Responsive Lab Podcast

In this episode of The Responsive Lab, Scott sits down with Nathan Chappell, co-author of N1 Philanthropy and a leading expert on nonprofit AI. Nathan has spent nearly two decades at the intersection of fundraising and technology, giving him a rare vantage point on where donor relationships are heading and what it will actually take to get there.You'll hear about:• What "N1 philanthropy" means and why treating every donor as a sample of one is now practically achievable• How responsive fundraising laid the groundwork for N1, and what agentic AI adds to complete the picture• Why nonprofits are competing for attention against algorithms and apps, and what it looks like to show up differently• The moral obligation Nathan argues comes with accepting a donor's gift in 2026 and beyond• How burnout and turnover among fundraisers connect directly to doing too much of the wrong work, and what shifts when that changes• Where the line sits between using donor data with care and crossing into exploitation, and why disclosure at every touchpoint mattersLinks from the episode:* Connect with Nathan Chappell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanchappell/* Learn more about N1 Philanthropy: https://n1philanthropy.aiLooking for technology that helps you build deeper donor relationships with less work from your team? Learn more at virtuous.org.

In this episode of The Responsive Lab, Scott sits down with Aaron Dolton, Chief Revenue Officer at Powered by Text. Aaron spent nearly three decades in for-profit sales and marketing before pivoting toward the nonprofit world, and that outside-in perspective shapes how he thinks about donor communication and what it actually means to make someone feel known.You'll hear about:• Why most nonprofit donor communication feels transactional and how to shift toward something more relational before any financial ask• How Aaron's three-part SMS test with lapsed donors, built around prayer and care, outperformed what years of email campaigns had accomplished• The difference between automating the trigger and automating the voice, and why that distinction matters for small teams trying to reach donors at scale• How one broadcast ministry grew its house file by 27 percent and received a $200,000 check from a brand-new donor, all by spending months doing ministry work instead of asking for money• Why nonprofits are slow to adopt texting despite donors asking for it, and what actually gets organizations unstuck• The case for building a text-based community channel that your organization owns and that cannot be deplatformedLinks from the episode:* For more info, text "Aaron" to 77007* Learn more about Powered by Text: https://poweredbytext.com* Learn more about Virtuous: https://virtuous.org/Looking for technology that helps you build deeper donor relationships with less work from your team? Learn more at virtuous.org.

In this episode of The Responsive Lab, Scott sits down with Sarah Plimpton, Vice President and Chief Happiness Officer at Capital Campaign Pro. Sarah brings more than 20 years of hands-on experience with capital campaigns across roles as a consultant, development director, advisor, and coach, making her one of the most well-rounded voices on what actually makes campaigns succeed.You'll hear about:• Why board members' biggest fear about capital campaigns (asking for money) misses the fuller picture of what their role actually requires• How to frame the board giving conversation so every member understands what a meaningful, "stop and think" gift really means• What the quiet phase is, why it's the most critical stretch of any campaign, and how the board's participation can make or break it• Why small shops are strong candidates for capital campaigns and what advantages they hold over larger organizations• What a healthy organization looks like a year after a campaign closes, from stronger donor relationships to a more developed fundraising muscle across the whole teamLinks from the episode:* Get a copy of "A Board Member's Guide to Capital Campaign Fundraising: How to Raise Game-Changing Money for Your Nonprofit": https://a.co/d/0iQhO8xG* Buy bulk copies: https://capitalcampaignpro.com/books/board-members-guide-book/* Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahplimpton/* Learn more about Capital Campaign Pro: https://capitalcampaignpro.com/Looking for technology that helps you build deeper donor relationships with less work from your team? Learn more at virtuous.org.

In this episode of The Responsive Lab, Scott sits down with Matt Randerson, Founder and CEO of Human Culture. Matt was previously Vice President at Barna Group and held marketing and innovation roles at a Fortune 300 financial services company. Today he helps organizations with the human side of AI adoption.You’ll hear about:• Why a “handmade” donor experience could become the premium in a world full of mass-produced content.• Two assumptions about AI we might regret in ten years.• The difference between a donor thinking “this organization knows a lot about me” and “someone here actually knows me”.• Why listing everything AI can do and giving people whatever is left over is a race to the bottom.• What the Human AI Index measures, and why the biggest gap is usually leaders explaining why they’re adopting AI.• Why your choice of LLM matters less than giving your team a clear reason and a clear way to use it.Matt also invites listeners to check out Humans and AI, a collection of stories about real people and organizations finding their way through this shift. You’ll find it on the Human Culture site linked below.Links from the episode:Connect with Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-randerson/Learn more about Human Culture: https://humanculture.ai/Looking for technology that helps you build deeper donor relationships with less work from your team? Learn more at virtuous.org.

In this episode of The Responsive Lab, Scott sits down with Dave Malda, Chief Partnership Officer at iPass, and Mark Becker, Founding Partner of Cathexis Partners. Between them, they bring decades of experience helping nonprofits navigate technology decisions, from platform selection and data migrations to building integration ecosystems that hold up over time.You'll hear about:• Why discovery should always come before demos• What nonprofits are asking for in software evaluations now that nobody was asking about five years ago• How to understand the spectrum of integrations and how to decide which approach fits each situation• When connecting your existing systems is the smarter move, and when continuing to patch things together is just delaying a harder conversation• Why new system rollouts fail even when the software itself is solidLinks from the episode:* Connect with Mark Becker on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markbeckercp/* Connect with Dave Malda on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davemalda/* Learn more about Cathexis Partners: https://cathexispartners.com/* Learn more about iPass: https://ipaas.com/Looking for technology that helps you build deeper donor relationships with less work from your team? Learn more at virtuous.org.

In this episode of The Responsive Lab, Scott sits down with Tony Martignetti, founder, author, and planned giving consultant. Tony has spent nearly three decades making planned giving accessible for small and mid-sized nonprofits, first as a frontline fundraiser and then as a consultant since 2003.You'll hear about:• Why the conventional wisdom that small nonprofits aren't ready for planned giving is flat-out wrong, and what's really holding organizations back• How to identify your best planned giving prospects using the donor database you already have, with a focus on longevity and consistency over gift size• The Martignetti three-step, one-week planned giving launch, and what actually happens on day one• Why planned giving conversations are about the life and sustainability of your mission, not about death• What early metrics fundraisers should track when the financial results may be decades away• What good stewardship looks like after a donor says yes, from the handwritten note to insider communicationsMake sure to get a copy of Tony's new book, Planned Giving Accelerated, that's linked below.Links from the episode:* Connect with Tony on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonymartignetti/* Buy Planned Giving Accelerated on Amazon: tony.ma/Amazon* Buy Planned Giving Accelerated on Barnes and Noble: tony.ma/BNLooking for technology that helps you build deeper donor relationships with less work from your team? Learn more at virtuous.org.

In this episode of The Responsive Lab, Carly and Scott sit down with Dave Raley, Founder of the Center for Sustainable Giving. Dave spent 18 years in fundraising and marketing before founding the Center, driven by a belief that sustainable, recurring funding should be accessible to every nonprofit, not just the largest ones.You'll hear about:• Why a flat recurring giving program is often a visibility problem, not a donor problem, and what to look at first• How the first 30 days after a first gift is the most important window to invite donors into recurring giving• Why an invitation to recurring giving is really an invitation to donor identity, and how that reframe changes your messaging approach• Specific ways to upgrade recurring donors beyond just asking for a higher dollar amount, including gift type, additional appeals, and legacy conversations• How to make recurring donors feel genuinely recognized without a large budget or a complicated new workflow• Where nonprofit fundraising technology is furthest behind the subscription economy, and what closing that gap actually looks likeLinks from the episode:* Connect with Dave on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/draley/* Learn more about the Center for Sustainable Giving: https://www.sustainablegiving.org/* Download the Sustainable Giving Growth Blueprint: https://www.sustainablegiving.org/blueprint* See the Recurring Giving Upgrade feature in Virtuous Raise: Recurring Upgrades With One LinkLooking for technology that helps you build deeper donor relationships with less work from your team? Learn more at virtuous.org.

In this episode, we bring you content from the 2026 Responsive Nonprofit Summit from Donna Lucas, Chief Marketing Officer at Joni and Friends.You'll hear about:Why being the "best kept secret" is a sign of failure, not something to celebrateHow Donna convinced her CFO to shift 60 percent of the budget to brand awarenessThe framework of brand first, marketing second, fundraising thirdWhy she compares branding to planting, marketing to cultivation, and fundraising to the harvestHow Joni and Friends grew fundraising 95 percent over seven years by investing in brandWhy treating every social comment and DM like a phone call transformed donor engagementHow a full brand audit uncovered nineteen field offices acting like their own marketing agenciesWhy aligning internal staff around the brand matters as much as external messagingConnect with Donna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnamlucas/Learn more about Joni and Friends: https://joniandfriends.org/Looking for technology that helps you build deeper donor relationships with less work from your team? Learn more at virtuous.org.

In this episode of The Responsive Lab, Carly and Scott sit down with Chad Paris, Principal and CEO of Parisleaf, a branding agency that helps nonprofits fund progress by branding major fundraising campaigns. Chad has spent nearly two decades advising mission-driven organizations through comprehensive campaigns, and he brings a rare combination of strategic depth and candor about where the philanthropic sector is headed.You'll hear about:• What separates wildly successful campaigns from ones that simply meet their goal, including the four-part framework Chad uses• Why donor fatigue is more often caused by a lack of meaning than by being asked too often, and what that distinction means for how you steward your donors• How campaign branding shapes the way donors feel about your organization for decades• The risk of over-relying on major donors • Why volunteerism is one of the most overlooked indicators of future giving• What nonprofit CEOs and chief development officers are wrestling with right nowLinks from the episode:-Connect with Chad on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadparis/-Email Chad: [email protected] more about Parisleaf: https://parisleaf.com/Looking for technology that helps you build deeper donor relationships with less work from your team? Learn more at virtuous.org.

In this episode of The Responsive Lab, Carly and Scott sit down with Ben Webb, Chief Marketing Officer at International Justice Mission. He's spent more than 15 years across nonprofit leadership, ministry, and creative consultancy, including a global marketing role at Compassion International where he led teams across digital, innovation, and experience design in more than 30 countries. You'll hear about:* Why most nonprofit marketing fails to inspire and what we can learn from Red Bull's space jump campaign* The shift from direct response fundraising toward product-centered donor experiences* How to create relevance and value for donors using the "good friend" framework* Building marketing teams that blend nonprofit expertise with for-profit innovation* Why your real competition isn't other nonprofits but companies like Amazon and Tesla* The five-phase global marketing framework: insight-driven, concept-led, powered by stories, scaled by technology, measured and refined* How to maintain urgency and heart when the work feels overwhelmingLinks from the episode:* Connect with Ben Webb on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminmwebb/* Learn more about International Justice Mission: https://www.ijm.org/Looking for technology that helps you build deeper donor relationships with less work from your team? Learn more at virtuous.org.