Agency for Change : A Podcast from KidGlov

Changemakers Candace Cody and Danette O'Connell

• KidGlov • Season 1 • Episode 280

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0:00 | 35:19

How can collaboration help nonprofits fundraise more effectively—and sustainably?

In this episode of Agency for Change, Lyn is joined by Danette O’Connell of the Nonprofit Cooperative and Candace Cody of CauseVox to discuss what nonprofits are facing right now and how stronger connections can drive better fundraising results.

They share current fundraising trends, the role of technology and donor engagement, and why collaboration across the sector matters more than ever. The conversation also highlights the upcoming Nonprofit Fundraising Summit, a free virtual event designed to equip nonprofit leaders with practical tools and insights.

🎧 A focused conversation for nonprofit leaders looking to plan smarter, reduce complexity, and strengthen impact. 

Connect with Candace and Danette at: 

·       Register for the Nonprofit Fundraising Summit – https://www.causevox.com/nonprofit-fundraising-summit/

·       CauseVox Website – https://www.causevox.com/

·       The Nonprofit Cooperative Website – https://www.thenonprofitcooperative.org/



Connect with Candace and Danette at: 

·       Register for the Nonprofit Fundraising Summit – https://www.causevox.com/nonprofit-fundraising-summit/

·       CauseVox Website – https://www.causevox.com/

·       The Nonprofit Cooperative Website – https://www.thenonprofitcooperative.org/

Danette O'Connell: 0:00

It's endless of what you can do together.

Candace Cody: 0:04

Think bigger, dream bigger, and go for it because we have nothing to lose.

Announcer: 0:12

Welcome to Agency for Change, a podcast from KidGlov that brings you the stories of changemakers who are actively working to improve our community. In every episode, we'll meet with people who are making a lasting impact in the places we call homes.

Lyn Wineman: 0:36

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Agency for Change podcast. This is Lyn Wineman, president and chief strategist of KidGlov. Today's conversation brings together two really great leaders that are supporting nonprofits from different but complementary angles. We are joined again by Danette O'Connell. She's been here before. She's the founder and executive director of The Nonprofit Cooperative. And we're also welcoming Candace Cody, Director of Engagement at CauseVox. This is an all-in-one digital fundraising platform that's empowering nonprofits to grow their support and also simplify giving. So together, these two ladies and their organizations are teaming up around an exciting and completely free summit for nonprofits. This is featuring some of the nation's top nonprofit voices. And in this episode of Agency for Change, we'll talk about what nonprofits are facing right now, what's ahead, and how this powerful collaboration in the Nonprofit Fundraising Summit is creating meaningful opportunities for the sector. Danette and Candace, welcome to the podcast.

Danette O'Connell: 2:02

Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be back.

Lyn Wineman: 2:06

We love having you back, Danette. And Candace, great to have you join us. A few years ago, Rob from CauseVox joined us. So it's great to have a follow-up.

Candace Cody: 2:16

Amazing, Lyn. It's so nice to be here. Thank you so much for having me. And I'm so excited for our discussion today.

Lyn Wineman: 2:23

I know it's gonna be a good one. I feel the energy in this room. Danette, I'm gonna start with you because you have been a regular guest on the podcast as you have so many impactful things going on for nonprofits. For those that may have missed those previous episodes, can you just give us a quick overview of The Nonprofit Cooperative and the work that you're doing?

Danette O'Connell: 2:50

Absolutely. So The Nonprofit Cooperative is a membership organization where we provide free resources to nonprofits. And that is some training, some collaboration, mentoring. We vet members. So there are vendors that support the nonprofit community so that nonprofits know that these are trusted vendors, which is always wonderful. And Lyn, you are one of our trusted members. So we're always excited and board members. So we love Lyn and having her on our board and being a trusted member.

Lyn Wineman: 3:29

Thank you for that, Danette. We love our interaction with The Nonprofit Cooperative as well. How many members do you have right now?

Danette O'Connell: 3:37

We have 8,762. 

Lyn Wineman: 3:45

It seems like every time I talk to you, which is a couple times a month, you've added several hundred, if not a thousand, more members. So that's fantastic. And Candace, you are the director of engagement for a great organization called CauseVox. Can you share more about your work and how CauseVox is supporting nonprofits across the country?

Candace Cody: 4:13

Yes, absolutely. So CauseVox is a unified fundraising platform and CRM for nonprofits. So that way you can streamline your fundraising and unify everything. So everything from that first ever donor touch point and email to, you know, really maintaining that relationship for the long term and keeping donors plugged into giving. So we service the entire process. And uh we do everything from housing your donor data to helping you craft donor journeys to actually being that donation page on your website, peer-to-peer fundraising events, and everything in between. So yeah, we've been around for 15 years and have served thousands of organizations helping them raise more online.

Lyn Wineman: 5:07

I love that. I've been aware of CauseVox for quite a while now, and it feels like almost adding your system is like adding another employee to the team, right? Like just keeping all of that information together and allowing you to automate processes, making them more effective. I think that is really important. I also know you have a lot of great educational information for nonprofits too, which is why I'm excited to ask you both this next question. Because we are recording this in early 2026. And I say that because our podcast has been going on for years, and people go back five years ago and listen to episodes. But we've just concluded the biggest fundraising time of the year for nonprofit organizations. And I'd love to hear some of the trends you're both seeing in nonprofit fundraising. And Candace, let's start with you on this one.

Candace Cody: 6:07

Yeah, well, there's been so many great learnings over the years. Also, just for a little bit of context, my journey with CauseVox goes back 11 years. So I've been working with nonprofits year over year, seeing what works and what doesn't work when it comes to year-end fundraising. And I think now more than ever, having a really, really robust online presence is still one of the most growing tactics and strategies to raise more this year end. And I see a lot of the campaigns that tend to reach and exceed their goals tend to really have that early launch around Giving Tuesday to get that like big push right at the beginning of the season. And then carry on really consistent communications, especially building up to those last three days of the year, which I think we, as fundraisers know are just such pivotal days when it comes to giving. So having those communications mapped out through the end of the year can really effectively help you reach your fundraising goals. So I would say Giving Tuesday through those last three days, having streamlined communications is always without doubt effective.

Lyn Wineman: 7:27

I love that. You said something too that I think is so valuable that we talk about all the time at KidGlov is have it mapped out, right? Like don't just come into the office and write your email the morning you want to send it. Like map out that journey, that plan, how you're gonna handle it, have all the content ready so that when the time comes, you're just deploying. And I think that's great. I also think, based on what you've said, you know, in the last several years since the pandemic, I think everybody's expectation of what they can do and see online has increased. And people expect that from nonprofits too. They expect the experience to be seamless and well put together. Are you seeing that as well?

Candace Cody: 8:15

Yeah, absolutely. I think it's now more important than ever. I think there's even been some studies recently where in years prior, there was always that rule of seven, right? Like you have to get in front of someone seven times. That has now become the rule of eight or nine. Yeah. So you need to actually be more digitally present than ever to really create the that like surround sound effect, if you will, across all the digital channels, so that you're showing up on their email and their social feed and maybe their YouTube or whatever it might be, so that you're consistently staying top of mind through the end of the year. So it is way more leaning into multi-channel communication than ever before.

Lyn Wineman: 9:03

Yep, a hundred percent. Wow. You and I are on the same page there. And Danette, I know you and I are often on the same page too, but what are you seeing? What trends are you seeing in fundraising right now?

Danette O'Connell: 9:14

So I totally agree with the fundraising plan. And so many people overlook that and think, oh, you know what, I can do this on my own. I don't need to plan out. It is so important, not only to plan out what you're gonna do in what month, but all of the communications that you're going to put out there. And what message are you sending? And you know, creating content is so important. You know, I've actually heard Candace, and I think I heard this from you, Lyn, it's 13 times. And so making sure that you get in front of people, that having that consistent story and even having that story in a video on your on your website is also just so very important. But what I'm seeing as a trend at the Nonprofit Collective Foundation and SVP New York City is give them a little bit more than a story once they become donor, you know, donor retention is so difficult. But give, you know, even if it's an online meeting, just have a meeting set up or a group meeting where you can tell all of your donors what you were doing. If you can do it in person, that's even better, right? And just let all your donors know what you're doing, how you're spending their money. And so many people, you know, sometimes you know, do these big fundraising events, but then they don't follow up months later and say, hey, this is what we did with your money, and this is what impact it's made on our community, right? And that's really and I have noticed our donors, they want to get together quarterly. And I was like, really? And they do, they want to. So now we are scheduled to have a quarterly networking, let's get together. We want to hear what you're doing and meet the other donors. That's great. That is actually really wonderful. So we're excited to have that. We're gonna have it in April and just let the donors know what we're doing. And it's such an opportunity for everyone in the world.

Lyn Wineman: 11:19

That is such great feedback and such a great idea. And that actually leads to my next question for both of you because you have so much knowledge and you're gonna be sharing it because the two of your organizations, The Nonprofit Cooperative and CauseVox, are joining forces. I know you have a big event coming up soon. Who wants to tell us more?

Danette O'Connell: 11:45

So I would like to start here. So Candace is such a wonderful person, and she has brought CauseVox and The Nonprofit Cooperative together for the 2026 Nonprofit Fundraising Summit. And she is the catalyst behind all of this. And I'm sure Rob, if he was here, he would you know say the same thing. We're so grateful for Candace and being able to orchestrate such an undertaking because let me tell you, summits are very it's a lot, it's a lot everywhere. So we're very excited. She has wonderful speakers lined up, which she can talk about, and we have such a great event, and it's March 4th and 5th. And I'm gonna turn it over to Candace to let you know some of the speakers that are gonna be there and what we're going to accomplish at this year's summit.

Lyn Wineman: 12:42

I love it. Candace, tell us more.

Candace Cody: 12:45

Yeah, well, Danette, thank you so much. And I am so excited we finally get a partner, truly, on an event. Um, so I love, I think I'd come from such a partnership mindset, and I know Danette does as well, where it's like, hey, we are all after the same thing, which is bringing these great educational resources to nonprofits and also fundraisers specifically as we navigate 2026 together. And so I really can't think of a better partner to have every step of the way than The Nonprofit Cooperative and Danette. And so really thankful to be able to join our forces. And as we were thinking about the Nonprofit Fundraising Summit, what I like to do is ground everything in something that we are all currently experiencing in the sector and also as people. And so we landed on this theme of the great connection. So it's the Nonprofit Fundraising Summit, the great connection, and it's our tagline is great fundraising starts with a great connection. I think, for where we are right now, which is this very weird place, right? Where technology, there's so much technology out there at the moment. It is really, really hard to stand out. So technology was built to connect us, but we're like getting pinged every which way. We're on all the apps, we're trying to show up everywhere. And yet, as humans, as people, I feel like we've never felt more disconnected from each other. And I think that also translates to our donors. And so in 2026, what I really firmly believe is that yes, we want to have like our multi-channel strategies locked in and everything, but I think in the world that we're in right now, there's so much AI and there's a lot of AI slop. People are not even really sure like what's real anymore. And so, donors, how would they know? And so I think nonprofits are facing this really weird time that we're in. And so, what I think we're gonna see as a sector in 2026 is that the nonprofits that are rooted and grounded in real authentic human connections are actually gonna be the ones that stand out the most. And so as we look for the Nonprofit Fundraising Summit, it's all about okay, how do we use the technology and how do we use AI and all these modern strategies to automate the things that can be automated, make our lives easier as fundraisers, and then free us up to have more meaningful connections with our donors, with our audiences, building in intentional human touch points where it matters most, so that we're able to invest in those relationships and have a great connection at scale with more donors and also just amongst ourselves and amongst the nonprofit sector.

Lyn Wineman: 15:54

I love it. You know, I know most people who are listening, they're probably taking walks or driving or doing all the things you do when you listen to a podcast. They can't see me vigorously nodding my head up and down. But I couldn't agree with you more and like figuring out how technology can be your friend, but yet you can still be authentic and human. And actually, if you're freeing your time up with technology, you're able to have more of that human connection. I love it, I love it so much. So tell me who should attend, what does it cost? The event is virtual. I know you're touching nonprofits from across the country, maybe even internationally. How do people get registered?

Candace Cody: 16:41

Yeah, well, so the event is completely free to attend live. So they can register. It's causevox.com/nonprofit-fundraising-summit/. We'll include the link wherever it matters most, I'm sure. So we're anticipating 12,000 nonprofit professionals registering for this and you know, about 4,000 actively on live across the two-day event. We have three stages, so three sessions going on simultaneously. It is really for nonprofit leaders and nonprofit fundraisers as well as marketers, because fundraising and marketing, as we know, is like it's completely overlaps. And so um, we have a really exciting lineup that I think this audience would really love. So we're really excited to have Floyd Jones, if anyone knows him, as our host for the events. I will be a host as well on one of the stages. So you'll see me there. But we have everyone from Tim Lockheed, Julia Campbell, Lynn Wester, Vu Lay is doing a session on at the moment. 

Danette O'Connell: 17:52

So big names out there, right?

Lyn Wineman: 17:55

The who's who of nonprofit speakers. Fantastic. And it's free. I just want to, I wish I had like a sound effect here that I could go woo-woo woo-woo, but I'll just do it myself. But that's fantastic. All right. Well, everyone who's listening who wants to attend, it is March 4th and 5th, and we are gonna get that link in the show notes. So you can grab that link there. I'm sure you can also go to the CauseVox website or The Nonprofit Cooperative website, would be also two great places to get that information. So um it is on our homepage.

Danette O'Connell: 18:35

So anybody who so you can go to www.thenonprofitcooperative.org, which is right above my head, and it's right on our homepage, and it links right to CauseVox.

Lyn Wineman: 18:47

Thank you for that, Danette. That is awesome. We'll have that link in the notes. So, all right, maybe let's talk a little bit about what we might hear at the conference because I know both of you spend a lot of time supporting nonprofits. We've talked about end-of-year fundraising trends already. We've talked about the need for connection, which I think is for nonprofits, especially. I know a lot of nonprofit leaders are just exhausted right now with so much going on. But what are some of the other biggest opportunities and challenges that you two are seeing in the nonprofit world?

Danette O'Connell: 19:26

So, one of the things that we are trying to do here at the Cooperative and the Foundation is to really connect with people. And, you know, how do we do this? And you don't have to have a big gala to have a fundraiser. So we're breaking it down to let's have a wine tasting in our house and ask your friends and family and or you know, potential, or you can have it in a public location and make it a little bit bigger, you know. But we are going to hold our board members' hands in creating these opportunities because the biggest fear that board members have is they're afraid to ask. So you bring them to the room, we'll ask them, right?

So, yeah, like little trends like you know, this, it's really just mixing it up a little bit, you know, and you know, big galas, they're such a huge undertaking. And so I refuse to do galas.

Lyn Wineman: 20:29

That's you know what, it makes me sad because every once in a while you'll hear of a nonprofit that has had a big gala and they actually don't make enough money to cover their costs. And it just when I even when I think about it, I shudder a little bit. But that's a risk right now. People's habits have changed in the last few years in a big way. And trying new things is more important now than ever.

Danette O'Connell: 20:56

I think it is, and you're talking about personal relationships, right? So ask your top donors and create an event like a wine tasting and you know, matched with food or you know, and just bring them to the table, let them meet each other, you know, and meet the other people who are passionate about your organization, like your board members. Like there's so many ways to do it, but do it on a personal level. You know, instead of having a big gala and not knowing half of the room, you know, bring the people who have donated to you a past, even if it's a ten-dollar donor. That's okay. And so it's about the passion that they have for your organization.

Lyn Wineman: 21:43

I love it. Candace, how about you? What are what opportunities and challenges do you feel nonprofits are facing right now?

Candace Cody: 21:51

Yeah, I think that there's a few. One of which I've seen really take a bigger center stage over the last few years as we have adopted more technology as a sector. There has been this like Frankenstein effect.

Lyn Wineman: 22:11

Oh, yeah, yes. Frankenstein of technology that doesn't talk to yes.

Candace Cody: 22:17

Yes. And so what I'm seeing with so many nonprofit professionals and fundraisers and anyone that deals with donor data, it's so messy, and they have to make sure that these things all get imported to each other. It's a lot of manual process and labor associated with it, which is really bogging nonprofit professionals down from doing the work that really matters, which is more of that connection piece. And so I think that 2026 brings the opportunity to remove the Frankenstein effect, if you will, try to consolidate, try to automate, integrate as much as possible so that you're spending less time worrying about if the data is in the right place and more time actually out there doing the things that you were meant to do, which is connect with donors and make an impact, right? And so I think that's a huge opportunity that we're hoping to solve for with the summit. And one of the main things. And I think the other thing is that a lot of nonprofits that I have spoken with are still at various stages of like, what do we do with AI? Everyone's talking about it, but there's not a lot of practical implementation, and it's really hard because it's like, okay, well, how do we do it responsibly? How do we make sure that it is equitable and ethical? And how do we actually use it in practice? And so we're gonna have a lot of sessions that cover that. One of my favorite sessions that, I because I also was the producer for the fundraising AI Summit back in September. And we ran a session called the Great AI debate, which is an Oxford-style debate of if AI will be good for the sector. And now with this conference, we are rerunning that, but our question, if you will, our debate central thesis is AI can be used to build meaningful donor relationships. So I'm very interested to see the outcome of this debate. This is interactive. Everyone votes for who they think the winner will be. It's gonna be really cool, it's gonna be really fun. So I think that's also a way to mix it up too, right? Where it's like we can learn and also have a little bit of fun at the same time.

Lyn Wineman: 24:43

I love it so much. And on a topic like AI that we are all debating all the time, it feels like, and it's just changing so fast. It's changing so fast. So all right, I'd love to ask the two of you a branding question because branding is where my passion lies. I wrote a book earlier or late last year called Untangling Spaghetti, A Branding Fable, where we explore how brand clarity helps you cut through the clutter. And I'm really curious from your experience, how does a strong brand or a lack thereof impact nonprofits? Is it important in your mind?

Danette O'Connell: 25:23

Absolutely. I mean, getting the brand out and the consistent messaging is, I feel, so very, very important. Um, because then you, you know, you're building brand awareness of your donors and you know, for us, like our members, and so that they keep getting the same thing and the same messages. 

Lyn Wineman: 25:46

Absolutely. What do you think, Candace? What are you seeing and hearing?

Candace Cody: 25:48

Yeah, I mean, I think branding is one of those things that is so instrumental for organizations. I have seen the power of branding across a lot of the CauseVox campaigns because each campaign has is directly tied to the organization's brand, but also is telling their own story and has its own branding for the campaign as a subset of the larger organizations' branding, it really engages people and it builds a lot of trust. Because if people know your organization and they see your logo consistently in the same way, that is inherently building trust for everyone that sees it every time they see it. And so I think that branding and trust go hand in hand when it comes to really engaging your donors.

Danette O'Connell: 26:42

I think people underestimate how important branding is and that it's not important. So some startup nonprofits don't put a lot of time and effort into branding. And I have to say, that's one of the things that will hurt you in the long run if you don't, because like you said, Candace, it's a brand of trust, and people start trusting that brand. And you can have subsets of it everywhere, but having that, and I don't think that people, you know, some smaller nonprofits focus on just fundraising so much that they don't focus on their brand. And I think that it's very, very important.

Lyn Wineman: 27:21

Yeah, there's a lot of really great data points from a lot of different sources, but one of the ones I've seen recently is that having a strong and consistent brand can make you 30% more efficient in delivering your marketing because you're not reinventing the wheel every time, and at least 10%, if not 20 or 30% more effective because people get used to seeing who you are. When Rob Woo was on, who's the one of the founders of CauseVox, he really talked about the importance of carrying the brand through all the communications all the way to the donations page, and how that was something CauseVox is doing and how you could see that if the brand is not carried through to that final step, how people might leak out of the process because they're not sure they're in the right place. So I really appreciated that. All right, I'm gonna switch gears, ladies, and ask you my favorite question. And it's a question I've asked on every single episode of the Agency for Change. I get to talk to so many inspirational people that I like to ask each of you to share your own quote to inspire our audience. So your own original words of wisdom. Who would like to go first? 

Candace Cody: 28:49

I can jump in. I okay, I'm not sure how much it is an inspirational quote, as much as what I see as possible for the nonprofit sector.

Lyn Wineman: 29:02

That sounds inspirational to me, Candace.

Candace Cody: 29:04

Yeah, where I think nonprofits tend to get so bogged down in the day-to-day that we forget to think bigger and dream bigger. And in my life, every time something really, really cool has happened, it's because I had the audacity to believe that it could happen. And it does. So I think that there's so much power in I don't want to sound too hippy-dippy, but kind of manifesting what we want for the sector. And so my encouragement to listeners would be to think bigger, dream bigger, and go for it because we have nothing to lose.

Lyn Wineman: 29:52

I love it. That's great. And I think that's what brought the two of you and your organizations together for this summit we've been talking about. All right, Danette, you've been in this hot seat before, and you had to give me three quotes, and now you have to give me another one.

Danette O'Connell: 30:09

So this year and 2026, we're all focusing on collaboration, the importance and power of collaboration. And you see that here with Candace, you know, two organizations collaborating and making this wonderful interactive summit. But I encourage nonprofits to collaborate also. It's part of growth. And, you know, put all that, you know, all everything aside and say who will compliment us or who does the same thing as us, that we can not only collaborate on an event, maybe on a grant. There's it’s endless what you can do together. So we have a lot of nonprofits that do the same thing or compliment each other, right? That's how businesses do it, right? They collaborate with each other, they buy each other out, but but you can there's there is such a thing as nonprofit mergers, right? So I'm not saying go that far yet. You know, I always say, you know, dance before you, you know, get married. So yeah, I think this is the year for collaboration across the board.

Lyn Wineman: 31:17

I love that. The whole idea of thinking bigger, dreaming bigger, going for it together in collaboration. I love the way the two of you came together on that. All right. You both mentioned your websites earlier, but I want to hit this one more time and we'll get it in the show notes. For our listeners who want to learn more, Danette, how can they find out more about The Nonprofit Cooperative?

Danette O'Connell: 31:43

Um, you can go to www.thenonprofitcooperative.org.

Lyn Wineman: 31:49

Thanks for making that easy for us. And how about CauseVox, Candace? What's the best way for us to connect?

Candace Cody: 31:55

Yeah. So you can go to CauseVox.com to explore more about how our donation forms, our CRM, and our combined fundraising suite can support your organization and help unFrankenstein your fundraising, if you will. So we have a demo request. You can book a free time to chat with our team. And you can also actually sign up for free. There's a free plan. So you can sign up and get started for free today.

Lyn Wineman: 32:26

I love that elevator statement. UnFrankenstein your fundraising. That is a memorable one, and I know exactly what you mean. All right. Last question, ladies. This has been so much fun. As we wrap up this fantastic conversation, what is the most important thing you would like our listeners to remember about the work that you're doing?

Danette O'Connell: 32:50

That everything we do is free for nonprofits. And there are so many things that we have available as you know, we have mentoring, we have educational, we have collaboration. We match you with other nonprofits if you want to be matched with other nonprofits. We have a slow suite of all different types of resources for nonprofits, and everything we do is free.

Lyn Wineman: 33:17

That's amazing. I love it. Candace, you get the last word. What's the important thing you want people to remember?

Candace Cody: 33:25

Yeah, well, I think there's two little things. So, first thing is that CauseVox can make your fundraising completely unified with your fundraising and CRM all in one, saving you a ton of time. But the second thing is that we are here to be a support for the sector and to provide free resources for everyone that is here today. So we are really, really excited to be putting on events like the Nonprofit Fundraising Summit and providing this free educational opportunity to 12,000 plus nonprofits alongside Danette. So we are really excited to serve the sector while also providing solutions.

Lyn Wineman: 34:09

I love it. All right, everybody, mark your calendars for March 4th and 5th, 2026 for the Nonprofit Fundraising Summit. We'll get that link in the show notes. And Danette and Candace, I just want to say thank you for taking time today. I fully believe the world needs more people like you and more organizations like The Nonprofit Cooperative and CauseVox doing great things for nonprofits. Thank you so much.

Announcer: 34:43

We hope you enjoyed today's Agency for Change podcast. To hear all our interviews with those who are making a positive change in our communities, or to nominate a change maker you'd love to hear from, visit kidglov.com at kidglov.com to get in touch. As always, if you like what you've heard today, feature to rate, review, subscribe, and share. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time.