The Fundraising Talent Podcast
Business:Non-Profit
Today I enjoyed the opportunity to talk with best-selling author and 4x TED-speaker Margaret Heffernan about her new book Uncharted: How To Map the Future. Our conversation began with what she refers to as prediction addiction; our deep-seated need to predict the future. Throughout my fundraising career, I have observed this addiction to prediction playing out in our being hesitant to call a donor, running wealth screen reports as if they were credit checks, and criticizing each other’s forecasts of the effects of yet-to-be enacted tax legislation. It all stems from a desire to avoid what we fear the most: uncertainty.
As I shared with Margaret, there never seems to be a shortage of those in our space who will try to capitalize on our addiction. They will sell us anything that makes us feel more content in a world that is not deterministic. Heffernan calls this the commercialization of fantasy: “the belief that the future is knowable, that all life is susceptible to certain laws if we could only figure out what they were, and that there are some special people or processes that can reveal what the future holds.“
As always, we are grateful to OneCause for being our sponsor. And if you’d like more information about Responsive’s training programs, email me at jason@responsivefundraising.com
#186 | How can fundraisers ensure that donors aren’t zoning out at their virtual events?
#185 | How can men be allies with women in the fundraising profession?
#184 | Why can't fundraising professionals just learn how to get along?
#182 | Perhaps fundraising is more about story-listening rather than story-telling?
#181 | What does it mean to be a Black woman in fundraising today?
#180 | To ensure more diversity among our donors, can fundraising become more exploratory work?
#179 | Can a nonprofit with a historically homogeneous culture redeem itself in today's climate?
#178 | Perhaps more automation is not what fundraising needs right now?
#177 | What are fundraising professionals thinking about the future of special events?
#176 | How can fundraising be a place where we show up as our best self?
#175 | How might the expectations for fundraising professionals be evolving?
#174 | Can the annual fund deliver on more than efficiency, predictability and control?
#173 | How do WOC show up authentically in their fundraising roles?
#172 | Will Zoom ultimately enhance or impede our productivity as fundraisers?
#171 | Have we got our approach to developing fundraising talent all wrong?
#170 | What if we’ve got the essence of fundraising all wrong?
#169 | Does fundraising really have to be mechanical and resemble an assembly line?
#168 | Is another pivot really what fundraising professionals needs to be talking about right now?
#167 | When are fundraising professionals going to get back on the road?
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