[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:06] Speaker B: Welcome to the game Changer Unlocked. I'm your host, Brian Fetzer. Today we are joined by two powerhouse innovators reshaping how values driven consumers and businesses connect. Kurt and Kristin Ludhart are the co founders of the Prosper Group and authors of an incredible book Liberty Spenders. I read it actually in one day. It's a groundbreaking guide helping brands reach a values aligned market. They estimate it's nearly $5 trillion in annual spending. Kristin is an award winning strategist and AAPC Top 40 Under 40 honoree. While Curt has raised over a half a billion dollars and supported elections of more than 100 members of Congress, 15 senators, 15 governors and a president.
Kristin and Kurt, welcome to the show.
[00:01:01] Speaker C: Hi. Thanks Brian.
[00:01:02] Speaker A: Lovely to be here.
[00:01:03] Speaker B: I'm so excited.
Let's get things kicked off with the big idea that started it all. The origin of Liberty Spenders and the market. You know, the market opportunity most businesses don't see.
[00:01:19] Speaker C: Well, I mean our background you mentioned in politics and so we've been doing that for 20 years and again as you mentioned, we've raised over 500 million doll.
And so we really saw that and saw a gap in the marketplace and an opportunity for business owners to take advantage of this.
We saw the shift in consumer behavior where they were 82% of consumers were saying they wanted to connect with a brand based on their values and 75% had switched a brand based on a values misalignment. And so we wrote the book Liberty Spenders to help business owners and entrepreneurs really connect with a segment of the market that is politically conservative or Christian and that wants to buy from businesses that align with their values.
[00:02:00] Speaker B: Was there like an aha moment, Like a specific ahoma aha moment that kind of led you to, to write Liberty Spenders?
[00:02:09] Speaker A: I'll tell you the, I think the, the big catalyzing moment for us when we saw what happened with Black Rifle Coffee company.
They had grown so quickly and eventually went public for over a billion dollars in one of the toughest, most competitive markets in the country.
And if somebody could build a values aligned business in coffee and compete with the likes of Starbucks and there's something going on here and by the way, it's big enough to grow a billion dollar.
[00:02:46] Speaker B: Those are staggering numbers. Right?
[00:02:48] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:50] Speaker B: When you think Liberty spenders for somebody just in plain English, how would you define that term Liberty Spenders?
[00:02:58] Speaker C: Well, you know I shared before about consumer behavior has shifted and so really quick what you would need to know is Liberty Spenders, that's our term. That we identify. It's an underserved market. Yes. They spend $5 trillion a year.
It's made up of over 76 and a half million people. And they're looking to buy from businesses and brands that align with their faith or Christian or conservative values.
[00:03:22] Speaker A: Yeah. And the way I look at it is you need to imagine somebody who might drive 20 minutes past a Popeyes Chicken to eat at a Chick Fil A. Right.
These are the people who are, you know, Hobby Lobby and Michael's are right next to each other.
And on Sunday they're going to not shop at all because Hobby Lobby is closed.
Because they are. They're dedicated to those brands and those companies that care about what they care about.
[00:03:50] Speaker B: For, for a small business owner or for a company like that, what is one of the first things that you would suggest to them that they need to do to get in line and kind of get the products going the right way?
[00:04:07] Speaker C: I think the first advice I'd give to anyone is just, it's from one, it's from our book. It's one of our first P's in our 5P process. And it's understanding the people.
It's amazing how many just driven entrepreneurs fall in love with their product or service and they forget about the customer, the ideal customer. And so I think the more you can understand the people who you're trying to serve, what they need, how to connect with them, that's the best first step you could take.
[00:04:36] Speaker B: When you talk about authenticity and trust.
You know, what does a real ad, kind of a real situation look like?
[00:04:48] Speaker A: Yeah. If you'll let us wax philosophically a little bit, we live in a very low trust media environment right now.
People see things in traditional media, they see things on social media, and they just don't know whether what they're seeing is true.
Is it biased in some way? Was it even fake or created by AI?
And what we do know is as consumers struggle with trust, one of the quickest ways they get from. I don't know if this is true to I trust this is when they know that the person that they're talking to, the business that they're listening from, that they're part of their tribe.
That's a great way. So I don't know what to trust, but I know I can trust this. I know I can trust this influencer. They're a person of faith or they're a person who shares my political values. And so what it looks like is you've got to be willing to call out to Your people in your advertisements beyond features and benefits and saying, hey, I've got a product that's going to help you lose weight or that's going to help you grow your business. But I am somebody who is just like you. I've been through what you've been through. I care about what you care about. And you can trust that what you're hearing, what you're going to hear next is something that you can believe in.
[00:06:12] Speaker B: Is there a success story that you've heard that kind of blew your mind for somebody that was, you know, that. Read the Liberty Spenders book.
[00:06:24] Speaker A: Yeah. You know, one of our fun ones. This blows my mind because it's been a fun project. We were introduced a little over a year ago to an Indy car race car driver who is a great Christian young gentleman and needed to help find partners and sponsors for his car.
And because he was a committed Christian, was absolutely committed to finding sponsors that reflected his values.
And so he was looking for the kinds of people that we know.
And so over the course of a year, we were really helpful in transforming his contacts and his network and introducing him to a whole new group of people that have become interested in and negotiating to sponsor his car in 2026.
And he was able to capture them on a completely different level because they aligned with him and his faith values.
So they were able to go from sending cold LinkedIn messages to having real conversations.
[00:07:28] Speaker B: Are you finding that that way is kind of taking over in a much bigger factor? From a standpoint of the cold emailing, that really kind of seems like it's kind of like 1990s.
Have you found that? Is it social media or is it direct messages, LinkedIn? Where are you kind of finding the sweet spot?
[00:07:57] Speaker C: For me, those are all tactics and I think all those tactics are fine. What we're trying to help entrepreneurs is think about an actual evergreen strategy. And so we're trying to help people understand conviction driven marketing, which is what we help people with, and then the tactics you can build around that. But the key is to connect, connect with your customer, tell a passionate story, connect on values, and then you can utilize all the various tactics. But I think to your point, what a lot of business owners, and I struggle with this too as a, as a serial entrepreneur is the shiny object syndrome. And so we're trying to find the latest funnel hack or do I need to do a TikTok dance? Or know what do I need to do? And how does AI affect everything?
And what really matters is what's your fundamental strategy? And Then you can build the tactics around that.
[00:08:46] Speaker B: That's, that's a great point.
Would you think, would you say that that's kind of the one of the biggest mistakes that brands are making right now as they're trying to go for that shiny object that the TikTok dance and you know, you see all the different goofy things.
[00:09:03] Speaker C: Well, don't we all do that? I mean, we're human. We're trying to find that. We're trying to. Well, no, I don' I don't have TikTok, but we're trying to find that fix that quick fix, what's gonna solve my pain, what's gonna help me meet my goals.
And so that's just our human temptation.
And it's the harder thing to do is to outline a holistic strategy. And then how are you gonna make that work and what work are you gonna put in to make that happen? You know, this dealing with athletes and it's not the quick thing that you have to do, it's what's the discipline and how are you gonna show up? What, how are you going to execute on that every single day?
[00:09:44] Speaker B: If somebody wants to know or find the book, where can they buy the book Liberty Spenders?
[00:09:51] Speaker A: Well, you can absolutely buy it on Amazon but you can also get it as a gift because you've watched this great show of Brian Fetzer's and we have a URL celebrity spenders.com unlocked. Unlocked a I, I can tell you.
[00:10:09] Speaker B: Right now, like I said, I read the book in one day when I got it and it was there was a lot of questions that my wife we're sitting around the next couple days and I'd be, hey, did you know, did you know this? Did you hear that?
It was, it's great.
I would highly, highly recommend it.
After this commercial break, we are going to come back and talk to Kurt and Kristen a little bit more. We're going to dive into some more specifics and, and their book, Liberty Spenders. Again, phenomenal book. I would highly encourage. We will be back right after this. Commercial break. More with Kirt and Kristen.
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Welcome back to the show. I'm here again with Kristen and Kurt Ludhart, founders, strategists, and two of the most influential, influential digital minds in the modern fundraising. I can promise you that in this segment, we're going to kind of go behind the scenes. I want to talk about the early beginnings, their partnerships and the discipline of raising hundreds of millions of dollars and the high stakes lessons that really shape their signature approach.
These insights, hey, they don't just apply to campaigns for politicians. They apply to any business looking to grow clearly and with conviction.
Kristen, Kurt, again, thank you so much. I want to go back to the beginning. Where did y' all meet? How did this all kind of come about? Because I think that's an important part.
[00:12:30] Speaker A: When we met in college at Indiana Weston University in Marion, Indiana. And of course, in the nerdiest meeting way possible, Kristin came to the College Republican Club, which I was president of, because she wanted to organize a trip to a big conservative conference called cpac.
And she came and that's how we met.
[00:12:53] Speaker C: Yeah, we're nerds.
[00:12:58] Speaker B: I love it.
That's awesome.
When you meet way back and you kind of see the whole growth process go through, that's amazing.
When you guys, you know, getting started and you get into the political side and raising funds for campaigns, what is a fundraising 101 kind of process that you started from, from very, the very beginning. And then we'll ask and then I'll get you to say, how does it change?
[00:13:29] Speaker A: Yeah, you know, I, there are three things I can think of that have been true from the beginning that are absolutely essential.
First one is people donate.
We do crowdfunding, not major donor funding. Crowdfunding, small dollar donors, they donate because of emotion. And if you haven't come up with a way to appeal to their emotions, nothing's going to happen.
Second, they have to be given a reason to give urgently because people might feel the emotion. And then if you say, well, I could use your support, maybe, you know, just whenever you can give it, you know, people will procrastinate. That's what we do. Good intentions. I'm going to set this letter aside or I'm not going to delete this email, I'm going to come back and I'm going to give. But people need urgency. The third thing is you have to see crowdfunding and fundraising for to small dollar donors. A little like starting a 401k.
Those first few months of putting money into your 401k as a 20 something is so painful.
How can I live without this $50?
But you do it month after month after month and then the results start to accumulate. And what happens for so many people is they donate a couple of months or they invest a couple of months in their fundraising or into their 401k and then they say, I can't afford the $50 anymore. And then they give up.
And that's where most of these programs go wrong, is they just don't, they don't include the time element in their decision making.
[00:15:15] Speaker B: Question I have is, you know, you guys raised a lot of money.
Is there a situation where.
[00:15:24] Speaker A: That you've.
[00:15:25] Speaker B: Learned about like donor trust that really kind of hits home with somebody that's fundraising?
[00:15:33] Speaker A: You know, Absolutely.
What I try to remind people of our clients is our donors are often smarter than you think they are.
You, you cannot give them.
You can't create emails or send solicitations that just don't ring true because eventually people will catch on to this.
What's notorious in the political scene for a long time were these ridiculous emails you would get saying, I have a donor who's going to match money that is solicited. And in politics it's not even legal, let alone do they. And so campaigns would just say that.
And to get more reaction they kept, well, it was a two to one match for a while, then it was a four to one match, then it was eight to one match. Now it just doesn't work because people realize you're making it up. And so you have to be paying attention to the fact that these people are not.
They may not know as much as we know about what's going on in politics, but they're smart enough to catch something that's just erroneous. And some of the companies that were notorious for those tactics have really suffered in recent years because they've lost trust with the donors they manage. And once you lose that trust with your donors, it's really hard to get it back. And so it's just not worth the potential jump in short term donations to lose the long term relationship you have with these people.
[00:17:08] Speaker C: Yeah, watch the gimmicks.
[00:17:10] Speaker B: Pardon me?
[00:17:11] Speaker C: Watch the gimmicks. Watch out for the gimmicks. Don't rely on gimmicks.
[00:17:17] Speaker B: Based on that, I was going to ask you, is their consistency, do you see many donors jumping from one to the next more specifically in a political side of things or are they tried and true? Which one would it be?
[00:17:33] Speaker C: Well, there's definitely a Mix. And we grew our career. We got very good at national fundraising. And so that's how we got hired on multiple presidential campaigns.
And so it's different. Someone who will give in a local campaign. Environment. Environment. But what we found is absolutely the creme de la creme of your grassroots. Donors were giving to candidates running all over the country. In fact, what was really funny is in presidential primaries they'd give to multiple people running against each other.
So, so they will get attached to someone, they'll get excited and they'll donate. And then they might give to their, in the same party, an opponent of theirs. So there's definitely a group. And that translates to business too, which is who are your most valuable customer, who are your most valuable audience and to pay a lot of attention to them because those are the ones who are going to keep you afloat.
[00:18:22] Speaker A: And we, we also spend a lot of time and effort generating monthly contributors.
So we for Ted Cruz, for example, last year, who we helped him raise $38 million online in 11 months.
We had tens of thousands of people who were signed up to give to him every month.
And so we spent a lot of extra time and effort converting a first time donor into a monthly donor.
And that created that consistency you're talking about. And it only required one decision.
You know, vote. People who donate tend to do so on somewhat of an impulse. Right. They see that emotional appeal. They know the money is needed now and then at that point we're asking them to contribute monthly and they're checking that button to do so.
That way you're not having to constantly come back to them and ask them for more cash at times when they might not be as emotionally connected or they may not feel that same sense of urgency.
[00:19:23] Speaker B: Is there a similar process for a non profit group that's trying to do fundraising as one for a political campaign or political situation?
[00:19:40] Speaker A: It's absolutely very similar.
There are some different rules with nonprofits, but the same principles apply. It's that what is that reason that people need to give and how can we touch them in their hearts?
Why do they need to give now? But I think more with nonprofits is the ability to be patient and make investments over time.
When we have done, we haven't done a ton of work outside of politics for nonprofits through the years, but when we have, I find that there's so much more urgency in politics because the election is in a week. Right. And when the election's over, it's over.
Right. There's no second place. You don't Get a consolation prize. You don't get to be vice president after you lost to the president.
So there's this urgency that helps in politics. It doesn't exist in nonprofits. So nonprofits require more patience, more willingness to make these ongoing investments, building their lists. Small dollar fundraising is about scale, right? If a non profit might be able to get significant donations from a major donor, it's not uncommon for large nonprofits to receive seven figure gifts. But to get seven figure fundraising, you might need five or 10,000 people to combine to give that kind of money.
So you really have to have the patience to build that kind of scale.
And for 5 or 10,000 people to give, you might need 150,000 people who you're talking to on a regular basis. So it's just something you have to have patience about.
[00:21:17] Speaker B: Is there something that you learned, like a lesson that you learned you could go back to the younger, younger curtain, Kristen, that you fundraise, that you would change now from what you did from the start?
[00:21:31] Speaker C: I think for me, what I would tell myself, because we didn't have any connections, we really earned everything that we got. In those early days, driving across the country, sometimes sleeping in our car, I just told myself I was going to outwork everyone, that I wasn't going to rely on connections and that I was just going to blow people away with my work ethic. And I think if I were to tell myself now, I would be seeking more counsel, I would be trying to do more joint venture partnerships.
I would be not trying to do all of it alone.
Which is why so much of what we're helping businesses do now is come together to not be alone. A lot of us are high achievers and there's, there's, there's beauty in having some support to meet our goals together.
[00:22:19] Speaker B: That might be the best segue without actually being a segue because we're going to talk about the prosper group right after the break. Can you tell the audience so they can, can check it out? Where, where can they, you know, find out more about the prosper group and what you guys do there?
[00:22:36] Speaker C: Yeah, well, prosper groupcorp.com that's our political agency that we help candidates mostly. And then libertyspenders.com is where you can go to learn how we're helping businesses.
[00:22:47] Speaker B: Well, up next we're going to take a closer look at the prosper group itself.
What they do, you know, who they help and how they deliver consistent results at scale right after this.
Welcome back to the Game Changer Unlocked with us Again are Kristen and Kurt Ludhart, whose agency, the Prosper Group, has become one of the most trusted partners for campaigns, causes and mission driven organizations. I can tell you, no question. In this segment we dig into the engine that drives their success. The data, the creative clarity, and a unique approach that, you know, kind of blends precision with purpose.
You know, digital strategy today requires more than just ads. It demands, you know, targeted funnels, rigorous testing, analytics, you know, driven decisions, and more importantly, human centered messaging. Kurt and Kristin, they're going to break down this approach a little bit.
You know, just want to ask you what makes the Prosper Group different than every other agency that's out there?
[00:24:11] Speaker A: You know, our specialty at Prosper Group started working by working exclusively for political candidates. And then we started doing more work for, I don't know, we call political adjacent type organizations advocacy, we might call it. So they'd be nonprofits, but maybe would have a public policy or political outcome.
Probably the biggest thing that makes us different is we have 20 years of data that we've built up on the kinds of people who want to donate to a political campaign and a political cause, particularly on the center right, we work with Republicans and conservative causes, and that's something that just can't be replicated, replicated off the street.
The best place to go to find somebody who wants to donate to a Republican political candidate is to somebody who voted, who vote, who donated to a different Republican political candidate. And so that access to 20 years of history and data is so valuable, you're essentially being given, giving yourself a head start in success.
So that's probably the absolute, distinct and original advantage we have right now working with campaigns and causes.
[00:25:34] Speaker C: And if I could add to that, you know, what we're now doing helping businesses, it's the exact same reason, which is you walk out of the street and you throw a stone, you're going to hit 50 other marketing agencies.
And so our specific value proposition and niche is that we know this audience of liberty spenders, we know this audience of politically conservative or Christian consumers. And so if you're interested in marketing to those people, of having an evergreen strategy, come to us because that's an audience we know really well and we can help you succeed and build a profitable strategy based on what we call conviction driven marketing, which is very different than someone who's just trying to sell you Facebook ads or help you on LinkedIn or just wants to cut a TV ad. We're very specific in what we offer.
[00:26:22] Speaker B: Is there successes beyond just dollars and cents? I Mean, I know that sounds kind of crazy when you're talking about fundraising, but there has to be some kind of successes beyond that. And you guys have both mentioned it's kind of a longer term situation. You're not just trying to go for the quick fix that, hey, give me five bucks and then I don't ever want to talk to you again.
[00:26:44] Speaker C: I mean, sometimes there is a quick fix, but you're right, it's that mindset, I think, that can get us, get us trapped sometimes.
[00:26:52] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, for, for campaigns and causes, there absolutely is an awareness outcome that we've helped build for people, which has advantages across the board. You know, when you're, when you're asking for money for a politician, you're also, by the way, putting their name and their issue positions in front of somebody in a very positive light.
So even if early fundraising ROI isn't solid, the brand awareness and the image building is in the same way. You can think about that as a brand.
When you think about the two types of advertisements you might undertake, you can do. In politics, we call it the air war versus the ground war. But it's the idea that some of your ads are specifically transactional. When you're selling from your, for your brand and those ads are asking for a purchase, some of your ads should simply be explaining who you are and why you exist and why you care.
And the right combination of those two lifts both ships one without the other can be very difficult.
[00:28:05] Speaker B: You said something that kind of sparked my, my curiosity even more.
When you start talking about the, the community side of things and you didn't really say the word community, but as you're, as you're getting in and kind of like causes or like thought processes with, with business owners where, how does that factor in from a standpoint of I'm a business owner and I'm trying to learn from others, how do you guys help on that aspect of it?
[00:28:42] Speaker C: Well, it's a great question. And again, we have benefited ourselves. It's partly why we've come to this point in our own career is we have been helped so much by other masterminds and group communities where we have been surrounded by other people who challenge us, who have something to add, who have something to teach and share.
And so for us, how we help with that is we have our own community of the Liberty Business Alliance.
And so we invite people who want to learn more about this to join. We have workshops, webinars, trainings. But then the network effect is so powerful because people are finding ways to do business collaborations together, they're helping to solve other people's problems. Hey, I'm running into this. What are you seeing?
And so we're really just blessed to be able to create that environment so that like minded business owners and entrepreneurs can come together and grow together.
[00:29:36] Speaker B: What brought about the thought process for the Liberty Business Alliance?
[00:29:41] Speaker A: I think for me it was understanding that if I could put a finger on one thing, and it's hard to say one thing that's really helped us have our success, it's been the connections and collaborations we've made that almost nothing really amazing happens alone.
And Kristen referenced this earlier when she talked about one regret was when we were trying to do it alone, we got nowhere. But when we found good partners, collaborators, joint ventures, that's when we saw success and we'd like to help now that we've been doing this for 20 plus years, help facilitate those kinds of collaborations and those kinds of partnerships. Because it's often really who you know more than what you know or how to do something, it's who can do it for me, who's that right partner who has my customer already and might be willing to partner with me. Those kinds of important questions can lead to some real million dollar ideas. Million dollar partnerships.
[00:30:51] Speaker B: When you mentioned the word partnerships, has there been a partnership that came about and I, you don't have to say the exact name, but has there been a partnership that you that came about through the years of doing this that was kind of unexpected and you really didn't think but is actually prospered a little bit?
[00:31:12] Speaker C: Yeah, well, probably too many to name honestly, because it's really shifted our whole business mentality. We now just really thrive on having a partner mindset.
Even if that's just how can we win together, how can I add value to you and vice versa?
And so I can think of that in terms of list arrangements. I can think of that in terms of going back to former clients and saying, hey, here's something that we can add value to you even after you're no longer a candidate in the political space, but also as Kurt mentioned, who are other people that have our same customer and how can I find a way to add a benefit to them where we can essentially share that and do partnerships and joint ventures together. And so I think even beyond the relationships that you build where you can get such valuable introductions, because there's a network effect that is so powerful that I'm sure you've experienced as well.
But there's business to be done together.
[00:32:11] Speaker B: That'S a true statement, very true statement.
If, if somebody, you know, they're approaching, they're going to work with you guys, what's, what do they have to be kind of prepared for in that first phone call? That would be, hey, I want to work with you guys.
What do I need to kind of bring to the table?
[00:32:31] Speaker A: You know, I would bring to the table a willingness to share what's really going on.
Yes, that is essential.
There's a lot we can do and help people with, but the best way to do it is when we don't have to guess.
And I know how difficult this is because as a fellow business owner, I often find it difficult to explain. Hey, here are the things I'm struggling with. Here are the things that aren't working. Here's what I tried and failed.
Here's where I think maybe my product isn't serving people right. Whatever that issue is. It can be often hard to explain, particularly to somebody who you're new to relationship with. But understanding those things help us come up with solutions faster. One of the things we talk about here is we don't want to spend months planning to plan to plan. And that's pretty common in sort of the marketing space.
We want to get right to how can we help you tomorrow? And oftentimes those are partnerships and introductions. And if we understand where the immediate gaps are, we can take things to the next level quickly.
[00:33:41] Speaker B: It's such a true statement. You find more and more business owners, do you feel that are kind of reluctant to be straightforward and honest with where they're currently at?
[00:33:51] Speaker A: Well, look, most of us are a little self deluded, you know, we're entrepreneurs after all, we got in business because we thought we've got the multimillion dollar idea. So it takes a little bit of delusion to even want to start. But I often think some of, you know, some of us, myself included, don't appreciate our blind spots, which often come from things like pride and an unwillingness to hear feedback or greed or fear.
And these are the kinds of things that sometimes are hard to diagnose, self diagnose.
And so I don't think people often come and say, well, I'm going to hide intentionally.
It's just that we're a little bit unaware of where we're failing and what's not working.
[00:34:51] Speaker B: Yeah, I can see so many times people, what you're saying. So many times I talk to somebody and the first expression is always, how are things going? Great. They're awesome.
[00:35:01] Speaker C: Right? Right.
[00:35:02] Speaker B: And when you know that they're bleeding money and they're, they're not, they're not in the right, right place. But that's just kind of, I guess, the, the normal way now to say how to, how do you kind of explain a situation?
[00:35:17] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:35:18] Speaker C: And the best way to snap out of that is I think, being willing to just speak truth with some grace and love.
And so, you know, for us, we want to know who our identity is. And as believers, our identity is in our Savior, Jesus Christ. And so we're okay, even if everything else around us looks like it's a hot mess.
And so I think we try to bring that so that other people can hopefully have some comfort.
And the only reason I can help anybody get out of a hole is because I've been there first and I found my way out. So that means I can help you find your way out. Not because we've not screwed up. Right. We've made all those mistakes probably times 10, whatever you're dealing with.
[00:35:58] Speaker B: So true. So, so true.
Coming up next, a fast, fun future focused lightning round where we're going to explore some personal habits, kind of the next wave and some, some fundraising trends and, and one KPI that people absolutely need to pay attention to. Right back next on the Game Changer Unlocked.
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welcome back. As we wrap up today's conversation with Kurt and Kristen, we're going to shift into kind of a lightning round format of sorts. A little rapid insights, maybe some future predictions, you know, some personal habits that fuel their work.
Hopefully I'm going to make this segment kind of fun and kind of forward thinking. Strategy will give you some quick masterclass maybe on fundraising or digital engagement as things are headed.
So, hey, so the future of audience, you know, connection is fast. AI privacy, short form content, donor segment.
They're kind of reshaping how things grow. And Kurt and Kristin, you know, share what leaders need to know and just make sure you check out that book Liberty Spenders and go to the pod, the prosper group to find out more.
All right, coffee or tea?
Which one is your, I guess choice or poison, whatever you want to call it.
[00:38:10] Speaker C: I am now a coffee drinker but I wasn't until I was in my 30s, so I'm a late coffee drinker and I'm. And I'm a terrible person to ask about this stuff because I'm not an aficionado.
So I don't do the fancy coffee orders. I'm always blanking out. I don't know what to do. I ask other people what I should order.
So I.
I drink my coffee from Seven Weeks Coffee, which is a great brand to support, and it is delicious. And I throw in my little collagen peptides in there, some creamer, and I'm off to go.
[00:38:43] Speaker A: Yes. Coffee black.
That's what I do. Nothing. Nothing else in it.
[00:38:53] Speaker B: Is there a productivity ritual that you go through as you're kind of working through, working with a new client?
[00:39:02] Speaker A: For me, I. I do not think well sitting and I need to get up and walk around.
I thankfully have the basement to myself, which is a little limiting on the family, but I have the whole basement to myself. And I have giant post it notes that I stick on the wall. And all of my ideas come pacing around the basement, writing with on those giant post it notes.
[00:39:29] Speaker C: Yeah. And Kurt's a great planner. I would say for me, if I ever really need to focus. One hack is a great music soundtrack.
And this one I gotta recommend, it's not for everybody, but the Tron soundtrack, they're coming out with a new one, but the one previously, that soundtrack was epic. And now I'm blanking out on who it was.
[00:39:50] Speaker A: Daft Punk. Yeah. Yes.
[00:39:52] Speaker C: Oh, my goodness. It's so good. If you just want to sit and like, be in the zone.
[00:39:57] Speaker B: You could have given me a million guesses. I'm certain I would not have came up with what you just said, but I know my wife would have because she's, she's into. Into that big time. For sure.
[00:40:10] Speaker C: That's not normally my go to, but it works when you need to focus.
[00:40:13] Speaker B: That's awesome.
[00:40:15] Speaker A: When.
[00:40:15] Speaker B: Okay, now, things coming in the future, what do each of you feel is kind of the.
The next step in the evolution of fundraising?
[00:40:27] Speaker A: I'll tell you, I think it's going to become acoustic brands, which is a term I'm stealing from a third party whose name I can't remember. So forgive me, but it's the idea. We're going to go through this phase where everybody's going to get excited about AI created stuff, and then people are going to start craving reality and they want it verified. And so I think you're going to start seeing more nonprofits, other people fundraising, swearing off the use of AI, particularly for creative, and then certifying it somehow. Like if you get a copy of our Liberty Spenders book, it says right at the very right inside with the copywriting, Certified Human written. We didn't write it with Chat GPT.
We didn't even use ChatGPT to help us come up with any of the concepts. Unfortunately, we did it all. So I think everybody's excited about AI right now. I think particularly in advertising, we're going to start seeing kind of a backlash against that.
And people will want to know, hey, this is real.
[00:41:39] Speaker B: Before, Chris, before you say something, I 100% agree with that because I think now I see something. If it is on social media, my first thought is, this can't be real. This has to be AI generated.
I think you got something there, which is crazy because we haven't even come into the AI generated world yet. But getting used to that pretty quick.
[00:42:06] Speaker A: I think somebody jumping on that trend right now from the standpoint of use of AI could, would be ahead of the game and would benefit.
[00:42:18] Speaker B: Christian, what's your thought?
[00:42:20] Speaker C: Oh, no, I don't disagree. I just think, you know, human connection. We're already seeing this. And if you, if you. I know you're asking about fundraising, I think, specifically, but if you just see how that's impacting society and trends and, and young people who struggle talking to other people, they don't know how to meet someone in real life.
Irl, I just getting together in person and having some community, some human connection and community is gonna be so important. Even though we're so blessed that we're so connected and we can see anybody all across the world with our devices, there's gonna be a return to wanting to get together with people in person.
Now, who knows, as we're all living in the metaverse or whatever else is gonna happen, but I do think that when trust is gonna be challenged a lot, we're going to want to have that authentic connection with other people.
[00:43:14] Speaker B: Authentic connections are an amazing piece that we sadly continue to lose a lot of.
If somebody was marketing and they had $1,000 to spend on it, what's the best bet? What would you say to them?
[00:43:33] Speaker A: Maybe this is a cop out, but I think affiliate marketing, now, it's money that's coming out on the back end, but I think a lot of businesses miss that opportunity. There are tons of individuals out there, influencers, brand ambassadors, media organizations, list brokers who would market your product for a percentage of the revenue.
And if you can put together an excellent offer and something that really converts your $1,000 can, can, can grow quickly.
And so I would really think pretty deeply about that.
[00:44:12] Speaker B: You got anything, Kristin?
[00:44:14] Speaker C: Oh, no, I agree.
We are one of the same.
We're preaching this all day long because ad dollars, advertising has gotten really expensive. People are seeing results drop.
And so again, it goes back to the people and human connection and the network effect.
How can you get introduced to the right people who can just expand the awareness the audience and you can get that done at a fraction of the cost when you, when you know the right people.
And that's something we try to help people do.
[00:44:44] Speaker B: All right, one of you answered the first part and one of you answer the second. What's a KPI? That's overrated. And what's underrated?
[00:44:52] Speaker C: Ooh, I'll take the under, you take the over.
[00:44:57] Speaker A: Leads. Overrated.
You know, I see a lot of people who are tracking their leads without any attention to the quality thereof.
It's even in politics, it's not hard to get a 10 cent sign up for something which sounds crazy. And you're like, this is awesome. I'm really killing it.
But only to see that the cost to convert them into anything is absolutely through the roof. So I would say looking at just the cost to get a lead is most overrated.
[00:45:31] Speaker C: Yeah. And underrated. Referrals. Referrals, Referrals, referrals.
So many business owners were so lazy about that. We're either scared we don't bake it into our process, but man, if you've got raving fans, you've got customers, clients that love what you do, you've got donors who support you.
How can you get them to be your commercial? How can you get them to introduce you? Get their testimonials. How can you track that? So many people don't have a system for it and they're just leaving money on the table. That's low hanging fruit.
And so it's often one of the quick fixes that you were, you know, we joked about earlier, that's often a quick fix we can make is just going to your existing support base, customer base, and figuring out how you can build that referral program that goes back.
[00:46:18] Speaker B: To something you said earlier about authentic relationships.
[00:46:22] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:46:23] Speaker B: And building those authentic relationships and how those kind of track over time and they open so many doors. And I couldn't agree more. I've got one more question for you.
If you could have a billboard maybe in Times Square or anywhere in the country, what would it say in describing liberty spenders.
[00:46:48] Speaker C: I see you looking at me, so I'll take a crack at it. That's a pass the buck. The husband, wife, pass the buck. I have one.
[00:46:57] Speaker A: Go ahead first because you're gonna kill it now.
[00:46:59] Speaker C: I just think, you know, liberty spenders, the book. This is just our attempt at not being a regular business book but being a practical guide for business owners that want to find a way to build a profitable business using conviction driven marketing and really aligning with their customers on things that they care about beyond the product or service. And this is our attempt at giving you and equipping you and empowering you on how to do that.
[00:47:24] Speaker A: I have a pithier version. Kristin has the best version. I pith. Your version is 75% of all American consumers have said they've quit a brand in the last 12 months over values misalignment. Don't be one of them.
[00:47:40] Speaker B: That is an absolutely staggering statistic stagger. I mean I can see it myself because I've, I've definitely experienced that there's been some, you know, companies I've deleted or whatever you want to say.
[00:47:54] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, they buy. Felicia. Right.
[00:48:00] Speaker B: You could see them going in a direction didn't really align with, with thought process.
Chris and Kurt, where can people. One more time. Where can people find your work, find the book and connect with your organization or organization?
[00:48:15] Speaker C: Well, we've got a page set up for your audience, libertyspenders.com unlocked and there you get some information about what we can do for you and you can get a free copy of that book. Although we will take your money if you want to buy it on Amazon, we won't say no.
[00:48:31] Speaker B: Well, I would highly recommend anybody watching this go to that link, get that free book. You are not going to be disappointed by it. I probably told a dozen or two people and, and they all said the same thing.
Thank you both for an incredible, really insightful, you know, insight packed, you know, conversation. There's, there's so much to this. I, I probably will actually go back and, and watch it myself and, and listen to it. On the flip side, you know, your work continues to inspire entrepreneurs, nonprofits, leaders to kind of think boldly, you know, act with conviction, which I think is an important thing. You know, build values driven businesses that truly serve the communities.
You know, to our viewers. Remember, unlocking your game changing moment starts with clarity, strategy and really the courage to reach the right people in the right way. I'm Brian Fetzer and this has been the game changer unlocked. Stay inspired, stay intentional and we'll see you the next time. Be blessed.
