5 Podcasts for Charity Fundraising Advice

As a nonprofit professional (or professional volunteer), hosting a charity fundraiser is a lot of work. It requires organizing, marketing, event planning, sales, people management, and so much more. As fundraisers, we are always looking for improved methods for making our events more cost-effective and profitable. Here are 5 podcasts to help make the efforts of a nonprofit event planner a little easier, or more effective. These podcasts are in no particular order and range from 30 minutes to over an hour in length per episode. It can be great to fit in these helpful tips during a lunch break, long drive, or even during a daily workout routine.

1. The Classy Podcast

This weekly podcast has stories from leading founders and executives in the social sector who hope to inspire the next generation seeking to drive change. 

2. Events with Benefits

Hosted by three longtime event fundraising professionals with 50+ years of combined experience, this podcast seeks to help nonprofits achieve greater success in their fundraising events with less effort. The episodes feature special guests from all different sectors of the nonprofit industry who share their biggest lessons learned, including nonprofit attorneys, directors of events that raise over $1 million or more, benefit auctioneers, and technology companies.

3. CauseTalk Radio: The Cause Marketing Podcast

This weekly podcast, hosted by Joe Waters and Megan Strand, keeps you up to date on the world of cause marketing.  The podcast covers trends, tactics and news related to cause marketing and corporate-nonprofit partnerships.

4. Driving Participation Podcast

This podcast talks with marketers, fundraisers and consultants in order to explore what’s been successful for schools, nonprofits, and associations, in order to attract the right people, maintain their excitement, and encourage them to give back.  

5. Raise and Engage

This podcast if for nonprofit professionals and covers the latest trends and hot topics.  With people speaking from the social good community, it’s designed to help listeners in doing more for their cause.  

Events With Benefits® Podcast

Experts in the fundraising arena, Renee Zau, Danny Hooper, and Ian Lauth, have pooled their nonprofit expertise to create an educational podcast called Events with Benefits®. Covering topics related to nonprofits and fundraising, the podcast steps inside the world of event fundraising, seeking to provide insights to event planners, nonprofit staff, and volunteers. The episodes are designed to assist nonprofit organizations in achieving success with fundraising events and raising money.

The Events with Benefits podcast episodes are each 30 to 40 minutes in length, allowing listeners to gain quick access to new ideas for future events. Episodes feature special guests from many backgrounds within the nonprofit industry, who share their personal experiences and lessons learned. Listeners can subscribe, stream or download the podcast episodes, which are available on iTunes and at EventswithBenefits.com

One of the most popular episodes is #6: Thinking Big with Noah McMahon, Founder and CEO of Anonymous.  McMahon, who specializes in holding multi-million dollar events, explains his 3 building blocks for having a lasting relationship with donors and event sponsors, in order to multiply the impact of funds raised.  He also shares many extremely helpful event planning tips.  

Meet the Podcast Hosts:

• Renee Zau, CEO & Co-founder of DonationMatch.com, has personally worked on over 50 charity events and mentored over 100 business owners.  She personally has experienced and understands the frustrations and challenges that people face during the in-kind donation process.    

• Benefit auctioneer Danny Hooper has had an award-winning career through thousands of on-stage performances and the creation of Danny Hooper Productions.  He has also had experience as a recording artist, motivational speaker, comic emcee, and celebrity benefits auctioneer.

• Ian Lauth, VP of Marketing at Winspire, works for a company that provides unique experiences for charity auctions or fundraisers, allowing users to place exclusive travel packages into their charity auctions.  

Engaging Millennials: Don't Give Up on Your Email Marketing!

By Juliet Davenport, Nonprofit Ambassador at DonationMatch

Do you remember being awed by the answering machine? (Does anyone still own one of those?) Or what about the cordless phone? Now it's all about smartphones and iPads. Millennials (those born between 1981 and 2000) are all about digital, and it can be challenging to keep them engaged with your cause or brand. As Cynthia Hamlin of B2C explains in her blog, "[d]espite Millennials' increased internet usage, when surveyed by Pew Research Center for MILLENNIALS A Portrait of Generation Next, there were no significant differences among Millennials, GenXers and Boomers when asked about the amount of email sent and received in the 24 hours prior to the survey. Millennials were more likely to have Tweeted, updated their online profile or sent a text message in that time period."  Millennials are still using email, but in conjunction with social media and text.  Here are some interesting numbers pointed out in her blog that are just as relevant now as they were then:

• 90% of Millennial use the internet or send and receive email at least occasionally
• Millennials are more likely than all other age groups to have a cell phone: 94% have one
• 88% of Millennials use their cell phones to send and/or receive text
• One-in-five Millennials (20%) have posted video of themselves online
• Three-fourths (75%) of Millennials have created a social networking profile
• Among Millennials, 65% say television and 59% cite the internet as their main source for news

As the numbers show, incorporating social media into your email marketing is a smart way to keep Millennials engaged. Ms. Hamlin's blog shares tips on how to accomplish this. How have you incorporated social media into your email marketing?

Top 3 Things Donating Can Do for You and Your Business

How can donating help you in your business?

Large or small, businesses want give back to their communities. They want to find a way to get involved. Should they? Absolutely! Nonprofits are always looking for more donations to help them attain their charitable goals. Giving to these organizations can really benefit your business, too. You know that your company’s success isn’t related to just one thing. It includes a myriad of ideas and network of professional relationships. It also includes loyal customers who wear many hats and could easily be a part of local nonprofits and charities.

So, what are these Top 3 reasons?

Customer Loyalty

Giving back to your community will help you connect with your customers. It will help you gain traction and trust. A study done in 2014 revealed that 85 percent of consumers had a more positive outlook on businesses that gave back to a charity that they cared about. This means that giving to more than one charity is the most beneficial way to go. Participating in programs and giving back to more than one organization shows your customers that you really do care about your local community. After all, actions do speak louder than words.

Tax Deductions

We all know that you can claim volunteer hours and contributions on your income taxes. By itemizing your deductions you can write off any time your business spent volunteering and you can add monetary value to any donations given as well and claim them, too. The types of donations that are tax-deductible are cash donations, donations of inventory or services, volunteering, sponsorships of charities, and events. You will of course need to ensure that you are working with an organization that is approved by the IRS.

Earned Promotion and Publicity

Sponsoring one or more different nonprofits or volunteering your time is a great way to raise awareness about something you care about but it is also a fantastic way to promote your business! You can get the word out about the event by posting it on your social media platforms and on your website. Often, the nonprofit or charity you are working with will also be doing the same. Now, you have two media outlets and twice the attention, all because you care about giving back to your local community.

However, picking a charity or charities isn’t as easy as it seems. You need to set aside time to research them, make sure they fit your company’s culture and values. Then, you have to think about your customers and who they might support. Finally, you have to take time to think about your frequency of donation and how you will get your donation to the charity in a timely fashion. To that we say, “Don’t get discouraged!”

How do you begin?

www.donationmatch.com  We can handle it all. You tell us who, when, and what you want to donate and we do the rest. We even confirm applicants belong to a real nonprofit organization and get you all of the information you will need to get any deductions you deserve.

All you have to do is click, “Approve.” What is easier than that? Try it today! It’s FREE to sign up and start donating and building relationships!

Market Research Results: Comparing Community Involvement of Large and Small Companies

Guest post by Shabnam Eghbali, Student at Wharton School of Business

Recently, I conducted some market research on the community involvement programs of large and small businesses. Prior to this research, I had never known that large and small businesses alike do their part to serve the community. This is surprising considering that 70% of my fellow Millennials have purchased a product that supports a cause. Just log onto any company’s website and you'll find the “Community” tab that we often overlook. Speaking to marketing and community outreach representatives from these companies highlighted for me the different approaches companies take to serve their communities. Some view community involvement as their duty and part of their mission, while others participate to improve their image and business.

I asked three questions:

(1) Could you please describe your community involvement program?

(2) What are some challenges you have faced with your community involvement program?

(3) What do you and your company hope to gain from the community involvement program?

I spoke to businesses of all types—restaurants, theme parks, museums, etc.—via telephone and email. Their responses demonstrated that, when it comes to community involvement, large and small companies are more alike than different.

Many community involvement programs revolved around product donations to nonprofits and having employees volunteer at fundraisers. Some, like The Cheesecake Factory, told me they gave on a first-come, first-serve basis while others, like Barona Casino, had strict guidelines as to which nonprofits would receive their donations.

Regarding challenges they face, 50% of respondents stated that having enough resources (time or inventory) and dealing with demand was their biggest challenge. Still 33% stated that good communication with nonprofits is their biggest challenge because of the difficulty in making expectations clear and in having proper information submitted in a timely fashion.

On the flip side, the goal companies said they most wanted (83%) was to serve the community that has been supportive of them. The gap between desire and ability and was clearly a source of pain.

What this tells me is that companies need greater support in serving their community. The intentions are there, but there are clear challenges in executing those plans. Research uncovered online platforms such as DonationMatch, Versaic, DonationX, and AIRS (Bidding for Good) that can help with managing donation requests and ensuring that their donations are going to groups that champion causes they truly care about.

As a potential customer, I feel that at the end of the day, businesses--small or large--should be answering this question: "How have I helped someone today?" Service to society, whether it is for profit or not, should be a top priority for businesses because Millennials—our ultimate consumers—are deeply passionate about social and/or environmental causes and 79% of them are more likely to purchase from companies that support such causes. Even if it means spending a little money, companies should know that there are now easy solutions to mitigate the challenges they face and make their community activity more streamlined and known. To me and my generation, this is a worthwhile investment.

5 Minutes with DonationMatch Co-Founder Renee Zau

By Juliet Davenport, Nonprofit Ambassador at DonationMatch

When was the last time you experienced a pain and decided to devote your full-time effort to solving it? Co-founder Renee Zau became an accidental web entrepreneur when she wished for a product like DonationMatch and waited several years for "someone else to build it so I could be a customer." When that didn't happen, she and boyfriend Darryl took what they learned working for a VC-backed startup where they met, their savings, and advice from smart friends to get accepted into and graduate from the Founder Institute (a tech startup accelerator), which propelled DonationMatch into the premiere platform for reaching consumers through charitable events.

Here's what we learned in 5 minutes with Renee!

How did you come up with the idea for DonationMatch?

Inefficiency bothers me. I hated seeing myself and other wasting time typing the same information from the same donors over and over again for fundraising auctions. I also experienced the pain of not having an easy way to collect and track the requests my business was receiving. All the paperwork being mailed back and forth seemed wasteful, and I wanted a centralized place for both donors (companies) and receivers (nonprofits) to not just manage donation records, but make requests and seamlessly transfer necessary information easily. I waited four years before Darryl caught on to how frustrated I was and realized I wasn't alone in needing a solution.

What do you think charities can learn from the private sector?

I know that the ultimate goal of a charity isn’t to make money, but I think many fail to invest in practices early on that will help them become financially self-sustainable. When a charity can’t focus on its mission because it needs money and has to constantly fundraise, it ultimately hurts its ability to do good work. Just like a startup for-profit, I’d like to see nonprofits:

• Strive for long-term financial viability with an aligned business model,
• Identify whether their mission is unique and necessary (as opposed to initiating a project within an existing organization), and
• Plan for a bootstrapped success model based on partnerships and leveraging the help of others, in case funding doesn’t come easily.

Where would you like to be in 5 years?

In five years I’d like to be able to sign on to DonationMatch as a fundraising event chair in the U.S. or Canada, input my event details, and be able to fill my silent auction, opportunity drawings, and gift bags in an hour while having fun. This would be possible because of smart tools we're building into DonationMatch that help companies and brands want to donate goods because it's easy, cost-effective, and profitable. I can't wait for this day!

What is your weakness?

There’s always room for dessert. Even for breakfast.

What is another question you would like to ask Renee?

Capitalizing on Social Media to Expand Marketing Reach and Return

In a survey of nonprofits conducted by VerticalResponse, 80% of respondents post updates to their Facebook page multiple times a week, compared to 66% for businesses.  The survey also found that for nonprofits, social media marketing has become a “preferred marketing channel because it offers free content distribution.”  And according to a Brafton blog post, because of the potential to successfully maximize their reach and return using social media, even on a tight budget, businesses will invest more in updating their websites and social media presence. Did you know that DonationMatch is another excellent way for businesses and nonprofits to maximize reach and return?  Through our free service, a business can get products in front of hundreds of potential customers through just one charitable event.  For nonprofits we deliver companies interested in doing well by doing good, increasing the fundraising potential for your events.

According to Edelman's 2012 goodpurpose study, 72% of consumers prefer to buy from brands that are charitable.  For nonprofits and businesses, using both social media and DonationMatch are ways to gain the exposure you both seek in less time.

What tips do you have for maximizing your marketing reach and results?

Coming Soon: A Fresh Look and Features for DonationMatch

By Renee Zau, Co-founder, DonationMatch You've told us how easy DonationMatch makes getting more customers and event donors, how much time we've saved you, and how great it feels to both give and receive.  We've taken your feedback and are excited to announce that added features and a new look are COMING SOON! Why are we letting you know BEFORE we do the upgrade?  Our site will be unavailable during this transition, and we want you to be able to plan any important DonationMatch account activity around it.  The exact date/time isn't set yet, but it could happen as early as this Friday evening, May 11th, and we'll announce it as soon as we know with an email, on Facebook, on Twitter, AND here on our blog.

Thanks for all your support, and we look forward to seeing you online at DonationMatch!