The Sustainable Giving Podcast is your go-to show for exploring the future of fundraising through the lens of sustainable recurring giving. Hosted by Dave Raley—author of The Rise of Sustainable Giving and founder of Imago Consulting—the podcast brings together change makers, strategists, and nonprofit leaders for candid conversations that inspire action and spark innovation. Start listening now!
Sustainable Giving
Claim This Podcastby Dave Raley
5.0(7 reviews)
30 episodes
Updated Daily
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Podcast Authority
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Podcast Overview
The Sustainable Giving Podcast is your go-to show for exploring the future of fundraising through the lens of sustainable recurring giving. Hosted by Dave Raley—author of The Rise of Sustainable Giving and founder of Imago Consulting—the podcast brings together change makers, strategists, and nonprofit leaders for candid conversations that inspire action and spark innovation. Start listening now!
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
5/24/2025
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Recent Episodes
July 8, 2026
What Mature Programs Need Next: Building the Next Chapter of Monthly Giving
<p>What does it actually take to grow a monthly giving program that's already been running for 30 years?</p><p>Dave Raley sits down with Erin Shuler, Sustainer Advisor at Catholic Relief Services, to use CRS's Footsteps in Faith program as a real-world case study. With 13 years at CRS and 5 years laser-focused on their sustainer community, Erin brings the kind of hard-won wisdom you only get from stewarding something with deep history, fierce donor loyalty, and real complexity. This one's for anyone who's past the "how do we launch?" question and asking, "what do we do next?"</p><p>Key topics they talk about:</p><ol><li><p>Maturity as both asset and challenge: Decades of donor loyalty, rich data, and serious scale are massive advantages. But program gravity is real. Erin shares how CRS unified fragmented touchpoints into one coherent donor journey — and why having one person "sleeping on the cot" changed everything.</p></li><li><p>Sustaining revenue through funding disruption: When CRS faced major government funding cuts, their sustainer base became a lifeline. Erin describes how leadership doubled down on monthly giving investment — and how a brand-new donor wrote in saying joining was "an absolute necessity."</p></li><li><p>The human side of retention: Cancellations aren't always relationship endings. Erin shares the story of a donor family quietly draining their savings to keep giving every month. She and Dave dig into what it looks like to treat those moments with grace rather than a guilt trip.</p></li><li><p>Aging donors and alternative giving vehicles: QCDs, DAFs, IRAs: Erin is watching monthly donors transition to lump-sum giving through these channels. The question isn't whether to allow it. It's how to honor their Footsteps in Faith identity no matter how the gift arrives.</p></li><li><p>Growth: conversion, acquisition, and what's actually working: Checkboxes, email invites, back-of-newsletter callouts — CRS keeps monthly giving visible at every touchpoint. Dave and Erin discuss the balance between converting existing donors and acquiring new sustainers, and how digital has overtaken mail as the primary growth engine.</p></li></ol><p>Also in this episode, they talk about:</p><ul><li><p>Designing a donor journey that evolves with life stage and giving capacity</p></li><li><p>The "affirm, engage, appeal" framework for ongoing donor care</p></li><li><p>Marking milestones: anniversary cards, handwritten notes, and the Power of Moments</p></li><li><p>Churn prevention and why most lapsed giving has nothing to do with donor intent</p></li><li><p>Best-in-class retention: what it costs, what it takes, and where most orgs underinvest</p></li></ul><p>What are YOU doing to grow — and keep — your most faithful donors? Drop your thoughts in the comments. We'd love to hear from you!</p><p>Key Resources</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.crs.org/"><u>Catholic Relief Services</u></a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-shuler-9357591a/"><u>Erin Shuler on LinkedIn</u></a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.sustainablegiving.org"><u>SustainableGiving.org</u></a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.sustainablegiving.org/book">The Rise of Sustainable Giving</a> book by Dave Raley</p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/draley/"><u>Dave Raley on LinkedIn</u></a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://heathbrothers.com/books/the-power-of-moments/">The Power of Moments</a> book by Chip & Dan Heath</p></li></ul><p>Special thanks to our team at Sustainable Giving: Tom, Michelle, Victoria, Kirsten and Abigail.</p>
June 22, 2026
Small Team, Strong Retention: What Full Plates Giving Circle Can Teach Us About Sustainable Monthly Giving
<p>What if 91% donor retention and 46% revenue growth were achievable with a team of one — and zero tchotchkes?</p><p>Karen Kelly, Development Manager at the Anne Arundel County Food Bank, joins Dave Raley to share how she built the Full Plates Giving Circle: formalizing 200+ overlooked monthly donors into a named program that grew from 211 to 342 members and $20,585 to $30,094 in monthly revenue in just over a year. No big team. No fancy incentives. Just clarity, consistency, and genuine donor care.</p><p>Plus, Karen brings her real questions for a live, unscripted coaching conversation with Dave, including one that came up the very afternoon they recorded.</p><p>Key Topics:</p><ol><li><p>Building the Full Plates Giving Circle: How Karen cleaned up messy donor data across multiple platforms, discovered 200+ monthly donors getting zero special outreach, and launched a program built on meaningful stewardship and a name that symbolizes abundance, community, and plates full of more than just food.</p></li><li><p>The stewardship playbook: Handwritten welcome notes, quarterly impact emails, monthly receipts with fresh stats and partner testimonials, Thanksgiving postcards, board thank-you calls, LinkedIn recognition, and prompt payment-failure follow-up. All of it free. All of it intentional.</p></li><li><p>Live Q&A with Dave: What to do when a monthly donor wants to switch to annual giving. How to keep quarterly emails fresh when donors are already getting monthly updates. And the big one: how to grow in year two, including Dave's advice on the first-30-day conversion window and a matching gift strategy for new monthly partners.</p></li><li><p>Karen's path into fundraising: From higher education and a doctorate in educational leadership, to founding Through the Heart after a devastating pregnancy loss, to finally having her "Happy Gilmore moment" and owning the fundraiser identity.</p></li><li><p>Through the Heart and The Cocoon: Karen's nonprofit supporting families through pregnancy loss, and the recurring giving community at its heart. When the mission is personal, recurring giving isn't just strategy. It's sustained care.</p></li></ol><p>Also in this episode, they talk about:</p><ul><li><p>Why Karen puts the monthly giving option on every single donation form</p></li><li><p>Consistency over complexity: skip the tiers, skip the swag, just show up</p></li><li><p>How steady monthly revenue powers crisis response: government shutdowns, SNAP cuts, and surges in community need</p></li></ul><p>What would it look like if hundreds of donors showed up for your mission automatically, every month, because they felt genuinely valued? That's what Karen is building, and the playbook is simpler than you think.</p><p>Key Resources</p><ul><li><p>Anne Arundel County Food Bank:<a href="https://www.aafoodbank.org"> <u>aafoodbank.org</u></a></p></li><li><p>Full Plates Giving Circle:<a href="https://www.aafoodbank.org/monthly"> <u>aafoodbank.org/monthly</u></a></p></li><li><p>Through the Heart:<a href="https://www.throughtheheart.org"> <u>throughtheheart.org</u></a></p></li><li><p>Karen Kelly on LinkedIn:<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-j-kelly"> </a><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenjkelly/"><u>https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenjkelly/</u></a></p></li><li><p>The Rise of Sustainable Giving by Dave Raley: <a href="https://www.sustainablegiving.org/book"><u>sustainablegiving.org/book</u></a></p></li><li><p>Dave Raley on LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/draley/"><u>https://www.linkedin.com/in/draley/</u></a></p></li><li><p>Center for Sustainable Giving:<a href="https://www.sustainablegiving.org"> <u>sustainablegiving.org</u></a></p></li></ul><p>Special thanks to our team at Sustainable Giving: Tom, Michelle, Victoria, Kirsten, and Abigail.</p>
June 9, 2026
Planes, Pledges, and Persistence: How One Organization Built a Recurring Giving Program That Actually Lasts
<p>What does it take to build a recurring giving program inside an organization with 80+ years of history, deep donor relationships, and a mission that literally flies people to the ends of the earth?</p><p>In this episode, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/draley/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Dave Raley</a> sits down with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/traceywerre/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Tracey Werre</a>, Director of Growth & Digital Experiences at Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), for a candid, behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to grow sustainable recurring revenue, not in a vacuum, but inside a complex, multi-model organization with a lot of heritage and a lot of heart.</p><p>Tracey brings over two decades of marketing expertise, a background that spans fashion to aviation (yes, really), and 16 years of deep nonprofit fundraising experience at MAF. She's built a recurring giving program called Flight Crew from the ground up, and she's not done yet. From a scrappy MVP launch in 2020 to a full-scale 5.0 revamp, Tracey shares the wins, the walls she hit, and the wisdom she's picked up along the way. If you've ever wondered what it looks like to actually commit to recurring giving — not just test it once and move on — this conversation is for you.</p><p>Key Topics They Talk About:</p><ul><li><p>Tracey's Unconventional Path into Nonprofit Fundraising — Tracey went from fashion and e-commerce to MAF after the dot-com bust, bringing her digital marketing chops into a sector that needed them. She sees a fascinating parallel between that early internet disruption and today's "subscription economy" moment and believes we're entering a new era of maturity in recurring giving.</p></li><li><p>MAF's Unique Funding Model and the Challenge of Building a General Fund — MAF is funded three ways: organizational revenue, career staff missionary support, and fees for service. For years, monthly giving was tied primarily to individual missionaries, not the general fund. As staff tenures shortened and retirement waves hit, Tracey and her colleague Mickey saw the writing on the wall: it was time to invest seriously in organizational recurring giving.</p></li><li><p>The Birth of Flight Crew: Human-Centered Design Meets Nonprofit Fundraising — Rather than guessing, MAF partnered with Alan Thornburg (now of Sublimity) to talk directly to donors and run concept tests. The name "Flight Crew" emerged because it put donors in the story. They're not passive supporters, they're part of the crew. Early feedback confirmed it: members said they felt like they had a "bird's eye view" of the mission, like a co-pilot on every flight.</p></li><li><p>The Evolution from Launch to 5.0 — What Changed and Why — Flight Crew launched in fall 2020 (COVID year, no less) with four times the expected signups. But growth eventually plateaued. Tracey shares candidly what prompted the 5.0 revamp — new human-centered design research, upgraded donation platform technology (hello, Fundraise Up), and a fresh storytelling angle tied to MAF's documentary Ends of the Earth. The payoff? A 20% jump in recurring donors since last fall.</p></li><li><p>What Reliable Recurring Revenue Actually Makes Possible — For MAF, this isn't just a fundraising metric. It's Ebola flights in the Congo. Emergency medevacs from conflict zones. Fuel price volatility. Having thousands of Flight Crew members means the work doesn't stop when the unexpected happens, and it frees leadership to think strategically rather than scramble for immediate cash.</p></li></ul><p>What's one thing your organization could do in the next 90 days to make it easier for donors to give monthly? </p><p>Key Resources</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.maf.org" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF)</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://maf.org/endsoftheearth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Ends of the Earth Documentary</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.imago.consulting/book" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">The Rise of Sustainable Giving by Dave Raley</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.sublimity.io" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Sublimity (Alan Thornburg)</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://fundraiseup.com" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Fundraise Up</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.sustainablegiving.org/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">The Center for Sustainable Giving</a></p></li></ul><p>Special thanks to our team at Sustainable Giving: Tom, Michelle, Victoria, Kirsten, and Abigail.</p>
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