The Fundraising Talent Podcast
Business:Non-Profit
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
How can sector leaders improve the donor experience?
Are fundraisers becoming more discerning about where they can thrive?
Are nonprofit leaders designing resilience into their organizations?
What effect will the FTX Bankman-Fried fiasco have on fundraising?
Are fundraisers creating better roles for their donors to play?
Why are nonprofits afraid of their own obsolescence?
How does unseen diversity impact a fundraiser’s journey?
What if the gift economy informed more of our fundraising practices?
Should fundraisers let their board members off the hook?
Conversation w/ the editors of Collecting Courage: Part Two
Conversation w/ the editors of Collecting Courage: Part One
Are nonprofits underestimating the value they afford their corporate sponsors?
Can fundraising learn how to have higher expectations of relationships?
Are donors deliberately hoarding money in donor-advised funds?
How can fundraisers improve their outcomes by embracing the obvious?
Will the next generation of non-profiteers go about fundraising differently?
How can fundraisers ensure their organizations more than transactions?
Do our board recruitment strategies align with our DEI aspirations?
What if more nonprofits accurately reflected the communities they serve?
Does fundraising have a bad case of shiny new toy syndrome?
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Nonprofits Are Messy: Lessons in Leadership | Fundraising | Board Development | Communications