{"podcast":{"title":"What the Fundraising","slug":"what-the-fundraising-4083661","podcast_index_feed_id":4083661,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/what-the-fundraising","website_url":"https://malloryerickson.com/Podcast/","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/da8b9e20-daa4-11eb-bb81-87d9ee1fa7bb/image/What_the_Fundraising_-_podcast_artwork.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Mallory Erickson","episode_count":312,"summary":"What the Fundraising is the podcast for impact leaders and change-makers who are tired of doing things the old school way and are looking for best practices to raise money, run their organization, and think about the nonprofit sector in a whole new way. Every Tuesday for 40-60 min, your host, Mallory Erickson, will be having real and raw conversations with some of the best personal and professional development experts, many of whom are outside the nonprofit sector. These are bestselling authors, world-renowned researchers, and TEDx experts, most of whom have never spoken to a non-profit audience before. They have come ready to share expertise, lessons, and stories that will fundamentally change the way you show up as a leader and fundraiser. There are so many valuable lessons nonprofit leaders are missing because they are outside of their typical orbit, but no more. Mallory is bringing them in and helping to apply her guest's expertise to disrupt the nonprofit sector once and for all. So if you are ready to learn how to upgrade your fundraising strategy, leadership skills, energy, habits, and mindset to bring in more funding and actually have some fun doing it, then this is the ri…","last_synced_at":"2026-06-16T22:17:44.649319+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-the-fundraising-4083661"},"episode":{"title":"301: Building Values-Based Alumni Relationships in Higher Education with Howard Heevner","slug":"301-building-values-based-alumni-relationships-in-higher-education-with-howard-heevner","published_at":"2026-05-26T10:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-the-fundraising-4083661/301-building-values-based-alumni-relationships-in-higher-education-with-howard-heevner","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-the-fundraising-4083661","url":"https://malloryerickson.com/podcast/301-building-values-based-alumni-relationships-in-higher-education-with-howard-heevner/","audio_url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/ICAAL4608731129.mp3","summary":"In this episode of What the Fundraising Podcast, Alumni relationships are shifting from tradition-bound loyalty to something more dynamic, personal, and value-driven. In this conversation, the focus turns toward what institutions are getting wrong and how listening more carefully could reshape the future of fundraising and engagement. Howard Heevner brings deep experience from a 30-year career in higher education fundraising, beginning at the University of Iowa and later serving as executive director of annual programs at UC Berkeley. He is also a co-founder of the National Alumni Survey. This large-scale initiative has grown significantly over time, expanding from tens of thousands of responses across dozens of institutions to well over 150,000 surveys. His work centers on understanding donor behavior patterns and challenging long-held assumptions about alumni generosity and awareness. The discussion highlights key shifts: declining donor participation, the emergence of distinct giving cultures across age groups, and the misconception that non-donors are simply uninformed. Instead, many already give elsewhere, signaling a need for institutions to move from assumed loyalty to earned trust. The conversation also emphasizes personalization, better use of technology for listening rather than broadcasting, and the importance of making alumni feel seen, relevant, and considered. Ultimately, it calls for a more responsive, value-aligned approach to engagement and fundraising systems. In this episode, you will be able to: - Understand shifting trends in alumni engagement and fundraising behavior. - Recognize the importance of moving from assumed trust to earned trust. - Identify how alumni giving patterns vary across age and value systems. - Learn why personalization improves…","meta_description":"In this episode of What the Fundraising Podcast, Alumni relationships are shifting from tradition-bound loyalty to something more dynamic, personal, and v…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1879,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/what-the-fundraising-4083661/episodes/301-building-values-based-alumni-relationships-in-higher-education-with-howard-heevner/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-the-fundraising-4083661/301-building-values-based-alumni-relationships-in-higher-education-with-howard-heevner.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}