We recently sat down with Tom Kilgannon, President of Freedom Alliance. 

Freedom Alliance is a nonprofit organization founded to support our nation’s combat wounded and deployed troops and their families. One of their greatest contributions to the military community is their scholarship fund for the dependents of military personnel who have been severely wounded or killed in combat. To-date, Freedom Alliance has given out $20 Million in college scholarships to the dependents of America’s fallen and injured heroes. 

In our conversation with Tom about Freedom Alliance’s fundraising strategy and how they achieved this huge accomplishment of funding $20 Million in scholarships, here are some of the great insights Tom shared:

1. An integrated approach to fundraising allows them to speak to each donor in the way that donor needs to hear the message in order to inspire generosity in their hearts. 
2. Some fundraising offers / asks for support work better in-person, while others work better at major events, and even still, some messages resonate best when delivered via direct mail or email. You need to activate all viable channels to drive the greatest return for your organization. 
3. The more you listen to your donors — to truly understand — not just to respond, the more likely you are to secure major investments from your supporters and investors.
4. During the pandemic, they were able to activate significant support for the organization and those they support by regularly engaging donors, checking in on their supporters’ needs, and sharing stories of impact. 
5. Focus on your donors’ needs and desires, and let those items drive how you engage and approach giving opportunities. 
6. How you can use events strategically to make an initial donor contact, then build relationship over time via more personal engagement. 

Tom shares some great insights in this episode on how this organization is making a huge impact for America’s veterans and their families, alongside thousands of incredibly generous donors.