The Focused Fundraiser

The Focused Fundraiser

Download on the App Store

The Focused Fundraiser episodes

  • Your Fundraising Problem could be a Bookkeeping Problem | Germeen Guillaume

    Most fundraisers treat the finance office like the department down the hall. Germeen Guillaume wants to tear down that wall, because your books can win you gifts or cost you them.

    Germeen spent years doing audits in public accounting and banking before founding Visionary Accounting Group, a firm that works only with nonprofits on accounting, grant management, and audit prep. Her firm has recouped more than $2.8 million in receivables for its clients, much of it grant reimbursements that organizations were owed but weren't tracking.

    In this episode of The Focused Fundraiser, Rob Burke talks with Germeen about what nonprofit bookkeeping has to do with raising money. She explains what the books reveal about whether your fundraising is working, how to handle a restricted gift so you can prove where every dollar went, and what a good monthly reconciliation between your donor database and your accounting system looks like. She also covers what to say when a major donor asks about overhead or reserves, what grant program officers actually check in your financials, and how a growing nonprofit should decide between a bookkeeper, a controller, and a CFO.

    If you've ever been asked what last year's fundraising event actually netted and had to go digging for the answer, this one's for you.

    CHAPTERS

    00:00 - Cold open: no CFO can fix bad bookkeeping

    00:19 - Welcome: how your books win gifts or cost you them

    01:02 - From audit work to an accounting firm just for nonprofits

    02:25 - What your books reveal about whether fundraising is working

    04:08 - Handling a restricted gift so you can prove where it went

    05:38 - Garbage in, garbage out: why cleanup comes first

    06:45 - Monthly reconciliation between your donor database and accounting system

    10:00 - How clean books help you raise more and win grants

    12:13 - What to tell a major donor who asks about overhead or reserves

    15:21 - What grant program officers check in your financials

    18:22 - Diversify your funding before one source goes away

    19:33 - Bookkeeper, controller, or CFO: what finance help you need

    21:23 - Tactical takeaway: track every campaign in your books

    22:24 - Accounting as a trust-building tool, and how to connect with Germeen

    CONNECT WITH GERMEEN

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/germeen-guillaume/

    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4mbs2tBlk7WBoVCAH8T8uQ

    ABOUT THE FOCUSED FUNDRAISER

    Hosted by Rob Burke, CMO at DonorDock. Seasoned fundraisers share hard-earned wisdom on what moves the mission forward, because doing more doesn't lead to success. Focusing on what matters most does.

    Learn how DonorDock helps you find clarity, keep clean donor data that syncs directly into QuickBooks, and forecast your fundraising: https://www.donordock.com

    24 min
  • 72 Teens Paid to Paint, Zero Tuition: Fundraising Alongside Earned Revenue | Laura Wetter

    When your nonprofit earns revenue, some donors assume the sales cover everything. Laura Wetter, Development Director at Urban ArtWorks in Seattle, answers that by being specific about who pays for what.

    Urban ArtWorks gets paid to paint commissioned murals, and that money supports the artists and staff. Foundations and individual donors fund the youth programs, which are free and pay teens a stipend to take part. Last year, 172 teens completed the mural apprentice programs, and every one of them earned $500.

    In this episode of The Focused Fundraiser, Rob Burke talks with Laura about fundraising alongside earned revenue. She shares how Urban ArtWorks tells the story of outcomes donors can't see on a finished wall, like confidence, leadership, and job readiness. She also walks through the four storytelling threads she leans on when arts funding is scarce, how her team treats corporate team-building days and mural commissions as the start of longer partnerships, and the biggest shift she made moving from grant writing to individual giving.

    If your nonprofit earns revenue and raises gifts, or you're thinking about adding an earned revenue stream, this one's for you.

    Laura joined the nonprofit sector in 2007 as an AmeriCorps VISTA in Chicago. Before Urban ArtWorks, she raised money for economic development work ranging from business lending and local food and farming to neighborhood development on Chicago's West Side.

    CHAPTERS

    00:00 - Cold open: who actually funds the youth programs

    00:45 - Welcome: fundraising when your nonprofit also sells its work

    01:38 - From AmeriCorps VISTA in Chicago to Urban ArtWorks in Seattle

    02:43 - Writing: the skill that carried across every mission

    03:54 - Growing individual giving, and pausing the event to rethink it

    05:04 - Earned revenue vs. donations: what commissions pay for and what gifts fund

    07:10 - Raising money for outcomes donors can't see

    09:20 - Four storytelling threads for when arts funding is scarce

    12:09 - Turning team-building days and mural clients into recurring partners

    13:54 - From grant writer to individual giving: the biggest mindset shift

    15:30 - Keeping relationships at the top of a crowded to-do list

    16:59 - Tactical takeaway: be grateful for your team

    17:37 - How to connect with Laura

    CONNECT WITH LAURA

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-wetter-0691284/

    Urban ArtWorks: https://urbanartworks.org

    ABOUT THE FOCUSED FUNDRAISER

    Hosted by Rob Burke, CMO at DonorDock. Seasoned fundraisers share hard-earned wisdom on what moves the mission forward, because doing more doesn't lead to success. Focusing on what matters most does.

    Learn how DonorDock helps you find clarity and build strong donor relationships through Smart Stewardship: https://www.donordock.com

    19 min
  • Mission Drift vs. Mission Evolution: How Nonprofits Lose Their Way | Sharmon Lebby

    Most nonprofits chase funding before they've built anything strong enough to hold it. Sharmon Lebby has spent two decades watching mission-driven organizations either build infrastructure or run on passion until it breaks down, and she's done both herself.

    In this episode of The Focused Fundraiser, Sharmon shares the story of applying for a multimillion-dollar federal grant when her organization's budget was about $5,000, and why her board saying no was the best thing that happened to her. She explains why strategy, systems, and storytelling have to come before fundraising, how a Grand Forks nonprofit thrives on less than $100K a year because of the community it built, and what real collaboration looks like when two organizations want the same money. We close on mission drift: where it starts, how to tell it apart from healthy mission evolution, and the one diagnostic question every fundraiser should ask.

    Sharmon Lebby is the founder of Blessed Designs Consulting and Board President of Intersectional Environmentalist. Her book, Rippled Impact, is on its way to the editor.

    CHAPTERS

    00:00 - Introducing Sharmon Lebby

    00:48 - Growing up in service and founding a nonprofit from scratch

    02:07 - The multimillion-dollar grant mistake on a $5,000 budget

    03:51 - Focus: build slow, build solid

    04:50 - Strategy, systems, and storytelling before funding

    06:00 - The Grand Forks nonprofit thriving on under $100K

    08:17 - What an ethical clothing brand taught her about donors

    10:59 - Collaboration over competition when money is on the table

    13:30 - A partnership that worked: five founders, one community

    15:33 - Where mission drift starts

    17:38 - Mission drift vs. mission evolution

    19:19 - Tactical takeaway: sit down with 3 to 5 community members

    20:27 - Connect with Sharmon and her upcoming book, Rippled Impact

    CONNECT WITH SHARMON

    Website and free resources (including the Purpose Drift Diagnostic): https://www.blesseddesignsco.com/friends

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharmon-lebby/

    Intersectional Environmentalist: https://intersectionalenvironmentalist.com

    ABOUT THE FOCUSED FUNDRAISER

    Hosted by Rob Burke, CMO at DonorDock. Seasoned fundraisers share hard-earned wisdom on what moves the mission forward, because doing more doesn't lead to success. Focusing on what matters most does.

    DonorDock helps small nonprofits find clarity and build strong donor relationships through smart stewardship. Learn more at https://www.donordock.com

    22 min
  • The $50K Gift Hiding in Your Donor Database: Legacy Giving Done Right | Tess Conrad

    Your most loyal $100-a-year donor might be sitting on a $3 million house and a $50,000 legacy gift your nonprofit will never see if you keep saying "planned giving."

    In this episode of The Focused Fundraiser, Rob Burke sits down with Tess Conrad, who builds planned giving programs for charities across the US and Canada. Tess explains why the term "planned giving" confuses donors (and fundraisers), how to open a legacy conversation without making it transactional, and why financial advisors are quietly out-fundraising the nonprofit sector by steering charitable dollars into donor-advised funds.

    You'll learn the "brochure pass" technique for gauging donor interest, how to run a legacy giving survey that gets donors to raise their hands, and the research-backed stat every skeptical board needs to hear: donors who add a charity to their will increase their annual giving by 77% on average (Dr. Russell James).

    What you'll learn:

    • Why "planned giving" is jargon and the plain language that works instead (gift in your will, gift from an IRA, gifts of stock, DAFs)
    • The brochure pass: a low-pressure way to open legacy conversations
    • How to find legacy "hand raisers" with checkboxes and a donor survey
    • Making the case for legacy giving to a skeptical ED or board (average estate gift: $50,000)
    • Why loyalty — not gift size — is the #1 predictor of a gift in a will
    • The DAF debate: how financial advisors see the whole financial picture while fundraisers see one gift
    • Tactical takeaway: write a clear "why" message (case for support) for legacy gifts

    Chapters:

    00:00 - Cold open: "Planned giving" is jargon

    00:40 - Welcome and meet Tess Conrad, CFRE

    01:25 - From theater degree to face-to-face canvassing to planned giving

    02:16 - The language swap: what to say instead of "planned giving"

    04:05 - Opening the legacy conversation without being transactional

    04:31 - The brochure pass technique

    06:16 - Finding hand raisers: checkboxes and legacy giving surveys

    07:35 - Making the case to a skeptical board or Executive Director

    09:39 - The 77% stat: legacy donors give MORE annually (Dr. Russell James)

    10:54 - Why financial advisors are out-fundraising the nonprofit sector

    13:05 - The DAF debate: deferred dollars vs. today's needs

    15:37 - Loyal small donors: your best legacy prospects

    17:17 - Tactical takeaway: write your legacy giving "why" message

    18:33 - How to connect with Tess

    Connect with Tess Conrad:

    • LinkedIn
    • Blog post: How to write a legacy giving case for support

    About The Focused Fundraiser: Rob Burke sits down with seasoned fundraisers to unpack their hard-earned wisdom on what moves a mission forward. Because doing more doesn't lead to success — focusing on what matters most does.

    Curious how DonorDock can help you build donor retention through smart stewardship? Visit https://www.donordock.com

    20 min
  • Board Report Cards: How JA Activates 68 Board Members | Laurie Sallarulo

    A board of 68. A staff of 50. 70,000 students a year. Most organizations would call that unmanageable — Laurie Sallarulo turned it into a fundraising engine.

    In this episode of The Focused Fundraiser, host Rob Burke talks with Laurie, President & CEO of Junior Achievement of South Florida, about how she runs something big without letting it get slow. When she arrived almost twelve years ago, her first instinct was to cut the board in half. Instead she assigned every board member a relationship manager, wrote down exactly what "board member" means, and started sending quarterly report cards. Board members now notice when something's missing from theirs.

    Laurie also gets into the four criteria she screens every board prospect against (including the one she calls "no jerks"), why she stopped tracking dollars in her weekly development meetings and started tracking meetings and asks instead, and how JA converts 5,000 annual volunteers into donors with a $10-a-month campaign and a QR code on every wall.

    Plus: what to put in front of a donor when your program's real outcome is ten years out.

    If your board is polite but passive, or your volunteer program has never produced a gift, this one's for you.

    CHAPTERS

    01:21 - From Brooklyn to banking to advertising to the nonprofit sector

    02:36 - Which corporate habits transferred, and which didn't

    02:52 - Running a nonprofit is running a business

    04:27 - Why she didn't cut a 50-person board in half

    05:03 - Giving every board member a relationship manager

    06:00 - Getting clear on the give/get, the personal gift, and introductions

    06:30 - Quarterly report cards — and why board members read them

    07:00 - The overnight retreat that changed board relationships

    07:20 - Four criteria for every board seat (including "no jerks")

    08:05 - Welcomed vs. belonging: stewarding board members like donors

    08:35 - Unreasonable Hospitality, The Power of Moments, and stewardship plans for everyone

    10:25 - Mobilizing 5,000 volunteers a year through the school district

    10:51 - Where volunteer-to-donor conversion stalls out

    11:22 - It works both ways: 89% donor retention starts with engagement

    12:15 - One Future: $10 a month, QR codes, and the end-of-day ask

    12:50 - Turning employer partners and paid internships into gifts

    13:46 - What development directors should expect from their chief executive

    14:16 - Alignment: CEO, COO, and CFO leading development together

    15:20 - Clarity on goals — and on the behaviors that get you there

    15:45 - Tracking meetings, proposals, and asks instead of dollars

    17:04 - Proving impact when the outcome is ten years away

    17:30 - Fifth grade, eighth grade, high school: telling the full-spectrum story

    18:10 - College grads who can tell their JA BizTown story

    18:40 - Pre-apprenticeship: 100 students, $4 million in economic impact

    19:16 - Tactical takeaway: ask everyone you know who else you should meet

    20:13 - How to connect with Laurie and JA South Florida

    RESOURCES MENTIONED

    • Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara
    • The Power of Moments by Chip Heath & Dan Heath

    LINKS

    • Junior Achievement of South Florida: https://jasouthflorida.org
    • Connect with Laurie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ljsallarulo/
    • Learn how DonorDock helps you find clarity and build retention: https://donordock.com
    22 min
  • Your Strategy Problem Is Probably a Trust Problem | Austin Satrom

    Best systems, wrong person? You fail. Best person, terrible systems? You still fail. Austin Satrom has spent his career sitting with leadership teams and boards that have hit a ceiling, and he's found the distinction between the two is where most nonprofits get stuck.

    In this episode of The Focused Fundraiser, host Rob Burke talks with Austin — founder of Breakthrough Advising and a certified System & Soul coach — about what it actually takes to stop running your organization on heroics. They get into carving out time to work on the organization instead of in it, building an org chart that starts with the what instead of the who, the CEO/board chair covenant Austin puts on paper, and how to run a weekly meeting that produces decisions instead of another meeting.

    Then Austin makes the case that the strategic plan collecting dust on your shelf is one of the most underused fundraising tools you own.

    If your board meetings feel busy but never decide anything, or your growth has outrun the systems meant to support it, this one's for you.

    CHAPTERS 00:00 - Best systems, wrong person: why both have to be right

    00:11 - Welcome: why good people in good orgs still spin their wheels

    01:02 - Falling into the nonprofit world from ministry and corporate

    02:24 - Running on heroics: what to install and what to cancel

    02:57 - Working ON the organization instead of in it

    05:11 - When revenue and impact outgrow your systems

    05:48 - The org chart that starts with the what, not the who

    09:16 - The CEO and board chair covenant

    09:45 - What goes in it, and why both parties sign

    12:12 - What separates a meeting that decides from one that doesn't

    12:35 - The weekly sync: start on time, end on time

    13:30 - The scoreboard: five metrics, no rabbit trails

    15:00 - Prioritize the issues list instead of ticking down it

    17:20 - EOS, Traction, and structure for the nonprofit sector

    17:38 - Strategy problem or trust problem?

    18:10 - Micromanaging, delegation, and the leader's honest question

    21:04 - Tactical takeaway: pull your strategic plan off the shelf

    21:30 - Using the plan to shape donor stories and show stewardship

    23:29 - How to connect with Austin + wrap up

    LINKS

    • Breakthrough Advising: https://www.breakthroughadvising.com
    • Connect with Austin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-satrom-5ba02377
    • Email Austin: [email protected]
    • Learn how DonorDock helps you find clarity and build retention through Smart Stewardship: https://donordock.com
    25 min
  • The Donor Data Hiding in Your Database (And How to Use It) | Colleen Mitchell

    Colleen Mitchell talks about generosity in three different rooms. She runs annual giving at MidAmerica Nazarene University, pastors youth and families at her church, and teaches freshmen the rest of the week. Her takeaway from all three: relationship doesn't change just because the room does.

    In this episode of The Focused Fundraiser, host Rob Burke talks with Colleen about what she learned from the admin seat in an advancement office, the historical donor data sitting unused in most databases, and why the $5-a-month recurring donor is her favorite person to work with. She also breaks down Champions Challenge, MNU's athletics crowdfunding campaign that invites people to invest in what's already working instead of leading with scarcity and urgency.

    If you run the annual fund, wear more than one hat, or feel like the need never ends, Colleen's answer to burnout is simpler than you'd expect: go say thank you.

    CHAPTERS

    00:00 - Relationship doesn't change when the room changes

    00:24 - Welcome: one fundraiser, three different rooms

    01:07 - The accidental path into fundraising

    02:47 - What the admin seat taught her about the whole shop

    03:54 - Becoming the bridge: asking "why do we do it this way?"

    05:10 - The donor data you already have and aren't looking at

    05:53 - Quick wins, and the limits of constituency codes

    07:00 - What actually changed about how they use their data

    07:38 - The database admin who typed in 35 years of yearbooks

    08:53 - Where they still struggle: donor contact info

    09:31 - Stewardship packets and matching student stories to donors

    10:51 - What preaching and teaching taught her about donors

    11:54 - Making the case for annual giving

    12:56 - The quiet cohort: $5 to $25 every paycheck

    13:47 - "I get the rest": the overwhelm and the upside

    15:56 - How to spot a donor who's ready for the next step

    17:08 - Champions Challenge: leading with gain instead of gap

    18:47 - The women's soccer team that caught the vision

    20:04 - One thing every fundraiser should do today: say thank you

    20:34 - How saying thank you protects you from burnout

    21:43 - Connect with Colleen + wrap up

    KEY TAKEAWAYS

    • Relationship skills transfer across every room.
    • The admin seat is the best training in fundraising.
    • Most organizations are sitting on donor data they've never touched.
    • Constituency codes are a starting point, not an answer.
    • Recurring donors giving $5 to $25 a paycheck are the backbone. They show up quietly and consistently, and you never have to ask them again — you get to thank them.
    • Consistency is the signal for readiness.
    • You don't always need a defined gap to raise money.
    • Saying thank you is the highest-leverage thing on your list.

    LINKS

    • Connect with Colleen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mcintosc/
    • Learn how DonorDock helps you find clarity and build retention through Smart Stewardship: https://donordock.com
    23 min
  • You Don't Have a Tech Problem, You Have a People Problem | Tim Lockie, The Human Stack

    Fundraisers are at the mercy of their systems. And when the technology doesn't work, most nonprofit teams do the same thing: they buy more of it. Tim Lockie, founder of The Human Stack, says that almost never works, because the real problem lives in the human stack, not the tech stack.

    In this episode of The Focused Fundraiser, host Rob Burke sits down with Tim Lockie, who built a seven-figure Salesforce consulting firm before turning his focus to the part of technology everyone overlooks: the people. Tim explains why your CRM struggles are usually culture problems in disguise, walks through his orchestra analogy for understanding tech adoption, and shares a simple framework for figuring out whether your tech is ahead of your culture or your culture is ahead of your tech.

    You'll learn why "digital voluntolds" are quietly holding your fundraising team together, why new software keeps becoming expensive shelfware, and how to think about letting AI into your work without amplifying the problems you already have.

    CHAPTERS

    00:00 - Intro: doing more vs. focusing on what matters

    01:01 - Tim's path: 20 years in nonprofits and a seven-figure Salesforce firm

    03:01 - Why no software solves the people problem

    05:47 - Signs your team has thrown in the towel on its database

    05:59 - The orchestra analogy: instruments, sheet music, and musicians

    08:56 - Adoption vs. orchestration: playing well together

    09:53 - The conductor and the "first chairs" who actually drive change

    12:58 - The techie by necessity, and what they should stop doing

    15:00 - The power differential and the rise of "digital voluntolds"

    16:14 - Is your culture ahead of your tech, or your tech ahead of your culture?

    17:57 - Why tech rollouts die and become expensive shelfware

    20:28 - Adoption comes down to ownership

    21:13 - AI, ethics, and fundraising.ai

    22:00 - Three rules for letting AI into your fundraising work

    24:54 - Tactical takeaway: the six-question digital health quiz

    25:43 - Where to connect with Tim

    KEY TAKEAWAYS

    • Tech problems almost always have human roots. You can't solve a people problem by buying more software.
    • Your organization is an orchestra: software is the instruments, data is the sheet music, and your people are the musicians. Buying new instruments won't fix a musician problem.
    • Real change doesn't come from the whole team at once. It comes from "first chairs," the champions on each team who others look to when something breaks.
    • Fundraising teams are often one job description away from solving their own tech problems, if leadership carves out real, budgeted time for the person already doing the work.
    • Tech rollouts die when engagement and accountability stop. Maintaining your systems is like reconciling your books: you never actually stop.

    LINKS

    • The Human Stack: https://thehumanstack.com
    • Take the Nonprofit Digital Health Quiz: https://thehumanstack.com/quiz
    • Connect with Tim on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tlockie/
    • Email Tim: [email protected]
    • Learn how DonorDock helps you build retention through Smart Stewardship: https://donordock.com
    27 min
  • Donor-Centric Storytelling: How to Turn Your Mission Into Gifts | Mary Rockwell Thon

    Most fundraisers who say they hate fundraising were never actually trained to do it. That was true for Mary Rockwell Thon, until she learned to talk about giving in a donor-centric way. Twenty years later, she's raised money for Girl Scouts, the Alzheimer's Association, child abuse prevention, and now MENTOR Vermont.

    In this episode of The Focused Fundraiser, host Rob Burke talks with Mary about the storytelling habit every fundraiser should drop, why the $10-a-month donor can be worth more than a one-time big gift, and how to make donors feel the impact of slow, relationship-based work. Mary also shares a grounded, honest take on ethical fundraising and where AI does and doesn't belong in nonprofit communications.

    If you're on a lean team, or you're the whole team, this conversation is full of practical ways to spend your limited hours where they actually pay off.

    CHAPTERS

    00:00 - Intro: focusing on what moves a mission forward

    00:51 - Mary's accidental path into fundraising

    02:46 - The training that changed everything: donor-centric fundraising

    03:49 - The storytelling habit to drop and the one to add

    04:45 - Make your organization the guide, not the hero

    05:18 - What transfers from cause to cause, and what to unlearn

    06:28 - Different fundraising styles: events, major donors, corporate

    07:21 - Ethical fundraising and asset-based storytelling

    08:35 - Navigating AI in nonprofit communications

    09:29 - Disclosure, composite stories, and honesty with donors

    10:14 - Donor retention in a small market

    11:56 - Making impact felt when outcomes are slow

    13:35 - Where lean and solo teams should spend their time

    14:40 - Find a development mentor: you don't have to do it alone

    15:14 - Wrap up

    KEY TAKEAWAYS

    • Fundraising is a learnable skill. The discomfort many people feel usually means they were never trained to talk about giving in a donor-centric way.
    • Stop telling stories about your programs. Tell the story of your beneficiary and how the donor made a difference. Make the donor the hero and your organization the guide.
    • Use asset-based framing, not "sad puppy" appeals. Talk about the strengths you're building on, not just the need.
    • Be honest about AI and composites. If you use a composite person or an AI-assisted draft, make it clear, and don't pass off generated art as real.
    • The $10-a-month donor often has more lifetime value than a one-time large gift. Retention beats constantly chasing new donors.
    • Ask your board to introduce you to five new people a year, and don't rush the ask. Build the relationship first.
    • Translate impact into donor-sized terms. "Your gift trains one mentor" lands better than abstract capacity-building language.
    • On a lean team, build a yearly calendar (grants, appeals, communications) so you're not chasing your tail, and find a development mentor so you're not doing it alone.

    LINKS

    • MENTOR Vermont: https://mentorvt.org
    • Connect with Mary on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-thon-5317421a/
    • Association of Fundraising Professionals (find a local chapter and mentoring): https://afpglobal.org
    • Learn how DonorDock helps you find clarity and build retention through Smart Stewardship: https://donordock.com
    17 min
  • 70 Million Meals, Zero Trucks: Move for Hunger's Fundraising Playbook

    Move for Hunger has transported more than 70 million meals to food banks and pantries across the US and Canada, and they don't own a single truck. In this episode, Rob Burke sits down with Jennifer Bushinger-Ortiz, Director of Development at Move for Hunger, to unpack how you fund a mission that runs on a network instead of a warehouse.

    Jennifer has spent nearly two decades in development, and she brings a refreshingly honest take on building a corporate-first fundraising model, making enormous impact numbers feel human, holding two messages at once (fighting hunger and cutting food waste), and knowing when a big, risky campaign is worth it. If you lead fundraising or development at a nonprofit, this one is full of tactics you can use this week.

    Chapters

    00:00 - Welcome to The Focused Fundraiser

    00:56 - From theater to fundraising: Jennifer's path

    03:21 - Inside Move for Hunger's corporate-first model

    06:45 - Making big numbers mean something: food as the hero

    10:11 - Holding two messages: hunger and food waste

    12:27 - Segmenting your story for the room you're in

    14:40 - Big, risky campaigns and a Guinness World Record

    17:55 - The fundraising tactic Jennifer thinks is overrated

    20:38 - Tactical takeaway: keep learning, trust your gut

    22:21 - How to connect with Jennifer

    Key Takeaways

    • Know your type. Build your fundraising model on the strength you actually have, not the one every other nonprofit copies. Move for Hunger leaned into its network of 1,400+ moving and transportation companies instead of chasing individual donors.
    • Make the food the hero. When your impact numbers are too big to picture (50,000 pounds of potatoes), put the tangible thing at the center of the story. See: their "Operation Fruit Cup" campaign.
    • Segment by industry and motivation. Some partners care about environmental impact and CO2 saved from landfills; others care about data and local impact. Research the room before you walk in.
    • Big, splashy events (like their Guinness World Record cereal domino run) raise awareness at a scale no marketing budget can buy, but they require leadership that will invest in risk.
    • Diversify or hit your ceiling. There is no one-size revenue model anymore. If too much of your funding sits in one bucket and that bucket disappears, you're stuck.
    • Trust your gut, then defend it. Before you push a bold idea past your board or team, poke every hole in it so your "why" is airtight.

    About Move for Hunger Founded in 2009 by Adam Lowy, Move for Hunger rescues food that would otherwise be thrown out when people move and gets it to food banks and pantries. In the US, 38% of perfectly good food ends up in landfills. It's not a food creation problem, it's an access and waste problem.

    Links

    • Move for Hunger: https://moveforhunger.org
    • Learn how DonorDock helps you find clarity and build retention through smart stewardship: https://www.donordock.com
    24 min

About The Focused Fundraiser

From the publisher's feed

What if doing less made you a better fundraiser?

More shows like The Focused Fundraiser

The Intentional Fundraiser Podcast by Tammy Zonker

The Intentional Fundraiser Podcast

17 Listeners