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Beyond the Donation podcast episode 2 cover with Anna Larson

Ep. 02 | Building Relationships Builds Tables (Anna Larson, CCRI)

Our Guest:  Anna Larson, Development & Communications Director at CCRI

About CCRI:  CCRI provides services for people with disabilities, using five different programs that currently support 450 people who need assistance.

CCRI has 550 team members, 475 of whom are direct care caregivers, with 75 case managers and administrative staff. Fundraising team is four of those administrative team members, none of whom are able to be dedicated to fundraising full time.

(3:57) Tablescapes Event: Equivalent to a "gala" event, but less formal.

(10:55) Post Event Process following Tablescapes

OneCause Fundraising 

(15:40) Economical [Inflation] Impacts & Budget Planning Process

(19:00) How to not oversaturate donors

Golden BTD Nugget: Find what works and what donors respond best to. Find what is most successful and focus on that rather than focusing on every available fundraising opportunity.

“We pick and choose what is the most successful for us and what hasn’t been as much so we’re not spending all our time and effort on something that isn’t going to be very fruitful.” - Anna Larson

“Keeping good data and being good stewards of data is really important for modern nonprofits.” - Matt Bitzegaio

Anna’s Pro Tip: A personal touch is so very important. Picking up the phone to call, thank, and update donors, inviting donors to see the impact of their donation, and keeping them informed by utilizing personal contact with individualized interaction is key.

More About CCRI:

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More About Anna Larson:

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To Connect with Beyond the Donation Podcast:

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Can a small development team do relational fundraising?

Yes — with the right system. Trying to do relational fundraising from memory or spreadsheets does not scale. A CRM with built-in stewardship workflows, an Action Board that organizes each day, and AI assistance for drafting personalized communications lets a three-person team manage relational stewardship across a thousand-donor portfolio.

Last updated
April 25, 2026
What is Smart Stewardship?

Smart Stewardship is DonorDock's methodology for running donor relationships systematically. It combines stewardship journeys, a daily Action Board for fundraiser focus, Smart Nudges for automated next-step prompts, and Otto for AI-assisted communications. It makes relational fundraising scalable for growing and mid-sized nonprofits, not just shops with endless staff time.

Last updated
April 25, 2026
Author
Elisha Ford
Content Writer
Last updated:
April 29, 2026
Written by
Elisha Ford
Content Writer

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