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- [00:00]
Brian Marquez Hall
One of my favorite things to hear, and I hear it often, is people told me, I give because I wouldn't have been able to get through school if it wasn't for this scholarship. And I want that to be available for somebody else.
- [00:15]
Jay Frost
Welcome to the PM Podcast, brought to you by Donor Search, the show that takes you inside the lives of thought leaders, innovators, and change makers in fundraising, philanthropy, and civil society. I'm your host, Jay Frost. Brian Marquez hall is development officer at the Southern Scholarship foundation and one of the two recipients of the 2025 Outstanding Young Professional Award from the association of Fundraising Professionals. From launching inclusive initiatives and tripling donor gifts at elder care services to raising $100,000 in just 10 weeks at SSF, Brian has consistently delivered results rooted in equity, innovation, and authentic engagement. We spoke with him live at icon, the association's international conference in Seattle, Washington.
- [01:03]
Unknown
Congratulations.
- [01:04]
Brian Marquez Hall
Thank you. Thank you so much.
- [01:06]
Unknown
Now, I know you have a story to tell.
- [01:08]
Brian Marquez Hall
Yes.
- [01:08]
Unknown
And that is about how you were nominated, so please share that. It's really awesome.
- [01:12]
Brian Marquez Hall
So my husband was actually the person that nominated me for the award, and so he told me about it. I think it was sometime in September or October. Like, he was like, okay, like, I submitted the application. Let's just wait and see, right? And so we didn't hear about it for a good few weeks. And I was convinced that I wasn't gonna get it. I didn't think I was worthy of it. And one day in January, I get home, and he's like, babe, like, you're not gonna believe this. And I had completely forgotten about the nomination. I was thinking about it, so I had no idea what he was gonna say. And he showed me his phone. He's like, look at this email. And so I read the first couple sentences, and I was like, no way. Like, I was over the moon. I was so excited, so happy. And I was like, I just couldn't believe it. I mean, even now, still, like, I don't fully believe it because it's just such an amazing, like, recognition.
- [02:09]
Unknown
What is it? What does it mean to you?
- [02:13]
Brian Marquez Hall
It means that. That the work that I put into my career and the. The field has been seen. It's been recognized, and it's just so special because I think of fundraising as such a noble profession, and I'm just like, I love it so much. So to have an organization like AFP Global, which is that I hold in such high regard, recognize me that way. Just thrilled.
- [02:49]
Unknown
So tell me about your fundraising journey. Where did you get started in it.
- [02:54]
Brian Marquez Hall
So my first job in fundraising was for a senior services agency. It's called Elder Care Services. And on top of other things, we run the local Mills and Wheels program. So that was my first job. I was a communications specialist, but I also did a lot of the admin work for our development team. And my chief development officer paid for my AFP membership. And she, she told me, like, you don't have to get involved, you don't have to really do anything. I just want you to go to some of the trainings when I need you to. But I went on the website and saw everything that there was to learn about fundraising. I was like, oh my God, there's so much like, there's like the science, the psychology, strategy. I was like, this is what I want to do. I went into that role thinking that I wanted to be a marketer. And I was like, no, I want to do the high level, high touch fundraising. And it's been going pretty well since then, I think. So.
- [04:01]
Unknown
So a lot of people get to know fundraising maybe even when they're younger, before, you know, pre professional life. So what drew you into fundraising in the first place? Did you have kind of a concept of it from when you were very young?
- [04:15]
Brian Marquez Hall
So, you know, we did those like school, like chocolate bar sales. So I was involved in that. But really when I started fundraising was in college. I was a member of a fraternity and we participated in dance marathon at Florida State University.
- [04:33]
Unknown
Oh yeah, no, I've heard about these, but describe this because I didn't see it when I was going to school. What is this like?
- [04:41]
Brian Marquez Hall
It's honestly such a tremendous fee that they do. It's all student run, student led and they raise, I believe the last time I saw from the current class, over a million dollars for the local children's miracle hospital. And it's all peer to peer. You know, they create a template for the students to send out email and that was like my first taste of fun racing.
- [05:06]
Unknown
But it's a dance marathon.
- [05:07]
Brian Marquez Hall
Yes. So you, you request donations prior to the event and you can fundraise for it without actually doing the dance marathon. But then the day off, it's 24 hours of. Not 24 hours of dancing straight. But you know, you have to stand and, and yeah, you just stand there the whole time.
- [05:29]
Unknown
Like you have to stand and move. Is that the idea?
- [05:32]
Brian Marquez Hall
Yeah. And they do, they try to make it fun to have like silent disco and you can take breaks whenever it's too much to bear. But the idea is that like you're Just hanging out, socializing, and raising money for a good cause.
- [05:46]
Unknown
Does anybody actually manage to do it for 24 hours?
- [05:49]
Brian Marquez Hall
I don't think so, no. I mean, even. Even some of the people that I know were like, the most committed. Like, when it wasn't like a break time, they would sneak away to the bathroom so they could sit down for like a few seconds.
- [06:01]
Unknown
Yeah, I mean, it almost sounds like a senate, you know, filibuster or something. All right, so your earliest taste of this was selling candy bars. Dance marathon, which is a million dollars, is amazing. It is special event driven. So when you went out of that, then, did you go right into fundraising out of college or what?
- [06:23]
Brian Marquez Hall
Yes, that was Elder care services was my first job out of college. Like I said, I was doing mostly communications, but as I grew into that role, I found that I had more time to do other things. So I asked my supervisor to assign me more tasks that were fundraising related. So she. That organization also does a little different racing through special events. So she assigned me a few sponsor prospects for, like, our fundraising event in the fall, and that's how I started doing that. I'm personally not a fan of events, but it did help me gain some of that experience and like, you know, talking to people that were supporting our organization and asking them to. She gave me a file of people that had already donated, so asking them to renew their support.
- [07:15]
Unknown
Sure. And that's. That's a really big piece. This too, I guess, is just reaching out to people, getting to know them, inviting them back, making them feel like, you know, their family, that they're valued. So going from there to where you are now, take us on that journey a bit.
- [07:29]
Brian Marquez Hall
Yes. So after I left elder care services, I took a job at Tallahassee State College. I was their donor stewardship officer. I wasn't there for very long, but I did get a taste of how higher education institutions do fundraising. And we went to the CASE Conference, actually, and it was a really great experience. I learned a lot and I love doing stewardship for them. But, you know, it was getting to the time that I wanted to do a little bit more of a frontline role, which was when I decided to apply for the job that I currently have at Southern Scholarship Foundation. And I've been here for a little bit over a year, and it's just been great. I mean, the mission is very unique. We provide rent free housing for students in Florida. And talk about why that's important. Well, you know, the cost of higher education is already, like, so high, but a Lot of people can make it through on scholarships, financial scholarships to pay for their tuition. But once that tuition is paid for, there's still a lot of barriers to being able to actually go to college. So the story of our organization is an assistant dean for the College of Education at FSU met two students who told them, we have the scholarship to pay for tuition, but we still can't come to school because we know where we could stay. And this is like 70 years ago.
- [09:11]
Unknown
Wow.
- [09:11]
Brian Marquez Hall
So he, you know, talked to some of his connections. He was able to get them a room for the year and then next year he had 11 students and then the next year he had like over 20. And as he grew, he made it into an actual like flesh style program that, that provide rent free housing for students.
- [09:34]
Unknown
And if that was 70 years ago, now, today the cost of education and the cost of housing have both skyrocketed just in the last few years.
- [09:43]
Brian Marquez Hall
Yes, astronomical. We actually did a study recently about how much we would estimate that our residents save by living with us versus staying on, on campus housing or off campus housing. And the average is because we're at three different cities. So we did all the cities and then we did a weighted average. The average would be about $18,000 that they saved just by being involved in the program. And if you multiply that by four, like they complete their degree by four years, that's like a $76,000 value.
- [10:19]
Unknown
It's huge. I suppose even if they could do that, they would probably mean taking out additional loans for education in order to make it possible to have a place to sleep.
- [10:30]
Brian Marquez Hall
Yes.
- [10:32]
Unknown
And that loan debt is huge and at a higher interest rate than other kinds of loans.
- [10:38]
Brian Marquez Hall
And it's funny because I took, you know, in my undergrad I took a few student loans out and every time that I told people about the program, like, I wish that I had known about it when I was a student because I went to school at one of the partner universities that we have. But I just didn't know about the program. And if I had been involved in it when I was a student, it would have made such a huge difference in my life.
- [11:05]
Unknown
So the work you're doing now, tell me a bit about exactly what kind of work that you're doing for the organization.
- [11:12]
Brian Marquez Hall
So I do mostly our annual giving program. So the way that our department structures, it's just me, our director of development and our CEO, so she is focusing most on the major gifts and I do our annual direct marketing appeals and also some of our special events which I already said I wasn't a fan of. But it's not as much of a lift as it was in my previous organization.
- [11:44]
Unknown
But there's a value between all these programs. Right? I mean, being able to make sure that there are events to steward people. Because you mentioned stewardship before, annual fund, because you need sustaining support, major gifts. Because obviously there are people who might be able to do something that's transformational. So when you think about, especially a small team, there are a lot of people in our world who are with small offices and they're trying to do great things. How do all these pieces kind of fit together and how do you feel about the way they all fit together?
- [12:17]
Brian Marquez Hall
So I think that, you know, I like to think of every donor as a major donor in the sense that, you know, not everybody has the capacity to get to make, you know, $100,000 gift. You know, for somebody, that $10 is a major gift. So we think of, you know, we, we know about the, the. What they call the. What is it? Donor pyramid or the donor tunnel. Yeah. So I think of it as these are all pieces that make a puzzle. Right. And every piece has an impact. You know, we wouldn't be able to cultivate major donors if we were running a pretty robust annual giving program.
- [13:01]
Unknown
Sure.
- [13:02]
Brian Marquez Hall
So that's how I think of it. And as I grow into my role, right now I'm really lobbying to my supervisor to help my position become more of a mid level annual leadership giving position so that I can do, number one, a little bit more of that frontline work. But two, because I believe that that high touch approach would lead to a greater return for our organization.
- [13:30]
Unknown
Yeah, yeah. In fact, I usually would ask at this point, maybe you've just told me, what's the most enjoyable part of this or what part would you like to most do?
- [13:40]
Brian Marquez Hall
Yeah, doing the frontline work. I mean, I consider myself a people person and I just, I love meeting people and especially in the. In the role that I currently am. Most of our donors are alumni, so I just love hearing their story because a lot of the reason that they give is because the program meant so much to them. They just want to give back. Like, one of my favorite things to hear, and I hear it often, is people told me I give because I wouldn't have been able to get through school if it wasn't for this scholarship. And I want that to be available for somebody else.
- [14:19]
Unknown
How many people are you impacting through this program right now?
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Brian Marquez Hall
470 is usually what we have. Yeah, that's a lot.
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Unknown
It also sounds like it's potentially modeled for other places. Are there other programs like this, do you know, around the state or the country?
- [14:34]
Brian Marquez Hall
No, we are actually the only non profit that does something like this. There are other organizations in the country that are trying to address the housing crisis for students, but they're using different ways to it. A lot of them are providing them housing stipends and they've consulted with us in the past about how our program is modeled. But I don't think there's, there's an organization that's doing it like the same way we do it where we just give you a house and a bed that you can stay in and the only thing that you have to pay for is utilities and your food.
- [15:14]
Unknown
I mean, it just sounds really fulfilling. Have you had a chance to talk with the students and the others impacted? What do they say? What kinds of things can you share about this experience from their standpoint?
- [15:26]
Brian Marquez Hall
Yes, I actually get to talk to our residents a lot because our main office is housed in one of the campuses that we have houses.
- [15:33]
Unknown
Oh yeah.
- [15:34]
Brian Marquez Hall
So they, they come in all the time and I just, I love interacting with them. One because of the energy they, they bring into the office, but also learning about like what their goals are and like what they plan to do in the future is so meaningful. Like it, it really helps me my work to know, to see the people that I'm helping directly like that.
- [15:56]
Unknown
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I imagine that since the program has been going on for a long time and you've been there how long now?
- [16:03]
Brian Marquez Hall
Just a little over a year.
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Unknown
Just a little over a year. But you've probably been able to learn about what impact it has longer term as well, right?
- [16:11]
Brian Marquez Hall
Yes. So in like once they're out of like out of the program, it's hard for us to keep track with them. But once they start giving back to us and they reconnect with the organization, I found that a lot of the people that have gone through the program have become very successful in their careers. The one thing that I do know that's like that immediate impact is that close to 75% of the residents that go through the program don't have any student loan debt. They graduate without any student loan debt, which is exceptional. Unheard of.
- [16:51]
Unknown
Yeah, it is unheard of. Wow. So you're obviously enjoying this work and it's having a big impact. Where do you imagine this is taking you?
- [17:02]
Brian Marquez Hall
So I want to continue with a solar scholarship. You know, they say that, that fundraisers don't an average last, what is it, 18 months and something like that, and they're in any given role.
- [17:15]
Unknown
How do you feel about that?
- [17:19]
Brian Marquez Hall
I mean, that's in the case with me. So I guess I'm kind of a statistic in that way. But in this role I really want to stay longer because, you know, one year, two years is not really enough time to really see the results of your work. What I've seen in the one year that I've been here is really the result of the person that was on my role before. So I really want to be able to grow the annual giving program in that way. And then eventually I would. I would like to work in major gifts for either an advocacy organization, I'm very politically active, or for an international humanitarian organization. And I'm specifically thinking humanitarian because I just saw the presentation from Doctors without Waters and the International Rescue Committee. And those are two amazing organizations that I think would be an ideal place to work with.
- [18:21]
Unknown
For people who are thinking about this kind of career arc that you're on and the journey that you are also imagining that you will take. What kinds of things would you tell them? I mean, especially if it were a younger version of yourself and thinking about fundraising, what would you suggest to them as a way of thinking about what's possible and what they might be able to do?
- [18:44]
Brian Marquez Hall
I tell them to explore all the different kinds of fundraising there is because, I mean, you know, the smaller shops, we have to wear many hats, but there's a niche for everybody. Like there's digital fundraising, peer to peer, direct mail, and obviously like the higher touch planned giving. So find the one that's interesting to them and just try to learn everything they can about it. My interest lies mainly in plan giving. I'm not sure why. I think it's because of the complexities of that some of the planned gifts would bring. So I've been doing a lot of reading on that and also find a mentor that can help you plan out your career. You can work with them on a day to day plan or, you know, my mentor, I told him that I wanted to do matrix gifts and he was like, well, what are the skills that you have now? What are the skills that are needed to get into those roles and how can we make sure that you get the training you need to be able to move in that direction? So I think mentorship and just finding your niche is very important.
- [20:01]
Unknown
Are you also looking at serving in that mentor role yourself?
- [20:07]
Brian Marquez Hall
I would like to, yes. I, you know, there's always like a little bit of imposter syndrome. So I'm like, I don't know if I'm, like, experienced enough yet to do that kind of mentorship, but hopefully in the future, that's definitely one of the things that I want to do, especially to give back to the, to the fundraising community, because I feel like I've gained so much and learned so much from, from the people around me that have been doing this longer than I have. That just makes sense for me to get back in that sense.
- [20:42]
Jay Frost
Well, that's it for this episode of the PM Podcast. You can learn more about the Southern scholarship foundation@southangular scholarship.org Information about AFP and its annual awards and honorees is available@AFPglobal.org our thanks to our sponsor, Donor Search, the world leader in AI powered fundraising intelligence solutions for the nonprofit world. Our producer is Jack Frost and our theme music is Moving Out, Moving in by Jay Taylor and is provided courtesy of Epidemic Sound. If you like what you heard, make sure to subscribe wherever you like to listen. Check out our sister shows, Front Lines of Social Good and How to Raise, and come back next weekend for another conversation with a leader in the world of social good. Until then, this is Jay Frost. Thanks for joining me.