#67: BG Live— How charity: water tests new fundraising channels like direct mail and DRTV, with Megan Toscano

Welcome to the first ever BG Live—a live recording of the podcast on Zoom that anyone can join. To make sure you’re invited to future BG Lives, make sure to sign up for our email newsletter at www.buildgood.com. — You probably know charity: water to be an admired innovator in the fundraising world. They do things […]
#66: The best of legacy giving

On today’s podcast, we’re revising the best advice and proven practices on how to get more gifts in wills. For many of your donors, the gift they leave in their will might the largest gift they ever make to your charity. Not only that, but research has shown that donors who choose to leave a gift in […]
#65: The best of monthly giving

Today we’re taking a look back at the best practical advice on monthly giving our guests have shared on the podcast. From what it takes to build a flagship monthly giving product, to tactical advice on upgrading monthly gifts, to how to resource a strong monthly giving program—we’re revisiting “can’t miss” content that’ll help you […]
#64: The operating system you need to structure your fundraising shop

Here’s a common pain point for many nonprofit CEOs and fundraising leaders: we’re spending too much time on the operations of the shop, and not enough time connecting with donors. There is a way to reclaim some of that time. But it’s not sexy. It’s not glamorous. It’s kind of a pain to implement at […]
#61: Fundraising when your donors are facing inflation and political turmoil

There’s no way around it: our world is a mess. Giving has levelled off after a season of overwhelming generosity. We’re facing record inflation. The housing market is unpredictable. The stock market is a mess. Supply chains are broken. Society seems to be more polarized than ever before. And the ongoing war in Ukraine is […]
#38—5 next-level tactics to grow your monthly giving program, with Erica Waasdorp

You already know that growing your monthly giving program, mid-level donor program, and legacy giving program are among the most lucrative fundraising activities your nonprofit can pursue. And chances are, you’re already working on building all of them—but you’re wondering if could be doing better. So if you already have a monthly giving program in […]
#36—7 tested and proven fundraising action tips to keep donors giving with Claire Axelrad

One of the biggest challenges in growing a nonprofit is donor acquisition and donor retention. Acquiring new donors is hard work. And it can be expensive in the short term, especially if you consider that the first-time gift most donors make won’t cover the cost of acquisition. What that means for your fundraising is that […]
#26: Steve Bell — Fundraising as a singer-songwriter

On a special Christmas edition of the podcast, we are getting a behind the scenes look at how an independent artist raises funds to support their mission. Today we’re talking with Steve Bell. Steve is a singer-songwriter, author, and speaker. He has been sharing his music and message for almost 30 years across Canada, the […]
#25: John Lepp — How to use design to raise more money

A lot of direct response fundraising advice focuses on creating effective strategies, messages and donor journeys — but we rarely talk about the design of our fundraising. In fact, many organizations outsource the design of their fundraising to graphic designers who know a lot about how to make things look pretty, but know nothing about […]
#24: Dr. Kiki Koutmeridou — How to use identity to improve giving and donor retention

If you are serious about growing your fundraising and building meaningful and lasting relationships with your donors, then you have to start by understanding who your donors are — truly are. What motivates them? What values are important to them? How do they see themselves in the world? Discovering your donors’ identity — and then […]