The Future of Fundraising
Welcome to the Future of Fundraising.
As Givzey’s first cohort of Innovation Partners is now actively researching, developing and accelerating the deployment of the world’s first fully autonomous fundraiser, we’re seeing new questions emerge, especially when it comes to the donors they interact with.
Which donors should an autonomous fundraiser engage with? What type of biographical data and giving history should we consider? How should our selection process compare to assigning prospects to a human fundraiser? All to say, how do you set an autonomous fundraiser up for success without human intervention?
William & Mary and College of Charleston, both Innovation Partners in the Version2 first cohort, were the first two institutions to test a Virtual Engagement Officer with donors. I’ve shared many of these outcomes with you over the past several weeks.
Two of our amazing partners, Meghan Palombo, Associate Vice President of Annual Giving & Philanthropic Engagement at William & Mary, and Laurie Soenen, Director of Annual Giving at College of Charleston, are joining a panel moderated by my colleague Emily Groccia this coming week.
Together, they’ll talk about what goes into building a portfolio for an autonomous fundraiser and how organizational fundraising priorities drive these decisions. They’ll explore the questions they asked themselves, how they mitigated bias, and ultimately which donor segments they selected to assign to the Virtual Engagement Officer. They’ll also share the selection process across all 13 of our cohort Innovation Partners.
This is the first time this topic has ever been covered, and we have some of fundraising’s brightest minds willing to share their experiences and what conclusions they’ve drawn so far. I’d like to invite you to join the panel discussion, which we’re hosting live on Tuesday, September 24, at 2:00 PM ET . Even if you can’t join, I encourage you to register so you can view the recording.
The Future of Fundraising is evolving before our eyes, and Tuesday will be a fascinating first public look into how our Innovation Partners are strategically thinking about autonomous fundraising and the donor experience.
I hope you have a great week.
LIVE PANEL - Autonomous Fundraising: Building Donor Portfolios for the First Virtual Engagement Officer with William & Mary and College of Charleston
TUESDAY, September 24 at 2:00 PM ET.
This first-of-its-kind live panel features Meghan Dauler Palombo , Associate Vice President, Annual Giving & Philanthropic Engagement at William & Mary, Laurie Soenen enen, Director of Annual Giving at College of Charleston, and moderated by Emily Groccia , VP of Customer Success for Givzey and Version2. Together, the panel will cover:
Autonomous Fundraisers: Do We Need Them?
In his latest blog, Craig Shelley, CFRE Partner and Chief Growth Officer at Orr Group writes:
As we grapple with this latest technological revolution, it occurred to me that we’re not calling on the full breadth of our lived experiences to weigh this step forward. Yes, I have seen the largest charitable gifts secured via personal relationships and face-to-face solicitations. But I have also seen so many understaffed fundraising teams that simply cannot keep in touch with all the prospects that would likely support their organization’s work. Yes, I have seen the prospect that eagerly engages with the fundraising team and becomes a long-term supporter. But I have also seen scores of prospects who never respond to a fundraiser and must wonder if some of them simply don’t want to engage in the way we’ve assumed they do. Some people don’t like talking to other people, but shouldn’t they also have the opportunity to give?
WORKBOOK: Crafting the Multi-Year Ask
Multi-Year Giving is having a moment.
Fundraising leaders are addressing widespread challenges in donor retention, improving donor relationships and experiences, and increasing both bookable giving revenue and pipeline. In response to the demand for scalable solutions, they are now expanding multi-year donor commitments across all levels of giving.
But not every fundraiser has experience and comfort making a multi-year ask and the vast majority of donors have never been approached beyond a single annual gift.
This FREE WORKBOOK will help you craft your multi-year giving asks, make those asks unique to types of donors, promote your organization's goals, and in your own voice.
Fundraising Jobs
Our featured jobs always come from our amazing subscribers. If you have jobs you would like posted in the Future of Fundraising newsletter, please email [email protected] with your requests.