In this special live episode of the Classy Podcast, we sat down with Tyler Riewer, brand content lead at charity: water, and Audrey Milicevic, annual giving manager at Blood:Water, to discuss their top tips on how to build successful recurring giving programs.   Listen in to hear their most effective acquisition strategies on different channels, the language and communication tactics that work best to get donor buy-in, and how their teams plan to grow their programs.

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, also known as JDC, has been serving their constituents for over a century, and they are continuing to evolve with their donor base and improve the way they interact with supporters. That requires a keen understanding of who their donors are. Andres Jimenez, senior director of marketing, shares how they leverage donor segmentation, collect the right "clusters" of donor data, and execute communication strategies that keep supporters coming back. 

With nearly 500 recurring donors and a median recurring gift size of $79, the Miracle Foundation is a standout leader when it comes to monthly giving. In this episode, project manager Anna Marr and systems manager Kat Jones walk us through their main acquisition and retention strategies, the platforms they leverage, and their communications tactics that keep monthly donors in the fold.  

Feed My Starving Children considers their volunteer activities as their greatest donor acquisition model. In 2005, when Andy Carr Feed My Starving Children as VP of Development and Marketing, the organization was packaging around 18 million meals every year for their community. Since then, he’s helped the organization scale their impact to package 365 million meals every year. Learn how he engages new volunteers, retains them from event to event, and converts them into donors.

Tracee Henneke had over 12 years of nonprofit experience when she came on as annual giving manager at Mobile Loaves & Fishes. She shares insights on how to grow a recurring giving program, including tips on how to convert volunteers into monthly donors, test and track the success of appeals, and provide every possible option to give routinely.

Michael Prodor, Classy's technical engagement manager, shares the unique insights he’s gained from helping nonprofits implement fundraising software and solve business problems with technology. Learn how technology helps nonprofits grow and scale, the mistakes you might be making with your current tech stack, why you need to lean into conversations with technical-minded people to solve business problems, and more.

As the director of interactive solutions in the fundraising office at Massachusetts General Hospital, Noam oversees the organization’s marketing communication stack, peer-to-peer solution, and marketing automation solution. He works with the data team and various IT stakeholders to streamline all of these components, optimizing their content production and creating a phenomenal user experience that influences donor behavior.    Tune in and learn how to solve for the user’s experience so...

Joe Kraynak shares how an organization that’s over 90 years old is holding its own in the online fundraising space. Tune in as he shares how to use technology in order to streamline business and the back-end, how he relates consolidated donor data to social media platforms, how Shriners Hospitals for Children are evolving their fundraising model and growing their network with peer-to-peer fundraising, and more.

As the director of data quality and technology at Teach For America (TFA), Queen Golder identifies the technology needs of 53 regions across the country and enhances the user experience for their regional and national fundraising base. Working as a bridge between the development department and IT, she identifies the solutions that their users crave, and then translates these needs to IT to execute on them. Tune into this episode and learn how she does it—as well as how she trains users and...

As CIO and CTO of Team Rubicon, Raj is spearheading a digital transformation that builds a strong technology framework for the organization. In this episode, he shares how he's preparing the groundwork and implementing the change management process that will help Team Rubicon scale. You'll also learn why Raj focuses on collaborative partnership models for his tech and IT teams, his beliefs on the future of the API, the only way you can set yourself to make data-driven decisions into the...

Christina Alford had over a decade of nonprofit experience when she came on as senior VP of development at Susan G. Komen. She shares a few of the lessons she’s learned along her journey, including why diversified revenue is key to successfully forecast and innovate, how to prioritize tasks in a resource-constrained environment, anecdotes about a major rebranding initiative, and more.

In this episode, we sit down with the senior vice president of development services at PBS Betsy Gerdeman to learn from her 20 years in public television. Hear her expert insights on managing a large network of affiliates, adapting to an ever-changing sector, and balancing suppor for hundreds of chapters that each have their unique challenges. You’ll see why Betsy believes a core message doesn’t change, only the way it’s articulated.

In this episode, Shannon McCracken, chief development officer at Charity Navigator, discusses how the roles of the fundraiser and marketer have transformed over the past two decades, and how the modern donor expects to be engaged. Learn how connected data creates stellar donor experiences, Shannon's tips for nonprofits whose impact can be difficult to explain, how experiments impact their fundraising success, and more.

Among her many responsibilities, Murphy Dunne spearheads the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center’s online fundraising and runs one of their largest annual events, Race for Research 5K. Learn how she constantly upgrades the run/walk to increase participation, implements modern tools that drive success, and successfully engages communities year after year.   

As the managing director of annual and major giving at Teach For America (TFA), Meghan Cressman is focused on expanding the organization’s individual giving from the national level. Learn how she supports 53 TFA regions—each with their unique philanthropic landscapes—to cultivate a culture of giving within their communities, especially among their alumni.    Get ready to learn how TFA motivates their alumni to contribute financially, how they leverage and activate their national and...

Before joining Heifer International, Linda Rogers oversaw the corporate social responsibility arms at two companies you might have heard of: Disney and Coca-Cola. When it comes to corporate partnerships, she’s a seasoned expert that has sat on both sides of the fence—and she’s using her wealth of knowledge to engage influencers. Learn how to identify a strong partner and steward them from start to finish, create ambassadors of your brand, conduct change management, and more.

As the former senior digital marketing manager of Vitamin Angels, Sarah Wright oversaw a uniquely structured team that managed over 100 corporate partnerships. But she was also focused on using data to expand their supporter base and diversify their income. Tune in to learn how she navigated and balanced it all.

After working at Apple for three years, Piper LeJeune brings important lessons learned from her time with one of the most forward-thinking companies in the world to The Salvation Army, Southern Territory. Hear how her leadership and philosophies are moving the organization’s marketing into the future.

From selling cars for about a decade, to launching and running a couple publicly traded companies, to stepping into his current role as Executive Director of Integrated Marketing and feedONE at Convoy of Hope, Jeff Roman has cultivated a rich history of diverse leadership experience. Over the years, he’s honed a leadership style that has built and drives a nonprofit department rooted in excellence. 

As the director of digital engagement at Oxfam America, Mason Weintraub shares how they built a digital team that thrives on a culture of collaboration, creativity, and empowerment. As a leader, they know that their team environment translates directly into the success of their digital efforts. You won’t be afraid to try bold, new ideas after listening to this episode.

Why does fundraising have to be so hard? It’s a question that guided Scot Chisholm as he transitioned Classy from a neighborhood fundraising event into a leading SaaS company in San Diego. Learn about his serendipitous journey from pizza parlor to CEO, how he handled challenges building an organization from scratch, how the for-profit and nonprofit worlds can work together, and how to create a work environment that drives professional and personal growth for employees.

In this episode, former COO of charity: water Rod Arnold discusses their emergence as a premier nonprofit brand and his years of experience as a nonprofit consultant. Tune in to discover what led to their success, how to leverage inbound marketing to capture target audiences, and Rod’s expert advice for tackling growth as a nonprofit organization.

The Karam Foundation began when Lina Sergie Attar and her friend started holding social events with a humanitarian spin for Chicago’s Arab-American community. But when the Syrian Civil War created the largest humanitarian crisis of recent times, Lina (a Syrian-American herself) and her team were called to move from small-scale funding to on-the-ground programs. Learn how they stay grounded with a mission of immense scale. In this episode, Lina shares how Karam adapts their fundraising...

In this episode, the CEO and founder of The Honor Foundation discusses the unconventional mindsets and practices that grew the organization’s online revenue by 191 percent in one year. Tune in to discover how to stay close to your mission through growth, overcome challenges unique to founders, and hire the right team to take you to the next level.