July 3, 2025 • 34 mins
Stepping into fundraising can feel like learning a new language—but in this episode, Becca Segovia, founder of GCS Partners, helps decode it all. From her unexpected leap from banking to a 25-year career in nonprofit development, Becca shares practical wisdom, accessible definitions, and real-world strategies for navigating donor relationships, making a compelling case for support, and introducing innovation in legacy systems. Whether you're new to the sector or looking to deepen your impact, you'll find fresh insights on using data as a tool for change, engaging donors across all levels, and leading with curiosity. Tune in for this energizing installment of our Nonprofit 101 series.
Get free nonprofit professional development resources, connections to cause work peers, and more at https://nonprofithub.org
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:22):
Welcome back to the NonprofitHub podcast.
I'm your host, megan Spear, andalong with me today for a
special edition of the NonprofitHub podcast is my very dear
friend, becca Segovia, who's thefounder of GCS Partners.
And when I say that we aredoing a special edition, this is
kicking off our July series forthe podcast on Nonprofit 101.
(00:45):
What do you need to know asyou're getting started, maybe in
a new role with a neworganization?
Very excited to have Becca kickthis series off with me to talk
about her journey in nonprofitand what she wished someone
would have told her back in theday.
So, becca, welcome in.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Oh, thank you, Megan, it's so great to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Yes, I don't know how we haven't had you on before,
but here we go.
I'm excited to have you on inthis one, so tell our audience a
little bit about yourself.
You have a storied career infundraising across all sorts of
different verticals and fromlots of different seats.
So tell us a little bit aboutyour background.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
So I don't know if this resonates with any of your
listeners, but I kind of fellinto fundraising and nonprofit
work.
I feel like that's most of us.
When I talk to friends or whenI'm introducing myself,
sometimes I say, like I'm arecovering banker, like that was
the career that I was headeddown and I never really loved it
, to be honest.
I always gravitated towardsmarketing and sales and the
relationships that are rooted ineven the banking industry, and
(01:50):
so I kind of had one of thosepivotal moments.
I was in a place where I wantedto do something different.
I wasn't quite sure what it wasand I was taking a proverbial
year off to kind of figure thatout.
And in that proverbial year Iworked for a company called
Franklin Covey.
And if you know anything aboutFranklin Covey, it's Stephen
Covey and it's like highlyeffective people and it's
(02:12):
understand your mission, yourvision, your values and who you
want to be and how you want toshow up.
And so in doing that work,while I was at work, ironically
I realized I really wanted to dosomething that was going to
give back in the world.
And ironically, I realized Ireally wanted to do something
that was going to give back inthe world and ironically, as
things would have it, I ended upwaiting on someone that worked
at a nonprofit in Atlanta, andit happened to be a place where
(02:33):
a friend of mine worked and shehad just sent me a job
description for something shethought I should apply to
because she knew what I was kindof wrestling with.
And lo and behold, like the HRperson is standing in front of
me.
At that time I didn't realizethat's who it was, but I applied
for the job and the HR personcalled.
She was like you just waited onme yesterday in the Franklin
Covey store.
We were talking about theseseminars and I think you would
(02:54):
be great.
And she kind of passed me onthrough to the executive
director I interviewed and twoweeks later I am no longer at
Franklin Covey and I'm workingfor a faith-based nonprofit in
Atlanta, georgia.
And so that is where I say Ikind of learned all the things
and I learned a lot on the job.
I started out in just doingproduct development, so it was a
teaching organization, and sothere were products that we
(03:16):
would make for our donors andfor those that wanted to buy
that.
And then I had to figure outokay, how do we create that
product?
Well, we did it at donor events.
So I had to learn how to puttogether big donor events.
It was like, okay, how do wefund the ministry?
Well, we were a radio ministry,so we had a direct response
program that we had to thinkabout.
And then we had to think about,you know, what's our
overarching case for support andhow does all, how do all these
(03:38):
things come together?
Because this particularnonprofit was the blending of
two coming together.
So it was like a teachingorganization working
internationally and the otherwas media ministry, and so it
was just a really interestingconvergence of two types of
organizations coming together tofigure out what the future
would hold.
And lo and behold, for me thathas kind of been the theme of my
(03:59):
career, and so I was there forabout five years and left to go
start two nonprofits one thatwas focused in Nicaragua and
Jeffries Bay, south Africa, andspent some time on the board
getting that up and running, andthen another organization that
was doing missions around theworld.
And I ended up getting a callfrom Conveo, which I don't think
(04:21):
is a market anymore as Conveo,and while I was at that first
nonprofit I had learned how todo digital fundraising before.
It was cool.
So we're talking early 2000s,ask for an email and we're going
to cultivate donors in thisplace and we're going to get a
360 degree view of what thatlooks like and, and so I was
really trying to figure out whatdoes that mean and how do I
start to build relationships inthe digital realm?
(04:42):
And so I actually joined Canveoand led a vertical there for a
couple years and started tothink more strategically about
how all those pieces acrossdigital, male and even mid-level
and major how they all fittogether, and joined an agency
called Pursuant now AllegiancePursuant Group was there for
about 15 years and got to workwith nonprofits across the
(05:04):
entire spectrum and started towork with nonprofits across the
entire spectrum and started toreally solve problems across the
spectrum, meaning we wererooted in data, and so data was
the diplomat and you could say,okay, of all the things that you
, nonprofit, are trying toaccomplish in your mission, what
is the big, hairy, audaciousgoal to pull from Stephen Covey,
right?
So hairy, audacious goal.
And then what are the tools inyour toolkit that you need to
(05:27):
use to get there?
And sometimes it was leaningmore towards major gifts and
sometimes we were down inacquisition, retention and
upgrade in the annual fund.
And so how do you like, mix allthose together to drive your
fundraising strategy?
And so I loved my time there.
During that time, we did a fewacquisitions, and one was two
technology tools that I had theopportunity to put in market in
(05:48):
2021 called GivingDNA, and sothat really was bringing that
360 degree view into the worldand looking at both predictive
and prescriptive analytics.
And so how do you know what todo with what you have and how do
you have that 360 degree viewthat I thought I was going to
have in the early 2000s but now,in today's world, is much more
(06:10):
easy to come by?
And then I spent some time atClassy and GoFundMe in the
peer-to-peer space, reallyseeing what it looks like for
people to I wouldn't say justask people, but to bring people
along in a journey of what notreally fundraising, but what
community can look like and howthat can change the landscape
when people give of their time,talent and treasure, so not just
(06:32):
dollars, but their voice andtheir advocacy.
And that lands me to where I amtoday.
I left that organization at theend of last year and went out
on my own, and I'm now at GCSPartners and and we help
nonprofits really think throughwhere are we today?
What's that big, hairy,audacious goal that we want to
bring to life, and then what isthe path?
So that's a little bit about meand how I stumbled into
(06:55):
fundraising and have loved it.
I mean, 25 years later, here Iam.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Yeah, I love it.
So I want to go back to thatbeginning.
Yeah, five years ago, steppinginto that first one, you said
you learned a lot on the job.
What does that look like?
If you because I want to thinkabout, man, what are some things
you wish you would have knownback then?
Even you know, I did a LinkedInpost a couple days ago about
(07:21):
you know what are the terms thatwe use in this fundraising
space that we don't bother tojust tell people.
We assume they know what thethings are that we have to learn
.
So tell me a little bit aboutyour background with that and
some things you maybe wish youwould have known.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
So, first of all, I wish there was a glossary.
Maybe there probably is now.
We created one.
I think it personally at onepoint, just to like bring even
new employees along and whatthey are.
But when I first stepped intothat job it was like, okay,
what's a donor pyramid?
What do we mean when we saymid-level giving?
And we weren't really talkingabout mid-level, it was really
sustainers at that time, or wemaybe even called them recurring
(07:54):
donors.
You know what's the thresholdfor a major gift, what is this
annual fund thing and why do wecall it that?
What's a sidebunt?
You know all the terms andterminology that you hear.
And then sometimes you'll hearthe marketing funnel.
So we were always talking aboutthe donor funnel, like what does
that look like and why is itimportant and what do you need
(08:15):
to know?
So those are a few things thatI remember just coming in and
going okay and the framework.
Honestly, that helped me wasbecause I had been in, you know,
recovering banker but hadleaned more towards marketing.
I had to really take what Iknew from a marketing
perspective and say, okay, howdoes this apply in the donor
funnel?
And it's really kind offlipping it upside down and
saying, okay, we're going tobring in new people at any level
(08:37):
and then how are we cultivatingthem to give more instead of,
if you're on the marketing side,buy more?
Yeah, and I like being on thegive side because my motivated
side, the ripple effect like howdo we make the world a better
place for the organizations thatwe give and serve?
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Yeah, okay, so let's first of all, one of the things
I think is so interesting issome of the words that you just
used literally all mean the samething, right, and so even just
to I work in fundraising, I workin development and I work in
advancement.
(09:12):
Oh, yes, all mean the samething.
Yes, right, when we talk aboutmonthly givers, we do.
Maybe we talk about recurringdonors or sustainers or that
mid-level or we use so many ofthe same words and, like that,
all mean the same thing, yes,which I think is part of why
(09:32):
it's so confusing.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Yeah, yes, that's why we need to have a glossary and
then maybe all align on.
These are the terms and this iswhat it means, and here's what
fundraising 101 looks like.
So I'm with you on that.
That's something we should dotogether.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Yes, Okay, so let's break this down this way If
somebody were just starting intheir this is their first job in
fundraising Based on all of theterms that exist, what are some
things that would be like themaybe the first five questions
that they should ask of theirsuperior, their boss, whoever,
(10:12):
to ensure that they understandwhat's going on.
Because I think, for me, one ofthe things that that I had a
hard time with and maybe I wouldsay is one of the top five,
would be what are thedesignations for those levels At
this organization?
What categorizes a major gift,a mid-level giver?
What's the different thresholdsfor where we do what
(10:36):
interactions?
Because I think that variesdrastically depending on the
type of organization you're in.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Absolutely so.
I mean, you're calling out thedonor pyramid and I'm gonna
confuse it just a little bit.
I love the pyramid, but I dothink that it is a construct in
which we understand fundraising,but I do think it's evolving.
So I think that's somethingthat you need to know when
you're walking into that job.
First of all, like, who are weas an organization and what kind
(11:05):
of shop are we running?
Are we a major gifts ledorganization?
Are we an annual fund ledorganization?
Is it a blend of the two?
And then, to your point, what'sthe threshold for that?
What does it mean to be a nofund?
Is it $1,000 or less?
Is it $10,000 or less?
If you're a hospitalorganization, it's probably
$10,000 or less, or sometimes 25.
And if you're a smallernonprofit or a midsize nonprofit
(11:32):
, maybe 1000 or 5000.
So get real clear on like,where are you serving inside
that pyramid, if you will?
And then what are theobjectives inside that pyramid?
So, annual fund, mid major,what are they?
Speaker 1 (11:39):
I'd also want to get really curious about what is
what's our case for support andso okay, so stop, let's pause
and define that, because that, Ithink, is one of the ones that
will hear like oh, everyone hastheir case.
If you are unfamiliar with thatterm, define that for me from
your perspective.
(11:59):
And how is that different thana general mission vision
statement?
Love that.
So mission vision is like whoare we?
And what is that different thana general mission vision?
Speaker 2 (12:05):
statement.
I love that.
So mission vision is like whoare we and what is the big goal
that we are trying to solve?
So, are we looking to eradicatepoverty in our area?
Are we looking at food deserts?
What is the thing that we aretrying to accomplish?
And then, what's our vision andmission?
To do that inside the communityor space that we are sitting in
(12:25):
.
When I think about the case forsupport, this is really the
vision document, for I wouldargue it's also for the whole
organization, as well as thedevelopment team or the
fundraising team or theadvancement team.
I mean the same thing.
To pick up, on the same.
Yes, but it is the narrative inwhich we root ourselves in as we
are having conversations withdonors.
(12:46):
This is who we are, this is whywe're doing what we're doing.
Here's what the needs are rightnow and here's how you can be a
part of it, and I think thatthere's actually a shift
happening around the case forsupport, and so the debate that
I like to have withorganizations is it the case for
support or is it their case forsupport?
Very interesting nuance on that.
(13:08):
So the is the organization andthis is what we are about doing,
and I think the magic happens.
So, if you're new intofundraising, the magic happens
when you understand what theircase for support is.
That means the donors, and soif you have people that are
already giving to you, you cango back and see what they gave
to and why, and that will helpinform what their case for
(13:29):
support is.
So is it that they care aboutthe education that you're doing,
or do they care about the foodinsecurity, or do they care
about the mission delivery?
What is the thing that theycare the most about?
And then you can look insideyour big framework of what the
organizational case for supportis and say these are the two or
three areas inside of that thatthis donor really cares about
and that's what you lead with.
And so where fundraising isgoing is that
(13:53):
hyper-personalization.
And so just the shift in thatlanguage between the and their
case for support can mean a lot,can mean a difference between
the type of relationship thatyou have with that donor and the
loyalty that they feel withyour organization because they
see them in your case forsupport and then, as they
(14:13):
hopefully give to those thingsthat they care most about,
they're being stewarded.
So that's another word that weuse a lot.
They're being stewarded, whichmeans where they're being
cultivated and they're beingthanked and they're being
acknowledged for how they'reengaging with you, and then, in
turn, you hope that they willmove along with you in that
donor journey, which is anotherjargon word that we use, which
(14:35):
is how are people coming intoyour organization, regardless of
what level annual, fund, midand major that we were talking
about and then how do youunderstand their capacity?
So how much do they potentiallyhave to give?
And then are you putting theircase for support in front of
them and then inviting them intothat journey and then
stewarding them to where theyare and where they could be.
(14:56):
Some people may have morecapacity than they may first
show up with because they may begetting to know your
organization.
So that's where that dialoguewhether it's two way, like you
and I are having right now, orany conversation, like being
able to understand thoseattributes about your donors as
soon as possible I think is alsoreally important.
That'd be another question thatI would ask my leader what
(15:19):
tools do we have?
Yes, allow us to understand whoour donors are and what they
care about, and what are thesystems that we're using so that
I can get trained on thosesystems and start to build
relationships, whether it's aCRM system that helps me, like,
understand the donors at large,or whether it's a marketing
automation tool so the thing youuse to email people or an
(15:40):
analytics tool that may be ableto show you who those donors are
and a little bit more aboutthem as you understand their
case for support.
So it's you know what are those.
What's that tool set that Ihave?
And then another question Iwould probably ask is like
what's the goal of theorganization from a fundraising
perspective?
What's our goal this year,what's our goal in five years
and what are the things that aregoing to be true because we're
(16:01):
aiming towards those goals.
That are going to be truebecause we're aiming towards
those goals.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
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There's a couple of phrases inthere that I want to dig into.
(16:58):
Let's just make this the 101 aspart of the 101 series.
Stewardship is one of thosewords that I just think is so
funny in this industry.
I came from a sales background.
I would never say that I'mstewarding my clients to
different things.
(17:18):
I just build a relationshipwith them, that is the answer.
And that is the answer.
But it has to have these weird.
Everything has to have adifferent term.
But what when we talk aboutstewardship in that journey and
building a relationship withfolks and taking them on their
particular donor journey withthe organization?
A lot of times I see newfundraisers come in and they get
(17:38):
handed a book Like here's yourpeople that you're responsible
for.
Right, they've never met thesefolks, they have no relationship
with them.
These people may, these donorsmay have had a relationship with
someone else in theorganization previously.
Let's put ourselves in theshoes of that person.
If you have been handed a bookto steward and here's your
(18:02):
people what's your first move?
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Yeah, such a great question.
So let's go on and call it whatit is.
It's relationship fundraising.
It is building relationshipswith humans, people just like
you and me.
And so I would want to know,like, what have they been giving
to in the past?
Like I'd want to get curiousabout each individual.
If I'm running a book ofindividuals call it 100 people,
200 people, 500 people it'sgoing to look different
(18:31):
depending on where you are.
You know, stewarding orbuilding relationships, are you
in the mid level?
So again, we were talking aboutthe donor pyramid.
Sometimes annual fund is undera million 1000.
Sometimes you'll see mid level,like 1000 to 10,000.
And then you'll see major giftsover 10,000, just to kind of
give an easy framework.
So if I'm in that 1000 to10,000 group, stewarding,
(18:51):
building relationships with midlevel, that's going to be a one
to few approach.
Like you can think about,annual fund is like one to many
mass.
This is one to few.
So you're going to have to dosome things in cohorts and some
things you might be able to doindividualized, and then, when
you think about major gifts,that's going to be one to one.
So what am I doing?
What am I doing when I firstget that.
I want to get really curiousabout, maybe the different
(19:14):
cohorts, to use a word, whichreally means communities, people
that have like attributes, andthen maybe I want to put them in
community together.
Maybe I want to put them incommunity together, maybe I want
to do very tailored emails tothem, maybe I want to do a phone
outreach to them, justdepending on where they are in
their journey and where I am inmy journey and understanding the
organization, that'd be.
(19:34):
Another tip I would give isimmerse yourself and see who you
can shadow in those first 30,60, 90 days at an organization
across the organization, like,understand what's happening in
the annual fund, meet with themarketing team and understand,
like, how they're talking aboutthe organization in the wild, if
you will, which means out inthe world, yes, what are the
(19:55):
other development officers doing?
Or stewardship officerssometimes are called at the mid
level, since that's where we'refocused Like, what are they
currently doing that's workingand what's not?
And then, what are the majorgift and plan giving, legacy
giving officers doing and whatare they hearing?
What feedback are they hearingas well?
How's the case for supportplaying in the wild?
(20:15):
What are you hearing thatpeople are really leaning into
and as soon as you can kind ofget a beat on understanding that
from the others, that will helpgive you confidence.
When you are doing outreach tothe mid-level donors that may be
in your portfolio, then startbuilding the relationship.
Sorry, understand.
No, you're totally fine,they're a case for support.
And then take good notes sothat those relationships that
(20:38):
you build are real and even ifyou're doing one-to-many, you
want it to feel like it's one-,one to one, and thank goodness
we live in a world where you cando that at scale.
What were you going to ask me?
Speaker 1 (20:48):
I was going to say I think the other piece of that
immersion process and I think itis a step that I skipped too
many times if I had to go backand do it again is doing some of
that shadowing with the actualprogram team.
Yes, right, because it's soeasy for there to be a
disconnect between this is howmarketing and fundraising talk
(21:11):
about what we do, versus this iswhat the organization is
actually doing on the frontlines.
And getting to shadow and spenda day, maybe with somebody who
is delivering those services,who is meeting with the folks
that you're serving.
Those kind of interactions canreally shape how you talk about
the organization too, when youget to experience it from their
perspective, and that is a stepI skipped too often that I wish
(21:33):
I would have gone back for.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Yes, that is like snaps on that.
Absolutely Go beyond the frontlines, because then you're
sitting down with somebody andyou're telling them your
experience yes, the front lines,because then you're with
somebody and you're telling themyour experience.
Yes, and one thing that I didfor the organizations and you
don't have to do this, but thisis something I did, I gave, I
(21:57):
wanted to be a part of what doesit feel like to be a donor, so
that I understood, like what,what I would receive, and then,
if I was out on the front linesto, I now had personal stories
to share with those that I wastalking about.
Hey, I was in the food line theother day serving and we had
some people come in and let metell you this really fun story
about the mom and daughter thatI met.
Like, how can you contextualizewhat your experience is working
(22:18):
inside the organization, aswell as what mission delivery
looks like?
Speaker 1 (22:22):
I love it.
Okay, I'm going to shift gears atiny little bit, because one of
the things that I appreciatemost about you is you and I both
have this in common where wehate the phrase, but that's how
we've always done it Right.
We want to do it the best waypossible, not like I don't care
how it's done it, and so you andI both have that kind of like
(22:42):
disruptor mentality, in that Icould see where and I've been in
this boat, so I understand thatit's real but especially
somebody, let's say, who's maybejust graduating from college,
coming into their first job inthis fundraising space.
So often you walk into a that'show we've always done it system
(23:03):
.
I feel like developmentfundraising whatever you want to
call it is sometimes a littlebehind on trends, behind on
maybe keeping up with what'shappening.
Let's talk very specifically tomaybe a new grad who's in their
first role, who is coming intoa really heavily built system.
How would you approach it if,if you because these folks are
(23:28):
digital natives, they know thetools, they know the AI that's
available, they know how tofunction within that give them
some advice to help drive changewithin their organization, when
they're not the one at the topsetting those rules.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
That's such a great question and, like, my head went
in two or three differentdirections.
We are living in, I would say,a mobile first, digital first
world.
It's not just digital, and sothose are the tools that are
native to those that are cominginto nonprofits today, just as
you said, and so.
But there is the like.
We've always done it this way,as you have said, and I will say
(24:05):
that I have a belief thateverybody that is working inside
a nonprofit or even serving thenonprofit space, like we're
there for a reason.
It's an incredible opportunityand weight that we carry to make
the world, the community, theneighborhood that we serve, a
better place.
And so I do think with thatthere is openness to innovation,
(24:27):
even though there is the waywe've always done it.
And so I would come in andunderstand what the process is
and then figure out, like, wheredo you see incremental levels
of opportunity?
And so I'll give an example.
So we're sending this email outand we're sending a letter out.
Those could be two things thatcould be happening.
What does it look like for usto segment that a little bit
(24:49):
differently and look at howpeople were engaging last, and
if they last gave through themail, then let's lead with that,
and then let's see what afollow-up phone call looks like
and just test that out, or ifand you can even segment that by
age so it could be a follow-uptext, right?
If you're looking at thedifferent donors that are in
there, or if they have beentypically digitally native, then
(25:11):
but what I mean by that is liketheir email givers or website
givers then how do you send themthe sweet handwritten note that
maybe they don't typically getin the mail and would think was
interesting?
But also, on the flip side,like what is that text
communication just to engage,not to ask to give, but just to
engage look like?
And so what are some of thetest pathways, if you will, that
(25:31):
you could put in place that aremulti-channel, because we still
think that multi-channel is theway to go, or omni-channel is
really what I'm describing.
It is different messagesunderneath kind of the same
overarching thing, versus takingone message and just putting it
in different channels.
I would want to test that.
And so I would say test andthen optimize the test and then
report out the results.
(25:51):
Like hey, over the last 90 daysI've tried this thing out,
which is I sent an email and Ifollowed up with a text or
whatever the thing is, and thenthis is what I'm seeing it's
driven.
Could we look at a potentialtest in a different segment to
see if it plays out the same way?
And so I think people arewilling to listen and iterate if
you've got some of the databacking you up there.
(26:12):
So don't be afraid.
And I would also say sometimesyou're going to get told no, and
that's okay too.
I would say get more evidence.
People are more likely to sayyes to something when they have
evidence behind it.
So is there anything out in thewild that you can pull in and
say hey, we've got some researchover here that suggests that if
we do these three things or onething, or test this one thing,
(26:35):
it could produce a lift of 10%,12%, 20%, whatever the thing is.
Can we do a pilot over here andsee if that works?
Again, I'm back to the testing,but I think that's the easiest
way to get people that have beenstuck to get unstuck, because
the data can be the diplomat foryou there.
What would you do?
Speaker 1 (26:53):
I love that phrase that the data is the diplomat
because it does speak and thatyou can't argue with it.
It's yeah, it's a great phrase,I agree.
I think a lot of times the nocomes down to budget Right.
We've always done it this, thisway because these are the tools
we have that we can afford.
And so a lot of timesespecially maybe in some of the
smaller nonprofits yeah, theywould love to do all of the
(27:15):
things right.
So I think sometimes we can geta lot of no's and get
discouraged in that withoutseeing the bigger picture of
it's not no because I don't wantto, it's no because we don't
want to, it's no because wedon't have the resources for
that right now.
But if you do have the data thatproves it, maybe next year down
(27:38):
the line I can figure out whatthat looks like.
So I think I would encouragesomeone in that position to
really be accessing as many ofthe free tools as possible.
Yes, you know, if you pitchsomething and the answer is no
because we don't have theresources, nine times out of 10,
you're going to be able to findsomething similar with a free
version or a free trial versionthat you can test with, and so I
think that's what I wouldencourage folks to look at is
(28:01):
what are the resources that wehave available and what other
options are out there to reallybe able to hit those points home
.
Yeah, sometimes I think and Ithink this would maybe be the
overarching theme is thatsometimes nonprofit requires you
to get creative.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
I would agree.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Yeah, and so I don't get discouraged by the no, but
be open to looking at otheroptions for how to make it a yes
.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Yes, sometimes you're coming into playing off that
thread into a budget that'slocked.
Yes, if the budget's alreadylocked, then sit and observe and
think of the ideas and how theywould play out and then, when
it comes for budget season,again put your test and
innovation budget in front ofthem.
Can we pull $20,000 from thisthing I'm making up a number
(28:49):
here and this thing or is therea way to use to your point free
resources to test something out?
I had an organization that wason the board of small
organization here in Dallas andlimited staff, limited budget,
like all those things and theyjust wanted they ended up
tapping into their major giftnetwork in a different way.
(29:10):
They had a couple people on theboard and a couple of major
gifts that had been giving for along time, that were friends
with the founder, just hostsomething at their home, and
they brought like-minded peopletogether and it was more of an
informational session and thatplayed out so well that they
were able to get new donationsoff of that and they figured out
okay, well, how do I scale thiswith the next generation?
(29:31):
So they literally went into thefile and broke it up by what we
were talking about a fewminutes ago annual, mid and
major and then they broke it upby like areas of town and then
they just did many happy hoursjust around town where you could
come and learn more and bring afriend, and then that exposed
existing donors into a way toconnect with the leaders and
they brought in new people.
And so all of a sudden they sawnet new donors rise because of
(29:55):
that outreach and they sawgiving rise because they had
personal connection with thefounder, which is meaningful.
And so there are ways to kindof think outside the box.
Another story that would havelarger organizations, a
different kind of budget, butthey were trying to build out a
mid-level program and it startedout as a call program.
And as they were and we havetechnology today that can really
(30:17):
optimize this but as they weredoing those calls, they were
recording them and then theywere looking for like
commonalities on the call and sothey would do a word cloud at
the end of every monthcommonalities on the call.
And so they would do a wordcloud at the end of every month.
Every month they would look atlike the themes that they saw on
the call and they would writehandwritten thinking notes about
said theme and then they happento have a publishing arm of
what they did and so they wouldgo and find like curriculum that
(30:39):
they already had that resonatedwith those themes and that's
what they would send with theirhandwritten note like out to the
donor.
And then they saw Lyft and Midand Major.
Because of that, because peoplemoved up and also media
organization allowed them toknow what to put on the radio or
what to put on their podcast,because they understood the
(30:59):
heartbeat of those that werelistening and giving and in
their community, and so thatwould be some.
That's a larger scale way tothink about it.
But again, volunteers come inand make those phone calls.
You script those a little bitbut you also just let them share
their passion about theorganization.
So that's great, okay.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
So one last question as we wrap up.
If you were to give one pieceof advice to somebody who was
just starting out in theirfundraising career I'm thinking
that kind of that new collegegrad starting in their first job
in the nonprofit sector what isthe one piece of advice that
you would give them at thisparticular point?
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Oh, my first I think it's for everybody is be curious
as you decide the organization.
Be curious about who they are.
Be curious about their donors.
Be curious about their programdelivery and those that they
serve.
Be curious about the data.
Back to what we were talkingabout a few minutes ago.
Be curious about why they'redoing it the way they're doing
it.
Yeah, be curious about otherways that we could consider
(32:00):
doing it that may optimize.
And then don't be afraid toshare your opinion.
Be curious.
And then, once you've done yourassessment, be bold, ask the
questions, because sometimes,when you're inside an
organization and you just havethe things that need to get done
, you are stuck in business asusual.
I got to get these 17 thingsout because this has to happen,
(32:20):
because we are on track forwhatever x, y and z is, and so
sometimes it is helpful to havesomeone to have us, you know,
look up and go wait.
Why are we doing this way?
Or have we thought about?
And the other thing that I wouldencourage you is use the first
90 days is not only thecuriosity phase, but analyze the
things that you're hearing backand then, at the end of those
(32:44):
90 days, say, based on all thethings that I've heard and
getting curious about X, y and Z.
Here are the things that Iobserve are going well and I
can't wait to dig into thesethings.
Here are the things that I havequestions about, that I want to
learn.
And then here are the thingsI'm curious.
If we could optimize Becauseyou're going to have just
outsider coming in You'reactually going to have some
really key observations thatcould help the nonprofit.
(33:05):
Just think slightly differentlyabout what's happening.
That could drive deeper donorloyalty, better donor experience
.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
So I love it, becca.
Thank you so much.
I think this is a fantastickickoff to the nonprofit 101
series in July.
I'm so glad you're here.
Nonprofit Hub is going to berolling out a resource around
nonprofit lingo, so stay tuned.
The glossary is coming.
I'm very excited about it.
We have one right now, but it'sa little out of date, so we're
going to definitely roll out anew one here shortly.
I can't wait to see it.
I'll share it as soon as it'sready.
Yes, again, my guest has beenBecca Segovia, who's the founder
(33:42):
of GCS Partners.
My name is Megan Spear.
This is the Nonprofit Hub RadioPodcast and we'll see you next
time.
Pledge.
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need comprehensive eventmanagement without the learning
curve.
Our intuitive platform handlesgalas, golf tournaments,
peer-to-peer fundraising andauctions, with built-in
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Visit pledgeitorg slashnonprofithub to learn more.
(00:22):
Welcome back to the NonprofitHub podcast.
I'm your host, megan Spear, andalong with me today for a
special edition of the NonprofitHub podcast is my very dear
friend, becca Segovia, who's thefounder of GCS Partners.
And when I say that we aredoing a special edition, this is
kicking off our July series forthe podcast on Nonprofit 101.
(00:45):
What do you need to know asyou're getting started, maybe in
a new role with a neworganization?
Very excited to have Becca kickthis series off with me to talk
about her journey in nonprofitand what she wished someone
would have told her back in theday.
So, becca, welcome in.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Oh, thank you, Megan, it's so great to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Yes, I don't know how we haven't had you on before,
but here we go.
I'm excited to have you on inthis one, so tell our audience a
little bit about yourself.
You have a storied career infundraising across all sorts of
different verticals and fromlots of different seats.
So tell us a little bit aboutyour background.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
So I don't know if this resonates with any of your
listeners, but I kind of fellinto fundraising and nonprofit
work.
I feel like that's most of us.
When I talk to friends or whenI'm introducing myself,
sometimes I say, like I'm arecovering banker, like that was
the career that I was headeddown and I never really loved it
, to be honest.
I always gravitated towardsmarketing and sales and the
relationships that are rooted ineven the banking industry, and
(01:50):
so I kind of had one of thosepivotal moments.
I was in a place where I wantedto do something different.
I wasn't quite sure what it wasand I was taking a proverbial
year off to kind of figure thatout.
And in that proverbial year Iworked for a company called
Franklin Covey.
And if you know anything aboutFranklin Covey, it's Stephen
Covey and it's like highlyeffective people and it's
(02:12):
understand your mission, yourvision, your values and who you
want to be and how you want toshow up.
And so in doing that work,while I was at work, ironically
I realized I really wanted to dosomething that was going to
give back in the world.
And ironically, I realized Ireally wanted to do something
that was going to give back inthe world and ironically, as
things would have it, I ended upwaiting on someone that worked
at a nonprofit in Atlanta, andit happened to be a place where
(02:33):
a friend of mine worked and shehad just sent me a job
description for something shethought I should apply to
because she knew what I was kindof wrestling with.
And lo and behold, like the HRperson is standing in front of
me.
At that time I didn't realizethat's who it was, but I applied
for the job and the HR personcalled.
She was like you just waited onme yesterday in the Franklin
Covey store.
We were talking about theseseminars and I think you would
(02:54):
be great.
And she kind of passed me onthrough to the executive
director I interviewed and twoweeks later I am no longer at
Franklin Covey and I'm workingfor a faith-based nonprofit in
Atlanta, georgia.
And so that is where I say Ikind of learned all the things
and I learned a lot on the job.
I started out in just doingproduct development, so it was a
teaching organization, and sothere were products that we
(03:16):
would make for our donors andfor those that wanted to buy
that.
And then I had to figure outokay, how do we create that
product?
Well, we did it at donor events.
So I had to learn how to puttogether big donor events.
It was like, okay, how do wefund the ministry?
Well, we were a radio ministry,so we had a direct response
program that we had to thinkabout.
And then we had to think about,you know, what's our
overarching case for support andhow does all, how do all these
(03:38):
things come together?
Because this particularnonprofit was the blending of
two coming together.
So it was like a teachingorganization working
internationally and the otherwas media ministry, and so it
was just a really interestingconvergence of two types of
organizations coming together tofigure out what the future
would hold.
And lo and behold, for me thathas kind of been the theme of my
(03:59):
career, and so I was there forabout five years and left to go
start two nonprofits one thatwas focused in Nicaragua and
Jeffries Bay, south Africa, andspent some time on the board
getting that up and running, andthen another organization that
was doing missions around theworld.
And I ended up getting a callfrom Conveo, which I don't think
(04:21):
is a market anymore as Conveo,and while I was at that first
nonprofit I had learned how todo digital fundraising before.
It was cool.
So we're talking early 2000s,ask for an email and we're going
to cultivate donors in thisplace and we're going to get a
360 degree view of what thatlooks like and, and so I was
really trying to figure out whatdoes that mean and how do I
start to build relationships inthe digital realm?
(04:42):
And so I actually joined Canveoand led a vertical there for a
couple years and started tothink more strategically about
how all those pieces acrossdigital, male and even mid-level
and major how they all fittogether, and joined an agency
called Pursuant now AllegiancePursuant Group was there for
about 15 years and got to workwith nonprofits across the
(05:04):
entire spectrum and started towork with nonprofits across the
entire spectrum and started toreally solve problems across the
spectrum, meaning we wererooted in data, and so data was
the diplomat and you could say,okay, of all the things that you
, nonprofit, are trying toaccomplish in your mission, what
is the big, hairy, audaciousgoal to pull from Stephen Covey,
right?
So hairy, audacious goal.
And then what are the tools inyour toolkit that you need to
(05:27):
use to get there?
And sometimes it was leaningmore towards major gifts and
sometimes we were down inacquisition, retention and
upgrade in the annual fund.
And so how do you like, mix allthose together to drive your
fundraising strategy?
And so I loved my time there.
During that time, we did a fewacquisitions, and one was two
technology tools that I had theopportunity to put in market in
(05:48):
2021 called GivingDNA, and sothat really was bringing that
360 degree view into the worldand looking at both predictive
and prescriptive analytics.
And so how do you know what todo with what you have and how do
you have that 360 degree viewthat I thought I was going to
have in the early 2000s but now,in today's world, is much more
(06:10):
easy to come by?
And then I spent some time atClassy and GoFundMe in the
peer-to-peer space, reallyseeing what it looks like for
people to I wouldn't say justask people, but to bring people
along in a journey of what notreally fundraising, but what
community can look like and howthat can change the landscape
when people give of their time,talent and treasure, so not just
(06:32):
dollars, but their voice andtheir advocacy.
And that lands me to where I amtoday.
I left that organization at theend of last year and went out
on my own, and I'm now at GCSPartners and and we help
nonprofits really think throughwhere are we today?
What's that big, hairy,audacious goal that we want to
bring to life, and then what isthe path?
So that's a little bit about meand how I stumbled into
(06:55):
fundraising and have loved it.
I mean, 25 years later, here Iam.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Yeah, I love it.
So I want to go back to thatbeginning.
Yeah, five years ago, steppinginto that first one, you said
you learned a lot on the job.
What does that look like?
If you because I want to thinkabout, man, what are some things
you wish you would have knownback then?
Even you know, I did a LinkedInpost a couple days ago about
(07:21):
you know what are the terms thatwe use in this fundraising
space that we don't bother tojust tell people.
We assume they know what thethings are that we have to learn
.
So tell me a little bit aboutyour background with that and
some things you maybe wish youwould have known.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
So, first of all, I wish there was a glossary.
Maybe there probably is now.
We created one.
I think it personally at onepoint, just to like bring even
new employees along and whatthey are.
But when I first stepped intothat job it was like, okay,
what's a donor pyramid?
What do we mean when we saymid-level giving?
And we weren't really talkingabout mid-level, it was really
sustainers at that time, or wemaybe even called them recurring
(07:54):
donors.
You know what's the thresholdfor a major gift, what is this
annual fund thing and why do wecall it that?
What's a sidebunt?
You know all the terms andterminology that you hear.
And then sometimes you'll hearthe marketing funnel.
So we were always talking aboutthe donor funnel, like what does
that look like and why is itimportant and what do you need
(08:15):
to know?
So those are a few things thatI remember just coming in and
going okay and the framework.
Honestly, that helped me wasbecause I had been in, you know,
recovering banker but hadleaned more towards marketing.
I had to really take what Iknew from a marketing
perspective and say, okay, howdoes this apply in the donor
funnel?
And it's really kind offlipping it upside down and
saying, okay, we're going tobring in new people at any level
(08:37):
and then how are we cultivatingthem to give more instead of,
if you're on the marketing side,buy more?
Yeah, and I like being on thegive side because my motivated
side, the ripple effect like howdo we make the world a better
place for the organizations thatwe give and serve?
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Yeah, okay, so let's first of all, one of the things
I think is so interesting issome of the words that you just
used literally all mean the samething, right, and so even just
to I work in fundraising, I workin development and I work in
advancement.
(09:12):
Oh, yes, all mean the samething.
Yes, right, when we talk aboutmonthly givers, we do.
Maybe we talk about recurringdonors or sustainers or that
mid-level or we use so many ofthe same words and, like that,
all mean the same thing, yes,which I think is part of why
(09:32):
it's so confusing.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Yeah, yes, that's why we need to have a glossary and
then maybe all align on.
These are the terms and this iswhat it means, and here's what
fundraising 101 looks like.
So I'm with you on that.
That's something we should dotogether.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Yes, Okay, so let's break this down this way If
somebody were just starting intheir this is their first job in
fundraising Based on all of theterms that exist, what are some
things that would be like themaybe the first five questions
that they should ask of theirsuperior, their boss, whoever,
(10:12):
to ensure that they understandwhat's going on.
Because I think, for me, one ofthe things that that I had a
hard time with and maybe I wouldsay is one of the top five,
would be what are thedesignations for those levels At
this organization?
What categorizes a major gift,a mid-level giver?
What's the different thresholdsfor where we do what
(10:36):
interactions?
Because I think that variesdrastically depending on the
type of organization you're in.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Absolutely so.
I mean, you're calling out thedonor pyramid and I'm gonna
confuse it just a little bit.
I love the pyramid, but I dothink that it is a construct in
which we understand fundraising,but I do think it's evolving.
So I think that's somethingthat you need to know when
you're walking into that job.
First of all, like, who are weas an organization and what kind
(11:05):
of shop are we running?
Are we a major gifts ledorganization?
Are we an annual fund ledorganization?
Is it a blend of the two?
And then, to your point, what'sthe threshold for that?
What does it mean to be a nofund?
Is it $1,000 or less?
Is it $10,000 or less?
If you're a hospitalorganization, it's probably
$10,000 or less, or sometimes 25.
And if you're a smallernonprofit or a midsize nonprofit
(11:32):
, maybe 1000 or 5000.
So get real clear on like,where are you serving inside
that pyramid, if you will?
And then what are theobjectives inside that pyramid?
So, annual fund, mid major,what are they?
Speaker 1 (11:39):
I'd also want to get really curious about what is
what's our case for support andso okay, so stop, let's pause
and define that, because that, Ithink, is one of the ones that
will hear like oh, everyone hastheir case.
If you are unfamiliar with thatterm, define that for me from
your perspective.
(11:59):
And how is that different thana general mission vision
statement?
Love that.
So mission vision is like whoare we?
And what is that different thana general mission vision?
Speaker 2 (12:05):
statement.
I love that.
So mission vision is like whoare we and what is the big goal
that we are trying to solve?
So, are we looking to eradicatepoverty in our area?
Are we looking at food deserts?
What is the thing that we aretrying to accomplish?
And then, what's our vision andmission?
To do that inside the communityor space that we are sitting in
(12:25):
.
When I think about the case forsupport, this is really the
vision document, for I wouldargue it's also for the whole
organization, as well as thedevelopment team or the
fundraising team or theadvancement team.
I mean the same thing.
To pick up, on the same.
Yes, but it is the narrative inwhich we root ourselves in as we
are having conversations withdonors.
(12:46):
This is who we are, this is whywe're doing what we're doing.
Here's what the needs are rightnow and here's how you can be a
part of it, and I think thatthere's actually a shift
happening around the case forsupport, and so the debate that
I like to have withorganizations is it the case for
support or is it their case forsupport?
Very interesting nuance on that.
(13:08):
So the is the organization andthis is what we are about doing,
and I think the magic happens.
So, if you're new intofundraising, the magic happens
when you understand what theircase for support is.
That means the donors, and soif you have people that are
already giving to you, you cango back and see what they gave
to and why, and that will helpinform what their case for
(13:29):
support is.
So is it that they care aboutthe education that you're doing,
or do they care about the foodinsecurity, or do they care
about the mission delivery?
What is the thing that theycare the most about?
And then you can look insideyour big framework of what the
organizational case for supportis and say these are the two or
three areas inside of that thatthis donor really cares about
and that's what you lead with.
And so where fundraising isgoing is that
(13:53):
hyper-personalization.
And so just the shift in thatlanguage between the and their
case for support can mean a lot,can mean a difference between
the type of relationship thatyou have with that donor and the
loyalty that they feel withyour organization because they
see them in your case forsupport and then, as they
(14:13):
hopefully give to those thingsthat they care most about,
they're being stewarded.
So that's another word that weuse a lot.
They're being stewarded, whichmeans where they're being
cultivated and they're beingthanked and they're being
acknowledged for how they'reengaging with you, and then, in
turn, you hope that they willmove along with you in that
donor journey, which is anotherjargon word that we use, which
(14:35):
is how are people coming intoyour organization, regardless of
what level annual, fund, midand major that we were talking
about and then how do youunderstand their capacity?
So how much do they potentiallyhave to give?
And then are you putting theircase for support in front of
them and then inviting them intothat journey and then
stewarding them to where theyare and where they could be.
(14:56):
Some people may have morecapacity than they may first
show up with because they may begetting to know your
organization.
So that's where that dialoguewhether it's two way, like you
and I are having right now, orany conversation, like being
able to understand thoseattributes about your donors as
soon as possible I think is alsoreally important.
That'd be another question thatI would ask my leader what
(15:19):
tools do we have?
Yes, allow us to understand whoour donors are and what they
care about, and what are thesystems that we're using so that
I can get trained on thosesystems and start to build
relationships, whether it's aCRM system that helps me, like,
understand the donors at large,or whether it's a marketing
automation tool so the thing youuse to email people or an
(15:40):
analytics tool that may be ableto show you who those donors are
and a little bit more aboutthem as you understand their
case for support.
So it's you know what are those.
What's that tool set that Ihave?
And then another question Iwould probably ask is like
what's the goal of theorganization from a fundraising
perspective?
What's our goal this year,what's our goal in five years
and what are the things that aregoing to be true because we're
(16:01):
aiming towards those goals.
That are going to be truebecause we're aiming towards
those goals.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
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There's a couple of phrases inthere that I want to dig into.
(16:58):
Let's just make this the 101 aspart of the 101 series.
Stewardship is one of thosewords that I just think is so
funny in this industry.
I came from a sales background.
I would never say that I'mstewarding my clients to
different things.
(17:18):
I just build a relationshipwith them, that is the answer.
And that is the answer.
But it has to have these weird.
Everything has to have adifferent term.
But what when we talk aboutstewardship in that journey and
building a relationship withfolks and taking them on their
particular donor journey withthe organization?
A lot of times I see newfundraisers come in and they get
(17:38):
handed a book Like here's yourpeople that you're responsible
for.
Right, they've never met thesefolks, they have no relationship
with them.
These people may, these donorsmay have had a relationship with
someone else in theorganization previously.
Let's put ourselves in theshoes of that person.
If you have been handed a bookto steward and here's your
(18:02):
people what's your first move?
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Yeah, such a great question.
So let's go on and call it whatit is.
It's relationship fundraising.
It is building relationshipswith humans, people just like
you and me.
And so I would want to know,like, what have they been giving
to in the past?
Like I'd want to get curiousabout each individual.
If I'm running a book ofindividuals call it 100 people,
200 people, 500 people it'sgoing to look different
(18:31):
depending on where you are.
You know, stewarding orbuilding relationships, are you
in the mid level?
So again, we were talking aboutthe donor pyramid.
Sometimes annual fund is undera million 1000.
Sometimes you'll see mid level,like 1000 to 10,000.
And then you'll see major giftsover 10,000, just to kind of
give an easy framework.
So if I'm in that 1000 to10,000 group, stewarding,
(18:51):
building relationships with midlevel, that's going to be a one
to few approach.
Like you can think about,annual fund is like one to many
mass.
This is one to few.
So you're going to have to dosome things in cohorts and some
things you might be able to doindividualized, and then, when
you think about major gifts,that's going to be one to one.
So what am I doing?
What am I doing when I firstget that.
I want to get really curiousabout, maybe the different
(19:14):
cohorts, to use a word, whichreally means communities, people
that have like attributes, andthen maybe I want to put them in
community together.
Maybe I want to put them incommunity together, maybe I want
to do very tailored emails tothem, maybe I want to do a phone
outreach to them, justdepending on where they are in
their journey and where I am inmy journey and understanding the
organization, that'd be.
(19:34):
Another tip I would give isimmerse yourself and see who you
can shadow in those first 30,60, 90 days at an organization
across the organization, like,understand what's happening in
the annual fund, meet with themarketing team and understand,
like, how they're talking aboutthe organization in the wild, if
you will, which means out inthe world, yes, what are the
(19:55):
other development officers doing?
Or stewardship officerssometimes are called at the mid
level, since that's where we'refocused Like, what are they
currently doing that's workingand what's not?
And then, what are the majorgift and plan giving, legacy
giving officers doing and whatare they hearing?
What feedback are they hearingas well?
How's the case for supportplaying in the wild?
(20:15):
What are you hearing thatpeople are really leaning into
and as soon as you can kind ofget a beat on understanding that
from the others, that will helpgive you confidence.
When you are doing outreach tothe mid-level donors that may be
in your portfolio, then startbuilding the relationship.
Sorry, understand.
No, you're totally fine,they're a case for support.
And then take good notes sothat those relationships that
(20:38):
you build are real and even ifyou're doing one-to-many, you
want it to feel like it's one-,one to one, and thank goodness
we live in a world where you cando that at scale.
What were you going to ask me?
Speaker 1 (20:48):
I was going to say I think the other piece of that
immersion process and I think itis a step that I skipped too
many times if I had to go backand do it again is doing some of
that shadowing with the actualprogram team.
Yes, right, because it's soeasy for there to be a
disconnect between this is howmarketing and fundraising talk
(21:11):
about what we do, versus this iswhat the organization is
actually doing on the frontlines.
And getting to shadow and spenda day, maybe with somebody who
is delivering those services,who is meeting with the folks
that you're serving.
Those kind of interactions canreally shape how you talk about
the organization too, when youget to experience it from their
perspective, and that is a stepI skipped too often that I wish
(21:33):
I would have gone back for.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Yes, that is like snaps on that.
Absolutely Go beyond the frontlines, because then you're
sitting down with somebody andyou're telling them your
experience yes, the front lines,because then you're with
somebody and you're telling themyour experience.
Yes, and one thing that I didfor the organizations and you
don't have to do this, but thisis something I did, I gave, I
(21:57):
wanted to be a part of what doesit feel like to be a donor, so
that I understood, like what,what I would receive, and then,
if I was out on the front linesto, I now had personal stories
to share with those that I wastalking about.
Hey, I was in the food line theother day serving and we had
some people come in and let metell you this really fun story
about the mom and daughter thatI met.
Like, how can you contextualizewhat your experience is working
(22:18):
inside the organization, aswell as what mission delivery
looks like?
Speaker 1 (22:22):
I love it.
Okay, I'm going to shift gears atiny little bit, because one of
the things that I appreciatemost about you is you and I both
have this in common where wehate the phrase, but that's how
we've always done it Right.
We want to do it the best waypossible, not like I don't care
how it's done it, and so you andI both have that kind of like
(22:42):
disruptor mentality, in that Icould see where and I've been in
this boat, so I understand thatit's real but especially
somebody, let's say, who's maybejust graduating from college,
coming into their first job inthis fundraising space.
So often you walk into a that'show we've always done it system
(23:03):
.
I feel like developmentfundraising whatever you want to
call it is sometimes a littlebehind on trends, behind on
maybe keeping up with what'shappening.
Let's talk very specifically tomaybe a new grad who's in their
first role, who is coming intoa really heavily built system.
How would you approach it if,if you because these folks are
(23:28):
digital natives, they know thetools, they know the AI that's
available, they know how tofunction within that give them
some advice to help drive changewithin their organization, when
they're not the one at the topsetting those rules.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
That's such a great question and, like, my head went
in two or three differentdirections.
We are living in, I would say,a mobile first, digital first
world.
It's not just digital, and sothose are the tools that are
native to those that are cominginto nonprofits today, just as
you said, and so.
But there is the like.
We've always done it this way,as you have said, and I will say
(24:05):
that I have a belief thateverybody that is working inside
a nonprofit or even serving thenonprofit space, like we're
there for a reason.
It's an incredible opportunityand weight that we carry to make
the world, the community, theneighborhood that we serve, a
better place.
And so I do think with thatthere is openness to innovation,
(24:27):
even though there is the waywe've always done it.
And so I would come in andunderstand what the process is
and then figure out, like, wheredo you see incremental levels
of opportunity?
And so I'll give an example.
So we're sending this email outand we're sending a letter out.
Those could be two things thatcould be happening.
What does it look like for usto segment that a little bit
(24:49):
differently and look at howpeople were engaging last, and
if they last gave through themail, then let's lead with that,
and then let's see what afollow-up phone call looks like
and just test that out, or ifand you can even segment that by
age so it could be a follow-uptext, right?
If you're looking at thedifferent donors that are in
there, or if they have beentypically digitally native, then
(25:11):
but what I mean by that is liketheir email givers or website
givers then how do you send themthe sweet handwritten note that
maybe they don't typically getin the mail and would think was
interesting?
But also, on the flip side,like what is that text
communication just to engage,not to ask to give, but just to
engage look like?
And so what are some of thetest pathways, if you will, that
(25:31):
you could put in place that aremulti-channel, because we still
think that multi-channel is theway to go, or omni-channel is
really what I'm describing.
It is different messagesunderneath kind of the same
overarching thing, versus takingone message and just putting it
in different channels.
I would want to test that.
And so I would say test andthen optimize the test and then
report out the results.
(25:51):
Like hey, over the last 90 daysI've tried this thing out,
which is I sent an email and Ifollowed up with a text or
whatever the thing is, and thenthis is what I'm seeing it's
driven.
Could we look at a potentialtest in a different segment to
see if it plays out the same way?
And so I think people arewilling to listen and iterate if
you've got some of the databacking you up there.
(26:12):
So don't be afraid.
And I would also say sometimesyou're going to get told no, and
that's okay too.
I would say get more evidence.
People are more likely to sayyes to something when they have
evidence behind it.
So is there anything out in thewild that you can pull in and
say hey, we've got some researchover here that suggests that if
we do these three things or onething, or test this one thing,
(26:35):
it could produce a lift of 10%,12%, 20%, whatever the thing is.
Can we do a pilot over here andsee if that works?
Again, I'm back to the testing,but I think that's the easiest
way to get people that have beenstuck to get unstuck, because
the data can be the diplomat foryou there.
What would you do?
Speaker 1 (26:53):
I love that phrase that the data is the diplomat
because it does speak and thatyou can't argue with it.
It's yeah, it's a great phrase,I agree.
I think a lot of times the nocomes down to budget Right.
We've always done it this, thisway because these are the tools
we have that we can afford.
And so a lot of timesespecially maybe in some of the
smaller nonprofits yeah, theywould love to do all of the
(27:15):
things right.
So I think sometimes we can geta lot of no's and get
discouraged in that withoutseeing the bigger picture of
it's not no because I don't wantto, it's no because we don't
want to, it's no because wedon't have the resources for
that right now.
But if you do have the data thatproves it, maybe next year down
(27:38):
the line I can figure out whatthat looks like.
So I think I would encouragesomeone in that position to
really be accessing as many ofthe free tools as possible.
Yes, you know, if you pitchsomething and the answer is no
because we don't have theresources, nine times out of 10,
you're going to be able to findsomething similar with a free
version or a free trial versionthat you can test with, and so I
think that's what I wouldencourage folks to look at is
(28:01):
what are the resources that wehave available and what other
options are out there to reallybe able to hit those points home
.
Yeah, sometimes I think and Ithink this would maybe be the
overarching theme is thatsometimes nonprofit requires you
to get creative.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
I would agree.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Yeah, and so I don't get discouraged by the no, but
be open to looking at otheroptions for how to make it a yes
.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Yes, sometimes you're coming into playing off that
thread into a budget that'slocked.
Yes, if the budget's alreadylocked, then sit and observe and
think of the ideas and how theywould play out and then, when
it comes for budget season,again put your test and
innovation budget in front ofthem.
Can we pull $20,000 from thisthing I'm making up a number
(28:49):
here and this thing or is therea way to use to your point free
resources to test something out?
I had an organization that wason the board of small
organization here in Dallas andlimited staff, limited budget,
like all those things and theyjust wanted they ended up
tapping into their major giftnetwork in a different way.
(29:10):
They had a couple people on theboard and a couple of major
gifts that had been giving for along time, that were friends
with the founder, just hostsomething at their home, and
they brought like-minded peopletogether and it was more of an
informational session and thatplayed out so well that they
were able to get new donationsoff of that and they figured out
okay, well, how do I scale thiswith the next generation?
(29:31):
So they literally went into thefile and broke it up by what we
were talking about a fewminutes ago annual, mid and
major and then they broke it upby like areas of town and then
they just did many happy hoursjust around town where you could
come and learn more and bring afriend, and then that exposed
existing donors into a way toconnect with the leaders and
they brought in new people.
And so all of a sudden they sawnet new donors rise because of
(29:55):
that outreach and they sawgiving rise because they had
personal connection with thefounder, which is meaningful.
And so there are ways to kindof think outside the box.
Another story that would havelarger organizations, a
different kind of budget, butthey were trying to build out a
mid-level program and it startedout as a call program.
And as they were and we havetechnology today that can really
(30:17):
optimize this but as they weredoing those calls, they were
recording them and then theywere looking for like
commonalities on the call and sothey would do a word cloud at
the end of every monthcommonalities on the call.
And so they would do a wordcloud at the end of every month.
Every month they would look atlike the themes that they saw on
the call and they would writehandwritten thinking notes about
said theme and then they happento have a publishing arm of
what they did and so they wouldgo and find like curriculum that
(30:39):
they already had that resonatedwith those themes and that's
what they would send with theirhandwritten note like out to the
donor.
And then they saw Lyft and Midand Major.
Because of that, because peoplemoved up and also media
organization allowed them toknow what to put on the radio or
what to put on their podcast,because they understood the
(30:59):
heartbeat of those that werelistening and giving and in
their community, and so thatwould be some.
That's a larger scale way tothink about it.
But again, volunteers come inand make those phone calls.
You script those a little bitbut you also just let them share
their passion about theorganization.
So that's great, okay.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
So one last question as we wrap up.
If you were to give one pieceof advice to somebody who was
just starting out in theirfundraising career I'm thinking
that kind of that new collegegrad starting in their first job
in the nonprofit sector what isthe one piece of advice that
you would give them at thisparticular point?
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Oh, my first I think it's for everybody is be curious
as you decide the organization.
Be curious about who they are.
Be curious about their donors.
Be curious about their programdelivery and those that they
serve.
Be curious about the data.
Back to what we were talkingabout a few minutes ago.
Be curious about why they'redoing it the way they're doing
it.
Yeah, be curious about otherways that we could consider
(32:00):
doing it that may optimize.
And then don't be afraid toshare your opinion.
Be curious.
And then, once you've done yourassessment, be bold, ask the
questions, because sometimes,when you're inside an
organization and you just havethe things that need to get done
, you are stuck in business asusual.
I got to get these 17 thingsout because this has to happen,
(32:20):
because we are on track forwhatever x, y and z is, and so
sometimes it is helpful to havesomeone to have us, you know,
look up and go wait.
Why are we doing this way?
Or have we thought about?
And the other thing that I wouldencourage you is use the first
90 days is not only thecuriosity phase, but analyze the
things that you're hearing backand then, at the end of those
(32:44):
90 days, say, based on all thethings that I've heard and
getting curious about X, y and Z.
Here are the things that Iobserve are going well and I
can't wait to dig into thesethings.
Here are the things that I havequestions about, that I want to
learn.
And then here are the thingsI'm curious.
If we could optimize Becauseyou're going to have just
outsider coming in You'reactually going to have some
really key observations thatcould help the nonprofit.
(33:05):
Just think slightly differentlyabout what's happening.
That could drive deeper donorloyalty, better donor experience
.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
So I love it, becca.
Thank you so much.
I think this is a fantastickickoff to the nonprofit 101
series in July.
I'm so glad you're here.
Nonprofit Hub is going to berolling out a resource around
nonprofit lingo, so stay tuned.
The glossary is coming.
I'm very excited about it.
We have one right now, but it'sa little out of date, so we're
going to definitely roll out anew one here shortly.
I can't wait to see it.
I'll share it as soon as it'sready.
Yes, again, my guest has beenBecca Segovia, who's the founder
(33:42):
of GCS Partners.
My name is Megan Spear.
This is the Nonprofit Hub RadioPodcast and we'll see you next
time.
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