NEXTAFTER - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Client Services
As Vice President of Client Services for NextAfter, Aaron is responsible for leading client engagements, optimizing digital fundraising programs, and driving client results.
Before joining the NextAfter team, Aaron led growth marketing efforts as Vice President of Marketing for a digital giving platform, serving more than 50k faith-based and non profit organizations.
During his tenure there, his team was responsible for doubling new client acquisition & increasing donor generosity to more than 1 billion dollars in 2020.
Aaron has 25+ years of digital marketing, sales, and consulting experience, working across the B2B and B2C for-profit and nonprofit segments. He enjoys cultivating key relationships and partnerships as a strategic consultant to SMB's, Fortune 500 orgs, and NPOs. Aaron is leveraging this passion for growth to generate positive ROI for his customers at NextAfter.
Aaron lives in Allen, Texas with his wife of 20 years, and two very active children. He is an active volunteer and fundraiser with various NPOs that serve causes related to the outdoor industry.
Bailey is an Optimization Associate who is passionate about making a difference and making the world kinder. She graduated from Texas Tech University with a Bachelor's in Business Administration Marketing.
Before working at NextAfter, Bailey worked as a Digital Marketing Specialist for a cyber security company. During her time there, she created a campaign for the organization to start giving back to the community by volunteering at local non-profits.
When Bailey is not in the office, you can find her watching bad reality tv with her husband, Nathan, or at the dog park with their two dogs, Ella and Mac.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director of the NextAfter Institute
- Vice President of Innovation & Optimization
Brady is the Managing Director of the NextAfter Institute where he performs original research, develops evidence-based resources, and provides data-driven training to help organizations raise more money online to fund their life-changing work.
A charity nerd, adjunct professor, and international speaker, his thoughts have been featured in The Huffington Post, NPR, and The Chronicle of Philanthropy among others. He was the lead researcher and author of The Canadian Online Fundraising Scorecard, The State of Nonprofit Donation Pages, and The State of Nonprofit Email Cultivation. Brady is also a host of The Generosity Freakshow - a podcast discussing how we can improve, optimize, and grow giving and an adjunct professor at North Park University's School of Business and Nonprofit Management.
Before coming to NextAfter, Brady worked for the company he started, The Josephson Group, which founded Shift, a digital agency, and Nonprofit Supply Co., a Google Ad Grant advertising service.
Brady began his career at Spark Ventures, a start-up non-profit doing development work in Zambia, after receiving his Masters in Nonprofit Administration. He oversaw fundraising and marketing there before moving to Opportunity International, the world's largest Christian microfinance organization, where he worked in digital fundraising and then served as National Marketing Director in Canada.
He lives just outside Dallas, Texas with his wife, Liz, son, Hendrix, and dog, Melly. You can connect with him on LinkedIn, follow him on Twitter, @bradyjosephson, and learn more about his speaking here.
As a Digital Strategist for NextAfter, Brittany is responsible for executing Facebook ads, donation and offer funnels, as well as optimizing email marketing and landing pages for nonprofit organizations.
Before NextAfter, Brittany served for over 10 years with a large religious nonprofit organization in Dallas, Texas. In her role there, she led email marketing training for multiple ministries, organizational wide email platform migrations and has worked with various interdepartamental teams to improve internal processes for communications and project management.
Brittany graduated from Texas A&M University - Commerce with a bachelor's degree in health promotion. When she is not working Brittany can be found playing with her niece and nephews, serving as a Lead Team member at her church, or hanging out with friends and a charcuterie board.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Senior Vice President
Courtney Gaines serves as Senior Vice President of NextAfter. Courtney's extensive non-profit background fuels her desire today to help non-profits recognize the value they add to people's lives. She's created marketing strategies for state and national government initiatives in Minnesota and North Dakota and cultivated a new direction for how religious organizations market themselves during her time at a multi-site mega church in Chicago.
Courtney loves to help nonprofits innovate and optimize their fundraising and marketing-which led her to NextAfter. Before she joined the team, she led the digital marketing and fundraising for a $110MM radio, publishing, and education nonprofit. During her time there, Courtney championed a donor-centric, data-driven, perpetual optimization philosophy. She has developed and directed multiple innovative, multi-channel fundraising and content marketing campaigns and led an enterprise content strategy.
Courtney loves people and is passionate about bringing them together to form collaborative relationships and organizational thriving. She currently resides in Frisco, Texas with her two sons.
Courtney serves as a Digital Strategist at NextAfter and is passionate about helping nonprofits cultivate and effectively communicate their mission.
Courtney has always fought to help others. While in college, Courtney started a blog that created resources for fellow students who were struggling. The marketing skills she developed became a creative hobby while she completed her education in social work. After graduating, Courtney worked for a Texas government agency helping children in foster care. She went on to get her master's degree, working on political campaigns and for a public policy organization that advocated for legislation to positively impact the lives of children.
After completing her MSW, Courtney worked for a nonprofit SaaS organization as a social media and digital marketing specialist, managing nine social media brand accounts, weekly email content marketing campaigns to 4 million users, and all paid social advertising campaigns.
When Courtney learned about NextAfter, she jumped at the opportunity to be able to combine both her knowledge in digital marketing with her passion as a social worker to help others.
Courtney has a bachelor's degree in social work from the University of North Texas and a master's degree in political social work from the University of Houston. In her spare time, Courtney enjoys cooking, baking, and any true crime documentary that comes across her path. She lives in Allen, TX with her cat, Bee.
Deanna Blackwell has a background in assisting not-for-profit organizations and many years running her own successful business. Upon attaining her master's degree in Applied Cognition and Neuroscience from the University of Texas at Dallas, she wanted to bring her two worlds together. Her position at NextAfter allows her to blend the science of data with her love of helping others.
Analyzing and optimizing donor-based programs, following the story within the numbers, is a passion project for Deanna. She enjoys learning and engaging in personal and professional development. Working at NextAfter has been a dream come true.
Deanna has four children and often fosters dogs in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. She spends her free time writing fiction, crafting, and volunteering.
Job Titles:
- Senior Digital Media Optimization Specialist
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- EVP of Optimization & Strategy
- Strategic Consultant
As the EVP of Optimization & Strategy for NextAfter, Greg is responsible for leading client engagements, optimizing existing campaigns, identifying strategic opportunities to improve the effectiveness of digital fundraising programs and client results.
Before joining the NextAfter team, Greg most recently served as the Chief Strategy Officer at a publicly traded full-services digital marketing services agency and was a part of the executive leadership team that developed and oversaw a topline revenue growth of more than 200% over his three years of service there.
Greg has nearly 20 years of marketing, sales and consulting experience, working across the B2B and B2C for-profit and nonprofit segments. Within the nonprofit industry, he's experienced with developing strategies and overseeing the execution of name and email acquisition campaigns through content marketing, online fundraising, donor cultivation and donor upgrade programs.
He brings a knowledge and skillset of being on the front lines of a for-profit marketing services organization and is excited to bring innovative opportunities to driving program performance improvements to nonprofit organizations, along with leveraging his passion in data-driven strategies to generate ROI and extending brand reach for his customers at NextAfter.
Greg has worked as a strategic consultant with some of the largest brands spanning a myriad of industry categories, including: The Heritage Foundation, Operation Smile, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), Project HOPE, EDS, AT&T, Sprint, ExxonMobil and Dairy Queen.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Client Services
Yanni serves as the Vice President of Client Services at NextAfter, where he uses his 15 years of non-profit fundraising experience to help organizations make an even greater impact on the world.
An award-winning digital strategist, prior to joining NextAfter Yanni spent 10 years at RKD Group, where he was responsible for creating breakthrough, multi-channel strategies for over one hundred local and regional nonprofits, primarily focusing on the health and human services sector.
He also spent 7 years in Washington, D.C. working at one of the country's premier think tanks, focusing on security research, marketing, congressional relations, and fundraising.
Yanni holds a B.A. in International Studies from Bryant University and an M.A in International Relations from Sussex University in the U.K. He currently resides in Rhode Island with his fiance and two fur babies, Maximus and Bailey.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- President
As President of NextAfter, Jeff is responsible for leading client relationships by growing the capacity and effectiveness of their digital fundraising programs. Since joining NextAfter in 2014, he's helped lead research efforts to produce large conversion increases for more than 40 nonprofit clients.
Before NextAfter, Jeff led the digital marketing department for Mark Cuban's television network, HDNet (later AXSTV). He also ran marketing and membership at North Texas Public Broadcasting, Dallas' triple-affiliate public broadcasting station.
In his decade-long nonprofit career, Jeff has consulted with a number of organizations such as Compassion International, Mercy Ships, Feed the Children, Hillsdale College, Dallas Theological Seminary, CaringBridge, and many others, helping grow digital fundraising programs and attract new supporters, donors, and dollars.
Jeff has spoken at a number of national nonprofit conferences including TEDx, the Direct Marketing Association Non Profit Federation, Association of Fundraising Professionals International, DonorDirect, Missio Nexus Conference, and the National Catholic Development Conference, among others.
Originally from Nashville, Tennessee, Jeff, his wife, and four kids live in the Lake Highlands area of Dallas, Texas. Jeff is a graduate of Abilene Christian University, where he majored in communication.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Recruiting and HR Manager
Job Titles:
- Director of Client Services Operations
Julie Watkins is Director of Client Services Operations at NextAfter. After spending nine years supporting clients in the for-profit sector, Julie wanted to take her passion for innovation and testing and use it to support non-profits, helping them advance their missions through digital strategy.
Before joining the NextAfter team, she worked in digital marketing and strategy for an agency in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Julie's enthusiasm for innovation and learning drove her "always be testing" mindset. After learning about NextAfter and their goal of unleashing the most generous generation in the history of the world, she jumped at the opportunity to combine her passions with a higher purpose.
Julie is passionate about people and building relationships. She loves learning new things and is obsessively data driven and solution oriented. She previously managed the digital marketing strategy and performance for a portfolio of clients in the medical, eCommerce and entertainment spaces focusing on driving a positive ROI and brand experience.
Julie has a bachelor's degree in Political Science from Louisiana State University and a graduate certificate in Marketing from Southern Methodist University. She currently resides in McKinney with her husband, Jeff, and dog, Fitts, and is especially proud of her twin step-daughters, Taylor and Madison.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Data Analytics
Since childhood, Karen wanted to be an accountant! She received her Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Texas at Dallas.
Prior to NextAfter, she worked as the Staff Accountant in both the Interior Design and Health Industry.
She started working at NextAfter in April 2022 as an Accounting Consultant.
Karen lives in Plano TX since 2003 and has 8 fur babies. She loves the outdoors and her goal is to visit every national park in the US one day. Her passion outside of work is hiking and camping.
As an Optimization Associate at NextAfter, Katie is responsible for creating quality marketing assets and implementing various digital fundraising initiatives for nonprofit organizations.
Katie earned a degree in Communications with an emphasis in Graphic Design at Dallas Baptist University in 2016.
Before joining NextAfter, she was the graphic designer for three nonprofit organizations in the DFW area. In these roles, Katie executed marketing and design strategies across web, email, print, and environmental mediums.
Outside of work, Katie can be found learning new facts or skills, teaching a kindergarten class at her church, or spending time in whatever nature she can find.
Job Titles:
- Chief Technology Officer
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- Chief Digital Strategist
Kevin serves as the chief digital strategist for many different nonprofit organizations served by NextAfter. He helps them to raise more money and acquire more donors through testing and optimization.
Using his background in data science and digital marketing, Kevin works with NextAfter clients to create long-term fundraising strategies based upon historical data trends and through the continuous optimization that comes from rigorous testing.
As Chief Technology Officer, he is also spearheading the efforts to improve NextAfter's data and technology capabilities. This takes many forms:
The creation of custom software that makes A/B testing easier and more efficient (winstonknows.com)
The implementation of advanced data tracking and modeling across multiple channels
The development of a data warehouse and custom reporting dashboards to offer deeper donor insights
Prior to joining NextAfter, Kristen Allcorn managed the business intelligence for a top network of education focused websites where she learned the behind the scenes of the SEO world. She was excited about the NextAfter position where she could join two of her great loves: data and her faith.
Kristen is passionate about connecting the dots by architecting dimensions and metrics to help drive better decision making. She loves to dig into the data and discover the why behind the what that data is showing. Helping the NextAfter crew is also a passion hers - she enjoys optimizing how to get the data and present it.
Kristen has a bachelor's degree in management information systems from Texas Tech University and currently lives in the Dallas/Fort Worth area with her husband and their girl. They enjoy any excuse to be outside or traveling.
Maddie Parham serves as a Digital Strategist on the NextAfter team. She is passionate about using her creative mind to help nonprofits maximize their efforts and bring innovative ideas to the table.
Before joining the NextAfter team, Maddie worked as a Senior Marketing Coordinator for a dental partnership organization where she managed the marketing efforts for over fifty dental offices. Maddie also has volunteered with the nonprofit, ImpactMS Now, since 2016 serving as the Social Media and Marketing board member.
Maddie completed her bachelor's degree in Public Relations with a minor in Nonprofit Organizational Studies at the University of Oklahoma in 2019. She believes joining the NextAfter team was meant to be as she has worked hard throughout the years to build up her experience in marketing as well as in the nonprofit field.
Outside of the office, Maddie enjoys spending time with friends and family. She currently lives in Allen, Texas with her boyfriend, Cam, and their sweet dog, Pepper! She enjoys exercising, binge-watching TV shows, listening to all kinds of music, and cheering on the Oklahoma Sooners!
Michelle serves as Research Associate at NextAfter. She is passionate about sharing insights in fundraising to help nonprofits expand their services to uplift communities. Before NextAfter, Michelle worked as a nonprofit consultant to help nonprofits manage multimillion-dollar campaign projects.
Michelle also has experience in the higher education realm, where she spent time between collegiate athletic fundraising and alumni relations.
While obtaining her Master of Science degree at The University of Southern Mississippi, Michelle raised $50,000 in student philanthropy efforts. Michelle went on to work as a development coordinator at a community college in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. During her tenure, she resurrected the alumni association and acquired a 300% increase in participation within a year.
Outside of the office, Michelle enjoys time with her dog, Bash, and friends. A native of Gulfport, Mississippi, she currently lives in Dallas, Texas. You will likely catch her at a concert, brunch, or power-walking on Katy Trails.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Vice President of the NextAfter Institute
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
As Chief Operating Officer for NextAfter, Paul provides the company with leadership in the areas of finance, operations and event management. When he's not knee deep in spreadsheets, flow charts and contracts, he's having fun as the event planner for the Nonprofit Innovation Circle and the Nonprofit Innovation and Optimization Summit.
After achieving a degree in Finance from the University of West Florida, Paul began his career at National Standard Parts Associates, a manufacturing firm in Pensacola, Florida. Here he obtained a wide variety of experience in accounting, research and development, marketing and operations - ultimately holding the position of Executive Vice President. While in Pensacola, Paul was heavily involved in a number of charitable pursuits, including Sertoma Club and The Florida SpringFest - a music festival where he served as President of the Board of Directors.
An entrepreneurial spirit, Paul has launched several businesses with varying levels of success. He also worked for over eight years at MECLABS, a marketing research institution where he was Senior Director of Business Operations. During that time, Paul was able to hone his passion for optimization and continual improvement.
Paul and his wife Karen live in Jacksonville, Florida where they try their best to keep up with five children and three grandchildren.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Client Services
- Vice President of Client Services
Rebekah serves as the Vice President of Client Services at NextAfter and is passionate about empowering nonprofits to be innovative in their digital fundraising efforts.
Before joining the NextAfter team, she worked in digital marketing and acquisition for a faith-based nonprofit ministry. Rebekah consistently utilized NextAfter's free online resources to grow in her learning of fundraising as she worked as a practitioner in the digital space. Impressed by the excellent resources and attracted to the culture of generosity evident at NextAfter, she was inspired to join the team.
Rebekah enjoys providing value to the philanthropy sector through supporting nonprofits by helping them see measurable results and achieve their goals. She previously managed multi-channel fundraising for a $10.25MM annual fund in higher education, with a focus on recurring giving and donor communications and stewardship. During her time there, Rebekah led the strategic planning for a day of giving campaign that was recognized with a Bronze-level award by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education due to her innovative efforts and leadership.
Rebekah has a bachelor's degree in Sports Management from Texas A&M University and a graduate certificate in Nonprofit Management from The Bush School of Government and Public Service. She currently resides in Dallas, Texas.
As the Director of Paid Media for NextAfter, Rich is responsible for leading targeted traffic acquisition, KPI optimization, channel optimization, and exploration and maximizing the effectiveness of digital fundraising programs and client results.
Rich has worked in search engine marketing since 2007, when he began as a keyword analyst. Since that time, he has managed both accounts and personnel across paid search, SEO, web design, CRO, data analytics, and social.
Rich loves spending time with his wife Melissa and three rambunctious kiddos Brady, Delaney & Emmy when not crunching numbers. They enjoy anything adventurous, working in the yard and contributing to community events as a family.
Job Titles:
- Audience Engagement Manager
Sandra has always worked in some type of service industry and even went to college for Hospitality Management at Johnson & Wales University.
In the 20+ years since college, she has planned almost every kind of meeting or event from high-level executive meetings to awards programs or incentive programs in many different industries from pharmaceutical to large food service companies, and even large community festivals. The stress can be high but she truly enjoys seeing all the details finally come together and knowing that the attendee experience has been exceeded.
When she is not planning events, Sandra is probably rescuing a dog or wheeling in her Jeep. She works with a great organization and fosters dogs until they are adopted to their fur-ever homes.
Sandra is also very involved in the local Jeep clubs and they do lots of charity events and help the community. Her favorite time is spent off-road climbing rocks or playing in the mud and camping all around the country. If it's outdoors and social, she would probably enjoy it.
Job Titles:
- Customer Service and Office
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- Chief Innovation & Optimization Officer
Travis graduated from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor's degree in business management.
Prior to joining NextAfter, he worked as a Content Writer for multiple digital marketing agencies spanning small business and big business. He also contributed to various sports publications when time allowed.
Beyond the office, Travis loves to spend time with his girlfriend Josie and dog Lucy. He's sports-obsessed, often spending time on the field, court, and course - and always cheering on the Texas Rangers, Green Bay Packers, and Roger Federer.