The Responsive Mindset: How To Design Systems That Build Lasting Relationships With All Your Supporters

| Fundraising Strategy & Donor Engagement | Tues, Sept 12, 2023


yellow-line break

Back to 2023 Raise On Demand

Today, the demand for your donors’ attention is fierce. She lives in a world full of distractions continuously competing for micro-moments of attention. This influx of messages is overwhelming. It forces her to pick a few that are most relevant and ignore the rest. She may even opt out completely and retreat to personal feeds or friend recommendations when determining which brands or causes to connect with.

Most nonprofits’ responses are to do more, send more, buy more. Each an attempt to steal bits of her attention in hopes she’ll respond. This is timely, org-centered, and wasteful. Additionally, it tosses your hat into a ring crowded with big brands, cat videos, 24/7 news, Netflix series, Apple releases, and hundreds of other worthwhile causes running the same playbook. As well, we as fundraisers are asked to do more with less, specifically around the tactics and technology that surround our ecosystem to grow generosity.

Is there a better way? Can any nonprofit stand above the noise? Amidst uncertainty and shifting donor expectations, how should you design and lead your fundraising teams? How does this impact your ability to collaborate to deliver a responsive supporter experience?

We’ll address these challenges head-on, share how supporter preferences have evolved, and what that requires now of you and your team.

Key Takeaways:

  • Two (2) macro shifts shaping supporter preferences, and the resulting pivots your team must consider for growth.
  • Eight (8) mindsets you and your team can adopt to increase the pace of learning, combat burnout, and unlock growth.

Download Slides

Speaker

Erik Tomalis

Erik Tomalis

Enterprise Sales Manager, Virtuous

Erik Tomalis is a proven fundraising professional and has always been forward thinking, donor and people driven, but most of all results oriented. With 20 years of professional fundraising experience, Erik made over 4,000 face-to-face donor solicitations where he has raised millions of dollars for many non-profit organizations, including areas of: healthcare, education, human services, Greek, university athletics and youth-based organizations. He served as a front-line fundraiser, as well as an executive in some transformative organizations focused on generosity, such as St. Jude Children’s Hospital, the Boy Scouts of America and the Allegheny Health Network.

Today, at Virtuous, Erik is committed to helping nonprofits grow global generosity. He believes that charitable giving is about personal connections, not transactions. Generosity is driven by our passions and relationships – and givers want to feel like they are part of a movement bigger than themselves.

Through his experience, Erik understands fully the ways to be successful in your non-profit organization and career. Erik lives in Pittsburgh, PA and is a graduate of Duquesne University and the Lilly School of Philanthropy. He is an Eagle Scout and active in the community as he is either active or a past board member for the following organizations: AFP Western PA and Dallas Chapters, Verland, 100+ Men of Pittsburgh, American Lung Association, Boy Scouts of America, American Heart Association, Duquesne Alumni Council and many more.