Real Talk for Real Fundraisers

How was the end of 2024? Did you make it through OK? A lot of fundraisers we work with enter January exhausted from the busy year-end season, which is often filled with last-minute donor meetings, calls, and holiday events. It can be a stressful time. While we highly recommend taking time to rest and recover, there are also important strategies you need to focus on during this month to continue to build strong relationships with your donors and keep the momentum going deeper into the winter. We’re here to help! In this podcast episode, Jeff is joined by colleagues Diana Frazier and Edie Dahlen for a great discussion about the key strategies that fundraisers should implement to start their new year and how they can prepare and plan to surpass last year’s goals. Show Highlights: In this episode, you’ll learn about… How to properly thank and stay in communication with donors as their gifts process The importance of a caseload refresh and what to consider as you review your portfolio Our biggest insights and ideas for how to approach the start of 2025 and execute a plan for the entire year

Relational fundraising isn’t just a buzzword, it’s part of the Veritus mission. Whether you’re in mid-level, major gifts, or planned giving, being relationship-focused means that you are prioritizing the long-term relationship with the donor over just getting the money. Ideally, everyone at your organization should see the donor as a vital partner in your work. It’s been our goal at Veritus to insert this model within the non-profit sector so more organizations can create thriving gift programs, build a culture that prioritizes collaboration over competition, and connect more strategically with their donors. It’s a tough but ultimately rewarding transition that many are making. In this podcast episode, Jeff is joined by colleague Karen Kendrick for a great discussion about the state of relational fundraising along with the trends and insights they’ve learned this year–and the ones they're anticipating in 2025. Show Highlights: In this episode, you’ll learn about… The major lack of truly relationship-focused fundraising in most organizations The interesting trends coming out of organizations who fill out the Veritus free donor file assessments. Our biggest insights about relational fundraising and how organizations can utilize AI to their advantage in 2025

In the non-profit sector, if you aren’t willing to advance into management, there is very little opportunity to grow as a fundraiser, take on new responsibilities, and increase your salary. This is a frustrating reality, because not everyone is right for management. Leadership requires a different skillset and specific perspective, one that’s interested in finding success and delivering results through others. It’s not as simple as taking your best frontline fundraiser and putting them in charge. In this podcast episode, Jeff is joined by special guest Greg Gibbs, who shares whether management is the right track for your career, and provides some tips to help current managers get better at their jobs. Show Highlights: In this episode, you’ll learn about… The greatest challenges managers face in the non-profit sector How to determine whether a fundraiser is ready to take on a managerial role, and how to nurture them in the process Our top tips and best practices for current managers looking to improve the structure of their organization

It’s not easy to let go of certain donors, but there comes a time in every fundraising cycle when you’ll need to transition a donor relationship to someone else. Whether the donor is moving from mid-level to a major gifts portfolio, or from a higher level of giving back into mid-level or direct response, transitioning them to another colleague is one of the best things you can do for your program, organization, and the donor! But you need to have protocols in place so that the transition feels seamless and keeps your pipeline free and clear of any clogs. In this podcast episode, Jeff, Theresa, and Matt share their top tips and best practices for handling donor handoffs, shifting your thinking, and transitioning members of your caseload. Show Highlights: In this episode, you’ll learn about… The kinds of protocols you’ll need to develop when a donor matches the criteria to move up or down in their giving level Some of the common issues we see in non-profits that lead to bumpy transitions for both donors and fundraisers Our team’s top tips for making donor handoffs a seamless process

Veritus Group was incredibly honored to be the Presenting Sponsor for the AADO Conference in 2024. AADO (African American Development Officers Network) is a network of more than 3,500 fundraising professionals of color. Their annual conference is the premier event for fundraising, development, and operations professionals of color, and their allies. During the conference, our team sat down with several AADO leaders and conference presenters to talk about the projects they’re working on and the path toward racial justice in the non-profit sector. Our guests on this episode are Birgit Burton, Chief Executive Officer of AADO; Nneka Allen, Founder of The Empathy Agency; and Christopher Beck, Senior Advisor for Principal Gifts and Inclusive Philanthropy at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. We were so inspired by this conversation and hope you’ll come away feeling encouraged by the insights shared and the progress toward racial justice in our sector. Thanks for listening! Show Highlights: In this episode, you’ll learn about… The journey toward racial justice in the non-profit sector Progress made and current initiatives to support people of color in the fundraising community What it looks like to create a space where people can bring their authentic selves to their work in philanthropy

Many non-profits feel that once they’ve secured a planned gift from a donor, their work is done. There may not be any plans for follow-up or intentional cultivation of legacy donors after the gift is committed. Yet, we know that impact reporting is essential to donor retention. And this is no different for planned gifts. Keep in mind that 50% of donors are going to change their wills in the final years of their lives, often removing provisions for organizations who they’ve lost touch with. So, how do you report on the impact of a future gift? How do you effectively steward your planned giving donors so that they stay engaged with your mission? On this podcast episode, Jeff and Richard are joined by Bob Shafis, our Director of Planned Giving Services, for a conversation about best practices in legacy donor stewardship. Learn how to build a plan to help your donors remain connected to your organization with confidence in the difference that their gift will make. Show Highlights: In this episode, you’ll learn about… How to engage your planned giving donors so that they feel connected to your organization in the years to come How to show the future impact of a gift, when you can't actually show the donors their gifts in action Creating a stewardship plan that includes a process for thanking and recognizing legacy donors Reaching out to planned giving donors to reconfirm their commitment Veritus Group is passionate about partnering with you and your organization throughout your fundraising journey. We believe that the key to transformative fundraising is a disciplined system and structure, trusted accountability, persistence, and a bit of fun. We specialize in mid-level fundraising, major gifts, planned giving, developing compelling donor offers, and strategic leadership and organizational development. You can learn more about we can partner with you at www.VeritusGroup.com. Additional Resources: [Blog] Three Critical Elements of Planned Giving [Podcast] Do You Need a Legacy Society? [White Paper] The Seven Deadly Sins of Planned Giving

You know you need to move your non-profit from a transactional model to relationship-based fundraising, but maybe you’re not sure where to start, or how to get everyone on board and fully invested in this change. That’s exactly the challenge that the American Cancer Society faced three years ago, when they decided it was time to adopt a new approach to major and mid-level gifts. Since then, fundraising revenue for these areas has doubled. How did they do it?! Tune in to hear their story firsthand. This special podcast episode is a replay of a webinar we hosted, featuring special guest Ruth Ann Dailey, the Senior Vice President of Philanthropy at ACS. We hope this conversation will inspire you to tackle whatever changes need to be made at your organization so that you can create more authentic relationships with donors, grow your revenue, and achieve your organization’s goals. If you want to champion a change in your organization’s fundraising strategy, the first step we recommend is actually how ACS got started on their path: our free donor file assessment. There is no obligation to work with us when you do this assessment, but it will give you actionable information about the health of your donor file, problem areas, and your potential revenue over the next 5 years. Fill out the Free Donor Assessment here. “I would say the game changer was the assessment of our data.” - Ruth Ann Dailey Show Highlights: In this episode, you’ll learn about… How Ruth Ann persuaded leadership to invest in a new approach, shifting from a more transactional model to relationship-based fundraising Why ACS decided to bring on a partner to revamp their national fundraising strategy How the team responded to a new, donor-centered strategy for major gifts and donor relations How ACS was able to scale these changes at a national level for maximum impact The value of building a mid-level program as a pipeline to major gifts The strategies and process ACS put in place that led them to double their revenue for mid and major gifts The impact of coaching and accountability on the team’s performance and staff retention rates Veritus Group is passionate about partnering with you and your organization throughout your fundraising journey. We believe that the key to transformative fundraising is a disciplined system and structure, trusted accountability, persistence, and a bit of fun. We specialize in mid-level fundraising, major gifts, planned giving, developing compelling donor offers, and strategic leadership and organizational development. You can learn more about we can partner with you at www.VeritusGroup.com. Additional Resources: Read about other Veritus Group client success stories here. Is your non-profit donor-centered? Check out this free White Paper on Building a Culture of Philanthropy. For a detailed analysis of your donor attrition rates, get started on our free donor file assessment.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.