The Keynote on Speaking Engagement

Speaking Engagement
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Education
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The Keynote podcast is the main stage of Speaking Engagement—the “conference on engagement that never sleeps.” Hosted by Ryan Catherwood, each episode features a deep-dive conversation with a leader shaping how organizations connect with their communities, from alumni and donors to employees and customers. These aren’t presentations—they’re working sessions, unpacking the strategies, tensions, and tradeoffs behind modern engagement. If you think of engagement as more than events and communications — if you see it as infrastructure — Keynote is built for you. www.speakingengagement.org

  1. 2d ago

    Mallory Erickson: Fundraising is Sacred Work

    Mallory Erickson is a fundraising coach, the host of the What the Fundraising podcast, and the author of the book by the same name, and Speaking Engagement's first Faculty-in-Residence. She has built her career on reframing fundraising away from something pushy and transactional and toward what she considers sacred work. In this Keynote, Mallory and Ryan get into her concept of alignment fundraising, the idea that great fundraising is not an ask but an offer, and why understanding what truly drives a donor turns a transaction into a win-win partnership. They dig into scarcity mindset and the belief ceilings that quietly limit what teams think is possible, why not all money is worth accepting, and why burnout is less about overwork than about rejection, uncertainty, and the stories fundraisers tell themselves. Connect with Mallory at malloryerickson.com and on the What the Fundraising podcast. For more Keynotes, and to join our Book Club and Agora, become a member at speakingengagement.org. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.speakingengagement.org/subscribe

    Mallory Erickson: Fundraising is Sacred Work

  2. Aug 10

    Kalyan Varma: Integration Is a Loaded Word

    Kalyan Varma has worked with hundreds of institutions on the operational side of advancement, and he can usually predict the problem before he arrives: participation is slipping, the donor base is narrowing even as dollars rise, and the technology meant to help is scattered across disconnected tools. He is the co-founder and CEO of Almabase, one of the largest alumni engagement and fundraising platforms in the country. (Watch the full-length version on YouTube - 54 mins) In this Keynote, Kalyan and Ryan get into why he calls "integration" the most abused word in advancement technology, what real integration takes, and why engagement and fundraising should be understood as one continuum rather than two separate worlds. He is candid about what hasn't worked, including engagement scores that almost no one uses, and clear that AI is best understood as an enabler of fundamentally human work. Connect with Kalyan on LinkedIn and at almabase.com. For more Keynotes, and to join our Book Club and Agora, become a member at speakingengagement.org. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.speakingengagement.org/subscribe

    Kalyan Varma: Integration Is a Loaded Word

  3. Aug 5

    Breakout: Three Out of Four Won't Come Back with Courtney, Dave, and Ryan

    This week's Breakout digs into Mark Dobosz's LinkedIn piece on a sobering number from the 2026 M+R Benchmarks: new donor retention sits at just 24 percent, meaning three of four first-time donors never give again. Ryan Catherwood, Dave Hail, and Courtney Stombock unpack why that is a structural failure rather than a stewardship gap, why organizations are good at keeping the donors they already know but bad at the front door, and what it would take to treat a first gift as the start of a relationship instead of a transaction. They also get honest about the four-part fix Dobosz proposes, and why it is so much harder to run in a real advancement shop than it looks on paper. Referenced in this episode: Mark Dobosz, "Three Out of Four Won't Come Back. We're Still Calling." (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/three-out-four-wont-come-back-were-still-calling-mark-dobosz-ectp-shvle/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.speakingengagement.org/subscribe

    Breakout: Three Out of Four Won't Come Back with Courtney, Dave, and Ryan

  4. Aug 3

    Liz Gross: The Voices We're Listening To

    Dr. Liz Gross has spent her career listening to what people actually say about colleges and universities online. She founded Campus Sonar, the first social listening agency built for higher ed, recently acquired by the College Board, where she now serves as Executive Director for Strategic Enrollment Services. Watch the full-length version on YouTube (57 mins) In this Keynote, Liz and Ryan get into social intelligence in the modern engagement ecosystem: why there is almost always more positive conversation than leaders expect, why the most trusted voice is the anonymous peer rather than the institution, why listening and showing up are not the same thing, and why followers and reach are usually the wrong things to measure. They also dig into activating students and alumni as storytellers, and why she is optimistic about people finding their way back to real community. Connect with Liz on LinkedIn. For more Keynotes, and to join our Book Club and Agora, become a member at speakingengagement.org. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.speakingengagement.org/subscribe

    Liz Gross: The Voices We're Listening To

  5. Jul 27

    Max Leisten: Scaling What Needs to Be Human

    Max Leisten left a career in software product management ten years ago to do work that mattered more. He started by passing resumes around his own network by hand, discovered that people genuinely love to help, and built a company around it. Today he is the founder and CEO of Protopia, which uses AI to connect students with the alumni who can help them. In this Keynote, Max and Ryan get into what a decade of building has taught him: why he developed the technology alongside Duke rather than selling to it, why campus consensus has to come before any launch, and why career services and advancement still struggle to collaborate. They also dig into where AI belongs in engagement work, why he refuses to turn Protopia into a knowledge base, and how the experience is designed so no alum feels guilty and no student feels rejected. Connect with Max on LinkedIn and at protopia.co. For more Keynotes, and to join our Book Club and Agora, become a member at speakingengagement.org. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.speakingengagement.org/subscribe

    Max Leisten: Scaling What Needs to Be Human

  6. Jul 20

    Richard Millington: Build With Them, Not For Them

    Richard Millington has studied online communities more closely than almost anyone. The founder of FeverBee and author of three field-defining books, he has helped hundreds of organizations, from Apple and Google to the UN, build communities that last. Listen to the full-length version on YouTube (57-mins) In this Keynote, Richard and Ryan dig into why a decade of alumni communities collapsed into ghost towns, why the failure was rarely the platform, and why building with your people instead of for them changes everything. They get into big launch syndrome, starting small with a handful of founding members, the real craft of community management, and why accountability matters more than hours. They close on AI, and what has to stay human as the tools get more powerful. Connect with Richard at FeverBee and on LinkedIn. For more Keynotes, and to join our Book Club and Agora, become a member at speakingengagement.org. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.speakingengagement.org/subscribe

    Richard Millington: Build With Them, Not For Them

  7. Jul 17

    Is Scaling Alumni Engagement a Good Thing? — Closing Remarks

    AI-reading of Ryan's Friday newsletter, "Is Scaling Alumni Engagement a Good Thing?" This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.speakingengagement.org/subscribe

    Is Scaling Alumni Engagement a Good Thing? — Closing Remarks

  8. Jul 13

    Chris Cannon: Data is Part of the Relationship

    Chris Cannon has spent his career in the least glamorous corner of advancement, and he makes the case that it may be the most important. Founder of the Generosity Collaborative and the author of the book many operations teams learned from, he is one of higher ed's foremost experts on advancement operations, technology, and engagement data. In this Keynote, Chris and Ryan trace his path from the St. Louis Science Center and Zoo to his own firm, and dig into why data is part of the relationship, why integrations always take longer than anyone hopes, why the engagement side of the shop is so under-invested, and why "practices that are best" beat chasing best practices. They close on AI, where Chris sees real promise in automating the high-volume, low-value work, as long as institutions start with governance. Connect with Chris on LinkedIn and at the Generosity Collaborative. For more Keynotes, and to join our Book Club and Agora, become a member at speakingengagement.org. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.speakingengagement.org/subscribe

    Chris Cannon: Data is Part of the Relationship
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About

The Keynote podcast is the main stage of Speaking Engagement—the “conference on engagement that never sleeps.” Hosted by Ryan Catherwood, each episode features a deep-dive conversation with a leader shaping how organizations connect with their communities, from alumni and donors to employees and customers. These aren’t presentations—they’re working sessions, unpacking the strategies, tensions, and tradeoffs behind modern engagement. If you think of engagement as more than events and communications — if you see it as infrastructure — Keynote is built for you. www.speakingengagement.org

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