Episode 1:
For our premier, we knew we had to call up John Morris, Senior Vice President of Development at Kansas State University. Why? We’ve always been impressed by John’s approach and his commitment to a specific vision. You’ll hear how John confidently guarantees that all his gift officers will be in the top 10% of their profession from the moment they’re hired and how Kansas State overhauled their phonathon strategy with some cross-industry idea borrowing from Zappos. We also found out why John isn’t as big of a Chevy Camaro guy as he once was and why that’s actually relevant to fundraising.
John Morris
Senior Vice President of Development
Kansas State University
About John
John Morris joined the Kansas State University Foundation in 2016, as the Senior Vice President of Development. Morris leads all aspects of fundraising, working with Foundation leadership, campus partners and the KSU Foundation Board to strengthen the Foundation’s overall fundraising capacity. He is the primary architect of the University’s $1.4b campaign and under his leadership annual fundraising production has increased 50%. Morris came to the KSU Foundation from the University of Minnesota Foundation, where he served as a Senior Director of Development. At the University of Minnesota Foundation, Morris led his development team to increase their growth in gift productionby 60%. Prior to his position at the University of Minnesota Foundation, Morris held the position of Associate Vice President of Advancement at Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois. Under his leadership, giving to the Athletics Department increased 300%, and he led the University to an all-time high in annual fundraising production. Education: Morris received his bachelor’s degree from Winona State University in Winona, Minnesota, and his master’s from Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois.
About the Podcast
Fundraising is in flux.
Donors are dropping. Phonathons are flopping. Emails aren’t inspiring anyone. The tried and true tactics are increasingly tired and tuned out.
But advancement isn’t going extinct. It’s reinventing itself.
Every day we talk to fundraisers who aren’t satisfied with the status quo. We hear from inventive advancement leaders who are pushing the industry forward, embracing technology and thinking of creative new approaches.
It’s the best part of our job.
And today, we’re excited to start sharing those conversations with you!
Announcing the RAISE Podcast. It’s here. It’s live. It’s ready for your ears.
Our goal is to bring you the stories, insights and approaches from fundraisers who are doing things differently. In this podcast for advancement, we’ll learn what tactics they’re taking and how they’re finding success in an industry that’s constantly talking about how quickly things are going downhill.
Where to listen?
The first episode of the RAISE podcast, and all the episodes to follow, will be available basically everywhere you can listen to podcasts. Or at least all the places we thought made sense. Find it on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, Soundcloud and its very own website.
If it’s missing from your favorite podcast provider, drop us a line and we’ll get it up there.
What’s next?
A lot more episodes and a ton of incredible guests, that’s for sure. But most importantly, we want this to be a helpful resource for all of you. So if you’ve got ideas for topics we should cover or guests we should have on, let us know in the comments!