We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits · We Are For Good

692. Working Session: How to Grow Your Online Giving - Josh Burns

·34 min·1 clip

Half of donors research online, but half of nonprofits aren't ready.

Becky and the team open by naming a tension many nonprofits know well: 51% of donors research causes and charities online before making a donation, while more than 50% of nonprofits do not have a clearly defined digital marketing strategy. Josh Burns joins the Working Session and brings a perspective shaped by community-building and nonprofit marketing experience, including his long-running work in Chicago with Impact Up and Spark Collective. The conversation stays grounded. Rather than treating digital strategy like a buzzword, the group keeps coming back to what it means when donors are already doing their research online. Josh points out that organizations should pay attention to why people are donating, since that can shape how they talk about giving online. That difference matters because it changes the kind of content a team makes. If you understand the motivation, you can shape the message. The episode leans into a storytelling framework built around empathy, connection, and action. Josh and Becky connect that idea to their own feel, know, do lens. What should an audience feel? What should they know? What should they do next? Those questions give the conversation shape without making it stiff. Josh also shares an early-career memory from a nonprofit marketing role, where an executive director assumed social media would never matter much to major donors. That story becomes a clear example of how assumptions can lag behind actual donor behavior. He uses it to show that digital strategy can complement and strengthen the human relationships that organizations are already building in other areas. The team keeps returning to the idea that organizations need more regular input from the people closest to the work. That means meeting with front-line staff. It also means talking with donors directly. Those conversations help surface the language and motivations that should shape campaigns. The episode is practical, but it still feels warm. It treats the work as something human first. Becky and the team also make room for encouragement when the topic feels overwhelming. They invite listeners into their community for office hours and group troubleshooting. The message is simple: if the digital piece feels stuck, there is help. The overall effect is steady and relational. It offers nonprofit teams a way to think about online giving without flattening the people behind it.

As heard by us

A practical look at the digital donor gap and the case for more human nonprofit storytelling.

Josh Burns frames the digital donor gap as a simple but stubborn problem: many donors now research causes online before giving, while many nonprofits still operate without a clear digital marketing strategy.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Use this when your online giving needs to match your mission.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits