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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: October, 2020
Oct 29, 2020

The social good community has massive opportunity and meaningful challenges before us. Recognizing the power of partnerships to build a better world, Blackbaud launched a unique year-long accelerator  in 2019 designed to support early-stage startups with the potential to impact the Ecosystem of Good®, and formalized it as the Blackbaud Social Good Startup Program in 2020.

Listen in to hear Roz Lemieux, Senior Director of Platform Product Manager and head of Blackbaud Labs, talk about the goals for the program, how the first year went, and why Blackbaud felt it was important to focus on startups with diverse founders for the 2021 cohort.

 

Resources:

Roz Lemieux

Blackbaud Social Good Startup Program Application

The Blackbaud Social Good Startup Challenge—Hear from the 2020 Cohort Participants

 

Quotes:

“These are startups that are really enabling organizations to do things in a different way.”

“From the outset, we said part of the lens and philosophy that we wanted to apply to the program was to encourage founders from traditionally underserved backgrounds to be part of the program.”

“There’s a very tight coupling between breakthrough innovation and the presence of diverse teams.”

“There's every reason for us to put our time and money and effort behind those [diverse] companies because they're the ones that are quite likely to make a big difference.”

Oct 22, 2020

In science fiction, artificial intelligence (AI) is often depicted as threatening to humans. But in reality, the science of AI can be used for any number of helpful purposes. What are the implications of this technology in the social good sector? Beth Kanter and Allison Fine join Steve MacLaughlin on the podcast to discuss their research into the use of AI in social good organizations.

 

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

  • Why Allison and Beth decided to write the AI4Giving report
  • Why the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was interested in the report
  • The definition of artificial intelligence for giving
  • The questions they wanted to answer in the report
  • Top findings from the research
  • What was surprising at the end of the research
  • How AI works in philanthropy
  • Cautionary tales about AI
  • How people without AI skillsets will be able to use AI tools
  • Recommendations for how social good organizations can start to think about AI

 

Resources:

Beth Kanter

Allison Fine

Unlocking Generosity with Artificial Intelligence: The Future of Giving

 

Quotes: 

“The most advanced technology in the world can be used to rehumanize fundraising.” –Allison Fine

“Algorithmic discrimination is a huge potential problem that is starting to develop.” –Allison Fine

“They don’t need to know how to necessarily make the sausage themselves, but they need to know how the sausage is made.” – Beth Kanter

Oct 15, 2020

Capital campaigns. Maybe you’re in one. Maybe you’re thinking about one. Maybe you’re wrapping one up now. Maybe you have one in the past that you’d like to forget about. Either way, they are important. Capital campaigns can be a tremendous asset to an organization as nearly a century of their history shows.

In today’s episode, we’ll explore the subject of capital campaigns in more depth with guest Amy Eisenstein, CEO and co-founder of The Capital Campaign Toolkit. Listen in to hear what Amy has to say about the key questions you need to answer to get a capital campaign started, the elements of a successful capital campaign, and the state of capital campaigns in the COVID-19 world.

 

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

  • What a capital campaign is
  • Running a capital campaign without eating your annual fund
  • Key questions an organization needs to answer to start a capital campaign
  • How long a capital campaign should take
  • Your campaign objectives
  • Why you should be thinking big
  • Elements of success for a capital campaign
  • What Amy has found works and doesn’t work through experience
  • Which donors are most likely to make or break your campaign
  • The state of capital campaigns in the COVID-19 world
  • How organizations need to adjust due to the pandemic
  • What listeners can learn from the capital campaign toolkit

 

Resources:

Amy Eisenstein

Capital Campaign Toolkit

Article: Planning a Capital Campaign: The Essential First Steps

 

Quotes: 

“There’s always a concern at organizations that a capital campaign will cannibalize an annual campaign or annual fundraising, and what we’ve found is that simply isn’t true.”

“If you want that Olympic size pool, put it in those plans. We can cut it out later if we figure out you can’t raise the money for it. But now’s the time to dream big.”

“You need to have donors who have the capacity to give those lead gifts in order to have that element of a possibility, a real possibility, for success.”

Oct 8, 2020

Giving Tuesday, the annual global day of giving, will be held on December 1st this year - just under two months away. Although this has been a year of changes and challenges for many, your organization can still incorporate strategies that will help you leverage GivingTuesday in order to kick off your year-end giving season.

Stephanie Thomas, principal peer-to-peer fundraising consultant for Blackbaud, joins the podcast to discuss methods to help your organization successfully engage supporters to raise awareness and revenue. Listen in to hear her talk about peer-to-peer fundraising strategies, educating fundraisers, and tips for stewarding donors after GivingTuesday.

 

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

  • Why peer-to-peer fundraising is a good strategy for this GivingTuesday
  • The different ways that organizations can leverage peer-to-peer fundraising tools
  • Education that organizations can do with their peer-to-peer fundraisers to increase success
  • How to steward supporters and donors after GivingTuesday
  • Advice for organizations planning out their GivingTuesday strategy now

 

Resources:

Stephanie H. Thomas

Webinar: Five Steps to Supporter Engagement

Blackbaud's GivingTuesday Webinar Series

Free GivingTuesday Toolkit and Resources

Blackbaud Peer-to-Peer Fundraising™, powered by JustGiving®

 

Quotes: 

“I think peer-to-peer fundraising offers new channels.”

“Ultimately, the ways that social good organizations can leverage peer-to-peer fundraising tools, it has to be easy, it has to be mobile-friendly, and most importantly, it has to be fun.”

“You really do have to have a strong marketing effort; you really do have to have a strong coaching program for those individuals who are volunteering their time and their network for you.”

Oct 1, 2020

During a crisis, you need strategies that will help your organization cope with the situation effectively and come through on the other side. Knowing how to work with your board in these situations can help you continue to fulfill your mission. In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Blackbaud Senior Marketing Manager Tanya Fitzgerald in an excerpt from a webinar about effectively working with your board during a crisis.

 

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

  • The board’s role during a crisis
  • Using a crisis cycle to communicate with your board
  • Breaking down the phases of the crisis cycle
  • Top areas that an organization needs to focus on during a crisis
  • Planning events during this time
  • Keeping your mission at the forefront of the community’s mind
  • How the board can help with a safety plan
  • Communicating and sharing knowledge

 

Resources:

Tanya Fitzgerald

Webinar: Stay Cool: Proactively Working with Your Board During a Crisis

Financial Management Thought Leadership Webinar Series

Blog Post: 3 Steps for Developing a Passionate Nonprofit Board

 

Quotes: 

“Consider these six phases for crisis transformation and how your organization will be affected in the best case, the likely case, and the worst-case scenario.”

“You’re going to want to be prepared during the first warning sign.”

“The community is actually going to be receptive to this information more so than they normally were. Information they used to tune out, they’re focusing on now.”

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