Ep 33 I What We Get Wrong About Why People Give I ft. Kevin Schulman

In this episode, Raimy and Bini invite Kevin Schulman on the podcast and then proceed to let him politely light a match to about 40 years of fundraising “best practices.”Kevin is the founder of DonorVoice, a behavioral science fundraising agency, and managing editor of The Agitator DonorVoice blog. He studies why humans actually do what they do and applies that thinking to charitable giving.Spoiler alert: it is not because you asked nicely.They get into:Why “people give because we ask” is a mythWhy persuasion is a trap and alignment is the real gameHow identity and personality should drive fundraising strategyWhat personalized matching really means (and why segmentation barely scratches the surface)Why most donor journeys collapse in year oneWhy unfinished stories hurt more than they helpWhy “engagement” might be the most misunderstood word in fundraisingHow generative AI can finally make smarter personalization possibleThis conversation will probably make you uncomfortable.In a good way.If you are a fundraiser, nonprofit leader, or anyone who has ever thought, “There has to be a better way than this,” press play.----The Agitator Blog link is hereThe Charity: Water Test (mentioned in the epsiode) is here