The Intentional Fundraiser Podcast

By Tammy ZonkerBusiness Education How To Non-Profit

The Intentional Fundraiser Podcast episodes

October 20Human-Centered Major Gifts
A donor rode a city bus at 6:15 a.m. He hadn't been on one since college.
The woman next to him had lived in that neighborhood for forty years. She was about to change his $250,000 gift.
They were riding the route families take to the local food pantry.
One hour and ten minutes. One transfer. And when they arrived, the doors didn't open until ten.
He looked at his watch and said, "Nobody who works a morning shift can do this."
She smiled. "That's what we've been trying to tell you."
He and his wife had offered a gift to expand the warehouse. Instead of saying yes on the spot, the executive director invited them to sit at a table with other donors and five paid neighborhood residents to decide together.
The table chose a mobile market along bus routes and evening hours.
The donors? They turned their gift into a multi-year commitment.
That's what this week's episode of The Intentional Fundraiser is about: "Human-Centered Major Gifts."
We talk about:
Why the human-centered model is rising in 2026
Four practical ways to share power in major gifts, plus my Power Dial
How to frame this with donors, communities, and your board

🎧 Listen to this episode, then share it with a colleague, an ED, or a board member who's ready to fundraise with, not for.
More from Tammy Zonker
Author of Calling All Heroes: Combining the Best of Donor-Centered and Community-Centered Fundraising for Greater Impact
Founder of Fundraising Transformed
President of Modern Institute for Charitable Giving
Book Tammy to Keynote Your Next Event
Reserve your spot at the upcoming Excellence in Major Gift Fundraising Seminar
Subscribe to the Scaling Major Gifts newsletter
Connect with Tammy Zonker on LinkedIn
Resources: Show notes, links, and resources mentioned in this episode.
Review my show: Please review my show. After you click the link, scroll to the bottom, first tap to rate with five stars, and then tap “Write a Review.” Then, let me know what you liked most about this particular episode or how you find my podcast helpful, valuable, insightful, or inspiring in some way.
Privacy Policy: See Privacy Policy at https://www.fundraisingtransformed.com/policies
21 min
October 13Thinking Global: Cross-Border Major Gifts
A 6:45 a.m. call from London. A donor wanted to give $1.5 million to the children's hospital that saved her little brother.
Her gift officer was thrilled. Thirty seconds later, she was terrified.
Because the donor was a US citizen living in London. Her husband was British. The money was in pounds. Their business had accounts in two countries.
Who gets the tax benefit? Which account does the money come from? What if the exchange rate moves?
Here's what I love. She didn't pretend to have the answers. She said, "I want to get this right for you. Can I ask a few questions, then bring in our finance team and your advisors?"
Two months later, the gift was structured in a way that worked for everyone. Every payment arrived on time.
That's what this week's episode of The Intentional Fundraiser Podcast is all about: "Thinking Global: Cross-Border Major Gifts."
I talk about:
Why global giving is showing up at organizations of every size
The core questions to ask early, and the pitfalls to avoid
How to build the right support team so you're never figuring it out alone

Listen at or wherever you get your podcasts, and share it with a colleague or board member who should hear it too.
More from Tammy Zonker
Author of Calling All Heroes: Combining the Best of Donor-Centered and Community-Centered Fundraising for Greater Impact
Founder of Fundraising Transformed
President of Modern Institute for Charitable Giving
Book Tammy to Keynote Your Next Event
Reserve your spot at the upcoming Excellence in Major Gift Fundraising Seminar
Subscribe to the Scaling Major Gifts newsletter
Connect with Tammy Zonker on LinkedIn
Resources: Show notes, links, and resources mentioned in this episode.
Review my show: Please review my show. After you click the link, scroll to the bottom, first tap to rate with five stars, and then tap “Write a Review.” Then, let me know what you liked most about this particular episode or how you find my podcast helpful, valuable, insightful, or inspiring in some way.
Privacy Policy: See Privacy Policy at https://www.fundraisingtransformed.com/policies
23 min
October 06Bringing Relationships Back from the Brink
Her mother's name was spelled wrong.
It was on the plaque. On dedication day. In front of her grandkids.
The mistake didn't end the relationship. What came next almost did.
The clinic took six weeks to fix it. Nobody called. The apology email said, "We apologize for any inconvenience."
The family went silent for a year.
Then a new major gift officer picked up the phone. She named what happened. She said she was sorry. She asked to hear about the donor's mom.
Forty-five minutes later, the door was open again.
On this week's episode of The Intentional Fundraiser, "Bringing Relationships Back from the Brink," I share:
The Four Lenses of Repair for diagnosing what's really going on
Three short scripts for silence, missteps, and conflict
Why timing and channel matter more than you think
How to know when it's time to step back, and how to document it

So let me ask you:
What's one apology your organization owes a donor right now?
🎧 Listen to this episode, then share it with a colleague who's been carrying a donor relationship they're nervous to touch.
More from Tammy Zonker
Author of Calling All Heroes: Combining the Best of Donor-Centered and Community-Centered Fundraising for Greater Impact
Founder of Fundraising Transformed
President of Modern Institute for Charitable Giving
Book Tammy to Keynote Your Next Event
Reserve your spot at the upcoming Excellence in Major Gift Fundraising Seminar
Subscribe to the Scaling Major Gifts newsletter
Connect with Tammy Zonker on LinkedIn
Resources: Show notes, links, and resources mentioned in this episode.
Review my show: Please review my show. After you click the link, scroll to the bottom, first tap to rate with five stars, and then tap “Write a Review.” Then, let me know what you liked most about this particular episode or how you find my podcast helpful, valuable, insightful, or inspiring in some way.
Privacy Policy: See Privacy Policy at https://www.fundraisingtransformed.com/policies
21 min
September 29Stacking the Deck for Year-End Major Gifts
My worst December as a fundraiser?
I spent it chasing a stock transfer with no name on it.
My plan had been "we'll get serious after the gala."
The gala ended in mid-November. You can guess how that year went.
Here's what I learned the hard way. December isn't where year-end is won. It's where you find out how well you planned in October.
And year-end 2026 raises the stakes. New tax rules. Donors who "bunched" their giving into last year. Complex gifts that need more lead time than ever.
On this week's episode of The Intentional Fundraiser Podcast, "Stacking the Deck for Year-End Major Gifts," I walk through:
What's changed for donors this year, and the one question to ask about it
The Year-End Countdown, five checkpoints planned backward from December 31
A one-page dashboard and a 15-minute Monday huddle that keep your whole team focused

Give it a listen this week, then share it with a colleague who's heading into Q4 with a long list and a short runway.
More from Tammy Zonker
Author of Calling All Heroes: Combining the Best of Donor-Centered and Community-Centered Fundraising for Greater Impact
Founder of Fundraising Transformed
President of Modern Institute for Charitable Giving
Book Tammy to Keynote Your Next Event
Reserve your spot at the upcoming Excellence in Major Gift Fundraising Seminar
Subscribe to the Scaling Major Gifts newsletter
Connect with Tammy Zonker on LinkedIn
Resources: Show notes, links, and resources mentioned in this episode.
Review my show: Please review my show. After you click the link, scroll to the bottom, first tap to rate with five stars, and then tap “Write a Review.” Then, let me know what you liked most about this particular episode or how you find my podcast helpful, valuable, insightful, or inspiring in some way.
Privacy Policy: See Privacy Policy at https://www.fundraisingtransformed.com/policies
23 min
September 22Impact Reporting That Deepens Commitment
One page changed everything.
A donor said it was the first report she'd ever kept.
Two years later, she made the largest gift in the organization's history.
It wasn't a glossy annual report. No pie charts. No forty pages.
Just one number she cared about, one note from a teacher, and one honest line about what the team was learning.
The difference? Her development director asked her what success looked like before she made the gift.
That's what this week's episode of The Intentional Fundraiser is all about.
I talk about:
What donors really want to know (hint: it's not how many workshops you held)
How to co-create and right-size impact metrics with your major donors
Simple formats that work in 2026, from brief impact notes to 90-second phone videos
Where AI helps, and where your judgment still matters most

Listen to "Impact Reporting That Deepens Commitment" and share it with a colleague who's rethinking donor reporting.
More from Tammy Zonker
Author of Calling All Heroes: Combining the Best of Donor-Centered and Community-Centered Fundraising for Greater Impact
Founder of Fundraising Transformed
President of Modern Institute for Charitable Giving
Book Tammy to Keynote Your Next Event
Reserve your spot at the upcoming Excellence in Major Gift Fundraising Seminar
Subscribe to the Scaling Major Gifts newsletter
Connect with Tammy Zonker on LinkedIn
Resources: Show notes, links, and resources mentioned in this episode.
Review my show: Please review my show. After you click the link, scroll to the bottom, first tap to rate with five stars, and then tap “Write a Review.” Then, let me know what you liked most about this particular episode or how you find my podcast helpful, valuable, insightful, or inspiring in some way.
Privacy Policy: See Privacy Policy at https://www.fundraisingtransformed.com/policies
20 min
September 15Today’s Gifts, Tomorrow’s Legacy
One question. A lasting legacy. Andrea almost didn't ask it.
She was afraid it would muddy her donor's renewal.
Her donor, Walter, had given faithfully for eleven years.
He was about to renew his major gift. And he kept asking one thing: "Will this program still be here someday?"
Andrea realized Walter was already having the legacy conversation. She just hadn't joined it yet.
So she asked: "What would you want this program to look like twenty years from now?"
That question led to a renewed and increased gift, and a legacy commitment to sustain the program for years to come.
On this week's episode of The Intentional Fundraiser, "Today's Gifts, Tomorrow's Legacy," I share:
Why integrating planned giving and major gifts matters so much right now
Five signals a donor is ready, plus conversation starters that feel hopeful, not morbid
How to partner with planned giving specialists and donors' advisors

Here's what I'm wondering
What's holding you back from raising legacy giving with your major donors?
Listen to this episode, then share it with a colleague or board member who cares about your mission's future.
More from Tammy Zonker
Author of Calling All Heroes: Combining the Best of Donor-Centered and Community-Centered Fundraising for Greater Impact
Founder of Fundraising Transformed
President of Modern Institute for Charitable Giving
Book Tammy to Keynote Your Next Event
Reserve your spot at the upcoming Excellence in Major Gift Fundraising Seminar
Subscribe to the Scaling Major Gifts newsletter
Connect with Tammy Zonker on LinkedIn
Resources: Show notes, links, and resources mentioned in this episode.
Review my show: Please review my show. After you click the link, scroll to the bottom, first tap to rate with five stars, and then tap “Write a Review.” Then, let me know what you liked most about this particular episode or how you find my podcast helpful, valuable, insightful, or inspiring in some way.
Privacy Policy: See Privacy Policy at https://www.fundraisingtransformed.com/policies
23 min
September 08 Calming the Waters: Supporting Anxious Donors
He went quiet for two months.
She thought she'd blown the ask.
She hadn't.
The donor had watched his business take a hit, watched the news every night, and frozen. He wasn't saying no to her $250,000 proposal. He was saying he didn't know how to say yes to anything right now.
Here's what she finally did.
She sent a note that had nothing to do with the gift. She just asked how he was thinking about the year ahead.
He called at 8:15 the next morning and talked for forty minutes. About his company. His kids. How unsure everything felt.
She didn't re-pitch. She asked one question near the end: what would make a commitment feel manageable for you right now?
Five years instead of three, he said. And a conversation each January.
He signed for $300,000.
The gift got bigger because the risk got smaller.
In this week's episode of The Intentional Fundraiser, I'm walking you through the emotional layer of giving in 2026, the four conversational moves I use with anxious donors, and five gift structures that help people feel safe saying yes to something big.
Here's my question for you. When a donor hesitates, is your first instinct to shrink the number or to shrink the risk?
Listen to the episode, then share it with someone on your team who has an anxious donor conversation coming up this week.
More from Tammy Zonker
Author of Calling All Heroes: Combining the Best of Donor-Centered and Community-Centered Fundraising for Greater Impact
Founder of Fundraising Transformed
President of Modern Institute for Charitable Giving
Book Tammy to Keynote Your Next Event
Reserve your spot at the upcoming Excellence in Major Gift Fundraising Seminar
Subscribe to the Scaling Major Gifts newsletter
Connect with Tammy Zonker on LinkedIn
Resources: Show notes, links, and resources mentioned in this episode.
Review my show: Please review my show. After you click the link, scroll to the bottom, first tap to rate with five stars, and then tap “Write a Review.” Then, let me know what you liked most about this particular episode or how you find my podcast helpful, valuable, insightful, or inspiring in some way.
Privacy Policy: See Privacy Policy at https://www.fundraisingtransformed.com/policies
20 min
September 01 Growing the Next Wave of Major Gift Talent
She gave me four minutes. It changed my career.
Almost thirty years ago, I had a donor meeting with a man who genuinely intimidated me. My development director stopped by my desk and asked what I planned to ask him.
I recited my agenda. She listened, then said, "That's fine. But what do you really want to know about him?"
I said I wanted to know why he kept giving to us when he clearly didn't need us.
She said, "Ask him that."
He talked for twenty minutes about his mother, a scholarship, and a debt he'd been paying back for forty years. He made our largest gift that year.
Four minutes at my desk. No budget. No program. No conference.
That's the whole thing I want us to understand about developing the next generation of major gift fundraisers. We keep trying to hire our way out of what is really a coaching problem.
If someone on your team told a story like that about you ten years from now, what would they say you did?
This week on The Intentional Fundraiser Podcast, I walk through what's different about the fundraisers coming up now, the four competencies they need, five coaching moves that cost nothing, and what it quietly costs your donors when you skip all of it.
Give it a listen, then share it with a manager who's carrying a team and wondering why hiring hasn't fixed it.
More from Tammy Zonker
Author of Calling All Heroes: Combining the Best of Donor-Centered and Community-Centered Fundraising for Greater Impact
Founder of Fundraising Transformed
President of Modern Institute for Charitable Giving
Book Tammy to Keynote Your Next Event
Reserve your spot at the upcoming Excellence in Major Gift Fundraising Seminar
Subscribe to the Scaling Major Gifts newsletter
Connect with Tammy Zonker on LinkedIn
Resources: Show notes, links, and resources mentioned in this episode.
Review my show: Please review my show. After you click the link, scroll to the bottom, first tap to rate with five stars, and then tap “Write a Review.” Then, let me know what you liked most about this particular episode or how you find my podcast helpful, valuable, insightful, or inspiring in some way.
Privacy Policy: See Privacy Policy at https://www.fundraisingtransformed.com/policies
18 min
August 25 When Clicks Meet Conversations: Digital and Major Gifts
The lobby test.
Your website is the lobby of your building.
It never closes the gift. But it absolutely sets the tone for everything that happens around it.
In this week's episode of The Intentional Fundraiser, I tell the story of a six-figure donor who tried to give on her phone in December, gave up three screens in, and mailed a check instead.
The gift still came. The dashboard still looked healthy.
And a loyal donor quietly filed away one piece of information about the organization she loves: this is harder than it should be.
We talk about why digital shapes what your largest donors believe about you, even the ones you have lunch with.
The four elements that matter most to a donor giving at the top of your file.
And the digital behavior signals sitting in your data right now that point toward your next major gift conversation.
Then I give you a twenty-minute audit you can run before your next staff meeting.
Here's my question for you: if a financial advisor researched your organization tomorrow, what one sentence would they report back to your donor?
Give it a listen, and share it with the person on your team who owns your website. This one is better as a conversation than a solo listen.
More from Tammy Zonker
Author of Calling All Heroes: Combining the Best of Donor-Centered and Community-Centered Fundraising for Greater Impact
Founder of Fundraising Transformed
President of Modern Institute for Charitable Giving
Book Tammy to Keynote Your Next Event
Reserve your spot at the upcoming Excellence in Major Gift Fundraising Seminar
Subscribe to the Scaling Major Gifts newsletter
Connect with Tammy Zonker on LinkedIn
Resources: Show notes, links, and resources mentioned in this episode.
Review my show: Please review my show. After you click the link, scroll to the bottom, first tap to rate with five stars, and then tap “Write a Review.” Then, let me know what you liked most about this particular episode or how you find my podcast helpful, valuable, insightful, or inspiring in some way.
Privacy Policy: See Privacy Policy at https://www.fundraisingtransformed.com/policies
20 min
August 18 Campaign Planning When the Future Is Fuzzy
"What's our plan if we only raise nine?"
A campaign chair asked that in a planning meeting for a $14 million campaign, and the room went completely quiet.
She wasn't being negative. She'd run a manufacturing business for thirty years, and she said, "I've never run a three-year plan that came in exactly where the model said it would."
So we built an answer. Three of them, honestly. Conservative, moderate, and optimistic, all built around one internal working goal.
Eighteen months later, the $4 million lead gift came in at $1.8 million.
In most campaigns, that's an emergency board meeting. In this one, it was a Tuesday, because everyone already knew what to do.
They finished at $11.4 million, and the board called it a success.
In this episode, I walk through what a working goal really is, the three scenarios you build around it, how to write triggers you can see coming, and the five sentences that keep a board steady when the number moves.
Give it a listen, then share it with someone on your team who's been waiting for a better moment to launch.
More from Tammy Zonker
Author of Calling All Heroes: Combining the Best of Donor-Centered and Community-Centered Fundraising for Greater Impact
Founder of Fundraising Transformed
President of Modern Institute for Charitable Giving
Book Tammy to Keynote Your Next Event
Reserve your spot at the upcoming Excellence in Major Gift Fundraising Seminar
Subscribe to the Scaling Major Gifts newsletter
Connect with Tammy Zonker on LinkedIn
Resources: Show notes, links, and resources mentioned in this episode.
Review my show: Please review my show. After you click the link, scroll to the bottom, first tap to rate with five stars, and then tap “Write a Review.” Then, let me know what you liked most about this particular episode or how you find my podcast helpful, valuable, insightful, or inspiring in some way.
Privacy Policy: See Privacy Policy at https://www.fundraisingtransformed.com/policies
24 min