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Book Praise

About the Book

What nonprofit experts are saying about Captivate and Engage

  • St. Baldrick’s Foundation has become the #1 private funder of childhood cancer research because of the thousands of people worldwide who have supported our volunteer-powered charity. THAT would not be possible without the online tools we offer for people to get involved. Firespring has been instrumental in helping us to realize our vision with respect to our website, our online event-in-a-box offerings, and our associated digital marketing capabilities. What has helped us to succeed is now available to you in this must-read for any nonprofit competing in today’s market-driven environments.

    —Kathleen Ruddy, CEO, St. Baldrick’s Foundation

  • Don’t miss this! It’s a wonderfully readable guide for nonprofits about how to create an online presence that is focused on donors and optimized for results. Every single organization these days needs to be having honest and fluid conversations with their constituents. Jay and Randy do a remarkable job of showing how an engaging website can facilitate those conversations and foster donor loyalty for the long haul.

    —Beth Kanter, Trainer, Speaker and Author, Beth’s Blog, Co-Author, The Networked Nonprofit

  • Cool book. Easy to read. Practical. Accessible. Confirmed that Facebook isn’t the answer to everything. Reaffirmed my commitment to blogging. And I learned bunches of new stuff.

    —Simone P. Joyaux, ACFRE, Adv Dip, Owner, Joyaux Associates, Co-Author, Keep Your Donors

  • If you are one of thousands of nonprofit professionals struggling to convey your mission online, read this book now.

    —Tom Ahern, Ahern Donor Communications, Author, Seeing Through a Donor’s Eyes

  • Most donors, event attendees, volunteers and prospective donors will visit your website BEFORE they take action. Finally a resource that understands! A book filled with real-life, innovative ideas to help any nonprofit master their online presence.

    —Lori L. Jacobwith, Founder, Ignited Fundraising

  • Captivate and Engage is a must-read for every nonprofit, even if they don’t have a website redesign project on the horizon. The ‘ideas to steal’ and ‘someone doing it right’ features provide simple, yet substantive, tips and examples that nonprofits can implement today.

    —Rick Cohen, Director of Communications and Operations, National Council of Nonprofits

  • Working with Firespring was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my professional career. The advice provided in the book is the same advice we followed for years while I was at the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. These are actionable and realistic ideas that you can begin implementing today.

    —Natalie Stamer, Vice President, Content & Digital Marketing, Muscular Dystrophy Association

  • You will find the new publication, Captivate and Engage: The Definitive Guide for Nonprofit Websites, offers a practical, comprehensive discussion in positioning your nonprofit for an effective online presence. It is written in a way that lays the groundwork for addressing overall organizational branding and addresses specific problematic situations with real life solutions. Jay Wilkinson and Randy Hawthorne have done a masterful job based on many years of experience in the field!

    —Paul Strawhecker, President, Paul J. Strawhecker, Inc.

  • Randy and Jay have done a beautiful job of distilling a wealth of actionable ideas for building an online presence. Plenty of examples and in-the-trenches advice make this book a powerful how-to for nonprofits. Nicely done!

    —Denise McMahan, Founder/Publisher, CausePlanet

  • Engagement is the name of the game for nonprofits going forward … Captivate and Engage gets it right!

    —Mike Browne, Founder, Browne Innovation Group

  • I absolutely loved this book! It is relevant, direct, no nonsense, to the point, digestible, useful … loved the accent on writing for the donor/volunteer/customer … loved the examples and the Ideas Worth Stealing. This book works for nonprofits and even for-profits, consultants, trainers … anyone with a website who wants to make the website work.

    —Jean Block, President, Jean Block Consulting

  • Nonprofit leaders need to establish themselves as experts in their fields so top talent, media interview requests and board member applications easily come their way. It’s a gathering, rather than hunting approach, and it takes assembling a team to blog regularly. Jay Wilkinson and Randy Hawthorne show you exactly how in this essential handbook.

    —John M. Fulwider, Ph.D., President, Fulwider Coaching and Consulting, Author, Better Together: How Top Nonprofit CEOs and Board Chairs Get Happy, Fall in Love, and Change Their World

  • At Social Change Nation, I’m constantly encouraging my students to implement tactics that lead to dramatic growth of impact. You’ll find a ton of sensible, actionable ideas inside the pages of this book. But be careful. If you implement these ideas, you must be ready for explosive growth!

    —Joshua Schukman, Chief Inspiration Officer, Social Change Nation

  • Jay and Randy have lived and led the ideas shared in Captivate and Engage. This is an incredible tool for nonprofits who need a clear, easy-to-implement blueprint for their online messaging. Having shared the stage many times with both, they are authentic and sincere in their passion to empower nonprofits with greater results through a deeper understanding of marketing and technology.

    —Marcy Heim, CFRE, PLCC, Founder and Principal, The Artful Asker

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