13 JUN 2024 · Andrew Robison, Petrus president, and Rhen Hoehn, Petrus's director of marketing, are together again on this week's episode of the Petrus Development Show!  They spend their time discussing how to set development staff expectations for a new fiscal year.  It's another nuts and bolts show about a specific fundraising topic, and it's not one to be missed! Andrew and Rhen answer the following questions: - What are reasonable expectations for new development staff in their first year?  What specific numbers could you consider as goals? - Should new fundraisers be able to raise their own salary in their first year? - When you have an established development officer, how do you go about setting metrics for a new fiscal year? - Can you offer staff a commission on money raised?  (Short answer: NO!)  As Andrew and Rhen discuss, Petrus happily offers a sample incentive plan that you can use with fundraisers in your office.  If you'd like to receive this resource, please click https://www.petrusdevelopment.com/145 for more information.     

30 MAY 2024 · Andrew Robison, Petrus president, is back on this week's epidsode of the Petrus Development Show!  Andrew and Rhen spend their time together discussing the all-important topic of budgeting.  While budgeting may not seem like a terribly excting interview topic, Andrew and Rhen outline why the budgeting process can be transformational for your development office.      In this episode, Andrew and Rhen answer the following questions: - Why should you spend time on the budgeting process? - What is the budeting prcoess?  How do you set numbers for income and expenses? - If you're a new development office, what is reasonable expected growth for your first few years? - Do you have specific estimates for expected growth over the years? - What is a good expenses to income ratio for a development office? - What kind of spreadsheet tool can you use to assist with budgeting?   As Rhen mentions at the end of the episode, Petrus is offering free access to our recommended budgeting template.  If you'd like to receive this resource, please click https://www.petrusdevelopment.com/144 for more information.     

16 MAY 2024 · Rhen is again joined by Tara Doyon, director of operations and senior consultant for Petrus, in this week's episode of the Petrus Development show.  Tara and Rhen broach the potentially intimidating topic of planned giving, and they work to make the idea of planned gifts more accessible for fundraising professionals.    The primary lesson that Tara and Rhen share in this discussion is that fundraisers don't have to be the planned giving experts.  On the subject of planned giving, it's best to know the basics.  Beyond that, fundraisers simply need know which community experts can offer assistance with the specifics.  The most important thing that fundraisers need to do regarding planned giving is to find ways to start the conversation with their donors.    In this episode, Tara and Rhen answer the following questions: - What is planned giving?  What are typical types of planned gifts? - Who are top planned giving prospects?  Who should you be talking to about planned gifts? - How do we encourage planned gifts? - What is a gift acceptance policy and why is it necessary for your organization? As Rhen mentions at the end of the episode, Petrus created a free planned giving cheat sheet to help you get the planned giving conversation started.  If you'd like to receive this resource, please click https://www.petrusdevelopment.com/143 for more information.    

9 MAY 2024 · Learn about the great speakers at RAISE24 - The Catholic Fundraising Conference. As a pocast listener, you can access 15% off registration when you use the promo code RIVERWALK at checkout! Level up your fundraising game, build a network of fellow Catholic fundraisers, and have a lot of fun doing it! RAISE24 - The Catholic Fundraising Conference | June 24-26, 2024 | San Antonio, TX https://www.petrusdevelopment.com/raise24 for more details

2 MAY 2024 · It's time for another change!  We continue our Petrus Development Show Q+A series on important development topics, but this week's episode features a new voice from the Petrus family.  Join us as Rhen interviews Matt Bond, Petrus consultant and executive director of the Santa Fe Family Life Center in Oklahoma City.  Matt and Rhen discuss a variety of potential donor events, and they share their thoughts on which events are most worth the time and effort.    Rhen and Matt are very clear about the challenges of beginning large fundraising events such as galas and golf tournaments.  Instead, they share ideas about events that are smaller, more manageable, and potentially even more successful in the long run.    Specifically, Matt answers the following questions:  - What types of donor events can an organization consider?  Do different events have different purposes? - What kind of time and investment should you expect for large events like galas? - Why might several smaller events be better than one large event where you can raise a lot of money at once? - If you go for smaller events, how do you decide who to invite?  What does a sample agenda look like for the event? - Is there a best day of the week for donor events?  - Can events be an organization's main source of revenue?   

18 APR 2024 · The idea of a capital campaign can be a daunting one.  Capital campaigns require an organization's full attention for an extended period of time, and the campaign's monetary goal can seem an impossible task.  Good news!  Petrus can help.  Listen as Andrew and Rhen discuss the basics of what a capital campaign looks like and what organzations can to do begin preparing for a campaign.   This is an episode about campaign logistics, but it's also a message of encouragement for organizations who may be considering a capital campaign in the near future.  Specifically, Andrew answers the following questions:  - What is a capital campaign?   - Why choose a capital campaign over normal fundraising?  Will a capital campaign hurt our annual fund? - How does an organization determine the amount for their capital campaign? - What does the capital campaign process look like? - When is an organization ready for a capital campaign?  What can be done beforehand to prepare for a campaign?     Listen to this episode and learn the answers to these questions and more!  As mentioned at the end of the episode, Petrus is offering free access to a virtual summit on capital campaigns.  If you're interested, click http://www.petrusdevelopment.com/141 to sign up! 

4 APR 2024 · In this week's episode of the Petrus Development Show, we continue our Q+A series with Petrus president, Andrew Robison.  Listen as Andrew and Rhen outline the intial steps for beginning a sustainable fundraising program.  Yes, we know this is a very quick primer - it's 30 minutes on the best ways to get started.  Andrew offers detailed answers to the following questions:  - What is sustainable fundraising? - What does it mean to fundraise based on relationships?   - Where do you start when building a fundraising program?  What are the layers of a good development program? - What activities should you avoid when you're just getting started? - Where should a new fundraising program start with staff allocation and time management? - What should you look for in a first-time development staff member? Listen to this episode and learn the answers to these questions and more!  As mentioned at the end of the episode, Petrus Development's BOAT (Basic Online Advancement Training!) program will begin it's spring cohort in the next few weeks.  Would you like to get an idea about what BOAT involves?  If so, click https://www.petrusdevelopment.com/140 to access a free BOAT preview course.  

21 MAR 2024 · In this week's episode of the Petrus Development Show, we continue our Q+A series with Petrus president, Andrew Robison.  Listen as Andrew and Rhen discuss the special blessing that monthly donors are for organizations.   Nonprofit and ministry leaders tend to underestimate the power of monthly donors.  Fundraisers receive pushback asking why they are focusing on monthly donors when they should be going out and making asks for big major gifts.  In this episode, Andrew and Rhen clearly state the case for growing a strong monthly giving program. Specifically, Andrew answers the following questions:  - Why should fundraisers put effort into monthly giving? - What can you expect in terms of monthly gift size?  Do you send monthly tax receipts for donors?   - What would a monthly giving society look like? - What should you do when a monthly donation fails? - What are some methods you could use to encourage more monthly donors?  How do you get people to sign up? - What is a senior class gift program?  

7 MAR 2024 · Here we go again! We continue our Petrus Development Show Q+A series on important development topics, but we're changing things up this episode. This week, Rhen interviews Tara Doyon, director of operations and senior consultant at Petrus, and Tara shares about all things major gifts. Together, Tara and Rhen have decades of fundraising experience, and they come together to chat about their advice for fundraisers who are working to increase their major gifts solicitation. Specifically, they discuss the following: - What is major gifts fundraising? Does a major gift need to be a specific amount to qualify? - Why do fundraisers go out and ask people for gifts? How do you decide who to meet? - What is the donor cycle? What is the typical progression for a donor to go from a first time gift to a major gift? - How do we get face-to-face meetings? Where should we hold meetings? What happens in these donor meetings?

22 FEB 2024 · Welcome back to the Petrus Development Show! We continue our Q+A series with Petrus president, Andrew Robison, and this week's discussion is about personality strengths and weaknesses and how those traits affect your fundraising. Andrew and Rhen begin this show with a fun question. Which of the following tools do you most closely identify with: a hammer, a measuring tape, a screwdriver, or a saw? As they'll explain, your choice might have a lot to say about your personality type. From there, Andrew and Rhen turn to a more formal personality testing model, closely resembling the Myers Briggs test, and they discuss 4 core pairs of attributes. They outline specifics of these attributes, and they explain how fundraisers can develop professional strategies that are inclusive of both their strengths and their weaknesses. Specifically, Andrew answers the following questions: - What are the 4 core pairs of attributes we consider for personality types? - What do the different attributes say about what your fundraising strengths might be? - Can introverts be successful fundraisers? - Is one personality type better than another? - How can you build fundraising and executive teams that allow for complementary personalities? Listen to this episode and learn the answers to these questions and more! As mentioned at the end of the episode, Petrus has a worksheet outlining considerations for choosing a new donor database, and you can sign up to receive it by clicking https://www.petrusdevelopment.com/137. Finally, we welcome your fundraising questions for potential use in future shows. Are there questions you'd like to hear Andrew answer? If so, email us at podcast@petrusdevelopment.com with your question, and it just might appear in a future Petrus Development Show episode.