Raise & Engage: A Filters-off Podcast Series For Nonprofits

Public policy impacts decisions made around charitable giving. These policies can influence how people give, when they give, and how much they give. So what are the likely effects for 2022? In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Brian Flahaven to learn how policies have impacted giving over the past few years and what’s ahead for the coming year. Listen in to hear what Brian has to say about his role in the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and what they do, what current legislation is on the table, and whether Brian believes it will gain traction this year.   Topics Discussed in This Episode: What CASE does How charitable giving has been impacted by change over the past couple of years How current legislation can encourage donation Whether Brian expects legislation that positively impacts giving to gain traction by the end of the year Trends that CASE is seeing in giving to education Call to action for listeners   Resources: Brian Flahaven Blackbaud’s Charitable Giving Report

Do you need a mentor? Do you know what kind of mentor you need, or what you’re looking to gain from a mentoring relationship? In today’s episode, Tiffany Crumpton, Vice President of Renewals and Retention at Blackbaud and active member of Blackbaud's Senior Women's Community, joins the podcast to discuss mentorship. Listen in to learn about what mentorship means and how it differs from sponsorship, the different kinds of mentors out there, and how to get the most out of a mentor.   Topics Discussed in This Episode: How Tiffany defines mentoring and what it means to her What sponsorship means The different kinds of mentors What to think about identifying a mentor How to get the most out of a mentor The importance of checking back in One of Tiffany’s experiences with a mentor relationship   Resources: Tiffany Crumpton   Quotes:  “When you’re identifying a mentor, be really upfront with them about why you’re asking them, why you thought of that person.” “I also believe that the best mentors

Giving doesn’t stay static. As things change and more innovations become available, giving changes with it, and that’s true for the upcoming year too. Today, you’ll be hearing about some of the changes and giving and how social good organizations and donors are affected. Sonia Nigam, Co-founder and CEO of Change, and Amar Shah, Co-founder and President of Change, discuss changes in online shopping, how social good organizations are adjusting to cryptocurrencies and NFTs, and what’s going to happen going forward in 2022   Topics Discussed in This Episode: How the online giving landscape is changing How the online shopping experience is changing What is crypto is and how it’s used The number of nonprofits accepting cryptocurrency How many donors are interested in giving via cryptocurrency What NFTs are and how it could be used in giving How NFTs can become a bigger part of online strategies What’s going to happen in giving in 2022 Advice for social good organizations Convincing leaders and staffers to be

What do you know about cybersecurity? You’re probably aware that it’s a threat, but if you don’t know what cybersecurity threats entail or how to increase your own security, how can you really protect yourself or your organization? Listen in to this BBCon excerpt to learn about some of the basics of cybersecurity, including what the risks and threats are, steps you can take to protect yourself, and how to implement policies at the workplace that protect your company.   Topics Discussed in This Episode: What cybersecurity is and what it’s for The cybersecurity threat landscape Understanding what you’re up against Types of cyber threats Remote work threats Password security measures Multifactor identification Secure wifi Protecting your company Implementing security policies   Resources: Cybersecurity Tip Sheet Cybersecurity Industry Standards Security at Blackbaud Overview   Quotes:  “Additionally, 85% of the breaches that happen involve some sort of human element.” “Bottom line, social e

Trends in giving and donor retention are an important topic in the fundraising landscape, and at this time of year, it’s a good idea to take a look at what’s been happening in the fundraising world. Looking closely at giving and donor retention now with help you get a handle on end-of-the-year giving and some clarity about what will be coming in the new year. Listen in to this episode to hear from Erica Wassdorp about current fundraising trends, how online giving has developed in different kinds of organizations, and how to handle benefits for recurring donors.   Topics Discussed in This Episode: Standout trends in the overall fundraising landscape How picking up new donors, even at lower amounts, creates opportunities for recurring giving Where the focus on recurring giving has come from The history of recurring giving in certain kinds of organizations The proliferation of online giving Which groups to start with when it comes to moving to recurring gifting The benefits of recurring giving for donors W

Are you dealing with problems in your organizations and wondering why you can’t solve them, or why you can’t solve them in a lasting way? Listen in to this excerpt from bbcon 2021 Virtual, where Sarah Beauregard, Senior Process Engineer at Blackbaud, discusses root cause analysis.   Topics Discussed in This Episode: Why some solutions to business problems don’t work The kinds of business problems your organization needs to solve Root cause analysis technique Definition of root cause Looking at the cause-and-effect chain Problem solving collaboratively Three steps to perform root cause analysis Describe Identify the Whys Action Who can use this method   Resources: Sarah Beauregard Root Cause analysis document   Quotes:  “If we pull up the weed by the root, it won’t come back.” “Also as a part of this step, we identify who those subject matter experts are that could help determine why this problem might be happening.” “The real value here comes from engaging those subject matter experts

What do social good organizations need to know about corporate philanthropy? In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Julia Beltran, partnership specialist from Double the Donation, to learn more about corporate giving programs and how to promote them. Listen to the episode to hear what Julia has to say about common types of corporate philanthropy, data points on matching gift programs, and how to boost a companies’ matching gift percentage.   Topics Discussed in This Episode: Who Julia is and what her role is at Double the Donation Common types of corporate philanthropy How companies enable their employees to do good things in the world Employee voices in who companies support How consumers can engage with products Data points on matching gift programs How people are engaging in matching gift programs How companies can boost their matching gift percentage Guidance about promoting matching gift programs Resources to learn more about matching gifts   Resources: Julia Beltran Double The Donation  

Volunteering is changing. Many volunteer opportunities went virtual because of the pandemic, and like other types of work, it may never look exactly like it did in a pre-pandemic world. So what does volunteering look like now? What resources are there for professionals in this space who want to learn more about how volunteering has changed and how to rise to those changes? In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Ben Sampson of WeHero. Listen to the conversation to learn more about what WeHero does, the latest trends and changes in the volunteering space, and how to provide new and different volunteer opportunities.   Topics Discussed in This Episode: About WeHero What trends and changes Ben is seeing in volunteering How the global landscape is shifting Volunteering as education Making sure there are new and different volunteer opportunities Resources for CSR professionals   Resources: Ben Sampson WeHero   Quotes:  “Workers are going to come out of this really wanting agency in how and where

Is donor retention different when the donor is acquired online? In this episode, you’ll learn more about ways to improve donor retention for online-acquired donors. Joining the podcast today is Rachel Clemens, Chief Marketing Officer of Mighty Citizen. Listen to today’s conversation to learn what Rachel thinks about building relationships between donors and organizations, the role of segmentation, and how language factors into donor retention.   Topics Discussed in This Episode: What organizations do to improve how they retain and engage online donors Building the relationship between the organization and the donor Preferences of people making online gifts How segmentation plays a role in driving the relationship The factor of language in donor retention What people want to see in brands The mindset to retaining different kinds of donors What organizations can do to focus on retaining online donors COVID-19 adaptations that might remain helpful going forward Advice for organizations to double down on re

The newest Blackbaud Luminate Online® Benchmark Report provides unique insight to online fundraising during its meteoric rise in 2020. Learn more about the shift to email engagement, how one-time online giving changed nonprofit revenue composition, and the steady march of sustainer donors. Joining the podcast today are report analysts Mike Snusz, Rachael Ahrens, and Deb Ashmore of Blackbaud’s Professional Services team as well as Erik Leaver, Principal Customer Success Manager. They also share their predictions for the next big online fundraising opportunity in this new guide.   Topics Discussed in This Episode: Background on the Luminate Online Benchmark Report The difference between this year’s report and previous reports Increases in online one-time giving Growth in number of gifts, but not the amounts of the gifts Growth in first-time online donors When the biggest spikes occurred Lessons learned from 2020 Growth of email fundraising and engagement Growing sustainer programs How data is segmented i

We are now just a little more than a month from GivingTuesday is getting closer all the time, you don’t need to stress if your organization hasn’t yet developed its plan. Today, Blackbaud’s GivingTuesday experts Matt Connell and Jackie Zimmerman join the podcast to talk about the value of Giving Tuesday, how organizations can start planning now for a successful day, and the GivingTuesday campaigns have inspired them.   Topics Discussed in This Episode: Why Matt and Jackie value Giving Tuesday What organizations should do if they don’t yet have a plan for Giving Tuesday Tips and tricks for GivingTuesday Content strategies for GivingTuesday Examples of successful GivingTuesday campaigns Resources that can help organizations with GivingTuesday   Resources: Giving Tuesday Toolkit Giving Tuesday Webinar Series   Quotes:  “While we should be giving every day of the year, let’s make sure that we especially give on this particular day of the year.” –Jackie Zimmerman “If this, again, is your firs

Digital communications have become ever more important over the last year and a half, and visual storytelling is a critical part of an effective strategy. Visual images help supporters visualize and understand what the organizations are doing, and how their contributions make a difference. That's why today we are bringing back an ever relevant episode originally recorded at bbcon 2018 featuring Ira Horowitz, the founder of Cornershop Creative. Listen in to hear what Ira has to say about why visuals matter in storytelling, how to demonstrate to donors that they can be the heroes of the story, and how to match copy with the right visuals for maximum impact.  Topics Discussed in This Episode: Why visual storytelling matters to fundraising Ways that organizations can make donors the heroes of the stories they’re telling Resources that organizations can use to get the visual images that they need Matching the right copy and content with the right visual images How to test and fine-tune a story over time How

How can finance and fundraising departments better work with each other? Why does it matter? Often, these disparate personalities find that working together feels chaotic, but it doesn’t need to be that way. In today’s episode, you’ll hear some ideas about how finance and development can build connections and better work together to support the mission.   Topics Discussed in This Episode: Why collaboration between finance and development is important Key differences that pop up between these two groups The different types of jargon that the different departments use Brainstorming with no fear Starting a conversation with “I want to know more…” A few things that a typical person in a finance department is focused on The role of technology First steps toward making connections   Resources: Financial Management Toolkit – Blackbaud Institute Blackbaud University Curriculum For Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT   Quotes:  “The idea of everybody working together as a team in order to support the mi

Today, improving ESG (environmental, social, and governance) performance is no longer optional. People want to work for companies that are helping to change the world, consumers are making purchasing decisions based on how brands are solving social problems and addressing climate change and investors consider companies that are ESG laggards to be high-risk. Despite the imperative for corporations to be making social change a priority, many businesses continue the practice of "CSR lite," an approach that prioritizes communications and optics over meaningful and measurable change.  Join Paul Klein for a conversation about why it's more important than ever for corporations to shift from a checkbox approach to corporate social responsibility to one that contributes to solving social problems. They will discuss what social change leadership looks like today and how businesses can help solve social problems and benefit from doing so.   Topics Discussed in This Episode: Impakt’s role and ba

What impact has COVID-19 and the racial justice movement had on corporate social responsibility (CSR)? The Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals (ACCP) partnered with Rocket Social Impact to research just that. Join Carolyn Berkowitz, President and CEO of ACCP, on today’s episode to learn all about it and what motivated their research.   Topics Discussed in This Episode: What the ACCP does What motivated the research on the intersection of COVID-19 and racial justice What trends and data the research revealed on CSR budgets, importance to the C-suite, staffing needs Integration between CSR teams and other teams in companies (DEI, HR, ESG, Marketing) How to access the report: The Impact of Pandemic & Racial Justice Movement on CSR   Resources: Carolyn Berkowitz ACCP resources The Impact of Pandemic & Racial Justice Movement on CSR   Quotes:  “The expectations of CEOs and of senior leadership is significantly raising the game. They want to be reported to more frequentl

Federal grants complicate the budgeting process. You have to consider a lot of different scenarios, and you don’t have any room for error. In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Stacy Fitzsimmons and learn more about budgeting for Community Health Centers when grants are part of the picture. Listen in to learn about where to start with your budget, why you need to break costs into buckets, and how to get yourself audit-ready.   Topics Discussed in This Episode: The biggest challenge of grant budgeting Creating a realistic, achievable budget Where to start with your budget Using budget categories for your expenses Breaking down cost buckets Knowing how much money you’ve spent and how much is left The joint responsibility for budgeting Planning the budgeting cycles for different scenarios Putting guardrails in place How to set yourself up to be audit-ready Documentation back-up Having policies and procedures that support how you use your system Using budgeting and expense tracking to tie into performance me

What is corporate purpose? What are the current rules for corporate purpose? And why do we need to redefine them? In today’s interview with Judy Samuelson, Founder and Executive Director of the Aspen Business and Society Program, you’ll learn about her new book, The Six New Rules of Business, and why she’s been on a mission to disrupt economist Milton Friedman’s narrative about corporate purpose.   Topics Discussed in This Episode: Judy’s role at The Aspen Institute Judy’s campaign to disrupt Milton Friedman’s narrative about corporate purpose Why Judy’s proposed new rules are necessary How to start thinking about the rules Companies that are leading the way Advice for leaders who don’t understand yet that change is needed Where listeners can find Judy   Resources: Judy Samuelson The Six New Rules of Business: Creating Real Value in a Changing World by Judy Samuelson The Aspen Institute   Quotes:  “I like to say single objective functions, whether it’s about stock price or customers, rar

GivingTuesday isn’t a new or unexpected event, but some organizations struggle to make the most of it. Whether it’s learning how to better engage supporters or improving results over previous years, standing up a successful campaign may seem overwhelming. With 2021’s GivingTuesday coming up sooner than you may think, Sophia Latto joins the podcast to give expert advice on what organizations can do to seize the GivingTuesday and make it a repeatable success.   Topics Discussed in This Episode: What Sophia would tell organizations about starting their planning for 2021 The importance of engaging imagery How to prepare in advance Communication cadence and frequency Strategy and segmentation How to improve past GivingTuesday performance Setting attainable goals Thanking your donors   Resources: Sophia Latto Blackbaud's GivingTuesday Toolkit   Quotes:  “It’s important to connect a personal story about real people with your impact for GivingTuesday.” “I always think of GivingTuesday as being t

Over the past year and several months, change has been one of the few constants you can count on. Of course, change always happens eventually, but recently, everyone has been in a period of greater amounts of change than usual – and people are beginning to get fatigued. How can you prevent change burnout in your organization? By implementing change management. In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Melissa Rancour, Principal Instructional Designer at Blackbaud University about why it’s important to talk about change management, the importance of the questions that need to be asked about change and what order to ask them in, and what to do with the questions once you know them.   Topics Discussed in This Episode: Why it’s important to talk about change management Why you need to do some change preparation How to make change less exhausting The right questions to ask about change Why the order of questions is important What to do with the questions once you have them Whether change management needs to be do

For years, the role of development operations teams has been perceived as a data and technology-focused position within the nonprofit world. As technology, nonprofits, and the way we fundraise has significantly changed over the last few decades, so has the role of the operations team. For organizations and leaders willing to evolve, this presents an incredible opportunity – both for the organization’s success and the individual’s advancement. In today’s episode, Deb Taft, CEO of Lindauer and Luis Morales, senior director of information strategy at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, chat with guest host Ashley Sweeney of Blackbaud about the ways that today’s DBAs are adding value to the organization, how leaders can maximize this impact, and what operations team members should do to advance their career.   Topics Discussed in This Episode: The value that operational teams offer healthcare organizations How leaders in the organization play a key role in the operation team’s value Cr