543. Fundraising Best Practices in an Election Year - Shanna Birky
Listen to this episode
Overview
Meet Shanna. She’s the Vice President of Customer Experience at Classy, a GoFundMe affiliate. She’s helping nonprofits stay strong amid election-year noise 🗳️ Even during election years, charitable giving has increased in 8 of the last 9 cycles 📈 Nonprofits need to know how to maximize fundraising dollars, even if not directly linked to election causes. Tune in to discover key strategies to keep your fundraising strong even when emotions are running high and mailboxes are overflowing 📬
💡 Learn
Tone-setting and myth-busting
Fundraising best practices during an election year
Using storytelling to stand out in a crowded, noisy space
Today’s Guest
Shanna Birky, VP of Customer Experience, Classy
“Don’t stop communicating. Continue to drive the importance of the work that you’re doing, no matter what’s happening on the political spectrum.”
Episode Transcript
Download Full Episode Transcript Here
Episode Highlights
Shanna’s story and journey to where she is today (3:35)
Busting Myths around fundraising in an election year(6:00)
Nonprofit communication strategies during election season (11:15)
Pro tips for maximizing donation dollars in an election year (15:30)
How to craft standout stories to cut through the noise during the election season (18:50)
A powerful moment of philanthropy in Shanna’s life (24:25)
Shanna’s One Good Thing: Ensure you have the right horse for the right course. (26:50)
Impactful Quotes
“Don't stop communicating. Continue to drive the importance of the work that you're doing, no matter what's happening on the political spectrum." -Shanna
"We aren't necessarily hearing a lot of thank yous, which is really important, especially if you have a really strong recurring or sustainer donor base. Right now is a really good time to lean into thank you." -Shanna
"People are listening, and especially the community that you have built want to hear from you, especially in a time like now." -Shanna
"You might not want to be launching massive campaigns in the month of October because of how much you are actually competing for noise during that time." -Shanna
Pro Tips for nonprofits showing up during an election year:
Be cognizant of launches or in-person events. The weeks leading up to election week, primaries, and conventions are flooded. Know key dates and work around them. To capture supporters’ attention, nonprofits must shift outreach to before or after these moments.
Have a ‘rapid response’ strategy in place. Issues and causes that people aren’t aware of come to the foreground in election years and people realize their ability to have an impact. Having a strategy to capture this sudden interest in your cause is crucial.
Prepare for ‘rage giving’. Oftentimes, people with the opposite belief of the winning candidate will give to organizations that support their POV. Nonprofits must be ready with messaging if this could apply to its organization.
Messaging matters. There’s a lot of extra noise during an election year so nonprofits must tell their impact story well – with urgency and importance around why its mission is critical to broader societal issues being discussed.
CONNECT WITH Shanna + Classy
Shanna’s LinkedIn / Classy’s Website
Connect with Jon
Connect with Becky
CONNECT WITH WE ARE FOR GOOD
Join the We Are For Good Community
You can think of it as the after-party to each podcast episode 🥳
Say hi👇
LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter
