Episode Details

In this episode of The Responsive Lab, Carly and Scott sit down with Carly Plate and Dominika McLean from the University of South Florida to talk about building a consecutive giving recognition program that celebrates loyalty over gift size.

Their core belief? The donor who gives $25 every year for 30 years deserves just as much recognition as someone who writes one large check.

You'll hear about:

• Why USF created Loyalty Herd to close the gap between major giving programs and unrecognized lower-level consecutive donors
• How the program defines eligibility: any dollar amount, three or more consecutive fiscal years
• How USF scaled stewardship across 20,000 donors using milestone touch points, in-house design, and creative campus partnerships
• Why they chose not to offer a buyback option, and how that decision strengthened the program's intent
• How to approach data, communications, and development teams before launching a program like this
• The real ROI of recognizing giving behavior over giving amount
• Practical advice for teams with small budgets who want to start something meaningful now

Links from the episode:

• Connect with Carly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carly-plate-a8373b2b/
• Connect with Dominika on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominikamclean/
• Learn more about the USF Foundation: https://giving.usf.edu/about/about-usf-foundation

Looking for technology that helps you build deeper donor relationships with less work from your team? Learn more at virtuous.org.