Raise More Money by Creating Strong Donor Experiences with Barbara O'Reilly

The Prosperous Nonprofit

Nonprofit leaders, if you’re ready to catapult your revenue, then this episode is for you! I sat down with special guest, Barabara O’Reilly, expert fundraiser and CEO of Windmill Hill Consulting, to chat about what organizations can do to boost their fundraising revenue. We dove into what’s holding nonprofits back and how they can grow to become financially strong organizations. We also discussed the importance of setting realistic goals and expectations when hiring a fundraiser. Plus, why relationship building and consistency are important factors in fundraising.

About Barbara

Barbara is a seasoned fundraising consultant on a mission to help more nonprofits raise more money by creating strong donor experiences. Whether it was leading record-setting reunion classes, securing tens of millions of dollars from global corporations following some of the most devastating natural disasters around the world, or overseeing a team that grew donor engagement of major individual donors, Barbara knows that fundraising is much more than just asking for money. Her firm, Windmill Hill Consulting, works with organizations giving them the resources, skills, and mindset they need to build stronger donor relationships and catapult their revenue.

Barbara serves as past president of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Washington DC Metro Chapter. She sits on the board of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance and AFP Foundation and chairs the Research Committee for the Giving USA Foundation. In 2020, she joined the faculty at the University of Maryland’s Do Good Institute teaching nonprofit fundraising.

Read the podcast transcript here.

Episode Summary

In this episode, you’ll learn a variety of fundraising strategies, including:

• What is a fundraising consultant? (4:35)

• Building strong relationships (12:00)

• Strategically planning fundraising initiatives (14:00)

• Realistic expectations when hiring fundraisers (17:15)

• How to bridge the fundraising gap in small nonprofits (23:30)

• Staying organized throughout the fundraising process (30:20)

• Trends in fundraising and philanthropy (35:15)

Teasers

“Fundraising is about more than just asking for money.”

“The real magic happens with conversations and with really understanding who those donors are and what drives them. But the challenge is that it takes time. And nonprofits, most of them, do not have the luxury of time.”

“Saying that there are no donors out there is preposterous. There are. We've got to reframe our language to talk about that future state. Because then the donors are going to go in that direction with you if they see there's a path they can take with you.”

Resources

The Best Tools for an Efficient & Prosperous Nonprofit: https://100degreesconsulting.com/tools/

The Windmill Hill Consulting Website: https://whillconsulting.com/

Join Barbara’s Coaching Cohort: https://whillconsulting.com/coachingcohort/

Connect with Barbara on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boreillywhc/

Keep up to date with the podcast: @100degreesconsulting

Follow Stephanie on Instagram: @stephanie.skry/

Connect with Stephanie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanieskryzowski/

Visit the podcast page: https://100degreesconsulting.com/strong-donor-experiences

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