Responsive Lab Podcast

Welcome to The Responsive Lab, presented by Virtuous. In this podcast, we're exploring how nonprofits leverage technology to deepen donor engagement. Join us in the lab as we mix innovation with impact, tackling challenges and discovering new possibilities for the nonprofit sector.

Responsive Lab Podcast is a business podcast hosted by Virtuous Software, with 190 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 84.

Virtuous Software hosts Responsive Lab Podcast, a business show with 190 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #93

  EP 93: How to Evaluate and Design Your Nonprofit Tech Ecosystem with Dave Malda and Mark Becker

  Oct 1, 202626 min

  In this episode of The Responsive Lab, Scott sits down with Dave Malda, Chief Partnership Officer at iPass, and Mark Becker, Founding Partner of Cathexis Partners. Between them, they bring decades of experience helping nonprofits navigate technology decisions, from platform selection and data migrations to building integration ecosystems that hold up over time. You'll hear about: • Why discovery should always come before demos • What nonprofits are asking for in software evaluations now that nobody was asking about five years ago • How to understand the spectrum of integrations and how to decide which approach fits each situation • When connecting your existing systems is the smarter move, and when continuing to patch things together is just delaying a harder conversation • Why new system rollouts fail even when the software itself is solid Links from the episode: * Connect with Mark Becker on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markbeckercp/ * Connect with Dave Malda on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davemalda/ * Learn more about Cathexis Partners: https://cathexispartners.com/ * Learn more about iPass: https://ipaas.com/ Looking for technology that helps you build deeper donor relationships with less work from your team? Learn more at virtuous.org .

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #92

  EP 92: How to Launch Planned Giving at Your Nonprofit with Tony Martignetti

  Sep 15, 202629 min

  In this episode of The Responsive Lab, Scott sits down with Tony Martignetti, founder, author, and planned giving consultant. Tony has spent nearly three decades making planned giving accessible for small and mid-sized nonprofits, first as a frontline fundraiser and then as a consultant since 2003. You'll hear about: • Why the conventional wisdom that small nonprofits aren't ready for planned giving is flat-out wrong, and what's really holding organizations back • How to identify your best planned giving prospects using the donor database you already have, with a focus on longevity and consistency over gift size • The Martignetti three-step, one-week planned giving launch, and what actually happens on day one • Why planned giving conversations are about the life and sustainability of your mission, not about death • What early metrics fundraisers should track when the financial results may be decades away • What good stewardship looks like after a donor says yes, from the handwritten note to insider communications Make sure to get a copy of Tony's new book, Planned Giving Accelerated, that's linked below. Links from the episode: * Connect with Tony on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonymartignetti/ * Buy Planned Giving Accelerated on Amazon: tony.ma/Amazon * Buy Planned Giving Accelerated on Barnes and Noble: tony.ma/BN Looking for technology that helps you build deeper donor relationships with less work from your team? Learn more at virtuous.org .

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #91

  EP 91: How to Spark Growth In Your Recurring Giving Program with Dave Raley

  Aug 21, 202645 min

  In this episode of The Responsive Lab, Carly and Scott sit down with Dave Raley, Founder of the Center for Sustainable Giving. Dave spent 18 years in fundraising and marketing before founding the Center, driven by a belief that sustainable, recurring funding should be accessible to every nonprofit, not just the largest ones. You'll hear about: • Why a flat recurring giving program is often a visibility problem, not a donor problem, and what to look at first • How the first 30 days after a first gift is the most important window to invite donors into recurring giving • Why an invitation to recurring giving is really an invitation to donor identity, and how that reframe changes your messaging approach • Specific ways to upgrade recurring donors beyond just asking for a higher dollar amount, including gift type, additional appeals, and legacy conversations • How to make recurring donors feel genuinely recognized without a large budget or a complicated new workflow • Where nonprofit fundraising technology is furthest behind the subscription economy, and what closing that gap actually looks like Links from the episode: * Connect with Dave on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/draley/ * Learn more about the Center for Sustainable Giving: https://www.sustainablegiving.org/ * Download the Sustainable Giving Growth Blueprint: https://www.sustainablegiving.org/blueprint * See the Recurring Giving Upgrade feature in Virtuous Raise: Recurring Upgrades With One Link Looking for technology that helps you build deeper donor relationships with less work from your team? Learn more at virtuous.org .

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #90

  EP 90: From RNS 2026 | How to Build a Brand That Drives Long-Term Fundraising Growth with Donna Lucas

  Aug 4, 202650 min

  In this episode, we bring you content from the 2026 Responsive Nonprofit Summit from Donna Lucas, Chief Marketing Officer at Joni and Friends. You'll hear about: Why being the "best kept secret" is a sign of failure, not something to celebrate How Donna convinced her CFO to shift 60 percent of the budget to brand awareness The framework of brand first, marketing second, fundraising third Why she compares branding to planting, marketing to cultivation, and fundraising to the harvest How Joni and Friends grew fundraising 95 percent over seven years by investing in brand Why treating every social comment and DM like a phone call transformed donor engagement How a full brand audit uncovered nineteen field offices acting like their own marketing agencies Why aligning internal staff around the brand matters as much as external messaging Connect with Donna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnamlucas/ Learn more about Joni and Friends: https://joniandfriends.org/ Looking for technology that helps you build deeper donor relationships with less work from your team? Learn more at virtuous.org .

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #87

  EP 87: Building Product-Centered Donor Experiences with Ben Webb

  Jun 11, 202641 min

  In this episode of The Responsive Lab, Carly and Scott sit down with Ben Webb, Chief Marketing Officer at International Justice Mission. He's spent more than 15 years across nonprofit leadership, ministry, and creative consultancy, including a global marketing role at Compassion International where he led teams across digital, innovation, and experience design in more than 30 countries. You'll hear about: * Why most nonprofit marketing fails to inspire and what we can learn from Red Bull's space jump campaign * The shift from direct response fundraising toward product-centered donor experiences * How to create relevance and value for donors using the "good friend" framework * Building marketing teams that blend nonprofit expertise with for-profit innovation * Why your real competition isn't other nonprofits but companies like Amazon and Tesla * The five-phase global marketing framework: insight-driven, concept-led, powered by stories, scaled by technology, measured and refined * How to maintain urgency and heart when the work feels overwhelming Links from the episode: * Connect with Ben Webb on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminmwebb/ * Learn more about International Justice Mission: https://www.ijm.org/ Looking for technology that helps you build deeper donor relationships with less work from your team? Learn more at virtuous.org .

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on Responsive Lab Podcast. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.