December 20, 2024 • 30 mins
Unlock the secrets of nonprofit fundraising with Meghan Speer, and insights from seasoned expert Kendell Stellfox. Together, we explore the nuanced art of engaging donors, particularly during critical periods like year-end giving. Kendell brings his wealth of experience to the table, emphasizing the importance of using technology wisely to foster a community of informed and cheerful givers, while also maintaining high ethical standards. Kendell shares compelling strategies for nonprofits to engage authentically with this demographic, focusing on culturally sensitive communication and the power of AI-assisted language translation. His insights reveal the immense loyalty and generosity of Latino donors and highlight innovative approaches, such as leveraging social media, to deepen relationships and enhance the sustainability of nonprofit organizations. With heartfelt gratitude for our community's support, we embrace the festive spirit, wishing everyone a joyous Christmas and a prosperous New Year full of collaborative possibilities.
Kendell Stellfox works with a number of agencies and services groups in the Nonprofit and Ministry space. He is passionate about helping ministries grow and brings together the best possible partners for that to happen. He has a number of years experience in nonprofit technology.
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):
As a nonprofit, it's hard to make a difference in the
community when your financesare holding you back.
With Maxis, by FreedMaxic, youcan navigate complex challenges
with the right people, processesand technology.
Learn more about Maxis andschedule a complimentary
consultation at maxisbyfmcom.
Slash nonprofit.
Welcome back to the NonprofitHub podcast.
(00:25):
I'm your host, megan Spear,alongside Kendall Stelfox
joining me today.
I'm so excited to dig intosomething that Kendall has been
thinking through.
Kendall has a ton of experiencein the nonprofit space with a
number of differentorganizations, so I'm excited to
learn from his wisdom today.
Kendall, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Hey again, good to see you.
Thanks for having me on hiswisdom today.
Kendall, welcome to the show.
Hey again, good to see you.
Thanks for having me on.
Always a pleasure to get on andtalk about this wonderful space
where we get to help others andcall it our passion and our
profession.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Yes, absolutely.
So, by way of introduction,tell the audience a little bit
about yourself and your journeyin the nonprofit space, to kick
us off here.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Yeah, so my background is in technology.
During college I helped acouple of buddies start a
systems integration business andmy area of expertise that got
developed there was on thedatabase side.
So this was way before CRMsthat we all have today.
They were very segmented andbroken out and then we were an
integration business that reallyhelped people deal with data
(01:23):
and sync it and bring it into acentral location, ultimately
became CRM.
And then I ran that businessunit for a number of years
before I left and felt a callingto get really into the areas
that I really cared about andthat was helping people in the
causes of feeding people, bibleengagement, just helping people
in general.
(01:43):
And that drove me to thefundraising side.
And I work with a couple ofdifferent agencies.
One is Active Engagement.
They are world renowned for thepolitical side of the spectrum
and they have a very largecapability from an email
perspective.
So the areas that I focus onare email, text messaging, phone
systems and, ultimately, theability to be able to write
(02:06):
propositions.
And then the other area that Iwork in with my good buddy,
yvonne Leon at the Kurex Group,is helping nonprofits reach the
Latino community and those of usout there that aren't aware of
this massive demographicalchange that is coming.
We all have our donor files areshrinking and it's the Latino
community that is growing here.
In all have our donor files areshrinking and it's the Latino
community that is growing herein the United States.
(02:27):
There are over 62 million heredomestically, and we work with a
large number of organizationstrying to help them
contextualize, and I'm surewe'll unpack that a little bit
further, but not just totranslate but to reach the heart
of Latinos.
And so the areas that the Lordhas me really focusing in on is
really trying to mesh that, usetechnology, but use it in a way
that creates a joyful giver.
(02:48):
A joyful giver is one that isinformed, that is not pestered
and over-communicated to, butfinds a right balance, that they
feel like they're a part of thecause and that their resources
or their time are reallyimpactful.
And that's what we try to dowith the active engagement in
the Carex group, and MarketingSupport Networks is fantastic
(03:09):
with helping us get the abilityto be able to ramp up our staff,
the phone system, call centersto online chats.
If you're able to create aoffering or a program that has a
lot of traffic, you get peopleto your website and that's a
good thing and be able to do allof that.
So at the end of the day, it'svery tech focused, digital, but
we do work with direct mail andall sorts of different aspects
(03:29):
of the overall omni-channelexperience, but we really try to
boil it down to a cheerfulgiver, somebody that is informed
and that really wants to be apart of what's going on and
feels that they are part of that, and that comes down to
communications.
Timing is everything in lifeand our messaging needs to be
timely and informative and inthe right channel in the right
way, and that's what we try tobuild at Active Engagement,
marketing Support Networks andthe Carex Group.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
So I want to, because I love this idea of the
cheerful giver and that's whatwe're going to dig into today.
But I want to go back to aphrase you used the first time
you did it, which is callingthem engaged.
They're informed, but they'renot pestered.
And as we sit here right at thebeginning of December, we are
(04:12):
in the peak of donor givingseason and getting ready for
year-end giving, and some mightsay at the height of pestering
season.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Right, because I can't even count, especially
coming out of political heightof pestering season?
Speaker 1 (04:25):
right, because I can't even count.
Yes, coming off of the electionand then you had not what?
Three or four weeks later wehad Giving Tuesday and now we're
past Giving Tuesday into theseason for year-end giving this
very well could be the height ofpestering.
So let's talk about thatbalance.
Right, because there has to be.
We are so bombarded withmessages that we have to put out
(04:47):
enough to really resonate andcommunicate and make sure that
the donor is informed.
But what does that balance looklike?
And how do organizationsstructure around making sure
that they are communicatingeffectively and not annoyingly?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Yeah, that's a very loaded question but I can
simplify it in that is be abovereproach.
Do what is right, treat othersas you'd like to be treated
yourself.
In our industry there are waymore individual organizations
that don't do those simpleprinciples and they do go above
and beyond when it comes to thepestering side.
(05:24):
For one, that's illegal.
You can't be a spammer andthere are rules and obligations
in the text messaging and thephone system, world and email
and direct mail.
So one is just be abovereproach.
Just do what the law, do whatthe world tells us that we're
able to do.
And then, secondly, reallyspend time thinking your donors
(05:44):
as people, like they're humanbeings, not just a bank account,
and the beauty of alwaysreminding you and your team of a
cheerful giver is those thingshave to level in right.
A cheerful giver is somebody,like I said, is informed and not
pestered, but also does getmessaging, and it is done in a
very good, comfortable way.
(06:07):
The beauty in the world we livetoday is they can unsubscribe
at any time.
So don't view unsubscriptionsas a negative.
That maybe, maybe it is a redflag, but if you're doing stuff
as you treat others, you'd betreated yourself.
Someone does have the right tosay you know, I don't want
messaging in that channel.
Or, overall and that'ssomething to remember too is
that respect the differentaspects of the channel.
(06:29):
A cell phone text message isvery intimate.
You are going to get a hugeopen rate.
So, yes, there is a temptationto go and say, oh boy, I need to
do a bunch in that channel.
But in the same breath, is thathow that channel, or those
individuals that you're going tocommunicate in that channel,
but in the same breath, is thathow that channel, or those
individuals that you're going tocommunicate in that channel,
want to be responded to?
(06:49):
Odds are no.
Nobody wants their cell phoneringing all day long or pinging
all day long because anorganization wants more money
out of them, but an organizationthat needs the help, of course,
an individual wants to hearthat.
That gives them the opportunityto be able to respond.
So I think that's where thatbalance is.
Megan is.
(07:09):
One is just, you got to beabove reproach.
Do what is right.
And then, secondly is accordingto the channel, how would you
want that to be treated for one?
And then, secondly, what are,what are the standards?
What are others doing out inthat space.
Part of our recipe for successis that we do those two things,
is that we're very good atmaking sure that we don't pester
(07:30):
people and we do give them theopportunities to opt out and
those types of things.
But we're also very good attechnology so we can play with
the thing called timing.
We all know in our personalrelationships that timing is
perfect.
We say it's in God's timing,right, and that's very much the
case.
And so, when it comes tocommunicating and delivering
that message, your technologyprovider has a big, important
(07:51):
piece of that puzzle.
I mean, if you're using, likeMailChimp or any of those off
the shelf email ESP providers,they have a little button there
that says, well, we'll use AI tochoose when we're going to
deliver this.
And, yes, that is good, it'sbetter than you just clicking
send but in the same breath,could that be done better?
And that's one of theadvantages active engagement
(08:12):
brings to the table is that weuse historical 15 plus years
worth of metadata so that we areable to deliver message.
We call inboxing it's not justthe ability to send an email,
it's actually to get an emailread, and that email read is
where you get your definition ofis it actually an engageable
type of content.
(08:33):
So your providers and who youpartner with is also extremely
important.
You can partner with a providerthat says sure, we're going to
robo-dial all day long becausewe know we can make money doing
it that way and that's notcomfortable for the people that
are receiving those phone calls.
(08:54):
And I think the last piece,megan, is to have your attention
not on the moments.
As human beings, we're alwaysdriven by the urgent right what
is happening now, what do I needtoday?
And then you start dealing withmaybe something tomorrow.
But the urgent is a very bigchallenge because the lifetime
value of a donor isn't definedby today.
It's defined by tomorrow, thenext day and the next day and
the next right.
It's over the lifetime.
So if you think about it, ifyou're able to ignite a
(09:15):
relationship with a donor for$50, $10, $5,000, what is the
real value of that donor?
If you treat them abovereproach, you treat them like
you'd be treated yourself, andthen you cultivate that into two
donations, three donations, amonthly donor, a mid-tier donor,
all of these and that is allbased on how you treat them.
(09:35):
Nobody's going to go and giveyou more because you pestered
them more.
They're going to go and givebecause they're more informed
and they're more excited andthey're more a part of this
amazing cause that you're calledto lead.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
I.
That is something that we haveheard as a theme all year long
on the podcast.
Right is that donors are humansand we've got to treat them as
such, but beyond that, what doesit look like to actually think
about people in terms ofinvesting in that relationship
in the long term?
So part of that, though and Ithink it's interesting that you
went to text, because I think,especially coming off of the
(10:12):
political season at least myphone was way more inundated on
the text message side in thatseason than it is currently with
some of the nonprofit, thenormal kind of cause-based
nonprofits that we work with andso I'm wondering from your
perspectives I know you workwith a couple of different text
providers as well Is thenonprofits based behind on text?
(10:38):
Is it something that we need tolook at more?
To me, the political side wentway too far on how often they
are texting, but the answer onthe nonprofit side shouldn't be
zero either.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
That's right, megan, and you bring up a great point.
There are different roles.
A C4 can do text messaging waydifferent than a C3.
And I'm talking about differentaspects when it comes to our
relationship with the governmenton how we structure our
organizations.
A political organization islegally allowed to robo text and
robo call all day long, everyday.
(11:15):
They're legally allowed to doit.
A C3 that wants to go and feedbabies or fix a smile legally
are not allowed Like, but thatdoesn't mean they can't, which
is just wild in and of let's.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
let's acknowledge it's just wild in and of of
itself that people can spam andask me for money all day long to
get themselves into office, butthen to actually fix a problem
not so much what a wild set oflaws.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
It's the challenge with us as human beings leading
a government.
It will always not be the waythat it ultimately needs to be
or should be.
But there are good things thatcome from our government as well
, and it's our responsibility asleaders to adhere to those
rules or raise enough noise outof love and encouragement to go
(12:02):
and change them.
But yes, the C3, the nonprofitspace and the C4 space, I do
think, are handled differentlybecause of the laws and the
outcomes, and a lot of them willjust spin up those
organizations just to go andtake those resources and then
they close their doors.
Where the rest of us in the C3space, we're trying to build
long term value, we're reallytrying to impact something for
(12:25):
the long haul Go and feed afamily in need, go and create a
cool space online to help peoplethat are dealing with mental
challenges or illness all sortsof things that we're able to be
created to do on that.
But it's important that thechannels that you invest in that
you do it correctly.
So there is a hugemisconception in the marketplace
(12:46):
that, oh, because I get allthese horrible text messages,
I'm not going to do that as anorganization, and that is
completely wrong.
That's throwing the baby withthe bathwater type of scenario,
right, but that doesn't meanthat you shouldn't learn the
right capabilities, the rightway to do it.
So an example at the Keurig'sgroup we work with Operation
Smile, a wonderful organizationthat helps children that are
(13:09):
born with a dysformity in theirmouth to be able to get a quick
surgery and be able to smileagain.
And we spun up.
They had never done anythingwith text messaging and we spun
up an English and a Spanishtexting relationship and of
course, we asked for compliance,first and foremost because
that's the right thing to do Now.
It was challenging, it wasscary.
(13:30):
Is everybody going to say no?
But of course not.
They're not going to say no.
Some did, and that's becausethat's their preference, but the
majority of them, and a largemajority of them, didn't,
because they were connected tothe ministry and they did want
to be able to hear more on aquicker basis with text
messaging than an email.
And so at Operation Smile,we've raised tens of thousands
of dollars by simply creating afive-digit code, which is unique
(13:55):
.
Right, it's not a 10-digit code, just like the political word
use.
It's five-digit.
It's assigned legally toOperation Smile and then they go
and message off that five digit, build credibility by doing the
compliance and then provideimages.
Messaging at a comfortable paceis the key there.
So it's anywhere from,depending upon what the
(14:18):
organization is trying toaccomplish a text message every
week to a couple text messagesevery week.
It varies depending on whatyou're trying to get done but,
most importantly, the platformyou choose.
So we work with Powered by Textout of Dallas on that and
they're extremely focused oncompliance.
So within their system there'sall sorts of checks and balances
(14:38):
.
If someone does reply stop,they're immediately taken out or
we can manly do it if they makemessages and things along those
lines.
And it has been a tremendousMegan, it is unbelievable
channel and any nonprofit outthere immediately should start
evaluating and contemplating howto correctly start text
messaging.
And it is not hard right, it'sonly 152 character.
(15:01):
I mean it's small messages.
But the beauty is is that youcan send a video, you can send a
picture, you can lead them to alanding page.
You can get all those wonderfulpieces that you do in email or
direct mail or phone or TV.
You can do that in textmessages but you can guarantee
you're going to get like a 90plus open rate.
So you better be good at it,right, but in the same breath,
(15:22):
being good at it is justproviding the same information
that you already are.
You're not trying to dosomething different, you're just
trying to communicate withinthat channel the way that it
does.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
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(15:59):
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Slash nonprofit.
So at this point, we gotChristmas coming.
We got year-end coming.
Chances are at this point,everybody's year-end is mapped
(16:21):
out right.
The direct mail is already inthe can, ready to go.
Emails are likely already inthere, signed off on.
Everybody has signed off onwhat they're doing.
Likely, year end is done atthis point because by the time
this airs, we'll only be 10 daysaway from year end.
So we got to make sure thatwe're.
(16:42):
I understand we're working aheadand we are in the season, but
as we plan to come back inJanuary, right, as you look
ahead to 2025, what are somethings that we need to make sure
that we are putting into ourstrategy?
To really make sure that we arehelping people feel connected
(17:03):
to the cause, to create thatcheerful, giving mindset.
So they feel connected, theyfeel a part of the community of
the organization and not justlike an ATM machine.
Are there some things thatyou've seen happen this year
that you're like, man, we shouldstop doing that going forward.
Or are there some trends comingup that you think like, oh man,
(17:23):
this is going to be a big onein 2025 to make people feel more
connected?
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Megan.
There's a lot to that.
First and foremost, when itcomes to digital, there's no
harm in trying.
So, as you look into 2025,you're way better off trying and
failing than being afraid totry and to move things forward.
So, first and foremost, it's anew year.
It's an important year becauseit's building upon the last
(17:49):
years and, depending on whereyou are and you're building out
of your nonprofits, each year,matters and time does add up and
the enemy loves to create fears.
So we become unable to makedecisions and it is daunting to
do the nonprofit, to raise fundsand to go and do the causes,
and all of us would rather bedoing the cause than trying to
(18:10):
talk about raising money.
But at the end of the day andthat's one of the main reasons
why the Lord brought me intothis aspect of the industry is
because if you don't raise money, you're not going to do the
causes.
It's just they go hand in hand.
So part of grabbing a hold ofthat is OK.
So that is reality.
What can I try?
And when it comes to trying,the faster you fail, the faster
(18:32):
you're going to win, and that'sa common phrase in technology
Fail fast, learn faster type ofscenario.
So I think it's extremelyimportant of the number of
people that you are engaging,extremely important of the
number of people that you areengaging.
We always come alongside anonprofit and that's one of the
things we ask is like, how manydonors do you have today, how
(18:52):
many donors, potential donors,do you have coming?
And so that's one of the thingsyou can quickly look at going
into 2025.
Where are my different buckets?
I have existing donors, I havefirst-time donors and then I
have potential donors and peoplethat haven't given yet.
Those three buckets areextremely important to the
viability of 2025.
And then, what strategies areyou going to do to communicate
(19:14):
to those different buckets?
And one of the areas that youknow the beauty of, as we
continue to move forward withtechnology, segmentation is
becoming way easier and way moreimportant.
So that's one of the big pieces, I think and we saw it in these
last couple of years but theability to be able to take your
message or your brand or yourcause and contextualize it to
(19:36):
that demographic.
A lady responds to communicationdifferent than a man.
It's reality, it's the wayGod's created it all.
So if we treat our constituents, our givers and we are
long-term givers or short-term,and we're all in one bucket.
Guess what happens Is thatbecomes a little more
challenging because everywhereelse those donors go, they get
(20:00):
custom communication.
They go to Facebook, they go toTwitter, they go to LinkedIn.
Wherever they're going, that AIuniverse is customizing it to
them.
You not be afraid that, oh mygosh, all my communications are
falling on deaf ears?
That's not true.
But can it become better bysegmenting?
So that would be an area assmall of an organization to the
(20:21):
biggest, the better you can getat segmenting and communicating
within those segments to thedifferent channels.
Right, a direct mail piece isdifferent than a text message,
but they can work together, ifyou're able to afford it, in a
wonderful way, and we do some ofthat with some of the bigger
ministries, like Charlie Kirk's,turning Point, usa, where we
work with the direct mail pieceand then we send friendly
(20:43):
reminders of text messages, butthey're segmented, right.
And also flagging.
There's all sorts of ways to, asyou're diving into segmenting,
what is the potential value ofthis individual or this
household?
Can they give more in thefuture?
Odds are the answer is yes tothat.
But then how are you going togo and earn it?
That's not just okay, I'm goingto pester them more.
(21:05):
No, you need to love on themmore.
And what are the right ways tolove on them?
Maybe it's send them a gift,send them a thank you card, or
call them up on the phone andthank them.
Maybe see if they'd beinterested on a Zoom.
There's all sorts of ways, butat the end of the day, the more
you can customize yourcommunication to make it more
almost one-on-one, the moreimpact you're going to get,
(21:27):
because that donor is going tofeel that connection.
And when a donor feels aconnection, they give, they're
cheerful, they're informed andthey're educated.
So it's a segmentation.
I would evaluate new channels.
I would highly recommend textmessaging.
It's just one.
Now, you're not going to go outand get new donors that way.
You can, but it's verychallenging and can be expensive
.
But you can ask for a cellphone number when they fill out
(21:49):
a donation form or as they'regiving you an email for a free
e-book or something.
Ask them would you like us tocommunicate in text messaging?
So there's those pieces, too,that as you plan out 2025 and
you come up with some goals, youcan find some easy wins,
potentially by just saying okay,one of our goals is we're going
to build out a text messagingcommunication this year.
(22:11):
For that to happen I have tostart capturing cell phone
numbers, so that's way beforemessage being sent.
I have to then have my landerssay at first last name and cell
phone number and, mostimportantly, make sure you have
a little checkbox there thatsays I can communicate with you,
and then that allows it to beabove reproach along those lines
.
So I think it's segmentation isa very important piece of the
(22:33):
puzzle and a mom and pop startupministry that I have a couple
of those myself can do thatsegmentation to the big ones out
there.
The beauty of today's world is,with technology, it's a very
level playing field, more sothan any time in my life that
I've seen.
I think that'll be the case.
But lastly is don't be afraidto fail.
As you're looking into nextyear, certainly reflect on
(22:55):
successes and the losses in 2024.
The more you fail, the moreyou're going to figure it out.
I say it to my kids all thetime.
I don't mind making mistakes,but you're going to learn from
them.
I say it to my kids all the timeI don't mind making mistakes,
but you gotta learn from them,and I think that's the key.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Yeah, that's a general phrase here that we use
on the Marketing Support Networkside of life.
We win or we learn.
We never lose.
We win or we learn Knowledge isso important.
Yes, and what are you going todo to come back from it?
Okay, it didn't go the way youexpected, no problem.
Here we go.
How do we regroup and pivot andmove forward from that?
(23:32):
So I think those are all supergood call-outs.
I want to.
Before we wrap up, I do want totouch on a little bit back to
some of your work with Curex,especially coming into 2025.
Are there pieces of thatstrategy that need to be
evaluated differently forreaching folks in the Latino
community?
Are there differentcommunication styles or
(23:54):
preferences?
As we kind of take a look atthe changing face of America's
demographic, what does it looklike and are there things that
we need to consider in that partof our strategy?
Speaker 2 (24:06):
as well.
There's a lot and it's allreally exciting.
It certainly appears to be verychallenging and, oh, I can't
accomplish that.
But the reality that's notreality.
Megan Latinos speak Englishnewsflash right, chakra, they
read English Now.
But the reality in those thingsis they've earned, they've gone
out and they've taken thelesson.
(24:26):
I mean, they've worked hard atit, so they like English, but
their first language is stillSpanish.
Right, that's who they are.
That's the heart of that Latinodonor.
To be joyful does not have tohave everything in Spanish, but
it does need to becontextualized to a Latino heart
.
They're just different.
A German is different than aBrit.
(24:46):
There's nuances, the way Godhas created us.
So, when it comes to thedaunting task of reaching a new
demographic, historically thathas been really challenging and
most have been afraid to do itbecause they've heard of some
failures.
Right, but the reality of it isin today's day and age, in 2024
going forward, the Latinocommunity is extremely important
(25:09):
for the viability of anynonprofit and the reason for
that is is there's 62 millionregistered Latinos here in the
United States alone.
So if you are a college studenttoday and you're on a campus in
the United States and you're awhite Anglo, like I am.
You are a minority on allcollege campuses, so my kids are
(25:49):
going to be a minority in theirgeneration, which means that
they're going to.
It's just going to be different.
Now, that can be very scary, butthe reality is it doesn't need
to be, because once you get toknow that community, they're
amazing because they're familyfocused, they're kind and
friendly, they're faith oriented.
Over 85 percent of them leantowards Catholic or faith
oriented.
Their country first, they lefttrouble to come here and, lastly
, they all give resources backhome.
So they're givers by verynature.
They're very givers.
(26:10):
But that doesn't mean that youjust take an appeal letter in
English and you translate it toSpanish and then you just start
mailing Latinos.
It just wouldn't work right,but you contextualize it.
So some of the tricks out thereare using AI to translate it
into.
You know, this is a MexicanLatino living in California.
(26:30):
Ai will help with that.
Now do not take AI and what itgives you and just send it.
I can give you example afterexample.
It is a computer and, as Iremind my bride, you are smarter
than your computer, I promiseyou.
So AI is not trustworthy but isa tremendous helper.
And so there is this newexciting movement here to reach
(26:53):
Latinos, because now we cancontextualize and we can create
programming and content veryinexpensively and be able to
start rolling that out.
So, yes, when it comes to thisnew wave of donors, they are
extremely exciting to work with.
But that doesn't mean that it'seasy, right?
Any organization that's tryingto raise a dollar today and is
(27:16):
just getting started knows howhard that is.
And you have to work and you'vegot to take risks.
I mean you're going to bet thebank sometimes.
Well, the same rule is going toapply to try to develop a new
demographic Like.
You're going to have to takerisk and you're going to have to
have failures and you're goingto have to work at it.
But I can promise you and we canshare example after example
that if you put your foot downand you stay intentional year
(27:40):
after year, the Latinos are veryloyal, they're not needy.
They will just naturally give,because that's what their
culture is, and so they are awonderful way.
But you're going to have to goand earn it and you're going to
have to make your ministry in away outgoing to the Latino
community.
So if you are feeding people inthe city of Seattle, make sure
(28:01):
you reference we also do thatwith the Latino community.
I mean, it's just subtle littlethings along those lines and so
that break that barrier ofeverything has to be translated.
It's certainly we call itSpanglish, we can put key words
in Spanish in there.
If you're talking about soccer,maybe it's football rather than
American soccer.
Subtle things along those lines.
But at the end of the day,megan, it's intentionality.
(28:27):
If a donor doesn't believe, thatyou're going to stick through
this and you're reallycommunicating.
They're not going to giveLatino works exactly the same
way and you just have to love onthem, you have to nurture them.
And the last thing I wouldstate, they're extremely
digitally oriented.
So we've done some tests wherewe post something on Facebook
and do one in English and do onein Spanglish and the Latino
community, the amount of shares,the likes, the comments, it's
(28:49):
like 100x compared to the Angloside.
So there is this excitement,this joy that is waiting to be
untapped out there.
But we've got to do itauthentically and that's the
area that Keurig's really triesto come alongside, do coaching,
teaching, even roll out projects, depending upon the size of the
organization and what the needsare.
But at the end of the day,we're really trying to take that
(29:10):
cause and come up with theright ways to engage the Latino
heart to ultimately get acheerful Latino heart to give
and be a part of that cause.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
I love it.
So the whole thing, just toboil it down, is donors are
humans, regardless of whatcommunity they come from, and
treating them as such goes along way in creating cheerful,
connected givers.
There we go, kendall.
Thank you so much.
That is so much wisdom to takein.
(29:41):
I really appreciate all thatyou had to share.
Again, my guest has beenKendall Stelfox.
Thanks for being here.
We appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Thank you, megan.
It's been a joy to listen tothe podcast and see all you guys
have done this past year Veryexcited for 2025 and all the
things that we've been talkingabout.
You guys have plans, so it'sbeen a joy to be on and if
anybody out there ever needshelp in any of these channels or
reach Latinos, we would love tohelp you and just explore with
you what we can do together.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
That's great, and how would people reach out to you
and find you that way if they'reinterested in connecting?
Speaker 2 (30:09):
about LinkedIn would be an easy way.
My email is Kendall.
It's E-L-L at Kurexgroupcom orK-Stallfox at actengagecom, but
LinkedIn is probably the easiestbecause it'll connect you All
right.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
All right, kendall.
Thank you so much and, onceagain, my name is Megan Spear.
I am the host of the nonprofithub podcast.
Thanks for joining us this year.
We will see you in 2025.
Have a fantastic Christmas anda great new year.
Thanks for being a part of thecommunity.
We appreciate you and we'll seeyou next year.
As a nonprofit, it's hard to make a difference in the
community when your financesare holding you back.
With Maxis, by FreedMaxic, youcan navigate complex challenges
with the right people, processesand technology.
Learn more about Maxis andschedule a complimentary
consultation at maxisbyfmcom.
Slash nonprofit.
Welcome back to the NonprofitHub podcast.
(00:25):
I'm your host, megan Spear,alongside Kendall Stelfox
joining me today.
I'm so excited to dig intosomething that Kendall has been
thinking through.
Kendall has a ton of experiencein the nonprofit space with a
number of differentorganizations, so I'm excited to
learn from his wisdom today.
Kendall, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Hey again, good to see you.
Thanks for having me on hiswisdom today.
Kendall, welcome to the show.
Hey again, good to see you.
Thanks for having me on.
Always a pleasure to get on andtalk about this wonderful space
where we get to help others andcall it our passion and our
profession.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Yes, absolutely.
So, by way of introduction,tell the audience a little bit
about yourself and your journeyin the nonprofit space, to kick
us off here.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Yeah, so my background is in technology.
During college I helped acouple of buddies start a
systems integration business andmy area of expertise that got
developed there was on thedatabase side.
So this was way before CRMsthat we all have today.
They were very segmented andbroken out and then we were an
integration business that reallyhelped people deal with data
(01:23):
and sync it and bring it into acentral location, ultimately
became CRM.
And then I ran that businessunit for a number of years
before I left and felt a callingto get really into the areas
that I really cared about andthat was helping people in the
causes of feeding people, bibleengagement, just helping people
in general.
(01:43):
And that drove me to thefundraising side.
And I work with a couple ofdifferent agencies.
One is Active Engagement.
They are world renowned for thepolitical side of the spectrum
and they have a very largecapability from an email
perspective.
So the areas that I focus onare email, text messaging, phone
systems and, ultimately, theability to be able to write
(02:06):
propositions.
And then the other area that Iwork in with my good buddy,
yvonne Leon at the Kurex Group,is helping nonprofits reach the
Latino community and those of usout there that aren't aware of
this massive demographicalchange that is coming.
We all have our donor files areshrinking and it's the Latino
community that is growing here.
In all have our donor files areshrinking and it's the Latino
community that is growing herein the United States.
(02:27):
There are over 62 million heredomestically, and we work with a
large number of organizationstrying to help them
contextualize, and I'm surewe'll unpack that a little bit
further, but not just totranslate but to reach the heart
of Latinos.
And so the areas that the Lordhas me really focusing in on is
really trying to mesh that, usetechnology, but use it in a way
that creates a joyful giver.
(02:48):
A joyful giver is one that isinformed, that is not pestered
and over-communicated to, butfinds a right balance, that they
feel like they're a part of thecause and that their resources
or their time are reallyimpactful.
And that's what we try to dowith the active engagement in
the Carex group, and MarketingSupport Networks is fantastic
(03:09):
with helping us get the abilityto be able to ramp up our staff,
the phone system, call centersto online chats.
If you're able to create aoffering or a program that has a
lot of traffic, you get peopleto your website and that's a
good thing and be able to do allof that.
So at the end of the day, it'svery tech focused, digital, but
we do work with direct mail andall sorts of different aspects
(03:29):
of the overall omni-channelexperience, but we really try to
boil it down to a cheerfulgiver, somebody that is informed
and that really wants to be apart of what's going on and
feels that they are part of that, and that comes down to
communications.
Timing is everything in lifeand our messaging needs to be
timely and informative and inthe right channel in the right
way, and that's what we try tobuild at Active Engagement,
marketing Support Networks andthe Carex Group.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
So I want to, because I love this idea of the
cheerful giver and that's whatwe're going to dig into today.
But I want to go back to aphrase you used the first time
you did it, which is callingthem engaged.
They're informed, but they'renot pestered.
And as we sit here right at thebeginning of December, we are
(04:12):
in the peak of donor givingseason and getting ready for
year-end giving, and some mightsay at the height of pestering
season.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Right, because I can't even count, especially
coming out of political heightof pestering season?
Speaker 1 (04:25):
right, because I can't even count.
Yes, coming off of the electionand then you had not what?
Three or four weeks later wehad Giving Tuesday and now we're
past Giving Tuesday into theseason for year-end giving this
very well could be the height ofpestering.
So let's talk about thatbalance.
Right, because there has to be.
We are so bombarded withmessages that we have to put out
(04:47):
enough to really resonate andcommunicate and make sure that
the donor is informed.
But what does that balance looklike?
And how do organizationsstructure around making sure
that they are communicatingeffectively and not annoyingly?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Yeah, that's a very loaded question but I can
simplify it in that is be abovereproach.
Do what is right, treat othersas you'd like to be treated
yourself.
In our industry there are waymore individual organizations
that don't do those simpleprinciples and they do go above
and beyond when it comes to thepestering side.
(05:24):
For one, that's illegal.
You can't be a spammer andthere are rules and obligations
in the text messaging and thephone system, world and email
and direct mail.
So one is just be abovereproach.
Just do what the law, do whatthe world tells us that we're
able to do.
And then, secondly, reallyspend time thinking your donors
(05:44):
as people, like they're humanbeings, not just a bank account,
and the beauty of alwaysreminding you and your team of a
cheerful giver is those thingshave to level in right.
A cheerful giver is somebody,like I said, is informed and not
pestered, but also does getmessaging, and it is done in a
very good, comfortable way.
(06:07):
The beauty in the world we livetoday is they can unsubscribe
at any time.
So don't view unsubscriptionsas a negative.
That maybe, maybe it is a redflag, but if you're doing stuff
as you treat others, you'd betreated yourself.
Someone does have the right tosay you know, I don't want
messaging in that channel.
Or, overall and that'ssomething to remember too is
that respect the differentaspects of the channel.
(06:29):
A cell phone text message isvery intimate.
You are going to get a hugeopen rate.
So, yes, there is a temptationto go and say, oh boy, I need to
do a bunch in that channel.
But in the same breath, is thathow that channel, or those
individuals that you're going tocommunicate in that channel,
but in the same breath, is thathow that channel, or those
individuals that you're going tocommunicate in that channel,
want to be responded to?
(06:49):
Odds are no.
Nobody wants their cell phoneringing all day long or pinging
all day long because anorganization wants more money
out of them, but an organizationthat needs the help, of course,
an individual wants to hearthat.
That gives them the opportunityto be able to respond.
So I think that's where thatbalance is.
Megan is.
(07:09):
One is just, you got to beabove reproach.
Do what is right.
And then, secondly is accordingto the channel, how would you
want that to be treated for one?
And then, secondly, what are,what are the standards?
What are others doing out inthat space.
Part of our recipe for successis that we do those two things,
is that we're very good atmaking sure that we don't pester
(07:30):
people and we do give them theopportunities to opt out and
those types of things.
But we're also very good attechnology so we can play with
the thing called timing.
We all know in our personalrelationships that timing is
perfect.
We say it's in God's timing,right, and that's very much the
case.
And so, when it comes tocommunicating and delivering
that message, your technologyprovider has a big, important
(07:51):
piece of that puzzle.
I mean, if you're using, likeMailChimp or any of those off
the shelf email ESP providers,they have a little button there
that says, well, we'll use AI tochoose when we're going to
deliver this.
And, yes, that is good, it'sbetter than you just clicking
send but in the same breath,could that be done better?
And that's one of theadvantages active engagement
(08:12):
brings to the table is that weuse historical 15 plus years
worth of metadata so that we areable to deliver message.
We call inboxing it's not justthe ability to send an email,
it's actually to get an emailread, and that email read is
where you get your definition ofis it actually an engageable
type of content.
(08:33):
So your providers and who youpartner with is also extremely
important.
You can partner with a providerthat says sure, we're going to
robo-dial all day long becausewe know we can make money doing
it that way and that's notcomfortable for the people that
are receiving those phone calls.
(08:54):
And I think the last piece,megan, is to have your attention
not on the moments.
As human beings, we're alwaysdriven by the urgent right what
is happening now, what do I needtoday?
And then you start dealing withmaybe something tomorrow.
But the urgent is a very bigchallenge because the lifetime
value of a donor isn't definedby today.
It's defined by tomorrow, thenext day and the next day and
the next right.
It's over the lifetime.
So if you think about it, ifyou're able to ignite a
(09:15):
relationship with a donor for$50, $10, $5,000, what is the
real value of that donor?
If you treat them abovereproach, you treat them like
you'd be treated yourself, andthen you cultivate that into two
donations, three donations, amonthly donor, a mid-tier donor,
all of these and that is allbased on how you treat them.
(09:35):
Nobody's going to go and giveyou more because you pestered
them more.
They're going to go and givebecause they're more informed
and they're more excited andthey're more a part of this
amazing cause that you're calledto lead.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
I.
That is something that we haveheard as a theme all year long
on the podcast.
Right is that donors are humansand we've got to treat them as
such, but beyond that, what doesit look like to actually think
about people in terms ofinvesting in that relationship
in the long term?
So part of that, though and Ithink it's interesting that you
went to text, because I think,especially coming off of the
(10:12):
political season at least myphone was way more inundated on
the text message side in thatseason than it is currently with
some of the nonprofit, thenormal kind of cause-based
nonprofits that we work with andso I'm wondering from your
perspectives I know you workwith a couple of different text
providers as well Is thenonprofits based behind on text?
(10:38):
Is it something that we need tolook at more?
To me, the political side wentway too far on how often they
are texting, but the answer onthe nonprofit side shouldn't be
zero either.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
That's right, megan, and you bring up a great point.
There are different roles.
A C4 can do text messaging waydifferent than a C3.
And I'm talking about differentaspects when it comes to our
relationship with the governmenton how we structure our
organizations.
A political organization islegally allowed to robo text and
robo call all day long, everyday.
(11:15):
They're legally allowed to doit.
A C3 that wants to go and feedbabies or fix a smile legally
are not allowed Like, but thatdoesn't mean they can't, which
is just wild in and of let's.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
let's acknowledge it's just wild in and of of
itself that people can spam andask me for money all day long to
get themselves into office, butthen to actually fix a problem
not so much what a wild set oflaws.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
It's the challenge with us as human beings leading
a government.
It will always not be the waythat it ultimately needs to be
or should be.
But there are good things thatcome from our government as well
, and it's our responsibility asleaders to adhere to those
rules or raise enough noise outof love and encouragement to go
(12:02):
and change them.
But yes, the C3, the nonprofitspace and the C4 space, I do
think, are handled differentlybecause of the laws and the
outcomes, and a lot of them willjust spin up those
organizations just to go andtake those resources and then
they close their doors.
Where the rest of us in the C3space, we're trying to build
long term value, we're reallytrying to impact something for
(12:25):
the long haul Go and feed afamily in need, go and create a
cool space online to help peoplethat are dealing with mental
challenges or illness all sortsof things that we're able to be
created to do on that.
But it's important that thechannels that you invest in that
you do it correctly.
So there is a hugemisconception in the marketplace
(12:46):
that, oh, because I get allthese horrible text messages,
I'm not going to do that as anorganization, and that is
completely wrong.
That's throwing the baby withthe bathwater type of scenario,
right, but that doesn't meanthat you shouldn't learn the
right capabilities, the rightway to do it.
So an example at the Keurig'sgroup we work with Operation
Smile, a wonderful organizationthat helps children that are
(13:09):
born with a dysformity in theirmouth to be able to get a quick
surgery and be able to smileagain.
And we spun up.
They had never done anythingwith text messaging and we spun
up an English and a Spanishtexting relationship and of
course, we asked for compliance,first and foremost because
that's the right thing to do Now.
It was challenging, it wasscary.
(13:30):
Is everybody going to say no?
But of course not.
They're not going to say no.
Some did, and that's becausethat's their preference, but the
majority of them, and a largemajority of them, didn't,
because they were connected tothe ministry and they did want
to be able to hear more on aquicker basis with text
messaging than an email.
And so at Operation Smile,we've raised tens of thousands
of dollars by simply creating afive-digit code, which is unique
(13:55):
.
Right, it's not a 10-digit code, just like the political word
use.
It's five-digit.
It's assigned legally toOperation Smile and then they go
and message off that five digit, build credibility by doing the
compliance and then provideimages.
Messaging at a comfortable paceis the key there.
So it's anywhere from,depending upon what the
(14:18):
organization is trying toaccomplish a text message every
week to a couple text messagesevery week.
It varies depending on whatyou're trying to get done but,
most importantly, the platformyou choose.
So we work with Powered by Textout of Dallas on that and
they're extremely focused oncompliance.
So within their system there'sall sorts of checks and balances
(14:38):
.
If someone does reply stop,they're immediately taken out or
we can manly do it if they makemessages and things along those
lines.
And it has been a tremendousMegan, it is unbelievable
channel and any nonprofit outthere immediately should start
evaluating and contemplating howto correctly start text
messaging.
And it is not hard right, it'sonly 152 character.
(15:01):
I mean it's small messages.
But the beauty is is that youcan send a video, you can send a
picture, you can lead them to alanding page.
You can get all those wonderfulpieces that you do in email or
direct mail or phone or TV.
You can do that in textmessages but you can guarantee
you're going to get like a 90plus open rate.
So you better be good at it,right, but in the same breath,
(15:22):
being good at it is justproviding the same information
that you already are.
You're not trying to dosomething different, you're just
trying to communicate withinthat channel the way that it
does.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
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(15:59):
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Slash nonprofit.
So at this point, we gotChristmas coming.
We got year-end coming.
Chances are at this point,everybody's year-end is mapped
(16:21):
out right.
The direct mail is already inthe can, ready to go.
Emails are likely already inthere, signed off on.
Everybody has signed off onwhat they're doing.
Likely, year end is done atthis point because by the time
this airs, we'll only be 10 daysaway from year end.
So we got to make sure thatwe're.
(16:42):
I understand we're working aheadand we are in the season, but
as we plan to come back inJanuary, right, as you look
ahead to 2025, what are somethings that we need to make sure
that we are putting into ourstrategy?
To really make sure that we arehelping people feel connected
(17:03):
to the cause, to create thatcheerful, giving mindset.
So they feel connected, theyfeel a part of the community of
the organization and not justlike an ATM machine.
Are there some things thatyou've seen happen this year
that you're like, man, we shouldstop doing that going forward.
Or are there some trends comingup that you think like, oh man,
(17:23):
this is going to be a big onein 2025 to make people feel more
connected?
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Megan.
There's a lot to that.
First and foremost, when itcomes to digital, there's no
harm in trying.
So, as you look into 2025,you're way better off trying and
failing than being afraid totry and to move things forward.
So, first and foremost, it's anew year.
It's an important year becauseit's building upon the last
(17:49):
years and, depending on whereyou are and you're building out
of your nonprofits, each year,matters and time does add up and
the enemy loves to create fears.
So we become unable to makedecisions and it is daunting to
do the nonprofit, to raise fundsand to go and do the causes,
and all of us would rather bedoing the cause than trying to
(18:10):
talk about raising money.
But at the end of the day andthat's one of the main reasons
why the Lord brought me intothis aspect of the industry is
because if you don't raise money, you're not going to do the
causes.
It's just they go hand in hand.
So part of grabbing a hold ofthat is OK.
So that is reality.
What can I try?
And when it comes to trying,the faster you fail, the faster
(18:32):
you're going to win, and that'sa common phrase in technology
Fail fast, learn faster type ofscenario.
So I think it's extremelyimportant of the number of
people that you are engaging,extremely important of the
number of people that you areengaging.
We always come alongside anonprofit and that's one of the
things we ask is like, how manydonors do you have today, how
(18:52):
many donors, potential donors,do you have coming?
And so that's one of the thingsyou can quickly look at going
into 2025.
Where are my different buckets?
I have existing donors, I havefirst-time donors and then I
have potential donors and peoplethat haven't given yet.
Those three buckets areextremely important to the
viability of 2025.
And then, what strategies areyou going to do to communicate
(19:14):
to those different buckets?
And one of the areas that youknow the beauty of, as we
continue to move forward withtechnology, segmentation is
becoming way easier and way moreimportant.
So that's one of the big pieces, I think and we saw it in these
last couple of years but theability to be able to take your
message or your brand or yourcause and contextualize it to
(19:36):
that demographic.
A lady responds to communicationdifferent than a man.
It's reality, it's the wayGod's created it all.
So if we treat our constituents, our givers and we are
long-term givers or short-term,and we're all in one bucket.
Guess what happens Is thatbecomes a little more
challenging because everywhereelse those donors go, they get
(20:00):
custom communication.
They go to Facebook, they go toTwitter, they go to LinkedIn.
Wherever they're going, that AIuniverse is customizing it to
them.
You not be afraid that, oh mygosh, all my communications are
falling on deaf ears?
That's not true.
But can it become better bysegmenting?
So that would be an area assmall of an organization to the
(20:21):
biggest, the better you can getat segmenting and communicating
within those segments to thedifferent channels.
Right, a direct mail piece isdifferent than a text message,
but they can work together, ifyou're able to afford it, in a
wonderful way, and we do some ofthat with some of the bigger
ministries, like Charlie Kirk's,turning Point, usa, where we
work with the direct mail pieceand then we send friendly
(20:43):
reminders of text messages, butthey're segmented, right.
And also flagging.
There's all sorts of ways to, asyou're diving into segmenting,
what is the potential value ofthis individual or this
household?
Can they give more in thefuture?
Odds are the answer is yes tothat.
But then how are you going togo and earn it?
That's not just okay, I'm goingto pester them more.
(21:05):
No, you need to love on themmore.
And what are the right ways tolove on them?
Maybe it's send them a gift,send them a thank you card, or
call them up on the phone andthank them.
Maybe see if they'd beinterested on a Zoom.
There's all sorts of ways, butat the end of the day, the more
you can customize yourcommunication to make it more
almost one-on-one, the moreimpact you're going to get,
(21:27):
because that donor is going tofeel that connection.
And when a donor feels aconnection, they give, they're
cheerful, they're informed andthey're educated.
So it's a segmentation.
I would evaluate new channels.
I would highly recommend textmessaging.
It's just one.
Now, you're not going to go outand get new donors that way.
You can, but it's verychallenging and can be expensive
.
But you can ask for a cellphone number when they fill out
(21:49):
a donation form or as they'regiving you an email for a free
e-book or something.
Ask them would you like us tocommunicate in text messaging?
So there's those pieces, too,that as you plan out 2025 and
you come up with some goals, youcan find some easy wins,
potentially by just saying okay,one of our goals is we're going
to build out a text messagingcommunication this year.
(22:11):
For that to happen I have tostart capturing cell phone
numbers, so that's way beforemessage being sent.
I have to then have my landerssay at first last name and cell
phone number and, mostimportantly, make sure you have
a little checkbox there thatsays I can communicate with you,
and then that allows it to beabove reproach along those lines
.
So I think it's segmentation isa very important piece of the
(22:33):
puzzle and a mom and pop startupministry that I have a couple
of those myself can do thatsegmentation to the big ones out
there.
The beauty of today's world is,with technology, it's a very
level playing field, more sothan any time in my life that
I've seen.
I think that'll be the case.
But lastly is don't be afraidto fail.
As you're looking into nextyear, certainly reflect on
(22:55):
successes and the losses in 2024.
The more you fail, the moreyou're going to figure it out.
I say it to my kids all thetime.
I don't mind making mistakes,but you're going to learn from
them.
I say it to my kids all the timeI don't mind making mistakes,
but you gotta learn from them,and I think that's the key.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Yeah, that's a general phrase here that we use
on the Marketing Support Networkside of life.
We win or we learn.
We never lose.
We win or we learn Knowledge isso important.
Yes, and what are you going todo to come back from it?
Okay, it didn't go the way youexpected, no problem.
Here we go.
How do we regroup and pivot andmove forward from that?
(23:32):
So I think those are all supergood call-outs.
I want to.
Before we wrap up, I do want totouch on a little bit back to
some of your work with Curex,especially coming into 2025.
Are there pieces of thatstrategy that need to be
evaluated differently forreaching folks in the Latino
community?
Are there differentcommunication styles or
(23:54):
preferences?
As we kind of take a look atthe changing face of America's
demographic, what does it looklike and are there things that
we need to consider in that partof our strategy?
Speaker 2 (24:06):
as well.
There's a lot and it's allreally exciting.
It certainly appears to be verychallenging and, oh, I can't
accomplish that.
But the reality that's notreality.
Megan Latinos speak Englishnewsflash right, chakra, they
read English Now.
But the reality in those thingsis they've earned, they've gone
out and they've taken thelesson.
(24:26):
I mean, they've worked hard atit, so they like English, but
their first language is stillSpanish.
Right, that's who they are.
That's the heart of that Latinodonor.
To be joyful does not have tohave everything in Spanish, but
it does need to becontextualized to a Latino heart
.
They're just different.
A German is different than aBrit.
(24:46):
There's nuances, the way Godhas created us.
So, when it comes to thedaunting task of reaching a new
demographic, historically thathas been really challenging and
most have been afraid to do itbecause they've heard of some
failures.
Right, but the reality of it isin today's day and age, in 2024
going forward, the Latinocommunity is extremely important
(25:09):
for the viability of anynonprofit and the reason for
that is is there's 62 millionregistered Latinos here in the
United States alone.
So if you are a college studenttoday and you're on a campus in
the United States and you're awhite Anglo, like I am.
You are a minority on allcollege campuses, so my kids are
(25:49):
going to be a minority in theirgeneration, which means that
they're going to.
It's just going to be different.
Now, that can be very scary, butthe reality is it doesn't need
to be, because once you get toknow that community, they're
amazing because they're familyfocused, they're kind and
friendly, they're faith oriented.
Over 85 percent of them leantowards Catholic or faith
oriented.
Their country first, they lefttrouble to come here and, lastly
, they all give resources backhome.
So they're givers by verynature.
They're very givers.
(26:10):
But that doesn't mean that youjust take an appeal letter in
English and you translate it toSpanish and then you just start
mailing Latinos.
It just wouldn't work right,but you contextualize it.
So some of the tricks out thereare using AI to translate it
into.
You know, this is a MexicanLatino living in California.
(26:30):
Ai will help with that.
Now do not take AI and what itgives you and just send it.
I can give you example afterexample.
It is a computer and, as Iremind my bride, you are smarter
than your computer, I promiseyou.
So AI is not trustworthy but isa tremendous helper.
And so there is this newexciting movement here to reach
(26:53):
Latinos, because now we cancontextualize and we can create
programming and content veryinexpensively and be able to
start rolling that out.
So, yes, when it comes to thisnew wave of donors, they are
extremely exciting to work with.
But that doesn't mean that it'seasy, right?
Any organization that's tryingto raise a dollar today and is
(27:16):
just getting started knows howhard that is.
And you have to work and you'vegot to take risks.
I mean you're going to bet thebank sometimes.
Well, the same rule is going toapply to try to develop a new
demographic Like.
You're going to have to takerisk and you're going to have to
have failures and you're goingto have to work at it.
But I can promise you and we canshare example after example
that if you put your foot downand you stay intentional year
(27:40):
after year, the Latinos are veryloyal, they're not needy.
They will just naturally give,because that's what their
culture is, and so they are awonderful way.
But you're going to have to goand earn it and you're going to
have to make your ministry in away outgoing to the Latino
community.
So if you are feeding people inthe city of Seattle, make sure
(28:01):
you reference we also do thatwith the Latino community.
I mean, it's just subtle littlethings along those lines and so
that break that barrier ofeverything has to be translated.
It's certainly we call itSpanglish, we can put key words
in Spanish in there.
If you're talking about soccer,maybe it's football rather than
American soccer.
Subtle things along those lines.
But at the end of the day,megan, it's intentionality.
(28:27):
If a donor doesn't believe, thatyou're going to stick through
this and you're reallycommunicating.
They're not going to giveLatino works exactly the same
way and you just have to love onthem, you have to nurture them.
And the last thing I wouldstate, they're extremely
digitally oriented.
So we've done some tests wherewe post something on Facebook
and do one in English and do onein Spanglish and the Latino
community, the amount of shares,the likes, the comments, it's
(28:49):
like 100x compared to the Angloside.
So there is this excitement,this joy that is waiting to be
untapped out there.
But we've got to do itauthentically and that's the
area that Keurig's really triesto come alongside, do coaching,
teaching, even roll out projects, depending upon the size of the
organization and what the needsare.
But at the end of the day,we're really trying to take that
(29:10):
cause and come up with theright ways to engage the Latino
heart to ultimately get acheerful Latino heart to give
and be a part of that cause.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
I love it.
So the whole thing, just toboil it down, is donors are
humans, regardless of whatcommunity they come from, and
treating them as such goes along way in creating cheerful,
connected givers.
There we go, kendall.
Thank you so much.
That is so much wisdom to takein.
(29:41):
I really appreciate all thatyou had to share.
Again, my guest has beenKendall Stelfox.
Thanks for being here.
We appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Thank you, megan.
It's been a joy to listen tothe podcast and see all you guys
have done this past year Veryexcited for 2025 and all the
things that we've been talkingabout.
You guys have plans, so it'sbeen a joy to be on and if
anybody out there ever needshelp in any of these channels or
reach Latinos, we would love tohelp you and just explore with
you what we can do together.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
That's great, and how would people reach out to you
and find you that way if they'reinterested in connecting?
Speaker 2 (30:09):
about LinkedIn would be an easy way.
My email is Kendall.
It's E-L-L at Kurexgroupcom orK-Stallfox at actengagecom, but
LinkedIn is probably the easiestbecause it'll connect you All
right.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
All right, kendall.
Thank you so much and, onceagain, my name is Megan Spear.
I am the host of the nonprofithub podcast.
Thanks for joining us this year.
We will see you in 2025.
Have a fantastic Christmas anda great new year.
Thanks for being a part of thecommunity.
We appreciate you and we'll seeyou next year.
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