RAISE Podcast

On this episode of the RAISE podcast, I sit down with Peggy McCorkle and Megan Tiede of Boston College. Many advancement teams are debating whether to proceed with days of giving or postpone them in light of the turbulence regarding the coronavirus. Boston College was scheduled to have their day of giving on March 18th, but the Boston College team decided to neither proceed nor postpone, but rather to adjust to a new format they branded as a 'day of caring'. We hope you enjoy this real time window into the decision making that resulted in a very positive moment in the midst of so much uncertainty.

On this episode of the RAISE podcast, Brent speaks with Howard Heevner, Executive Director of Annual Programs at UC Berkeley. Howard started his career at the Iowa Foundation as a substitute student caller. He’s now a leader in the sector having managed alumni relations, annual giving, advancement services, and managed a major gift portfolio. His dynamic experience has given him a unique perspective on the experience of the donor. He has a 6 goal framework he's implementing at Berkeley that you won't want to miss.  Howard is the chair of the CASE Advanced Annual Giving Strategies conference April 29- May 1. Learn more at https://www.case.org/conferences-training/advanced-annual-giving-strategies

Ashley Budd is an EverTrue 40 under 40 winner and a pioneer in digital marketing for higher ed. Ashley works remotely for Cornell University as Director of Digital Marketing for Alumni Affairs and Development. She and her team are hyper focused on personalization, and they are constantly testing and improving new ways to engage and convert more alumni into donors. She'll discuss some of her most recent strategies and tactics, including how they embraced a 1:1 texting campaign to engage the newly graduated class of 2019.

On this episode of the RAISE podcast, Brent catches up with Nick Fulton from the University of North Carolina Rams Club, the fundraising arm that supports Carolina athletics. Nick and his team have ambitious goals to continue to grow membership and revenue while maintaining industry leading retention rates. Nick shares some of the innovative tactics the Rams Club is employing to accelerate relationship building with their next wave of prospective major gift donors. 

On this episode of the RAISE podcast, Brent Grinna sits down with John Feudo, Vice Chancellor of Advancement at UMass Lowell. John believes advancement is more than a job or a career. It’s a lifestyle that requires you to be fully invested in the goals of your institution. He’ll share lessons learned from mentors and donors, and where he thinks the industry is underinvesting. He’ll also share the story of how UML hosted Oprah Winfrey for the Chancellor's Speaker Series. You don’t want to miss this episode.

Laura Day, Director of Annual Giving at Williams College, joins Brent Grinna on this episode of the RAISE podcast. Williams boasts one of the highest participation rates in the US. Six years into her tenure, Laura is constantly asking how to improve and is striving for 100% participation. She is an active participant in the Schuler initiative to increase young alumni engagement, and she will share the impact of that work. Laura is also a member of EverTrue’s inaugural 40 under 40 class -- it won’t take long to understand why. 

On this episode of the RAISE podcast, Brent speaks with EverTrue 40 under 40 winner, John Grice. John is the Director of the Annual Fund at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. John has been at the forefront of developing new strategies and tactics to improve mid-level philanthropic outcomes by better personalizing the giving experience. They’ll discuss how John launched one of the advancement sector’s first Digital Gift Officer programs, and why John sees diversity and inclusion as a critical priority in this sector. 

Arup Banerjee, CEO of Windfall joins Brent Grinna on the RAISE podcast. EverTrue and Windfall recently announced a partnership to bring net worth calculations and dozens of capacity indicators into TrueView profiles. Arup and Brent chat about the evolution of wealth data, how Windfall is changing the game for higher-ed, and how Arup started his entrepreneurial journey. It has something to do with the Ecuadorian Embassy and an innovative 14 year old. 

Nico Karagosian is CEO of the Ohio University Foundation. Ohio is one of the oldest public institutions in the United States and now has one of the youngest foundation CEOs in the education sector. Nico took an incredible leap of faith when he applied to the job at Ohio and it paid off. He was hired to bring the institution out of the 80s, and he’ll share exactly how he’s working to do that. His story of passion and purpose should inspire everyone striving to grow in their career and make a greater impact at their institutions. Nico is hiring. Learn more at: ohiouniversityjobs.com  

On this episode, we’re joined by Jim Husson, Boston College’s SVP of University Advancement. Early in Jim’s career, he ran a phone-a-thon the night of one of the largest stock market crashes, which ended up raising more money than any other phone-a-thon. That formative experience shaped how he measures success and how he interacts with every donor.

We've been calling Keith Hannon the Original Digital Gift Officer for years. In this episode of the podcast, Brent sits down with him to breakdown the philosophy and approach Keith takes towards fundraising that led us to give him that nickname. With storytelling and personal touches at the heart of everything Keith does, it's clear to us that his approach, which has often been considered an anomaly, should be the standard.

We're going live! From the stage at EverTrue's RAISE2019 conference, Mark Koenig sits down with Brent to take a big-picture look at the donor lifecycle and talk about why getting retention right is so important. The Assistant Vice President for Advancement Services, Analytics and Digital Strategy at the Oregon State University Foundation stresses that losing sight of the bigger picture amid day-to-day tasks can significantly damage the donor experience. 

In this episode, Brent calls up Dr. Glenn Kosse, the VP for Development and Alumni Relations at Bellarmine University. Glenn has been diving deeper into fundraising than most, pursuing his PhD and writing a thesis on young alumni that directly lead to some new approaches at Bellarmine.

Providing value for your donors. That's what it's all about for Elizabeth Breidinger, Director of Institutional Advancement at The Pingry School. It can take a wide variety of forms, but ensure that your donors are successful first and foremost is key to your own success as a fundraiser. 

On this episode, Brent talks with Patrick Lynch, Senior Director of Engagement and Alumni Relations at the Ohio State University College of Engineering, about a wide variety of topics. Patrick shares how he went from a mulch salesman to building a leadership annual giving team from scratch at OSU. Patrick shares the important lessons he learned along the way, like how important it is to know yourself, be brave and entrepreneurial, and seek out a manager who inspires you, lifts you up, and is aligned with your vision and values. You’ll also learn why Patrick is so passionate about the power of perspective and why he believes the industry must to be willing to change its vantage point more often in order to keep up with the rest of the world. 

Regan Holt, former founder and CEO of Uprising, joins Brent because...she's the newest member of the EverTrue team! After working in Advancement Services at Northwestern University she jumped into the entrepreneurship game. They talk about why she joined EverTrue and why she is a true data nerd. 

We've got an extra special episode right here. Not only is Chris Campbell an incredible fundraiser in his own right, he joins us to share his initial thoughts as a beta user of TrueView, EverTrue's newest feature. Chris and Brent also discuss how everyone even on an advancement team is a fundraiser, why existing technology cannot dictate your strategy and why teams need to be proactive, not reactive, in orienting initiatives around donor passions.

Brent is joined by Anna Schlia, Senior Director of Advancement at the Eastman School of Music. Not only is Anna an incredible fundraiser, she's doing something you don't see every day: Pursuing a PhD in fundraising. They talk about how that research is changing her perspective on advancement, misconceptions of the field by academia and why prospects needs trump everything else.

Wow. Our premier episode! For an occasion this big, Brent called up John Morris, Senior Vice President of Development at Kansas State University. They talk about how John guarantees that all his gift officers are in the top 10% of the profession and how he overhauled their phonathon strategy by borrowing from Zappos. And if you're curious why John isn't as big of a Chevy Camaro guy as he once was, listen in.