Contents

How to Keep Donors Engaged When the Economy Tightens with Aarika Riddle

In this episode of The Responsive Lab, hosts Carly Berna and Scott Holthaus are joined by Aarika Riddle, Executive Director of Kristi Yamaguchi’s Always Dream, for a conversation about leading through uncertainty, stewarding well in challenging moments, and grounding your work in mission when fatigue sets in.

Aarika shares lessons from navigating multiple economic downturns in her fundraising career, including the 2008 recession and recent years of uncertainty. She gets tactical about the basics that still work (thank-you notes, stewardship, donor storytelling), how to personalize at scale using simple tools, and why leadership energy makes or breaks team morale.

Links from the episode:

Learn more about Virtuous at virtuous.org/learnmore and download your free Nonprofit CRM Checklist at virtuous.org/crmchecklist

Listen Now

Learn More

The Responsive Lab is brought to you by Virtuous.

Virtuous is a software company committed to helping nonprofits grow generosity. Virtuous believes that generosity has the power to create profound change in the world and in the heart of the giver. With that in mind, it’s their mission to move the needle on global generosity by helping nonprofits better connect with and inspire their givers. Learn more about Virtuous and download your free Nonprofit CRM Checklist at virtuous.org/crmchecklist

author avatar
Riley Young

What you should do now

Below are three ways we can help you begin your journey to building more personalized fundraising with responsive technology.

See the Virtuous platform in action.  Schedule a call with our team for personalized answers and expert advice on transforming your nonprofit with donor management software.

Download our free Responsive Maturity Model and learn the 5 steps to more personalized donor experiences.

If you know another nonprofit pro who’d enjoy reading this page, share it with them via Email, Linkedin, Twitter, or Facebook.

The Responsive Maturity Model
5 Steps to More Personalized Donor Experiences
Get Responsive Fundraising Tips
Get updates delivered directly to your inbox.

Summarize with AI

Your Pre-Meeting Prospect Research Checklist: 7 Steps to Success

Your Pre-Meeting Prospect Research Checklist: 7 Steps to Success

TL;DR:  Giving history tells you the trend, not just the total. Check both before you set an ask. Wealth screening data expires. Anything older than six months needs a second…
6 Creative Ways to Solicit In-Kind Donations for Nonprofits

6 Creative Ways to Solicit In-Kind Donations for Nonprofits

TL;DR – Launch a skills bank so professionals can donate their expertise in a structured way. – Create item wish lists tied to specific campaigns to ensure you get what…
Building Nonprofit Campaigns That Last Beyond the Goal

Building Nonprofit Campaigns That Last Beyond the Goal

TL;DR: Donor fatigue usually isn’t about frequency. It’s about donors being asked without enough meaning behind the ask. Campaigns that hit wild success (not just their goal) tend to share…

Grow generosity with Virtuous

Virtuous is the responsive fundraising software platform proven to help nonprofit organizations increase generosity by serving all donors personally, no matter their gift size.

“Virtuous truly understands nonprofits and the importance of our mission. And their open access to data and built-in custom reports gave us access to the data we need.”
Todd Shinabarger​
Chief Information Officer