The Fundraising Talent Podcast

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Despite their set-backs, why do fundraisers recover so quickly? Aug 05, 2021

Show notes

Sam was our guest on the podcast a year ago, and at the time he was navigating the uncertainty of the pandemic combined with unemployment and the recent loss of some friends. The conversation we had was about the notion that fundraising is about listening to stories rather than telling them. I recall thinking then as I listened to his story that, despite the set-backs, Sam was a talented individual with a knack for fundraising and that it would just be a matter of time before he would find himself on top again.

My assumptions were correct; and Sam, just like a lot of fundraisers, has made a strong and positive recovery from what has been a difficult year for all of us. I have always found this to be case with fundraisers; despite the ups and downs of what can be very misunderstood and under-appreciated work, fundraisers have a tendency to bounce back very quickly. What was most telling about today’s conversation was that, in the midst of the last year, Sam’s confidence as a fundraiser has grown and his commitment to the fundraising community is even stronger. Sam is a great example of a fundraiser whose resolve to be successful in this work will benefit his employers for many years to come.

As always, we are grateful to our friends at CueBack for sponsoring The Fundraising Talent Podcast. And, if you’re interested in having some assistance with hiring a talented fundraiser, let’s arrange a call. Email me here.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fundraisingtalent.substack.com

What if fundraisers took a chance on convening genuine conversations? Jul 31, 2021

Show notes

Before the world shutdown, was your gala or golf tournament starting to wane? Are you ready to resume that event that, even before the pandemic, was perhaps yielding disappointing outcomes? Kevin wants event planners to consider abandoning what in some cases has evolved into an exhausting and uninspiring event generating nothing more than than a lot of small talk, and instead focus on genuine conversations among those at the table. Kevin wants us to take a chance on an unscripted engagement with fewer people around the table and, rather than being in control of everything, allow serendipity to do its part.

As evidenced in today’s podcast conversation, Kevin has given as much thought to what these events should look like as what they shouldn’t. He believes it’s important that a convening event not be an attempt to solve every problem that surfaces around the table, that the host organization not assume responsibility for taking action on what emerges, and that the focus remain on the attendees rather than organization itself. As I shared with Kevin, I suspect that while this is an essential role that perhaps every nonprofit should see themselves as playing in their community, some will find this concept far more natural than others.

As always, we are grateful to our friends at CueBack for sponsoring The Fundraising Talent Podcast.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fundraisingtalent.substack.com

Does fundraising need to get better at how we receive the gift? Jul 29, 2021

Show notes

In her more than 30 years of fundraising, Penny has observed that the money has become increasingly more important than the donor's giving experience. I would venture to say that the same has become true for fundraisers. Arguably, donor attrition and turnover are merely two sides of the same coin. To remedy this, Penny’s consultancy prioritizes renewing the support of current donors and ensuring a genuine human-to-human interaction that ultimately means a more meaningful experience for those on either side of the exchange.

What was particularly thought provoking during today’s podcast conversation with Penny was her observation that fundraisers have become quite adept at asking but not so much at receiving. Our conversation raises the question of whether we have deliberately designed systems that ensure a high volume of asking without necessarily creating the most meaningful opportunities to receive. Penny had me wondering whether this offers some insight into our poor renewal rates; renewing a gift often begins with receiving the last gift well. Receiving well often changes the nature of the relationship.

As always, we are grateful to our friends at Cueback for sponsoring The Fundraising Talent Podcast.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fundraisingtalent.substack.com

Can we really expect fundraisers to succeed without social capital? Jul 22, 2021

Show notes

Kathryn asks when we are going to begin having some tough conversations about the fundraiser’s experience? And, depending on where we find ourselves in the fundraising community, when are we going to ask whether we are contributing to or undermining their opportunity for success? Perhaps some of us don’t really care how successful the fundraiser actually is? For Kathryn, the answer to these questions is quite simple; whether we’re talking about boards or bosses, association leaders, consulting shops, direct response, search firms or wealth screening, the majority of us are curating a culture that has a creepy obsession with the numbers. From my vantage point, if we don’t learn how to measure at least something qualitative really quickly, the entire system might just collapse.

Kathryn insists that our professional community, like so many others, has bought hook, line, and sinker into a fallacy that permits us to make every decision based entirely on what the quantitative data can tell us and disregard anything it can’t. We have naively come to believe that success can be measured with three indicators: visits, solicitations, and dollars. Nothing else. After coming to grips with our obsession with metrics, the next question Kathryn wants nonprofit leaders to ask is how fundraisers are supposed to succeed without first creating social capital. While not especially easy to measure, the research has been done and social capital is essential for achieving the most meaningful and sustainable levels of support.

As always, we are grateful to our friends at CueBack for sponsoring the Fundraising Talent Podcast. And, if you’d like to learn more about hosting the Responsive Fundraising Roadshow in your community, email me at jason@responsivefundraising.com

Reminder, you can download Responsive’s latest edition of Carefully & Critically here.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fundraisingtalent.substack.com

How do our adverse experiences make us better fundraisers? Jul 20, 2021

Show notes

Are today’s fundraisers really itching for more best practices, expensive credentials and industry buzzwords? If they are anything like Jessica in upstate New York, I don’t think so. As I listened to Jessica share her story today, I heard an individual who wants the opportunity to show up as her authentic self; and she wants the same for her team. The way I see it, Jessica is part of an emerging generation of fundraising leaders who recognize that the donor rarely cares one iota about our assent to professionalism. They would much prefer we demonstrate that the cause matters as much to us as we know it matters to them.

For Jessica, fundraising as meaningful work has become an opportunity to share her story of overcoming adversity. Jessica’s story reminded me of my own challenges with a life-long seizure disorder. Despite the limitations this has created for me, it allowed me to relate to my major donors at the Epilepsy Foundation in very real and meaningful ways. What do you think; does adversity make for a better fundraiser? How do adverse experiences allow us to show up as fundraisers in unique and powerful ways that perhaps we have only begun to understand?

As always, we are grateful to our friends at CueBack for sponsoring The Fundraising Talent Podcast. And, if you’d like to know more about hosting the Responsive Fundraising Roadshow in your community, please reach out today.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fundraisingtalent.substack.com

Do fundraisers genuinely believe that grateful patient programs are ethical? Jul 17, 2021

Show notes

My conversation today with Paul Hood, which in many ways is a continuation of the “listening” conversation that we had earlier this week, begs the question of whether fundraisers support the notion of grateful patient programs and the like, or do they merely tolerate them, and given the opportunity, would prefer that their work be more exploratory. When I think of fundraisers like Paul who insist that their practices align with the highest ethical standards, I believe they would be far more fulfilled without some the data and, instead, to simply rely on their communication and relationship-building skills. Both of which our guests consistently demonstrate that fundraisers have in remarkable and immeasurable ways. The question becomes whether their employers give them the opportunity to use them.

Our conversation today aligns with some of the thoughts that I have previously expressed about the naïveté that is inherent in some of our thinking. I believe we are in the cusp of several decades of extraordinary fundraising; however, I am highly skeptical of whether the potential accurately aligns with the practices that we increasingly rely on to inform our work. For example, without having in-depth conversations with perhaps several people at the table, we can’t fully understand the vested interest of those who are ultimately influencing a gift decision. It’s one thing to know that that Mrs. Smith is perfectly capable of giving the hospital millions of dollars; it’s another to understand that the larger and more complex these gifts get, the more likely her children, trusted friends and loved ones, and professional advisors are going to want to have a say in how such a gift happens.

As always, we are grateful to our friends at CueBack for sponsoring The Fundraising Talent Podcast. And, if you’re interested in hosting the Responsive Fundraising Roadshow, reach out and let’s talk.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fundraisingtalent.substack.com

Are fundraising professionals listening to their donor’s “money” story? Jul 14, 2021

Show notes

Some of us don’t understand our donor’s decisions because we’re not listening. Today, Wanda and I wrestled with the question of whether fundraising professionals are taking the time to hear to their donors “money” stories. Wanda shared that by listening closely to the role that money has had in the lives of our donors, we are given an opportunity to resolve some of the other power dynamics that often surface in these relationships. What makes these conversations so important is that they afford the fundraiser insight into the nuances that inform their donor’s decisions and perspective that gift histories and wealth screening information cannot. While such data might enlighten us in some ways, we will never learn more than by sitting down, perhaps over coffee or lunch, and inviting them to share in this way.

Wanda and I also talked about why some fundraisers don’t afford themselves this type of opportunity in their work. I would venture to say these individuals often miss out on experiencing fundraising as exploratory work. I suspect that those fundraisers who feel they did not sign up to be curious chameleons struggle to identify with the person across the table and feel safer maintaining a transactional relationship. Rather than being invested in a genuine and meaningful relationship that can be counted on for many years to come, they would prefer to narrowly focus on the the gift at hand.

As always, we are very grateful to our friends at CueBack for sponsoring The Fundraising Talent Podcast. And, if you’d like to learn more about hosting Responsive’s roadshow in your community, please reach out and let’s talk.

About our guest

Wanda Scott, CAP®, CFRE, Founder and Principal Consultant of Wanda Scott & Associates, is a fundraising and development professional with over 19 years’ experience in the nonprofit sector. Wanda has successfully led development and advancement teams in nonprofit and university settings and as a chartered advisor in philanthropy (CAP®) she has advised individuals on transformative philanthropic giving. Her passion for supporting professionals in fundraising is the catalyst for starting her business and joining national and local efforts to strengthen the fundraising field.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fundraisingtalent.substack.com

How can white fundraisers best ally with their BIPOC colleagues? Jul 11, 2021

Show notes

I’m always grateful when guests like Becky allow me to integrate their thinking and are likewise confident enough to integrate mine. Today, Becky and I wrestled with how we as white fundraisers can be allies with our black, brown and indigenous colleagues. To begin with, I suspect that what triggers most of our hesitancy is making our way through conversations of this sort without putting our foot in our mouth, saying something we might regret, or implying that we’re completely naive and out of touch. My inclination is always to jump in with both feet, to be receptive to feedback, and to be able to admit quickly when you’ve made a mistake.

Becky fully recognizes that she has resources available to her that would benefit her BIPOC colleagues in meaningful and significant ways. In partnership with our colleagues at CCF, she has begun writing some thought-provoking pieces that reveal some of the inherent tension that many of us feel in these discussions. I suspect that conversations of the sort that Becky and I shared will increasingly becoming the norm - conversations in which white Americans put themselves out there; share their experiences as allies; discuss what did and didn’t work, what they learned from their experience, and how one can get better in these roles.

Rebecca has worn many hats in the nonprofit sector: co-artistic director/co-founder of a theatre company, stewardship/event planner for a private school, program developer for a refugee resettlement org, and director of development/chief recycler for a youth arts org. Becky lives in Connecticut with her complicated and beautiful blended family. She is passionate about bees, ranked choice voting, and the NYTimes Spelling Bee.

As always, we are grateful to our friends at CueBack for sponsoring The Fundraising Talent Podcast. We are gearing up for a big fall and of you’d like to be a part of the line-up, reach out and let’s hear what you’ve got to say.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fundraisingtalent.substack.com

Have fundraising practices been conditioned on low expectations? Jul 07, 2021

Show notes

My conversation today with Kevin reminded me of all the dangerous assumptions that we sometimes make about how fundraising really works and of the practices that often compel us to think about what we do. After 33 years of experience leading development programs for both local and international organizations. Kevin's not afraid to challenge people’s thinking when it comes to supporting good causes. For example, how many of our challenges originate from the belief that the only way to raise more money is to accumulate more donors? And, once donor acquisition is running amok, do hoards of $20-40 gifts lead one to assume that these gifts accurately reflect the capability of their donors? Do contemporary fundraising practices convince us that our donors are broke and therefore perpetuate our low expectations?

Kevin insists that we need to treat all our donors like we would a major donor. He shared with me his experience of helping an organization go from from 14 to 40 major gifts officers after they came to the realization that they had built their new donor acquisition effort on the wrong assumptions. When conditioned on low expectations, these programs have a tendency to create an enormous volume of activity that makes it nearly impossible to discern a good signal from all the noise. Without being able to effectively change the nature of the relationship, these programs quickly evolve into an unhealthy dependency by keeping margins low and attrition high.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fundraisingtalent.substack.com

261 | Should I work for a boss who won’t invest in their own professional development? Jun 29, 2021

Show notes

Several of our recent conversations have been about what fundraisers should expect of the organizations they work for and how they can discern whether the boss has an accurate understanding of how fundraising actually works. Sarah has taken this inquiry and made it the focus of her research. Among the various questions she asks, perhaps the most relevant for fundraisers in transition is whether they should expect the boss to have invested in their own professional development in fundraising.

In summarizing her work, Sarah was quick to give credit to those who have traversed this terroirty ahead of her, the most noteworthy perhaps being the 2013 underdeveloped study that has raised made us all much more aware of the challenges organizations face in terms of hiring and retaining fundraising talent. It was particularly interesting to hear what Sarah describes as a perception gap between how CEOs and Chief Development Officers understand their challenges and opportunities.

Sarah also asks some key questions about whether the CEO takes fundraising seriously which then raises the question of why one would sign on to work with a boss who doesn’t. Talk about a distaster waiting to happen! Sarah found that those CEOs who made deliberate investments in their own professional development were more inclined to communicate about fundraising, contributed positively a culture of philanthropy, and fostered positive relationships with their fundraising employees. Sarah’s findings would support the conclusion that a CEO’s professional development reflects positively on its fundraising outcomes.

Reminder, you can download Responsive’s latest edition of Carefully & Critically here.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fundraisingtalent.substack.com

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