The Fundraising Talent Podcast
Business:Non-Profit
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.
#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?
#183 | How can fundraising professionals better navigate radical uncertainty?
#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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