People in Fundraising, ep. 115: Madeline Zimmer, University of Wyoming

I first met today's down-to-earth guest, Madeline Zimmer, at an Apra Rocky Mountains prospect development conference in June 2022 in Grand Junction, Colorado. Attendees went to dinner after the workshop ended, and Madeline and I hit it off on an array of topics: both of us are East Coast transplants to the Intermountain West; aliens; life after death; human sexuality; David Bowie; and other topics in two hours of enlivening conversation. We have since gratefully become good friends. 

In today's episode, we expand on our first conversation to discuss:

* How Madeline began her nonprofit career, first as a wildlife rehabilitation volunteer at Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary before becoming a full-time employee there for 7 years. This gave Madeline insight into low-resourced, high-demand grassroots nonprofit work. Relocating to Wyoming lead her to join the University of Wyoming Foundation.

* Madeline's presentation on "How to Work Well," which she has presented on several times. It outlines how to develop collaborative, genuine behaviors when working with other people. It dovetails with Madeline's self-developed label of being "an actual human," which is necessary "as we become more comfortable with digital work and become less human."

* Searching for moments of meaning and "preciousness" with people in daily life, such as in the office break-room. "You can't be real with someone without a warm-up lap!" And how going outside, getting sunlight, and connecting with nature are all ways of truly "plugging in."

Thank you Madeline for an incredibly interesting conversation! And thank you to the "People in Fundraising" audience for tuning in, watching, and supporting this content each Monday!