The Fundraising Talent Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Is your nonprofit benefiting from both high and low context fundraising? Apr 23, 2022

Show notes

My conversation today with Collin reminded me of an important point that we often make during our roadshows and when working with clients. Do fundraisers know how to differentiate between and ensure their organizations benefit from both low and high context fundraising efforts? One of the fundraiser’s primarily responsibilities is to discern when low context fundraising efforts have done their part and when high context fundraising practices are now in order. It is at this point in the relationship that a fundraiser must have a strategy in place that transitions the relationship from mailboxes and inboxes to coffee shops and lunch tables. As I argued in my first book, this can be as easy as distinguishing between the strategies that ensure the initial gift and those that secure the subsequent gift.

Colin is certainly right about the fact that our friends who deliver on low context, “lane one” tactical efforts lack the incentive to move donors out of their preferred channel. He points out that reducing volume hurts everyone who is invested in this initial-gift oriented part of the process. Their systems are designed to always deliver on volume in the most efficient way possible. Knowing this to true, the discernment process for shifting gears is on those most accountable for the overall effort and who are responsible for creating and implementing fundraising strategy.

As always, we are especially 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 local community, email me for more information. And, if you’d like to download Responsive’s latest edition of Carefully & Critically, just click 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

Is the fundraising community growing wiser in these challenging times? Apr 16, 2022

Show notes

In her recent contribution to Carefully & Critically, Meena used the word “struggle” to describe her professional journey over the last two years. I have similarly used the word “angst” to describe what so many of our colleagues have articulated in the more than 170 podcast conversations that we have broadcast since March of 2020 when the pandemic became our reality. Meena’s article and today’s conversation are an exploration of the wisdom that she’s gained with the help of her LinkedIn Community in the last two years and how she has been able to apply that wisdom to her work.

So many of our guests have described the last couple of years as a journey towards understanding the struggle of being committed to meaningful work that can so easily let us down. As a data enthusiast, the struggle has afforded Meena an opportunity to explore questions that otherwise might have been ignored and overlooked. For example, how could analytics evolve in such a way so as to provide us with more desirable qualitative outcomes rather than the mere the quantitative outcomes we’ve come to expect? And how might we identify those who are as inclined to sustain meaningful, long-term relationships as they are to write a check?

As always, we are especially 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 local community, email mefor more information. And, if you’d like to download Responsive’s latest edition of Carefully & Critically, just click 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

308 | What if fundraising relied on more asset-based thinking? Apr 09, 2022

Show notes

Early in my career, I learned pretty quickly that a sure-fire sign that you’re dealing with a wizard is that everything is focused on what you’re lacking. Then, after being convinced of what you’re lacking, the wizard is relentless in promising to deliver of solutions that will forever ensure he’s at the center of your thinking. This isn’t a story our team at Responsive buys into; and Mallory, our guest today on The Fundraising Talent Podcast, evidently doesn’t buy it either. Mallory wants more fundraisers to recognize that they already have what it takes to be successful and that focusing on what’s missing only gets in the way of learning this most important truth. Today’s conversation was all about asset-based thinking and the unfortunate tendency in our sector to focus on what’s missing. Walk around the exhibit hall at any fundraising conference and you’ll quickly discover just how many wizards are betting on our deeply entrenched deficit mindset.

Whatever we feel we may be lacking, Mallory wants to us to be especially aware of the fact that our ability to build genuine and meaningful relationships, arguably the most important ingredient in renewing a donor’s support, is a characteristic that most fundraisers have in sufficient supply even before accepting a job. Mallory wants us to remember that it’s often in those sincere and sometimes emotional moments that we put ourselves out there and yield the most significant and sustainable levels of support. When we show up as our genuine selves, willing to be vulnerable and honest, many of our beliefs and assumptions about how things work no longer matter all that much.

As always, we are especially 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 local community, email mefor more information. And, if you’d like to download Responsive’s latest edition of Carefully & Critically, just click 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 today’s employers prepare for tomorrow’s workforce? Mar 22, 2022

Show notes

Today I asked Janelle and Nikki if the aspirations employers have for their employees are missing anything that we should consider about those we will be hiring in ten years. Jobs for America’s Graduates helps young people succeed both in school and on-the-job to ensure that they have opportunities that afford them productive and rewarding careers. Having served millions of students since 1980, the team at JAG recognizes that this moment in time is unlike any other and demands exponential growth in the next several years.

My conversation today with Janelle and Nikki had me wondering if we’re preparing the right path for our next generation of fundraisers and whether the challenges we’re encountering today will be the same in another decade. In order to create the workspaces that will meet the expectations of tomorrow’s young people, those whose educational journeys have been abruptly interrupted by a worldwide pandemic, tomorrow’s workforce will need to be agile, go deep and meet young people where they are in the world.

As always, we are especially 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 local community, email mefor more information. And, if you’d like to download Responsive’s latest edition of Carefully & Critically, just click 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 do we gain by drawing a line between fundraising and marketing? Mar 15, 2022

Show notes

I spent most of my career believing that the myriad of arms-length tactics that consume most fundraising plans (GivingTuesday, direct response, special events, etc. ) were the problem. Then I encountered a simple insight. One of the earliest scholars in the fundraising community, Paul Schervish, explained that it was important to distinguish between those efforts that lead people to become givers in the first place and those that lead some donors to make larger than average gifts or to increase their giving. The inability to make sense of such a distinction was the problem I didn’t see early in my career. Following Schervish’s logic, we encourage our clients to make sense of those efforts that most effectively yield their initial gifts and those that ensure the subsequent gift.

What was especially encouraging about today’s podcast conversation was learning that Julia is encouraging her clients to make a very similar distinction. Julia encourages her clients to make sense of the difference between what is an outcome of marketing versus what should be expected of fundraising. Julia explains that marketing strategies can be counted on to get people’s attention and generate the initial gift, while we should rely on fundraising strategies to ensure the cultivation of meaningful relationships and the subsequent gifts that accompany them. For those who haven’t made this distinction, Julia wants them to ask themselves why they would communicate with individuals they don’t know the same way they would those with whom they have a relationship. She also warns that appealing to everyone the same way is effectively not appealing to anyone.

As always, we are especially 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 local community, email me. And, if you’d like to download Responsive’s latest edition of Carefully & Critically, just click 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

Is fundraising suffering from a serious case of narration sickness? Mar 09, 2022

Show notes

It’s pretty obvious that, rather than staring at our laptops, Tim and I would have preferred to have today’s podcast conversation on a back porch with some bourbon and a few cheap cigars. The two of us arranged this conversation to talk about NeonOne’s report that just released yesterday. However, it didn’t take either of us very long to climb up on our soapboxes. Nearly everything we ranted about today centered on the question of whether more should be expected of the those publishing reports about fundraising trends and donor behavior. Or, as Paulo Freire would say, is fundraising suffering from a serious case of narration sickness?

I really appreciate Tim’s observation that we are at an inflection point in the fundraising community, and this won’t be the last time that I applaud his assertion that we’re an industry that worships transactions. The question is whether those who publish reports that quantify this behavior are doing the heavy lifting to help us make sense of how we can change what we’re seeing. For example, it’s one thing the for the FEP to remind us every year that our renewal rates suck; it’s another to reveal what it is about our practices that ensures this trend never makes meaningful improvement. Perhaps it’s time the authors provide us with a more enlightened explanation of what’s really happening.

As always, we are especially 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 local community, email me for more in formation. And, if you’d like to download Responsive’s latest edition of Carefully & Critically, just click 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

Should we learn to see fundraising through the symbolic lens? Mar 06, 2022

Show notes

I am always grateful to our guests on The Fundraising Talent Podcast because sometimes they help me make sense of some of the ideas that are rolling around in my head. I, like many of you, am trying to reconcile what’s happening on the other side of the planet with the challenges of everyday life at home. Today, I asked Debra whether the unfolding tragedy in Ukraine was an opportunity for fundraising to live up to its potential and whether there will be things that play out in the weeks and months ahead that we will need to understand on a more existential level.

Before we dived deep into these questions, Debra introduced herself as someone who found her way into fundraising because she was “tired of selling high priced shoes to women who should know better.” Now, after having tried to retire, she finds herself in the trenches trying to help charities discover a bold, brave way of funding whatever it is they set out to do in the world.

Evidently, Debra and I prefer see fundraising through what is known as the symbolic lens. This is where we see the opportunity to nurture generosity, connectivity, and meaning. Debra wants us to understand that the meaning of what we’re doing can easily get lost in the tactics. She wants us to see ourselves as being more than master technicians who can ensure the most impressive outcomes from an appeal letter or our next special event. Debra insists that truly generous people don’t need their names out on the sides of buildings. At its best, fundraising should afford us an opportunity to stand alongside the people of Ukraine helping to feed and care for children in the midst of a war zone.

As always, we are especially 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 local community, email mefor more information. And, if you’d like to download Responsive’s latest edition of Carefully & Critically, just click 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 happens when the donor flips the switch on the relationship? Feb 25, 2022

Show notes

What happens when our criticism of the donor backfires and, like a page from an Ayn Rand novel, all our philanthropists begin to disappear? What happens when the controls that we currently enjoy having at our finger tips start to work in the donors’ best interests instead? What immediately came to mind during my conversation today with Paul was discussions of VRM technology that would allow the donor to cut off access to their information with the flip of a switch. Paul wants us to consider the fact that some of the information asymmetry inside our CRM’s has the potential to backfire which could result in class-action lawsuits and hordes of donors insisting that their donations be returned. With so much bad behavior going on in the sector, Paul believes that such events are just a matter of time.

While discussing Paul’s new book, The Future of Fundraising, I asked him for his best advice for the young fundraiser who is perhaps still trying to decide whether or not to stick with this career path. His advice is to pay closer attention and develop a greater sense of how everything actually comes together. As we say at Responsive, young fundraisers need to learn how to think more carefully and critically about what it is they’re doing and why. I concur with all of Paul’s advice with the additional warning that most of our fundraising wizards have no desire whatsoever to see young fundraisers learn how to think more critically about the work we do. Rather than being duped by the wizards and getting frustrated when our donors don’t behave like we want them to, Paul wants us to better understand the world that our donors are operating in and to become more savvy of the systems that increasingly shield donors from our bad behavior.

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

Could fundraising benefit from a new approach to leadership? Feb 22, 2022

Show notes

What if what ails contemporary fundraising has less to with those who are in the fundraising seat and more do with the leadership style of those we’ve given the privilege of being the boss? Many of our recent conversations have shed light on how we are raising the expectations we have of our leaders. Today’s conversation with Kim Jennings suggests that some believe we could reduce the turnover and improve performance by expecting that the boss embrace a new approach to leadership. Kim wants to see fundraising leaders become much less authoritarian and metric-driven and, instead, see our work more holistically and reliant on coaching skills.

Kim has observed that many of our bosses are great at giving directions - they know how to assign metrics and tell us whom to ask and for how much. But once the directions are given, these bosses don’t have much more to offer. Kim points out that the same can be true for their approach to professional development - they are more than happy to tell us which conferences to attend and what books to read; but they aren’t equipped to coach on the sidelines, giving meaningful encouragement and support in real-time.

Kim also pointed out that many of today’s supervisors are very talented fundraisers who, themselves, never had the benefit of bosses who really mastered the supervisory role. This reality is well-hidden behind our obsessive search for the “one best way” of fundraising and our constant accumulation of donors which inevitably leaves us exhausted and without the necessary margin for developing good leadership skills.

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 boards and bosses have unreasonable expectations of fundraising? Feb 13, 2022

Show notes

The pandemic has been a reminder that our world is not predictable; that most of what happens is beyond our control; and that, if you really want to accomplish your goals, the best you can do is remain self-aware and highly adaptable. For our team at Responsive, it’s been a challenging two years trying to keep a vision alive while managing the expectations of those who wanted to be a part of something new at one of the messiest times in human history. In today’s podcast conversation, I am pleased to introduce Mike Dixon, a long-time friend and now business partner, who genuinely believes in what we aim to achieve for the nonprofit sector and brings a number of strengths that I admittedly don’t have. Despite the myriad of challenges that we have encountered, Michael shares an appreciation for what has been accomplished in the last two years and looks forward to providing leadership to our consulting team in the years ahead.

In many ways, today’s podcast conversation follows the theme of managing our own expectations and those of others in order create environments where fundraising can thrive. We talked about whether employers are creating unreasonable expectations for their fundraisers that decrease the likelihood of genuine and authentic relationships. We suggest that a large number of today’s fundraisers are deliberately avoiding meaningful engagement, not out of fear of rejection or lack of experience, but because such interactions are often accompanied by expectations from boards and bosses that are beyond the fundraisers’ control. The oft-cited “culture of metrics” creates the illusion that one can control more than they actually can and compels fundraisers to rely on strategies that avoid rather than advance meaningful engagement.

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