Celebrating Our Wins through the Annual Aspire Awards Fellow Advancement Service professionals share their perspectives and experiences with the annual Aspire Awards, designed to recognize colleagues for their accomplishments. Become inspired and get ready to document your achievements after receiving advice from both sides of the award process. Robin and Sholanda will motivate future submissions by explaining how to best describe an innovative, complex project and measure success through...

Chelsea Lamego and Alejandro Stevenson-Duran, co-founders of Fundminer, discuss their journey in building their company and the challenges they aim to solve in the fundraising and advancement services industry. They share how they met and started working together, the development of their product, and their experience attending the AASP Summit. They also highlight the importance of self-service and scalability in their platform, as well as the role of artificial intelligence in automating...

Dr. Becky Frantz is the Executive Director of Customer Service for Development and Alumni Relations at the University of California at Davis. She shares her journey in philanthropy and involvement with the Association of Advancement Services Professionals (aasp). She emphasizes the benefits of volunteering and offers advice for pursuing professional development and volunteerism. Becky also discusses the aasp mentorship program and the value of finding mentor matches in the same or different...

Data Science for Fundraising by Ashutosh Nandeshwar and Rodger Devine is a comprehensive book that covers topics such as learning R, predictive analytics, and data visualization. The book provides step-by-step instructions and guidance on implementing these concepts. It is written in a casual and approachable language, making it easy to follow along. The authors also provide additional resources and citations for further exploration. Overall, the book is highly recommended for anyone...

Summary In this podcast episode, Meg Padovani discusses the book 'The Little Book of Gold: Fundraising for Small and Very Small Nonprofits' by Eric Hanberg. She highlights the approachability and value of the book, emphasizing its relevance for both small and large organizations. Meg explores the importance of making fundraising goals approachable and shares insights on starting small and building relationships. She also appreciates the casual and supportive tone of the book, which makes it...

Staying Connected with Mark DeFelippis A leader in the Advancement Services industry, Mark DeFelippis shares familiar career comforts within his professional journey, starting with falling in to a position and finding a home. This personal perspective is a story of evolution and engagement, highlighting the importance of human connection in today’s virtual world.   00:00     Intros & Background 3:00        Mark’s entry in to professional organizations 8:40        History and...

Your Donor Management System is just part of your technology ecosystem. Considering the many official and unofficial downstream and bolt-on solutions, managing your CRM, or changing your CRM, requires planning and many conversations. Listen as Jeffrey Wat dicusses technology ecosystems and technical debt. 00:00 Jeffrey Wat 03:03 CRM Systems and Planning Changes 05:35 Technology Ecosystems 13:26 Navigating Changes 20:03 How to Manage Bolt-on Solutions 27:01 Guardrails for Downstream...

Today we are going to talk with a benchmarking guru who creates, and keeps track of, a bunch or simple surveys. And through these surveys, he can pinpoint his position relative to other shops of the same size, and even against shops that they aspire to emulate. Welcome Mark Longo from Caltech.

Summit 2023 was a testament to the dedication of our colleagues and friends. It is a multi-day affair that brings like-minded individuals together to share, learn, and celebrate. If you have never attended a Summit, we strongly recommend considering it. This episode is a unique opportunity, capturing candid conversations amid the conference's hustle and bustle. Join us as we converse with prominent figures from the philanthropic realm, including: Teresa Goddard, our respected treasurer...

Meg Padovani chats all things ChatGPT with Jay Ballinger. They reveal their "ah ha" moments, compare and contrast ChatGPT's strengths and weaknesses, describe how they are using it within Philanthropy today, and they even have a little fun with it.

Step into the world of alumni engagement like never before with the remarkable insights of Dr. Jay Le Roux Dillon. In this captivating episode, dive into the depths of alumni relationships as Dr. Dillon unveils his groundbreaking approach to crafting the Alumni Identity Score – a profound departure from conventional affinity or engagement metrics. More than a podcast episode, this is an exploration of the intricacies of alumni identity and its resonance in the realm of giving. Tune in to...

Dive into the world of data-driven philanthropy with Dr. Rodger Devine, a distinguished data scientist and expert author. In this enlightening episode, host Jianell engages in a compelling conversation that unveils the seamless integration of statistical analysis and philanthropic endeavors. Dr. Devine's adeptness at translating intricate concepts into relatable insights (and employing food analogies), adds a unique dimension to the discussion. Tune in to gain valuable insights into the...

Follow up to Episode 16 - Cryptocurrency. We revisit the unique gift, and the unique challenges, presented to Fort Lewis College as explained by Hillary Cote.

How do you describe Advancement Services and the value we provide? Listen to this interview with Tom Chaves to hear how he describes Advancement Services.

According to Fidelity Charitable, a third of cryptocurrency investors have donated some of their assets to charity.  Are you ready to accept donations in cryptocurrency? This episode brings together a panel of seven experts to help guide advancement services professionals through the several facets of accepting and recording crypto donations. The speakers discuss gift acceptance policies, crypto accounts, valuing and receipting crypto gifts, and prospect research.

Tara Watterson, Training Coordinator, and Margaret Griffin, Web Applications Analyst at North Carolina State University, share with us how they updated the online portal at NC State University, earning them a Sapphire Award. They took an antiquated intranet that was hard to navigate and created a modern portal to house resources to provide access to all stakeholders to be able to work efficiently with Advancement Services, Development Communications and Stewardship, and Events.

As advancement services professionals, we work hard to ensure that our organizations are in alignment with professional best practices. Every day we innovate and adapt to ever-changing conditions and characteristics of fundraising in non-profit operations. That is why aasp developed the aspire awards program. The only member awards program solely dedicated to celebrating the work of advancement services professionals. Join us as we talk to Terri Clark, Director of Prospect Development from...

In our industry of advancement services, there are a few rock stars. These are colleagues who we turn to for information and advice. They help describe the right way of recording our donors and gifts. One such individual is John Taylor. He is the creator of the fund services listserv and has worked for multiple advancement services shops. He is now a consultant for many development operations and is also the go-to guy for questions about IRS rules and for general best practices. In this...

When we look across our association, a full two thirds of us support higher education. That's a healthy percentage, but that also means the other one third of us support other things. In this episode, and for everyone's benefit, we wanted to explore some of the uniqueness and challenges of supporting a non-hybrid cause.

Are you getting excited about Summit? Have you used a Best Practice White Paper lately, or did you have a chance to attend the Deep Dive Summer Series? Did you know that all of this content and more are exclusively produced by aasp volunteers?  In this episode of All About Supporting Philanthropy, listen to the voices of our some of our most engaged colleagues about what aasp and volunteerism has meant to them over the years, and why aasp and the value we provide is even more important today!

If you could wave a magic wand and receive additional, fully funded positions for your advancement services shop, what would that mean for your organization? In this episode we hear from a multitude of voices representative of many sectors as they talk about how they allocate positions across large and small advancement services shops. Listen in for a lively discussion of the dynamics between shop size and career development, resource allocation, leadership buy-in, and staffing for strategic...

In this episode we go back to Australia to talk with Eric and Sandra Billman about the art and science of fostering “Donor Bliss” in cross-cultural fundraising environments. Listen in as they share how they have learned to forge connections between donors, fundraisers, and board members of different generations and backgrounds – all by focusing on a core value that transcends cultural difference: the desire to do good for others.

North American advancement services professionals know well how to conduct fundraising within the context of their own communities. But how many of these best practices would still apply while working with different cultures? In this episode, Ray Li shares tips and tricks on how to conduct a successful international fundraising and alumni relations program like the one he developed for the University of Washington.

Join us for this retrospective episode which features a collection of insights from thought leaders – some you’ve already heard from and some you’ll hear more from in upcoming episodes. Listen to John Taylor, Cassie Hunt, Ray Li, Sandra & Eric Billman, and Jon Thorsen share their thoughts on how to manage gift, donor, and staff administration while also honoring the human side of adjusting to an entirely new way of navigating our personal and professional lives.