Holy Donuts
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Where experts share their strategies and experiences navigating the non-profit world.

Deliver content that builds relationships in the way people want to engage with content. And the way people want to engage with content is video, period.

Recurring giving has been around forever. This idea of a recurring gift is not a new concept, but what is new and what has really changed is the subscription economy and what's been happening, particularly with how consumers have changed their behavior, their expectations and their engagement with what banking industry calls discretionary automated payments.

If you treat people like a number, they will eventually return the favor.

All I can do is tell the story. It's up to the Holy Spirit to move somebody.

The thing that I've always struggled with on the marketing side is if I put the work that we do through a gospel lens, then the hero is always Jesus. And you need me at the table, and you need an African at the table, and you need a marketing person at the table. And all of us collectively are the workmanship and are the artwork that the Lord is crafting in Africa or in Haiti or in Philly, but it's not one or the other.

If you're in the world of solutioning whatever it may be, whether it's digital or it's working with donors, if you raise your empathy, you'll find that you start to understand the audience you're trying to reach. That counts for digital. It also counts for just about everything else.

Solid marketing outcomes come from listening and research. If you can listen well to your audience and get out of your own headspace of what you think they need and hear what they actually say they need, you'll be amazed at the areas of alignment and the places that maybe you thought there was no entry point, that they're actually wide open doors for entry points.

"I think when it comes to marketing strategies, any marketing expert will tell you: Add value. Add value. Add value. However that may be!"

If we did this, what would it look like? The key for us really is just starting with one. Let's not use the bigness of it as an excuse to not take action.

As your programs become better, you measure your outcomes instead of your outputs and that makes a big difference to donors.

Obedience is the key to your walk with God. And it is the easiest and the hardest thing to do all in the same.

We have to make sure that in order to rise above the noise and to also say it as quickly as possible, we've got to figure out what we call here the thread.

"When people donate, they're purchasing something, actually, and they're purchasing meaning for themselves by giving and knowing that you're an agent of action behind some kind of positive thing that's going to happen in the world. You're purchasing a feeling that you're making a difference and that your life matters. - Jonathan Beck"

Brand is more about the experience people have... Sometimes having no design is a better experience.

Make the first call to action at the top of your funnel really, really easy. like a super easy win, and then chain them together and walk them through a process.

Engaging donors is about serving them first and showing genuine interest in them, beyond their checkbook.

The depth of the relationship goes hand in hand with the involvement and strength of the relationship. When they see, get up close and know who you are and what you're doing, that's when the real impact happens.

I never loved my job more now because I am using my skills, and I never would have thought my technical skills would be used in a ministry. But they totally are. They're totally useful, especially in modern day ministries.

If you're a growth-minded executive and a growth-minded nonprofit, it's the storytelling that makes all the difference.

Fundraising is a team sport. We're in this together. It's an abundance mindset. Donors appreciate thinking that way

AI can be great for generating new ideas, but you have to have self-control with how you use it and make sure you're spending your time where it's most profitable.

Nonprofits are not just blessing our recipients, we are blessing our donors. When someone donates to your organization, they're purchasing significance for themselves.

Sometimes the answer is doing the small things consistently that don't seem like much. Like those just add up when you're doing them consistently over months and years to where all of a sudden you look back and you're like, wow, you just grew 50%

People give to people, not to organizations. And so I think they love that personal touch, and it's less stress for you. Rather than trying to put together this really well worded, perfect email

We need to make our donors feel like they're a part of what's happening, or they'll go to someone who will