The Nonprofit Science Podcast Sheela N. Mahajan

The problem we are going to tackle today is one that I’ve personally struggled with as a fundraiser and one that I’ve seen my clients struggle with. With Giving Tuesday just around the corner, I thought this was a timely conversation. So the problem we’ll be tackling today is, how can nonprofits retain online crowdfunding donors?

On this episode, we are joined by Dr. Karl Besel. He is the Dean of the School of Interdisciplinary Health and Science and a Professor of Public Health and Social Work at the University of Saint Joseph. In addition to teaching both graduate and undergraduate courses, he has written two books, authored over 20 peer reviewed journal articles, and was named a Distinguished William J. Clinton Lecturer.

We do a deep dive into succession planning, discussing pitfalls, barriers, and opportunities for nonprofits to intentionally create a plan.

The problem we are going to tackle today is a big one. How can nonprofits prevent staff burnout? Burnout is a well defined syndrome characterized by exhaustion, disengagement, negativity, and reduced productivity. While burnout is not a medical condition, it can exacerbate medical conditions. Why is it that nonprofit professionals are particularly at risk for burnout and what can we do about it? Find out on this episode.

What happens when the values of the community you serve change, and they are no longer aligned with your nonprofit’s values?
As we know, donors have a choice to give to your nonprofit or not. And recent research indicates, unsurprisingly, that donors choose which organizations to support based on their values.
But this doesn’t stop at donors. Value congruence is also crucial for relationships with other stakeholders. If you find yourself in a situation of value incongruence with your community, what can you do? Find out on this episode.

We all use appeals to raise money- whether it's direct mail, email, or even social media posts. But, there are two ways to frame an ask- we can use positive messages that focus on how a community will be helped if a donor gives, or we can use negative messages that focus on how a community will be harmed if a donor does not give. The general idea is the same- these are essentially two sides of the same coin. But, is one message more effective than the other?

On this episode, we are joined by Dr. Erica Harris. She is an Associate Professor in the School of Accounting at Florida International University. In addition to publishing dozens of peer-reviewed articles, she has also received many prestigious research awards, including a Fulbright Scholarship.

In the Venn Diagram of nonprofit work, we discuss how administration and fundraising, while seen as two separate functions, actually overlap.