Hasta luego. Tot ziens. À bientôt. The podcast got too big, too quick for these two social sector entrepreneurs and we need some time to regroup. What’s NOT changing? The concept of Donor Growth - more AND deeper relationships with more of your donors. We want to be here to support you–intellectually, emotionally, professionally–and will figure out more and better ways to do it. That’s our promise to you. Why are you stopping the podcast? You’ll have to listen to find out! As usual, we...

Everyone wants new donors. But few organizations are ready to invest in donor acquisition—and more importantly, the work it takes to invest in the relationship with new donors.  Or are they? Today we talk about a few different ways organizations are acquiring—and keeping—new donors.  We get into what’s working, what isn’t, and what we wished worked. GET CONNECTED Follow Louis Diez on LinkedIn  Follow Mike Duerksen on LinkedIn  Join the Donor Participation Project here—a community of...

Acquisition… the final frontier. Everyone thinks they know what acquisition is and seem to be either firmly for or against. How did some nonprofits get really big through direct mail acquisition? Now that many nonprofits are losing donors, how should they think about it? On Part 1, we dive into acquisition tactics—from faith-based organizations to higher education. If you feel like you need clarity around this topic, this is the right episode for you. GET CONNECTED Follow Louis Diez on...

Are we in a recession?  Who knows.  But it’s no secret: a lot of nonprofits are seeing a decline in revenue after the covid bump we experienced for a few years.  On today’s podcast, we get into 7 principles of fundraising that will help you keep the main thing the main thing—even when cash flow changes. These aren’t just principles to whether a recession.  They’re timeless first principles that apply to your fundraising in good years and in lean years.  Consistency compounds Money flows where...

Jump in, we’re going for a ride. On today’s podcast, Louis and Mike have a chat about some of the things they’ve been thinking about. From why focusing on the fundamentals in fundraising is so hard, to building a cheap CRM using no-code tools, to wondering if an ask string really matters in fundraising.  No frameworks. No deep insights. Just two fundraisers in cars, getting coffee. GET CONNECTED Follow Louis Diez on LinkedIn  Follow Mike Duerksen on LinkedIn  Join the Donor...

Should you focus on donors, dollars, or something else? Some shops have over 25 metrics that they use to measure gift officer performance! Others, don’t have any… (or maybe just this one: the is-the-board-happy metric) What should a fundraising shop measure to make sure it is accountable and progressing toward the nonprofit’s goals? The answer, according to our conversation today: it depends on: Your nonprofit’s growth stage The type of nonprofit you work inWhat you’re able to measureWhat we...

Can a simple checklist reduce the complexity of your fundraising operations?  It sounds too simple. Maybe even too systematized and rigid and robotic. But what if the complexity of our lives requires the simplest of solutions to give us back the time to do more human stuff…like having coffees and lunches?  Or calling someone on the phone? Or making a meaningful connection? And what if a series of simple checklists can help us spend less time worrying about rote and repetitive tasks of...

You’ve likely heard this before: “your nonprofit is competing for market share—so you need a clear value proposition to win.” But is that really true?  Here are some assumptions we’re making if we think that way: That giving to charity is like buying a product or serviceThat our competition is other nonprofits (vs. inaction, building up more savings to pass down to kids, or countless other ways people spend money every single day)That we are competing in the first place That there’s a fixed...

For decades, the common way of talking about donor-centric fundraising was defined as “the donor is the hero.”  The sentiment was harmless in its intent. Noble, even. It was meant to help charity administrators realize that people play the main character in their own lives. They care about their kids and family; and their values and legacy.  Few wake up in the morning thinking about your charity. And certainly most aren’t used to thinking about choosing—or being loyal to—a certain kind of...

It may not feel like it, but large parts of the world live in greater abundance than ever before. There is more work, more services, more wealth. And yes, more people. Increasingly, the hard part is coordinating all of this! Donors and other external stakeholders (and their information bubbles). Complicated processes using dozens of external services. Employees who don’t share systems or sometimes even a common language! In this podcast episode, we review the thesis that the role of the CEO...

Welcome to the Shark Tank…or, more like the Turtle Tank (to avoid any trademark violations). On this week’s episode, Mike pitches Louis some ideas for businesses that would help nonprofits improve their fundraising operations—and Louis gets to invest. But will he? From a platform that helps nonprofits listen to donor feedback, to recruiting offshore talent for fundraising admin tasks, there’s a little bit of everything in here. And, of course, this is all theoretical. If we had lawyers,...

There are several mental models we use to organize and understand our fundraising work. The funnel is one of the most well-known. In today’s episode, we explore the funnel model with you: What it’s good at explaining.  What it misses. How it could help you come up with the right solutions to your fundraising problems. We also tease a couple of alternatives… Tune in and let us know how you see things on LinkedIn or by reaching out directly to Mike and Louis! GET CONNECTED Follow Louis Diez...

What keeps organizations from growing once they’ve hit a certain maturity?  On this week’s podcast, we discuss 3 challenges we’ve seen that hinder fundraising growth. Arrogance: Thinking your org is “too important” to fail—or too big, or too well known, or too loved, etc. Money will keep coming in because, clearly, you’re awesome. Bureaucracy: Excessive processes and a lack of nimbleness in decision-making. When decision-making processes become overly bureaucratic, the outcome stops being...

If you were a fundraiser in higher education 20-30 years ago, the playbook for the annual fund was clear: a couple of letters to your alumni, a reunion effort, and lots of volunteer solicitation. Now… not so much. Most alumni are non-responsive to email and mail solicitations. It is harder and harder to get people to volunteer. Today, we share an alternative playbook that focuses on: Making sure you’re deepening your relationships with existing donors, no matter how much they gave to...

We're diving into the captivating story of the Fyre Festival and exploring how it serves as both a shining example and cautionary tale for special events in fundraising. At it’s best, special events can: Brings corporate partners on board Be a physical manifestation of your mission Gather people in community, and build affinity Acquire new donorsBuild richer context around your content Create excitement because of the date-driven eventCreate all sorts of content and other engagement...

Do you struggle with keeping your donors engaged and your pipeline filled? You're not alone. Over the last 6 months, Louis has delved deep into the challenges of consultant relationships and the complex nature of one-to-many work. The good news? He’s on to something that’s working. Meet the Annual Fund Toolkit (AFT) - designed with you, the practicing fundraiser, in mind. Leveraging insights from the Donor Participation Project—a research initiative and fundraiser community dedicated to...

We’re back from the first-ever Build Good Summit at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights—and we’re doing a bit of a recap. -What did we learn? -What made the BG Summit different from other conferences? -What were some of the key challenges fundraisers in the room brought to the table? -Which sessions did we find the most valuable and innovative? -Did the conference make any money?   If you’re tired of stuffy conferences, full of suits and bowties, in big convention centres, with recycled AC...

In this special episode of Donor Growth, we chat with Georgia Morrison from Australia about how to grow her organization’s monthly giving program.   Free To Shine raises about $400,000 per year to protect girls in Cambodia from being sex trafficked.   They’re effective. They’re doing work that matters a great deal. They’re innovative. But they’re struggling to raise the needed funds year after year.   Should they invest more in grants? Should they try something new?   Or should they go all...

Are you tired of hearing about ChatGPT?   If you are, this episode might be for you. Because chances are, most use cases you’ve seen are about using AI to help you write thank you notes, emails, appeals, gift agreements, and more.   But that’s only scratching the surface of what ChatGPT can do—and honestly, it’s the most boring part.   On today’s podcast, Louis and Mike get into uses cases specifically for fundraising that aren’t about content creation.   Things like: Summarizing Meetings:...

Would you recommend fundraising as a career to your kids? Why or why not? Like so many areas of nonprofit life, we find that there is not enough awareness and data.Join this episode to hear how Mike and Louis are trying to figure this one out. GET CONNECTED Follow Louis Diez on LinkedIn Follow Mike Duerksen on LinkedIn Join the Donor Participation Project here—a community of fundraisers who get together every month to co-create solutions that increase donor participation. Get access to...

If you’ve ever dreamed of starting a business that serves the nonprofit sector, but you’re not sure what business to start…well, we don’t either. But on today’s podcast, we discuss a few ideas. From print-on-demand services and no-code CRM tools, to fundraising venture capital and a marketplace for fundraising-specific tasks, Louis and Mike share some businesses they wish existed. And, who knows? Maybe it’ll inspire you to start one. GET CONNECTED Follow Louis Diez on LinkedIn Follow...

What is "funnel hacking" in the context of fundraising? In business, funnel hacking is the process of reverse-engineering the marketing and sales strategies of other organizations to understand what works and what doesn't. But in the context of fundraising, it simply means to study the fundraising activities of other nonprofits, often as a donor, to gain insights into their strategies—and learn from them. We get into analyzing ads, direct mail, emails, funders, partnerships, financials,...

Do donors really hate overhead? Or does it mean more to us than to the general public? Today, we’re sharing some information that changed the way we think about overhead. We think you’ll find it compelling. GET CONNECTED Follow Louis Diez on LinkedIn  Follow Mike Duerksen on LinkedIn  Join the Donor Participation Project here—a community of fundraisers who get together every month to co-create solutions that increase donor participation. Get access to the 5 Minute Fundraising Fix—a...

1. Thank donors quickly—and thank them well. 2. Pick up the phone. 3. Ask for advice and feedback. 4. Report back on their specific gift. 5. Create an onboarding journey that provides something emotionally valuable, focuses on making donors feel seen and heard, and leads to a 2nd gift conversion 6. Upgrade donors to monthly giving. 7. Make monthly giving the default GET CONNECTED Follow Louis Diez on LinkedIn Follow Mike Duerksen on LinkedIn Join the Donor Participation Project here—a...