Episode 12

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Published on:

24th Aug 2026

Fundraising to Save Lives: A Conversation with Jonathan Goldman

Schools know they need better AED coverage, especially across athletic fields and outdoor facilities. The challenge is often not convincing people that AEDs matter. It’s finding the money to put them where they’re needed.

In this episode of SaveHeart Stories, host Dave Fritzsche, founder of SaveHeart by HeartNation welcomes Jonathan Goldman, founding partner of Funding for Teams and Reaching Our Goal. Jon brings more than 20 years of fundraising experience and has helped nearly 20,000 high school and college teams raise tens of millions of dollars. Today, that experience is helping power SaveHeart Fundraising and giving schools a practical way to fund lifesaving AED programs.

Schools can create a customized campaign in minutes, athletes add contacts, SaveHeart Fundraising handles the outreach, and supporters can donate directly online. For busy athletic directors, coaches and administrators, that simplicity matters. More importantly, it can remove funding as the barrier standing between a school and lifesaving AED coverage.

Takeaways

— Make fundraising personal. Focus on adults who already know and care about the students involved.

— Small donations add up. An average donation of about $80 can quickly become significant when an entire team participates.

— Don’t limit your reach geographically. Grandparents, relatives and family friends can support students from anywhere.

— Lead with the “why.” Funding lifesaving AED coverage gives supporters a powerful reason to participate.

— Keep participation simple. Students can help by providing contacts instead of selling products or going door-to-door.

— Remove work for school leaders. A campaign that takes only minutes to start is far more likely to get off the ground.

— Don’t let funding stop AED expansion. Fundraising can provide the missing piece when schools know they need better coverage but lack the budget.

Chapters

00:18 Introduction

02:34 The Birth of Reaching Our Goal

07:55 Fundraising Lessons Learned

16:00 Underfunding in Schools

20:30 SaveHeart Fundraising

25:18 How it Works

28:30 Getting Started

Helpful Links:

Jonathan Goldman, Reaching Our Goal: https://www.reachingourgoal.com/

SaveHeart Fundraiser: www.saveheart.life/fundraiser

Dave Fritzsche at SaveHeart by HeartNation: https://saveheart.life/

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About the Podcast

SaveHeart Stories
Real-life stories of sudden cardiac arrest and the need to place AEDs everywhere people gather- indoors and outside. Because one life lost is too many, these stories matter.
Real Life stories of lives saved, lost, and changed saved due to Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA)- the largest cause of natural death in the United States. The SaveHeart Stories podcast sheds light on how to drastically improve SCA survival rates by placing Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) everywhere people live, work, and play, training more people in basic CPR & AED use, and promoting youth heart screenings to uncover potential heart defects in teenagers.

Every year in the U.S., out-of-hospital SCA claims the lives of 356,000 people, including more than 23,000 teenagers. SCA strikes without warning and affects people from every walk of life, regardless of age, race, gender, ethnicity, or even health profile. While Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) is essential to help blood flow to vital organs after an SCA event, the only real cure for SCA is an electrical shock from an AED, which the American Heart Association recommends should happen within 3 minutes. Sadly, today, less than 10% of SCA victims survive, largely because AEDs aren’t located close enough to where people are.

There is an increasing number of stories in the media about how having an AED saved a precious life, or worse, how not having an AED nearby resulted in a tragic and unnecessary death. SaveHeart Stories should inspire us to do something about it now- individually, and together- so that our stories can change from sadness to celebration- and from tragedy to triumph.

SaveHeart Stories is brought to you by your host, Dave Fritzsche, AED industry veteran and founder of SaveHeart by HeartNation. Proudly ‘Made in the USA,’ SaveHeart’s highly visible, alarmed, lighted, temperature-controlled and 24x7 monitored outdoor cabinets provide immediate visibility & access to lifesaving AEDs, Stop the Bleed Kits, Narcan, and other emergency supplies. They are ideal for parks, athletic fields & courts, trails, schools & universities, business districts, marinas, beaches, and any outdoor locations where people congregate.

To learn more about how Outdoor AEDs can keep your community safer, call 312-953-6928 or email dave@saveheart.life.

About your host

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Dave Fritzsche

Dave Fritzsche has been in the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) industry for over 25 years
This includes 2 stints at AED manufacturer Defibtech- as initial investor, VP of Sales & Marketing, VP of Business Development, and Executive Committee Member. Working with truly innovative products and an outstanding team, Dave helped take Defibtech from unknown AED start-up to a major industry player. In 2007, Defibtech was named as the fastest growing medical device company in the U.S. by Deloitte & Touche and was acquired in 2012 by Nihon Kohden Corporation. In 2016, Dave helped launch the Lifeline ARM automated CPR device.

In 2006, Dave was diagnosed with apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and an abnormal EKG
Fortunately, annual check-ups have not shown an increased thickening of his heart muscle over time. Still, his diagnosis and experience is the reason behind SaveHeart’s support of several not-for-profit organizations focused on enabling greater AED access and increased SCA awareness and prevention. This includes many local organizations founded by parents who have lost a child to SCA, as well as various heart screening organizations that help detect heart defects & abnormalities in teenagers. He considers himself lucky to work with and support such incredible people & organizations who share a mission to promote greater AED access, enhanced heart screening efforts and breakthrough monitoring technology to help eliminate unnecessary SCA deaths.