Season 6 Episode 8: Discovering Fresh Campaign Ideas From Within with Disabled American Veterans' Laura Rusche

In our Season 6 finale, Disabled American Veteran’s Laura Rusche joins the podcast to share how one grassroots initiative evolved into a scalable DIY fundraising program.

The next great campaign idea may not come from watching what other organizations are doing. It may come from paying closer attention to the people who already support your mission.

In this episode, Marcie Maxwell talks with Laura Rusche, Strategic Fundraising Priorities Manager at DAV (Disabled American Veterans). Laura shares the story behind Field of Flags, a program that began outside of peer-to-peer fundraising and grew into a powerful community-driven campaign that continues to expand its reach and impact.

Laura discusses how DAV identified the early signs of potential within the program, what it took to transform an organic idea into a scalable fundraising initiative and why understanding supporter motivations became the foundation for its growth. She also explores the importance of cross-functional collaboration, internal alignment and staying connected to the community when evaluating future campaign opportunities.

Together, we’ll explore:

– Identifying untapped campaign opportunities by listening to supporters and recognizing organic momentum
– Scaling a grassroots fundraising concept into a sustainable DIY program across diverse communities
– Building internal buy-in and long-term vision to support program growth and innovation

Mentioned Links
Disabled American Veterans
Field of Flags

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Podcast Guest

Laura Benken Rusche is the strategic fundraising priorities manager for DAV (Disabled American Veterans), boasting a membership of nearly one million members.

In this role, she oversees strategic priorities and new-to-organization initiatives within the fundraising department to diversify and increase revenue streams to support DAV programs. This includes sustainer/monthly giving strategies, SMS program, peer-to-peer strategy (Field of Flags), clothing donation national program, and multichannel marketing campaigns for DAV fundraising programs. Prior to this role, Laura oversaw the vehicle donation and real estate donation programs for the nonprofit.

The granddaughter of an Army and Navy veteran, Laura is a life member of the DAV Auxiliary. She began her career with DAV in 2009 in corporate development. Before joining DAV, she was with Fifth Third Bank, where she was an officer working in marketing and communications.

Laura received a bachelors of arts in speech communication and public relations from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

She is active with the Crossroads Church community, currently serving as a board member of Women Activated ministry and an advisory council member of Her Life Foundation, serving women freed from human trafficking in Mumbai, India.

Laura and her husband reside in Cincinnati with their daughter, son and golden doodle.

Podcast Host

Marcie Maxwell is the CEO of the Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum. Marcie joined the P2PPF team in 2021 after 15+ years as a front-line fundraiser, national events & campaign director and fundraising consultant. In her role, Marcie serves as a primary thought leader and community builder for the peer-to-peer fundraising industry. She started her career in fundraising with 10+ years at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where she ran local fundraising events, managed national volunteer partnerships and launched their national walk program. She then spent 5+ years as the Director of Chapter Fundraising Events with Make-A-Wish America, where she provided strategy, support & training to 60 chapters on the full event portfolio – walks, school fundraising, an endurance hiking program and galas & social events. In her most recent role at Charity Dynamics, she partnered with clients to provide strategic guidance and analysis to help them optimize and grow their peer-to-peer fundraising events & campaigns. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from Louisiana State University and a master’s degree in Ethical Leadership from Christian Brothers University. She resides in Memphis, TN.