The Fundraising Talent Podcast

Latest Episodes:

260 | What happens when “warm glow” fundraising plateaus? Jun 26, 2021

Show notes

Our recent conversation with Sandi Bliss caught Tammy’s attention. Our discussion reminded Tammy of some of the observations she made earlier in her career while supervising a team of fundraisers. Tammy observed that once her team no longer had something tangible to “sell,” they began to feel like impostors and didn’t quite know how to negotiate more complex and long-term giving opportunities.

Tammy’s team found themselves at the place where transactional fundraising plateaus and where every attempt at selling the same “warm glow” becomes increasingly more difficult. Being stuck here means donor attrition sky rockets, fundraisers quit, and acquisition costs go out the roof. At Responsive, we call this transition point the messy middle lane, the place where a more meaningful gift reflects one’s genuine commitment to and confidence in the mission rather than the naive and impulsive assumption that they’re single-handedly changing the world.

Tammy wanted her team to experience fundraising as meaningful work. And she wanted her team to experience a different kind of conversation with their donors, the sort that only some fundraisers ever learn how to have. These aren’t conversations about “what’s in it for me”; it’s not about selling a tote bag or a tee sponsorship, or putting a name on the side of building. It’s about being a citizen rather than a consumer.

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

259 | Has your boss demonstrated their willingness to invest in fundraising? Jun 22, 2021

Show notes

When meeting with a client, Sherry doesn’t go straight to fundraising tactics. Instead, in order to understand whether an organization is up to the task of achieving its goals, she begins by asking some probing questions. This often starts with knowing how much money needs to be raised, as opposed to some vague and arbitrary numbers, and whether there is a willingness to dedicate the resources necessary. As Sherry points out, a lot of us are signing on for jobs where the expectation is nothing more than to tell stories and ask for money. That’s not how it works.

In the midst of all this talk about “the great resignation,” my conversation today with Sherry raises the question of why some fundraisers are signing on to work for bosses who don’t really get fundraising and perhaps have no intention of ever trying to. Before we accept an offer, perhaps we should discern whether the boss is committed to investing in fundraising. Sherry insists, and I concur, that fundraisers need to be confident saying, “No. We can’t raise more money on less, we can’t do it without spending, we can’t do it with half as many staff, and we can’t have such high expectations of our donors without also having higher expectations of ourselves; that’s just not feasible.”

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 Responsive’s 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

258 | Is the talk of decolonizing philanthropy misdirecting our attention? Jun 19, 2021

Show notes

As a Latinx fundraiser for thirty-five years, Armando has earned the right to have an opinion or two about the challenges we’re facing in today’s nonprofit sector and he believes that, in many ways, we’re missing the point in some of our most heated debates. Armando insists that if decolonizing philanthropy is our goal, it’s not going to happen by focusing on large foundations. We’ve got to remind ourselves what we’re all told in fundraising 101: foundations have never been where the real sustainable opportunities are and never will be. What’s worse, convincing ourselves that in some way the powers that be behind these large foundations will just hand over their power, influence, and assets is simply naive.

Armando wants to remind us that these supposed powerhouses of philanthropy only account for a small fraction of what’s actually contributing to our sector and that they don’t hold nearly as much clout as some would like us to think. While their size, stature, and political influence may be intimidating, their financial impact is considerably less when compared to what individuals are capable of giving. Foundations account for just 18 percent of the money going to charity whereas individuals give upwards of 70 percent every year. To decolonize philanthropy by any definition, we’re going to have to recognize that the real opportunities exist at the lunch table interacting with individuals, not applying for grants from institutions. And to make the types of changes that the loudest voices in our space are calling for, Armando insists that fundraising professionals are going to have to recognize the power that they already have rather than asking someone else to give it to them.

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 Responsive’s Roadshow in your community, email me at jason@responsivefundraising.com

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

257 | How much of fundraising’s pre-pandemic playbook are we throwing out? Jun 17, 2021

Show notes

Today’s conversation with Jeff at EAB was fascinating to say the least. Our conversation, informed significantly by the research that Jeff and his team have either conducted or been a part of, centered around the question of how much of fundraising’s pre-pandemic playbook we are going to throw out and what are we going to keep. Jeff shared with me that the traditional advancement models we see in higher education, largely predicated on alums willingness to show up and agreeing to participate, hasn’t been showing signs of improvement for quite some time. He explains that these aspects of fundraising has been on an unsustainable path for quite some time and that the pandemic simply forced many of us to confront this reality.

Jeff explained that many of our challenges on the road ahead will surface simply because our inability to work out the economics. I suppose what was most encouraging to hear was how much opportunity is actually out there if we are willing to adapt, evolve and experiment with different ways of doing things. For example, Jeff noted that the number of major gift donors who, at many institutions, never receive any meaningful engagement reaches into the thousands simply because of their geographical dispersement and the immediacy with which we expect our efforts to pay off. In between the lines of what I hear in a conversation like this is an opportunity for fundraising to experience a real growth spurt and to perhaps become more exploratory work.

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

256 | Fundraisers, is that really your story to tell? Jun 11, 2021

Show notes

As is customary on the podcast, we have thought provoking conversations that give us hope of one day arriving at more enlightened fundraising practices. Well, today’s conversation really had us moving in that direction; and I am really grateful to Cathy for being our provocateur today. Cathy helps organizations raise money in difficult places, for causes that don’t always make for the easiest of stories to tell, and I appreciate her for challenging our thinking about where storytelling makes sense and where it doesn’t.

The questions Cathy had us contemplating were whether fundraising professionals are necessarily entitled to tell the stories of those we serve and in what cases our expectations might cause unintentional harm. With all the Storytelling going on, it’s a fair question. When should someone’s story, perhaps one that involves unresolved trauma and abuse, be off limits even when told with the best of intentions?

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

255 | What could fundraisers achieve if they took the indirect route? Jun 08, 2021

Show notes

My conversation with Karl immediately reminded me of the brilliant little book, Obliquity, by LSE and Oxford professor John Kay, who makes the argument that our goals are best achieved indirectly. While counterintuitive, Kay explains that the most successful, most profitable enterprises don’t focus on profits or shareholder value. Arguably, this is a lesson fundraising hasn’t learned. Far too much of contemporary fundraising adheres to a direct approach, and I would venture to say that our fundraisers suffer the brunt of this truth. The direct approach convinces us that our attention should be narrowly focused on donors and dollars.

Karl has developed an appreciation for the indirect route in real time, discovering that being embedded in his community in a variety of ways makes for opportunities that he wouldn’t otherwise encounter. The oblique approach has taught him to trust the process and to not to become overly anxious when things diverge from where he thought they were headed. Karl has learned that fundraising at best is exploratory work; that it rarely goes according to our plans; and that, like everything that involves living, breathing human beings, it’s going to be messy and unpredictable.

As always, we are grateful to our friends at Cueback for their support of The Fundraising Talent Podcast. And, if you’d like to learn more about hosting Responsive Fundraising’s roadshow in your community, let’s coordinate a call.

#unpredictable #responsivefundraising

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

254 | Do the guardians of donor-centered fundraising have a bit of a PR problem? Jun 03, 2021

Show notes

It sounds as if donor-centered fundraising might have a bit of a PR problem, and Scott’s got the data to explain why. A couple of months ago, Scott launched a poll which asked, is "donor-centric" fundraising on its way out? While the poll results may not be all that surprising, a close look at the participants behind the responses tell an interesting story. Among those participating in Scott’s poll, the guardians of donor-centered fundraising tend to be older, white men working for large institutions.

As I listened to Scott’s reflections on his findings, it is apparent that the comments that followed challenged him to think more critically about what these various ideologies mean and how they inform his work. While desiring to remain true to his values, he’s evidently teachable and pays attention to what those on the other side are saying. Scott strikes me as similar to a lot of the fundraisers that I talk to: not at all about the buzzwords that experts notoriously conjure up for scoring keynotes and contracts, they are after an opportunity to be recognized and admired for meaningful work by their boards, bosses and colleagues down the hall.

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

253 | Was the pandemic an opportunity for fundraising to make some necessary changes? May 29, 2021

Show notes

My conversation with Alex today raises the question of whether the pandemic was a jumping off opportunity for those who have for stuck on a burning platform for far too long. Throughout the pandemic I have heard several of my guests similarly insist that the pandemic forced critically important changes that were easy to avoid until a crisis of this magnitude came along. Alex explained that for some organizations, the pandemic was an opportunity to demonstrate bravery, increase their tolerance for risk, and persuade key decision makers to do the same.

These are the types of insights that Alex and the research team found in between the lines of the latest Charity Benchmark’s report. The findings are essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the effects of the pandemic on the charitable sector and in particularly for those who are in the UK. As Alex shared with me, the pandemic has had a significant impact on long-term thinking and will no doubt accelerate change that was for some organizations long overdue.

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, let’s schedule a call.

#responsivefundraising #unpredictable

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

252 | Did the pandemic teach fundraisers how to create perceived proximity? May 25, 2021

Show notes

Imagine being brand new on a job just days before the pandemic put nearly the entire world on lock down. What would that experience be like? That’s the question I started with today in my conversation with Gail Carter who has managed to successfully navigate her first year as the Vice President of the University Development at the College of Charleston. I was most intrigued to learn that the lock down didn’t necessarily impede Gail’s acclimating to the new role, and it seems she is well prepared for the road ahead.

I appreciated hearing how Gail and her team have successfully adapted to the uncertainty that the pandemic has thrown at us and taken it in stride. I suspect that what we will hear from many fundraisers in the months to come is that the pandemic provided us all an opportunity to rely on tools that we have long had at our disposal but had perhaps not fully embraced. And perhaps we have discovered that, despite geographical limitations, we can create what researchers refer to as perceived proximity.

As always, we are grateful to our friends at CueBack for sponsoring The Fundraising Talent Podcast. And, if your organization is interested in being a host location for the Responsive Fundraising Roadshow this fall please reach out to 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

251 | Will fundraising ever learn that the conversation is the work? May 19, 2021

Show notes

When fundraising is compared to sales, when we insist on pre-determined solicitation amounts, and when everything is all about the ask I’m inclined to ask where is the conversation? Where are we demonstrating our ability to have a meaningful conversation with another human being? As Sandy and I discussed today on the podcast, it concerns me that so few fundraisers have embraced the notion that, as poet and Oxford professor David Whyte says, the conversation is the work. As Sandy evidently has, how about we talk about multi-million dollar conversations rather than multi-million dollar asks?

Are we so naive as to think that if everything about the donor can be efficient, predictable and controlled that our boards and bosses won’t expect the same from our side of the table as well? How many of us know how to have genuine, open-ended conversations with a donor that don’t adhere to a script we’ve already memorized in our head? How many of our employers recognize the conversation as an essential aspect of what that their paying us for? Knowing how to have meaningful conversations with a donor ensures that we are recognized and admired for meaningful work.

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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