Giving for Good with Nicole Engdahl

 

About This Episode

Nicole Engdahl is a park person. 

In January of 2015, Nicole joined the National Parks Foundation charged with formalizing the organization’s planned giving department. By 2016, she was tapped to lead the efforts of three major fundraising groups all under one big umbrella including direct response giving, mid-level giving, and estate gifts. That means her department is responsible for all park giving from the nickle in the point-of-sale jar to bequests. 

See? Nicole Engdahl is a park person

She’s been practicing her nonprofit fundraising craft for over twenty years having helped grow the domestic estate giving program for Special Olympics International and planned giving for the National Geographic Society. It takes an extraordinary set of communications skills to navigate nonprofit giving in our current global context. How do you communicate your mission in such a way as to inspire and connect with donors, motivating them to generosity and benevolence for your organization when there is so very much need in the world all around us? 

We love Nicole’s exuberance for her work, her passions for the parks and all the things we do there, and her love of telling the National Parks Foundation’s stories in a way that inspires us all. Thank you, Nicole, for sharing your wisdom with us this week.

Kristine Neil

Fractional Web Partner

I'm Kristine Neil - a communications strategist who has spent 20+ years designing websites, first running a full-scale design and marketing agency, and now leading my own studio. I've been the creative director managing the work, the coder quietly fixing what others couldn't, and the strategist in the room asking why before how. Somewhere between the MBA and the other degrees, I decided web design was just one tool in a much bigger toolbox - the real work is figuring out what you're trying to say, who needs to hear it, and what's getting in the way. A website is just where all of that comes to life.

I mostly build on Squarespace, and after years deep in the platform I know how far it can go and when to push past its limits. These days, I'm especially drawn to working as a fractional partner - getting to know an organization over time and helping with whatever moves them forward, whether that's a full redesign, an ongoing hand with content and strategy, or just being the person who knows their site best. I write here about AI, UX, eCommerce, web strategy, and making the complex feel a little more human.

Contact Me

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Nonprofit Fundraising Trends with Nadine Gabai-Botero

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The Corporate Civic Playbook with Steven Levine