GiveGab Insider: Why Our Team’s Experience Matters

Nicole, Digital Marketing Manager, worked as a Communications Manager for a Nonprofit in Louisville, KY with 5 employees. She coordinated advertising and social promotion for a large annual conference, lead email marketing strategies, and supported annual fundraising campaigns. Check out her episode of Giving & Gabbing, GiveGab’s podcast, where she takes a deep dive into “Email Marketing Strategies to Boost Fundraising Success” drawing from her past experiences in the nonprofit sector.

“Knowing first-hand what it’s like to report to a board of directors, the process of grant applications, and strategizing large donor cadence, makes me more empathetic towards the everyday challenges our customers experience wearing multiple hats in their position. I am passionate about bringing nonprofits easy-to-use solutions for their fundraising and communications needs, because having better tools in my nonprofit position running campaigns and producing reports quickly was essential. The nonprofit I worked for engaged in the local Give for Good Louisville Giving Day powered by GiveGab, which gave me a better understanding of how to run a successful giving day campaign! Before then, I didn’t even know what a Community Foundation was or how they directly supported many nonprofits.“

Laryssa, Sr. Project Manager previously worked at a fitness center that was a part of a larger city-wide nonprofit program, managing member services, and the in-house daycare. She also volunteered at multiple summer educational programs as an assistant teacher.

“I’ve learned how challenging it can be for nonprofits to meet a community’s needs with limited resources. As an employee of a nonprofit, you get to make deep connections with community members and see first-hand the direct impact of your work, so you’re constantly wanting to give so much more than your team may have the capacity for. This makes the job both rewarding and energizing, yet incredibly demanding. Nonprofits are vital to their communities, and it takes a group of very special people to do that kind of work. It’s a privilege to work closely with leaders in the nonprofit community that take this on day in and day out.“

Katrina, Director of Customer Success, came to GiveGab after working for the Ithaca College Annual Fund. She helped support phonathons and called alum to connect and ask for gifts.

“Fundraising is incredibly hard. You deal with so much rejection and every obstacle could be costing the organization valuable funds. Knowing this motivates me to help our customers to the best of my ability because I want to get them back to doing what they do best as quickly as I can!“

Jim, Director of Enterprise Engineering,  began his career as a data processor for the Buffalo, NY PBS affiliate WNED.

“Working for an NPO, I learned a great deal about how much is accomplished with so little. The pressure to fundraise is enormous and that’s merely to continue operation. The complexity of the information tools needed to perform that essential work is daunting to accomplishing the task at hand. I’ve worked to provide robust tools to meet the needs that can be understood in a simple application and grown into for the truly complex business of fundraising.“

Nickie, Project Manager, worked for Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, where she worked with the school’s alumni organization, the Cornell Hotel Society. She helped manage relationships with the school’s alumni and Cornell Hotel Society regional and chapter leaders through annual membership dues campaigns, events & marketing, and engagement with current students and university administrators.

“Having worked with volunteers and other groups with limited resources, whether it be staff or funding, I realize that our clients might not have the opportunity to get to everything that’s on their to-do list. My past experiences taught me how to navigate challenges associated with working with clients/partners who might be stretched thin due to limited resources, and how I can help alleviate some of the client’s workload.“

Previous to working at GiveGab, Katie, Brand Marketer, was an Americorps Vista at The Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits. In this role, she was responsible for capacity-building projects such as assisting with Arizona Gives Day, planning conferences, and developing helpful trainings for Alliance members.

“I was able to learn first hand just how much goes into running a successful state-wide Giving Day. There are so many moving pieces to hosting a day such as educating participating organizations, developing relationships with sponsors, and getting the word out. I love that I am able to reflect on my time working for The Alliance to create content that truly helps our partners grow and develop their days.”

Mackenzie, Customer Success Champion, has worked for the Historic Downtown Cortland Partnership raising money for the city of Cortland. She also worked for SUNY Cortland’s alumni office under the gift officers dealing with donors and raising money for the school.

“One major influence is having worked a Giving Day before. When I was working for the alumni house at Cortland we had our own 24 hour Giving Day where I answered phone calls all day long and documented all of the donations. I think my experience has helped me appreciate how influential these Giving Days can be for nonprofits and how much an organization can raise is amazing.“

“Having worked with small nonprofits before, I understand how difficult it can be to simply manage the day to day operations of an organization. Knowing this about nonprofits motivates me to respect the time of the people who write in. I do my best to answer their questions fully and also make sure they are using our platform fully so that they can have the most successful fundraising events possible.“

Kelsey, Project Director, came to GiveGab after working for the United Way of Tompkins County. She was the Director of Community Impact and oversaw grant cycles and nonprofit relations.

“Having worked with nonprofits on grants, measuring program outcomes, and helping donors understand the benefit of the United Way; I feel as though I can help our partners and nonprofits more effectively. I can help our partners with exciting new nonprofit engagement ideas as well as help nonprofits understand how to best highlight their organization’s impact for increased donor engagement.“

Merlin, Project Manager, worked in administration at the Ithaca Children’s Garden where he managed their weekly newsletter and social media outlets in preparation for upcoming events.

“By working at Ithaca Children’s Garden and other Nonprofits, I was able to experience first-hand the impact they have on the local community. Being a part of the organization allows me to better understand their perspectives and fundraising needs.“

As a Coordinator for Community Engagement at Kean University, Natalie, Project Manager, assisted with the development and implementation of comprehensive community engagement and service-learning programs. In this position, she was responsible for scheduling off-campus volunteer opportunities for students.

Natalie was also an AmeriCorps VISTA Food Access Coordinator for Susquehanna University. She was responsible for recruiting and managing student workers/volunteers to care for and grow our on-campus garden.

As a Team Leader for AmeriCorps NCCC, she traveled the country by way of 12 passenger van with a team of corps members, living and volunteering in underserved or at-risk communities for several weeks at a time.

“I’ve seen first hand the time, financial, and capacity restraints impacting the nonprofit community. This definitely motivates my “become part of the team” approach I take to my partner relationships. I try to go above and beyond to at least make one facet of their job as easy as I can.“

Mary, Design Director, was a designer for the Women’s Center at her college. There, she created advertisements and posters for upcoming events and fundraisers as well as participated in them.

“I understand how hard it can be to connect with the public and to capture their attention especially with the limited resources they have.“

Amy, Director of Higher-Ed and K-12 Engagement,  was an Executive Director for a small local foundation and a director of development for the American Heart Association. At the AHA, she worked with schools in 7 counties in NY.

“My experience has helped me feel the pain points of our customers. The nonprofit field is very high stress with hefty financial goals. Meeting those goals does not just affect a personal goal or bonus, if a goal is not met it can potentially affect the care someone will receive or research that will be done.“

Jaclyn, Sales Ops Coordinator, came to GiveGab with experience in planning her own fundraising event, Flair on Ice. This ice-skating show was put on in conjunction with the Cancer Resource Center to raise awareness and funds for those affected by cancer.

“I learned how difficult a task it can be to promote your event and your mission and to drive donations. From that experience, I know our customers want products that are easy to use and will save them time and effort throughout the online fundraising process.“

Before joining GiveGab, Erik, Director of Civic Engagement, worked at Ithaca College’s Annual Fund. He led their Young Alumni Giving Campaign, Cortaca Jug Giving Challenge, 2020 #GivingTuesday, and was involved in the planning of their 2021 Giving Day.

“I was fortunate to be a GiveGab customer before joining the team. I can say from firsthand experience, GiveGab has unparalleled customer support and unmatched online giving platform. My time at IC also gave me insights in the issues facing fundraisers in this competitive virtual space.”

Becca, Project Coordinator, was an educator for several years before joining GiveGab, in both public & private schools (middle & high school).

“When I work with K-12 partners, I have a deeper understanding of where their funds will go and how they will be utilized based on my past experience of being a teacher. It brings me great joy to serve our partners and cheer them on as they prepare for their Giving Days, especially knowing that the gifts they receive will ultimately go towards scholarships, student tuition, renovations, technology improvements, and other vital components that make each school succeed in their own unique way.”

Molly, Product Marketer, was formerly the Senior Associate of Marketing & Communications at the Community Foundation of Louisville. She ran Give for Good Louisville, the Foundation’s 24-hour Giving Day, which serves 500+ nonprofits and has raised over $37 million since 2014. In addition to the Giving Day, Molly helped with other marketing projects to enhance the Foundation’s brand visibility in community.

“While working at a community foundation, you get to interact and better understand the growing needs of the larger nonprofit community – especially while running a Giving Day. Having worked so closely with an entire community of nonprofits, I learned to value the time and effort it takes to attract and retain generous donors. I know first-hand how important it is for nonprofit leaders to have access to fundraising technology that is easy to learn, quick to implement, and donor-friendly. The GiveGab products provide an easy way to fundraise online, helping nonprofits prepare for their futures and sustain their current needs. I am excited to help others discover and embrace the technology GiveGab offers because I have seen first-hand how it can change a community for the better.”