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The ENGAGE Podcast

Subscribe to The ENGAGE Podcast to hear experts from across the social good community share best practices, tips and must-know trends that will help organizations increase their impact. Formerly called The sgENGAGE Podcast.
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Now displaying: February, 2018
Feb 22, 2018

The professional life of a fundraiser often involves changing gears. Fundraisers frequently move to new organizations to set new goals and take on new challenges. However, being the “new kid” in the organization can be a challenge of its own. 

Today’s guest, Jerusha Schmalzel, has some experience with the challenges of coming into a new organization. Jerusha is now the Customer Success Manager at Blackbaud, but she was formerly a Director and Vice President of development in the nonprofit sector. Listen to the episode to hear Jerusha’s do’s and don’ts for how fundraisers can adapt and succeed quickly in a new organization. 

Topics Discussed in This Episode: 

  • The importance of listening during your first few days at a new organization
  • How to respect existing alliances within the organization while forging your own alliances
  • Why you should not go into a new organization planning to clean house and bring in all your own people
  • How to introduce new practices without bashing existing practices
  • How to prioritize goals and projects when you’re working in a new organization
  • How to build habits and behaviors that help the organization better use data
  • Once you get past the initial few days or weeks, how to plan for the next 90 or 100 days at a new organization 

Resources: 

Jerusha Schmalzel

Blackbaud

Blackbaud - Twitter

Blackbaud - Facebook

“You do not want to get the reputation of the fundraiser that goes into organizations, fires everybody underneath them, and brings in their best friends and their favorite people.” 

“Don’t take “we tried that already” as an answer.” 

“To me, that’s the hardest part about being the leader of a fundraising team – it’s keeping everybody on your side.”

 

Feb 15, 2018

A big election, like the upcoming 2018 midterms, can get people fired up about a variety of issues. Can nonprofits, including 501(c)(3) organizations, take advantage of these political moments to raise awareness, build support, and inspire donors? 

Today’s guest is Colin Delany, the founder of epolitics.com, a site that focuses on digital advocacy and strategy. In this episode, Colin will share some of his knowledge of and thinking about the intersections between nonprofits and politics. 

Topics Discussed This Episode: 

  • Where the opportunities might be for nonprofit organizations to move policy decisions during election season
  • How organizations can prepare to respond when an issue connected to their cause makes the news
  • How organizations can use social media to bring attention to their issues
  • How the changes to Facebook may affect nonprofit organizations
  • Ways that political campaigns use social media to build success
  • How organizations can automate calls to action
  • Different ways organizations can train volunteers, such as video and conference calls
  • How 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations can promote their issues without electioneering
  • The importance of keeping supporters motivated. 

Resources: 

Colin Delany

epolitics

Attentive.ly

Blackbaud

Blackbaud - Twitter

Blackbaud - Facebook 

“What we’re selling is emotional satisfaction. We’re offering people the opportunity to feel good about themselves by doing something to help the world.” 

“When you’ve spent all this time and money to build a list, to not get every benefit from it that you can, I think, is really shortsighted.” 

“If you’re out there elevating your issue, that’s not electioneering.”

 

Feb 8, 2018

As nonprofit marketers, fundraisers and executives, we always need to be looking for new and more effective ways to reach new people. One of the best and most underutilized ways to do that is through social ambassadors – people who love your work, support your mission and have a wide reach of their own. They can reach out to their own networks on your behalf, bringing in new donations and awareness of your cause.

Today’s guest, Beth Kanter, is an international non-profit thought leader who knows a thing or two about non-profit fundraising and how social ambassadors can help. Listen to the episode to hear Beth’s thoughts on this interesting subject.

Topics discussed this episode: 

  • How influencers help nonprofits
  • What type of person can be a social ambassador
  • How Beth once raised $5000 in 15 minutes with the help of influencers
  • How changes to Facebook will affect nonprofit fundraising
  • How video content is becoming more important for engagement
  • The importance of leaning into new technology 

Resources: 

Beth Kanter

The Happy, Healthy Nonprofit

Beth on Twitter

Blackbaud

Blackbaud - Twitter

Blackbaud - Facebook 

 

“Who are the people that already support you, or are interested, or their interests is aligned with your campaign or organization, and who are their networks?”

 

“If your organization has been able to build a really engaged organic fan base, and if you’re producing content that people are talking about and interacting with and sharing, that’s not going to change.”

 

“Groups are a great way to manage your influencers and fans.”

 

Feb 1, 2018

In the nonprofit sector, digital engagement and fundraising is a hot topic. But are donors and activists on the same page as organizations when it comes to digital engagement and giving online? Are nonprofits taking the right steps to engage them digitally? Do nonprofits understand what metrics matter online?

To answer these questions and more, Steve’s guest today is Carie Lewis Carlson, of CLC Consulting and formerly of the Humane Society of the United States. Listen in to hear Steve and Carie discus what’s happening in digital marketing today.

 Topics Discussed in This Episode: 

  • The similarities between consumer behavior and donor behavior
  • Whether donors distinguish between online giving and offline giving
  • How resource availability and leadership can affect the ability of nonprofits to appeal to donors with digital marketing
  • The importance of being willing to try new things and learn from them, even if they don’t work out
  • How to wean off vanity metrics and focus on more useful types of metrics
  • The importance of developing a strong content strategy 

Resources: 

Carie Lewis Carlson

CLC Consulting

Blackbaud

Blackbaud - Twitter

Blackbaud - Facebook 

 

“I think that our constituents and our customers are actually way more advanced than we are. Technology can’t keep up with them.”

 

“You’re going to come out better in the end, no matter if you fail or succeed, because you’re going to learn from those mistakes.”

 

“Everybody’s on social, but they don’t know why.”

 

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