Real Talk for Real Fundraisers

You can have a mid or major gift program that is set up with the right structure, full caseload of qualified donors, great ongoing management, but if you don’t have compelling offers for donors to invest in, you won't be successful. In today’s podcast, Jeff and Richard talk with guest, Theresa Tapocsi, who leads Veritus’ efforts helping non-profits complete our Donor Impact Portfolio(DIP). The Donor Impact Portfolio is designed to help non-profits take all their programs and projects that make up their mission, and match it up with the entire budget, including overhead so that you know exactly what each of those programs and projects cost. You’ll get all the details on how this works, some of the learnings we’ve had over the years, and hear what the results have been when a non-profit invests their time and resources in equipping their front-line fundraisers with compelling offers.

As non-profit fundraisers, we’ve all been through some kind of organizational change. Some are small changes, like a new protocol for thanking donors, and some are large, like a change in CEO or Executive Director. But change is inevitable. The question is, how do you lead through change, so you get buy-in from staff and they see the vision that the change is going to create? In today’s podcast, Richard and Jeff talk with Greg Gibbs, Executive Director of Development for the University of California, Agriculture & Natural Resources, or UCANR. Greg shares his insights on how he has led his team during times of change and gives you great tips on how you can be an effective fundraising leader at your organization.

Over the last year, we’ve been talking a lot about how to create, build, and manage a great planned giving program. Now, you can have your program all set-up, but if you don’t have a continuous stream of quality leads coming in, what good is it? In today’s episode, our Director of Planned Giving Services, Robert Shafis joins Jeff to talk about how you can be more effective in generating quality planned giving leads, what the latest strategies are, and what to do with all those new leads, whether you’re a small, medium, or large organization. Lead generation is changing. In today’s episode, learn what’s working and how an effective lead generation strategy will grow your planned giving program exponentially.

We at Veritus Group have been implementing and managing mid-level programs for many years now. Over that time, we’ve discovered how non-profit leaders have misconceptions about what a successful program consists of. In today’s podcast episode, Jeff is joined by Lisa Robertson, Veritus Group’s Client Learning and Experience Leader, who has helped many Veritus clients launch successful mid-level programs. Jeff and Lisa discuss three things leaders get wrong about mid-level and how to overcome them, so you can be assured of having a winning program for years to come.

It’s summertime! Hopefully, you have a chance to breathe a bit. Today’s episode is all about what you can do during the summer, now that you have some time to think, that will help you have a successful year-end. Jeff is joined by Lisa Robertson, Veritus Group’s Client Learning and Experience Leader. Together, they’ll give you five ideas for what you can do during the summer that will allow you to achieve all of your goals by year-end.

Why is it that non-profit leaders are trying to keep overhead so low? Are they afraid that if it’s too high, donors will complain and threaten to stop giving? In almost every conversation we’ve had with donors about overhead, they are absolutely understanding that overhead is necessary to make the mission go! In today’s podcast episode, Richard and Jeff discuss how non-profits are hurting themselves and the sector at large, by being afraid to reveal the true cost of the operations and applying it honestly to the programs and projects that make up the work you are doing to change the world. So much is affected from terrible pay and burnout, to not allowing innovation… all in the name of keeping expenses low. But there’s something you can do about it. Find out what Richard and Jeff’s solution is.

Did you know that not everything Richard and Jeff say is true? Well, okay, it’s true, but it may not be exactly true for you and your situation as it pertains to how you implement The Veritus Way at your organization. Today’s podcast episode explores how The Veritus Way can work for your organization even if you don’t apply everything to the letter of the law. The podcast also welcomes a new guest host, Karen Kendrick (our Director of Learning) along with two guests: Lisa Robertson, one of our Veritus Client Experience Leaders and Greg Gibbs, head of major gifts at UC Agriculture and Natural Resources. Each of our guests will talk about how they are applying The Veritus Way in the organizations they work with.

As a front-line fundraiser, you need to possess many skills and traits. Richard and Jeff have highlighted many of them over the years. But there’s one they’ve never discussed before: how likable are you? In this episode, Richard and Jeff discuss 10 traits that make up likeable people, and how important they are to have as a front-line fundraiser. All of them are important, but some of them are pretty surprising.

As you know, The Veritus Way of Major Gifts is all about helping you design a structure, so you have the freedom and ability to create authentic relationships with your donors. The main tool we use to develop that structure is our Marketing Impact Chart. Guess what? We’re changing the name of the MIC and in this podcast episode, we tell you what it is and why we’re changing it, along with telling you why this tool has made a significant impact with thousands of front-line fundraisers all around the world. ------------ Download the newly-renamed tool at this link.

You probably know that the number one reason donors either leave your organization and stop giving or reduce their giving is because they were  never told how their gift made a difference. Yet most non-profits we’ve encountered don’t make this a priority.  In this week’s podcast, Richard and Jeff discuss three strategies to help organizations make the investment in reporting back impact and ultimately change the culture of your non-profit so that you can retain donors and increase giving over time.