miss" episode for major donor teams. Read the full transcript at http://nonprofitdonor.com/episode15 Have a major do...
014 - How Do I Grow My Email List?
July 09, 2018 21:47 - 15 minutes - 35.2 MBGrowing your email list is an essential part of digital marketing for your nonprofit. You will be able to create a new source of donors through adding people who have an affinity for your cause. Naturally, you're going to lose a percentage of email subscribes to attrition. Adding new emails will help keep your email file fresh. Additionally, it's a great source for new donors. In this episode, Jeremy explores several ways you can add new names to your email list. Read the full transcript at...
013 - How Do I Position the Donor as the Hero?
May 14, 2018 14:00 - 8 minutes - 20.3 MBYour donor is the hero. This is one of the hardest concepts for nonprofit staff to accept. They want their frontline staff to be the heros. They want to recognize the beneficiaries as the heros. Both are true, but in the context of fundraising, your donor is the hero. In this episode, Jeremy answers a question about how to position the donor as the hero in your nonprofit communications. Using examples, Jeremy teaches you how to write active copy that presents an appeal from the point of view...
012 - What is Retargeting? Should My Nonprofit Run Remarketing Ads?
May 07, 2018 14:00 - 8 minutes - 20.2 MBRetargeting, also known as remarketing, is a technology to show ads to a warm audience. In this episode, Jeremy discusses what retargeting is, how it works, two different types of retargeting, and how your nonprofit organization can use retargeting to get more supporters and deepen your relationship with existing donors. Read the full transcript at http://nonprofitdonor.com/episode12 Do you have a question about digital advertising or how to convert more warm contacts into donors? Ask your ...
011 - How Often Should My Nonprofit Blog?
May 02, 2018 17:30 - 13 minutes - 31.5 MBBlogging is not dead. Far from it. In today's episode, Jeremy answers a question from a nonprofit executive about how much blogging is right for his organization. This executive is being told by his team to blog every day, but doesn't understand why. Jeremy explores the types of posts we should write, how to measure the effectiveness of each one, and addresses the frequency of blogging. How do you decide how many times to blog a week or a month? For a full transcript of this episode, visit h...
010 - How Do We Stop Fighting Internally Over Income Sourcing?
April 20, 2018 23:14 - 5 minutes - 4.84 MBIn this special edition of Nonprofit Answers, Jeremy is live at the Christian Leadership Alliance with a timely question. At the conference, a nonprofit leader asked Jeremy how to properly give internal credit for income without causing problems with attribution and to reduce internal fighting over "credit" for donations. Jeremy explains the problem with internal sourcing of income and how they resolved the problem at Food for the Hungry. Do you have a question about nonprofit marketing? As...
009 - How Should I Clean My Email List?
March 26, 2018 14:00 - 12 minutes - 28.3 MBDo you have a lot of email addresses on your file that aren't responding? Speaking from personal experience, Jeremy explains to Grant the steps to re-engage email subscribers and what to do if they continue to be unresponsive. For the health of your email file, you need to listen to this episode! Read the full transcript: http://nonprofitdonor.com/episode9 Do you have questions about email marketing or how to grow your email list? Submit your question today! Visit http://nonprofitanswers.or...
008 - How Do I Create a Sense of Urgency in My Appeals?
March 19, 2018 14:00 - 8 minutes - 20.4 MBCreating a sense of urgency in your appeal messaging will help move readers to become donors. What if you have a difficult time creating a sense of urgency? In episode 8 of Nonprofit Answers, Rob asks a question about how to create urgency in his appeals for a women's shelter. Jeremy explores why you want to create urgency and how to do it. Read the full transcript at: http://nonprofitdonor.com/episode8 Do you have a question about nonprofit marketing or fundraising? Ask now at http://nonpr...
007 - My Executive Director Edits Out Good Fundraising Practice, What Should I Do?
March 12, 2018 14:34 - 8 minutes - 18.9 MBEver have someone who isn't a fundraising professional edit-out fundraising best practices? Have someone question your expertise and direct you to do something that lessens the impact of your appeal? On this episode of Nonprofit Answers, Julia asks a question about her Executive Director editing her appeals. How should she give feedback to him to help him understand why she is doing the things she does? Read the transcript at http://nonprofitdonor.com/episode7 Have a question about fundrais...
006 - Why Don't My Emails Perform As Well As My Direct Mail?
March 05, 2018 14:00 - 15 minutes - 35.3 MBDirect mail is not dead. Far from it, direct mail still performs well if you have a good strategy behind it. Many nonprofits are transitioning more investment into digital but aren't seeing the return in email that they've seen in direct mail. The lessons we've learned in direct mail still apply to email: you need a good story, you need to have a strong ask, and you need urgency. Today, we're going to talk through the five Cs of successful email appeals, then we have a question from Marcy ab...
005 - What to Do With 25,000 Email Addresses a Partner Offered Us?
February 28, 2018 14:30 - 5 minutes - 12.7 MBKaren's organization has a partner who offered them a list of 25,000 email addresses. Her boss wants to just add them to their email service provider, but Karen doesn't agree. In episode 5, Jeremy gives Karen advice as to how to answer her boss and what to do with the opportunity. Read the full transcript at http://nonprofitdonor.com/episode5 Do you have questions how to use the assets offered by your partners in the digital space? Questions about email marketing or increasing your email li...
004 - How Does Email Design Impact Response?
February 26, 2018 14:00 - 3 minutes - 9.07 MBHow does email design impact response in your emails? Often there are conflicting answers on blogs as different organizations experience different results when they change factors in their email marketing. In episode 4, Jeremy explores a question about graphics vs text emails and how you can test to determine the right factors to improve response for your nonprofit emails. Read the complete transcript at http://nonprofitdonor.com/episode4 Do you have a question about email fundraising campa...
003 - How Do We Segment Our Emails?
February 23, 2018 18:46 - 17 minutes - 24 MBHave you ever hired a consultant to help you with a project, but when it comes time to execute, they disappear? This happened to Holly when she brought in a consultant to look at her email fundraising program. The consultant told Holly she should improve her segmentation and then disappeared before sharing with her a direction to go. In episode 3 of the Nonprofit Answers Podcast, Jeremy teaches Holly about different ways to segment her email file to maximize response. Read the full transcrip...
002 - How Do We Improve Our Turnaround Time for Sending Disaster Fundraising Appeals?
February 22, 2018 22:01 - 11 minutes - 25.6 MBIn episode two of the Nonprofit Answers Podcast, Jeremy Reis takes a question from Ryan who's frustrated with their turnaround time on disaster response fundraising appeals. This is a topic that really hits home: how do we decide if we're going to respond to a disaster and then get our appeals out the door quickly in email and direct mail? Jeremy shares how Food for the Hungry decides when to respond and how they send out emergency response fundraising appeals quickly. Read the full transcri...
001 - How Will the Changes to Facebook's Algorithm Impact My Nonprofit?
February 22, 2018 20:59 - 15 minutes - 25.8 MBIn episode 1 of the Nonprofit Answers Podcast, Jeremy Reis answers a question from Helen, a nonprofit marketing manager in Nashville. Helen is concerned about the recent algorithm changes with Facebook and wants to know what she should do. Should she continue to invest time and resources into Facebook? What changes should she make to her social media strategy? Read the full transcript at http://nonprofitdonor.com/episode1 Submit your nonprofit marketing and fundraising question at http://no...