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- [00:00]
Mallory Erickson
Foreign.
- [00:04]
Tammy Zonker
Nonprofit leaders mark your calendars. Join me June 3rd and 4th at the free 2025 donorperfect community conference. It is all about connection this year and you are going to learn about connection in terms of donor engagement and learn proven strategies to drive real impact. Register now@donorperfect.com donorperfect conference. That's donorperfect.com donorperfect-conference.
- [00:39]
Unknown Speaker
The culture of nonprofit is Our margin for error is so narrow. We are held to such high account not only for our own organizations, but we kind of are all in this together. I heard Cherryan Koshy say this once. Of course we both love Cherian. He said if Domino's Pizza has a misstep, they have a recall on some ingredient. People get sick. Heaven forbid Papa John's and Pizza Hut don't take the hit. But in the nonprofit sector, if there is a failing, an indiscretion, a scandal with one organization, we are all now suspect.
- [01:19]
Tammy Zonker
Hey, my name is Mallory and I'm obsessed with helping leaders in the nonprofit space raise money and run their organizations differently. What the Fundraising is a space for real and raw conversations to both challenge and inspire you. Not too long ago, I was in your shoes, uncomfortable with fundraising and unsure of my place in this sector. It wasn't until I started to listen to other experts outside of the fundraising space that I was able to shift my mindset and ultimately shift the way I show up as a leader. This podcast is my way of blending professional and personal development so we, as a collective inside the nonprofit sector can feel good about the work we are doing. Join me every week as I interview some of the brightest minds in the personal and professional development space to help you fundamentally change the way you lead and fundraise. I hope you enjoy this episode. So let's dive in. Welcome everyone.
- [02:15]
Mallory Erickson
I am here today with the Tammy Zonker. Tammy, welcome to what the Fundraising. This is like the most overdue conversation potentially ever on what the Fundraising. But I'm so thrilled to have you here today. Welcome, welcome.
- [02:28]
Unknown Speaker
I am so thrilled beyond thrilled to be here with you, Mallory.
- [02:32]
Mallory Erickson
So let's I feel like you are somebody who needs no introduction, but I'm going to have you give your introduction anyway so can hear what brings you to our conversation today and then we'll dive in.
- [02:41]
Unknown Speaker
Sure. Thank you. So I'm Tammy Zonker and I'm founder and president of Fundraising Transformed. I'm president of the Modern Institute for Charitable Giving and the host of the Intentional Fundraiser podcast. But really, the most important thing to know is I've been a fundraiser for nearly 30 years and probably in the last 10 years or so, really focusing and zeroing in on major donor development and the pipeline for all of that. You know, we see each other at conferences all the time, Mallory. We're both keynote speakers and we do breakout sessions and just I've worked with clients to raise nearly a billion dollars now and including a 20, a single gift of 27.1 million, which is a. Was a thrill and continues to be a joy to think about and talk about.
- [03:32]
Mallory Erickson
That is amazing. And we could probably have a whole conversation about that one gift. But I know before we hit record, you know, you are speaking with me at the Donor Perfect Community conference in a few weeks and talking about bravery and boldness in our leadership and our fundraising. So talk to me a little bit about why that theme or topic is so top of mind for you right now.
- [03:54]
Unknown Speaker
Well, it's top of mind because never have we. We've been called to think bigger and be braver and to be bolder. Whether it's the funding shifts and, you know, the rollback of DEI through the Washington administration, it just calls us to step into the void. And so I've been concerned for a number of years that in the nonprofit sector, we've become increasingly risk averse. Right. I know when I was chief philanthropy officer at the Children's center in Detroit, you know, a great majority of our funding came from Medicaid reimbursement. Right. And so it was all about the culture. And this is true of so many organizations. And believe me, they're an amazing organization. I love them and support them to this day. But that culture, what it really drives is compliance. It's a compliance driven culture because there's so many regulations and boxes you need to check and things you need to do with precision. And I think that's true in mental health, I think it's true in healthcare in general. And so we become so compliance driven and so risk averse that we no longer inspire donors to join us in a dream in a Jim Collins good to great kind of big, hairy, audacious goal. And that's what really inspires philanthropy.
- [05:23]
Mallory Erickson
Yeah. What do you think is continues to drive that? Like playing it safe, playing it small? Like, what do you attribute that to?
- [05:33]
Unknown Speaker
Fear? I think it's all driven by fear at multiple levels inside an organization. First, I work with a lot of nonprofit organizations on capital campaigns and I will often hear the fear. Like we're scared to make that stretch goal. We're scared to develop, you know to go for that higher end working goal, because I can't let this fail on my watch. They love the organization so much, and the thought of letting them down or feeling like they didn't, that something they didn't they. That something bad happened or disappointing happened on their watch, I think drives us to shrink a little bit, to be safe again, all from great intentions. And then I think when you come to the next layer, you have your executive management team, and not only are they accountable to the board and the community, but they also have their staff looking at them and modeling their behavior. And so, you know, we want to be somewhat conservative. We want to make certain that we hit our goals, that we don't fall short. And it's hard to find certainty and take risks at the same time. And then, of course, on our fundraising teams, and I'm sure even on the programmatic side of the house, we want to hit our goals, we want to keep our jobs, we want security and sustainability, too. And so it really all comes from fear that I'm going to let someone down. Those we serve our organization, our donors, fill in the blank. Or fear of loss.
- [07:09]
Mallory Erickson
As you were talking, I thought about something for the first time, as I feel like I always do when we, when we chat, which is, you know, we hear from donors a lot. Tell me about your sustainability plan, right? Or I give this gift. Tell me how it's going to be sustainable. And just hearing what you're saying, I'm like, how much of that language makes us feel like risk is not. Can't be in the cards for us. But then the truth, the reality is, is that the status quo or the playing it safe, those things actually are way less sustainable, but they feel maybe more sustainable. Talk to me about that.
- [07:48]
Unknown Speaker
Yeah. It is counterintuitive that taking risks, which we could translate if we change the language of risk taking to innovation. Right. That would shift it. If we, we wouldn't budget for risks, we wouldn't budget for, like, shortfalls, but we could budget for innovation. I think it's a mindset shift. And of course, like, I'm a big Mallory Erickson fan girl, and it all, I mean, it so often boils down to mindset and how you approach something. Right. And I think that's a big part of it. The culture of nonprofit is our margin for error is so narrow, we are held to such high account not only for our own organizations, but we kind of are all in this together. I heard Cherry and Koshy say this once. Of course, we both love Cherian, he said if Domino's Pizza has a misstep, they have a recall on ingredient. People get sick. Heaven forbid Papa John's and Pizza Hut don't take the hit. But in the nonprofit sector, if there is a failing, an indiscretion, a scandal with one organization, we are all now suspect. And it's just a different level of scrutiny. And by the nature of how we work, we also focus on a fiscal year. Our goals, our metrics, all of that is hardwired for a fiscal year. But no one can run a business that way, right? You always are looking at the three year or the five year plan. So the fact that this perfect storm of small margin for error, fear that we are going to let our organization or the people that are participating in our programs, that we're going to let them down, fear that the board would be disappointed and we have such a short Runway called a 12 month fiscal year. It's just this perfect storm. The culture of scarcity. On top of that, it has a shrink, it has us be risk averse and it doesn't serve us. It stifles our innovation, it stifles our creativity. And I know a topic that we are both incredibly passionate about is the responsible and beneficial use of artificial intelligence. And never have we had more opportunity to be innovative, to push the envelope, to rethink things than now. So if we don't break through this risk aversion, how will we ever maximize the opportunity that is at our doorstep right now?
- [10:14]
Mallory Erickson
Oh my gosh. Okay, so there's so many places we could go from here. But I'm curious because I agree with everything that you're saying so much. And I think one of the things I wonder, I'm sure there are so many people who are going to be listening to this who are going to say that's my organization or that's me or. And how. What is their first step? They're like, okay, I don't know that I feel bold yet, but maybe I could be a little bit brave. Like just a little bit brave to start. What would be like one tiny micro action they could take or conversation they could have that would start to build this muscle.
- [10:51]
Unknown Speaker
Yeah, well, I have two paths. I'm like standing at this crossroads of two paths. The first path is like if I'm a fundraiser, I'm a development director, I really want you to take a look at. All right. What are the small steps I could take down the artificial intelligence path to take some of those risks, Calculated risks, well researched, very informed data Informed, expert, informed risks around. Could I simply just automate some repetitive tasks? So could I use AI to automate some workflows to free up time for me to spend more FaceTime with my donors, which multiple surveys say that's one of the biggest frustrations we have as fundraisers is that we're behind our desk too often and not sitting down with our donors enough. So even starting down that path and then beginning to rethink what we have always known to be true about fundraising and how we operate, I mean, one of the things I'm leaning into is reimagining donor engagement. Reimagining what a donor portfolio looks like. I just led a three day seminar along with some faculty members, the Institute for Charitable Giving. We were out in Costa Mesa and just asked for a show of hands. How many of you have more than 100 donors in your portfolio? All the hands. Who has more than 150? 175, 200. You just cannot maintain meaningful relationships with that many people. And if we told ourselves the truth, there is a good portion of those people who don't really want meaningful personal relationships with us. And that's demonstrated by the fact that they don't return your call or reply to your email. Right. So for some, like, we shouldn't just by a wealth capacity or propensity or past giving history, we shouldn't automatically make assumptions about how they want to engage. We need to understand how they truly want to engage, what's meaningful to them. And, you know, having been a frontline fundraiser, I've seen it myself. Like there were some supporters I think about. I'll call him Mr. B when I first met him. And we can meet on a quarterly basis or we could give an update. He was a very major donor. I could drop off an update. We could do this on a monthly basis. And he said, Tammy, Tammy, Tammy, let me just stop you now. He said, actually what he said was, honey, let me stop you now. Honey. We're going to meet once a year in the month of May, and you're going to bring Debbie and Deborah. He's the only one I ever heard call her Debbie. Deborah was our executive director, our CEO, and a brilliant woman. We're going to meet in May. You're going to bring Debbie. I want you to bring the endowment performance, your financials. I want to take a look at that. And we're going to meet after the market closes. Because he owned a financial advising firm and so he knew what meaningful engagement looked like to him. And so let's give him what he wants, right, and not keep filling up his voicemail in his inbox. And so I'm just saying, rather than thinking that one size fits all, that a major donor journey looks exactly the same for donor a as donor 200. Let's use some of these automation tools, these personalization tools to give people what they want and maybe some delighters on top, but not overwhelming. And let's simply ask them and then use the technology, the personalization to give them what they want. Which is still pretty darn amazing given the tools at our disposal. And that of course then frees us up to have a smaller portfolio of donors who do want that face time. And what if we didn't just have donors at a certain threshold or higher? What if we had a handful of middle donors that had were good candidates to move up over time, or a small pool of monthly donors, or some of those legacy donors just kind of change it up and engage people and stay connected and connect them. I mean, I really feel like the connection is what people are longing for and we're not giving them that connection in a genuine, meaningful way at scale.
- [15:09]
Tammy Zonker
If you are a fundraising professional or nonprofit leader, you won't want to miss the 2025 donorperfect community conference. I'm excited to be your host for this feature free event on June 3rd and 4th. It's all about building deeper connections with your donors, your team and your mission. You'll learn how to create lasting donor relationships, boost your digital presence and transform one time donors into lifelong champions of your cause. You'll walk away with practical strategies, fresh insights and a renewed passion for your work. Join me and Register today@donorperfect.com donorperfect conference that's donorperfect.com donorperfect conference I cannot wait to see you there.
- [15:55]
Mallory Erickson
Yeah, well, it's interesting like I love what you're saying here because I feel like technology is often put like when we think about increasing technology, a lot of fundraisers think that means decreasing the human touch. And what you're talking about is the way in which technology, and particularly AI actually allows us to scale the human touch in different ways that people want to engage with and then the fully human components that some donors want and some donors don't want. We actually get to be a lot more human in those interactions because we're not trapped behind our desk with a bunch of touch points that may or may not land, that we're like manually personalizing for everybody. And I love your story about that donor because I have a similar one too, where I had a donor who, like, the way that they wanted to meet was me driving to school, drop off with them once a quarter. Like, I would take the BART train in. There was, like, a corner I'd meet them on. They'd have their two kids already in the car, and I'd get to see the family and catch up with them and, wow. Be a part of. Drop off in the morning. And then the drive back to the woman's office would be like, when we get to talk about kind of real updates and more of the, like, organizational piece. But when I really asked that question, like, what would feel good to you? Like, let's think totally outside the box, because I could tell that this person did want, like, a human component, that, like, meeting component, but they were really struggling to figure out when. And meetings kept getting canceled and things kept getting mixed. And I was like, okay, what if we, like, incorporated this in a ritual that doesn't get canceled every day?
- [17:40]
Unknown Speaker
Yes. I love that. And I mean, think about how intimate that is. I'm a mama bear. Like, you're going to meet my kids. You've been vetted. Like, I trust you. I trust you. To be in the same space with my children in that family dynamic, to me, that is the equivalent of sitting down or being invited to the donor's kitchen table. Yeah, that's super special. Yeah.
- [18:06]
Mallory Erickson
I just think that level of creativity is, like, so necessary. Right. Less people have. It feels like leisure time around their kitchen table, especially if you're working with, you know, donors that have younger children and are also working. And I just feel like we've tried to take this, like, old way of doing things with completely new patterns of human lives and interaction. We're like, why doesn't this donor want to do this thing? And it's like, well, maybe they don't do that thing.
- [18:36]
Unknown Speaker
Exactly, exactly. It wouldn't occur to them. They don't want to. And yet we keep trying to force this one size fits all. Or maybe there's a couple different sizes, but we're trying to force a pattern that is just not aligned with their lifestyle or their desires.
- [18:56]
Mallory Erickson
Yeah. Okay, let's talk about that balance, because I feel like there's a piece of bravery here, which is that we trot this nuance or this line between operationalizing our fundraising to a certain extent, because we need to. To stay organized, and especially if you have a portfolio that's big, like, I can't keep track of all that stuff in my brain. Like, so we need sort of organized ways of, of understanding these relationships and keeping track of things and, and stuff like that. And at the same time, exactly to your point, when we try to, like, say, stick to this, like, really thought a goal kind of progression of a relationship, we lose the authenticity of the relationship itself. Right. I've joked before, like, I never, when I'm like, meeting a new friend, be like, okay, so our first thing, we're going to meet at the playground, we're going to have our kids play together and we'll see, like, do they actually get along? And then if that goes well, then after that, in three weeks, maybe you could come over to my house for 45 minutes and we'll talk about X, Y and Z. Right. Relationships don't grow that way. And so I feel like one of the hardest things about being a fundraiser is this how you find this middle ground. And I feel like what you're talking about is, like, there's some bravery. You're asking people to be brave in how they think outside the box about this balance.
- [20:19]
Unknown Speaker
Yes. I think there's a couple of elements that we need to recognize and lean into. The first is I think that we feel scared. Like, we don't feel brave because we're engaging donors based on factual information. Like, it's the distinction between knowing someone and understanding someone. So, Mallory, I might meet you. You're my donor and I know your address. I know where you live, I know where your kids go to school. Maybe I've even ridden along on drop off. Right? Like, I know exactly where they go to school. I know that you're married. I know your educational background. I know, like, your hobbies. I know you are a writer and all of these things. I know these facts about you. And yet I don't really understand you.
- [21:10]
Mallory Erickson
Right.
- [21:11]
Unknown Speaker
Because I haven't done the work yet to understand, like, what are our shared values and beliefs, not just us, but between you and us as our. The organization. So, you know, why do you support us? What is it? Is it, has your family been impacted by the healthcare or did your. Did you have a go to college on a scholarship or, like, what's the connection? And maybe I'm so busy as we get to know each other, I'm so busy queuing up my next question and trying to look good and be prepared that I don't really hear you and I don't get the meaning behind what you are communicating and possibly even because of the power dynamics, you're the donor, I'm the fundraiser. So often, not in our case, maybe the re. It's certainly the reverse in our case. But so often in fundraising, the donor might be slightly older and the fundraiser somewhat younger. And so there's just, there's some power dynamics. And again, it takes bravery to engage in that space. Or what if the donor has a misconception about the people that we serve, people in our programs, or they've bought into some myth about that neighborhood? Or. Well, why do people become unhoused? And they have misconceptions and sometimes we just fawn, you know, we just kind of smile and nod versus saying, that's interesting. Say more about that. Oh, I understand. You know, and I can see how easy it would be to believe that. But here's what I've learned since I've begun working here at this organization, or as I've worked here for the last 10 years, here's what I've learned. And let me tell you a story of a family that I met. Right. So having the courage to kind of push in respectfully on those misconceptions in that power dynamic of the power dynamics of that relationship and set the record straight. Course. Correct. Educate. I mean, I truly believe. I mean, these people are giving to you. Most people are not giving exclusively for tax benefits or exclusively for recognition. Maybe there's a few outliers, but most of these folks are giving because they care. They want to make a difference. And so for us to understand that and to guide them, I often think that fundraising is kind of like being what I imagine, like a Sherpa. Like, we're kind of guiding, we're carrying the load much of the time, but we're guiding and course correcting and navigating the potential dangers to get them to the destination, whatever it is. Like, what do you want to accomplish through your giving? Let me help guide you to achieve that. But it takes bravery.
- [23:51]
Mallory Erickson
Yes. Okay, so I want to, like, ask a follow up question there because it's interesting. Like, so much of the bravery that you're talking about is about being curious, right? It's like being genuinely curious. And I feel like maybe there's this fear of what we might hear or fear of, well, if I go off script, I ask them to tell me a little bit more about that thing. What if they say something that then I don't feel like I either know the answer to or know how to manage or what if it, like, opens up this can of worms? And it's like we know that uncertainty creates chronic, you know, more chronic stress and things like that. And so how do you, when you're working with fundraisers. How do you help them kind of overcome that piece?
- [24:43]
Unknown Speaker
Yeah, we just have to normalize. You will not have the answer to every question. That's what it means to be human. And these are complex issues that we are working to solve together with the support of our community. And so I don't believe that our donors expect us to know every answer. And in fact, I think they might even be flattered if we said, that's a fascinating question. I've never had anyone ask me that question. Brilliant. I'm going to make a note. Would it be all right if I follow up with you? I want to talk with Dr. Astorica about that or I want to talk with our chancellor. Because that's incredibly insightful. I mean, now I am, again, to your point, it needs to be genuine. If it's not incredibly insightful, then, I mean, I would just say that's interesting. I honestly don't know. Is that something you'd like me to follow up on? But again, I don't believe in placating, false. Placating people. It's just inauthentic. It's ingenuous. And I feel like. I feel like people see through that. I think they know. I think in a lot of times, people. If we're not authentic in our engagement with donors, I think they know. She's just here for the money. Like, she didn't even hear the question. My answer to her question, as demonstrated by the question she just asked, you know, two questions later, like, she's just here for the money.
- [26:06]
Mallory Erickson
Yeah. This is such important advice. I've had so many conversations with donors over the years, feeling frustrated that they aren't heard in meetings. And one of the things I've thought a lot about is, like, some of that, I think, is just because we are so stressed right in that moment, and so that part of our brain that's just like, survive, you know, you're so close. You got this meeting, like, just overcome the objection or whatever, and we. And we, like, leave our body. And then we get to the end of the meeting, we're like, I kind of blacked out. Like, did that go well? You know, and so, I mean, I think what you're talking about is so important because what it also really requires, and this is to your point before, about kind of like, automation and how do we think differently about our portfolios and how do we manage our donors differently from A to Z, so that when we are in those meetings, we can be there. Like, we can really be there. And Build an actually connected relationship.
- [27:03]
Unknown Speaker
Yes. And part of that is embracing the pauses. As to your point, being curious, asking good questions and asking if we don't understand or we want to understand more deeply. Asking people to say more or help me understand or give me an example. And again, that takes trust and it takes that psychological safety in order to have that exchange. Or to your point, to say, that's so interesting. I do not know. I don't know the answer. Answer to that question. What a great question.
- [27:32]
Mallory Erickson
Yes. Okay. And I feel like it's interesting, like even with the podcast, I don't do questions ahead of time, as you know, because you're like, what are we talking about? And I'm like, yeah, because for so many reasons. 1. And it's the same way I could never do scripts in donor meetings. And literally one of my team members today was like, hey, here's an app for a teleprompter for your. I'm like, I don't use a teleprompter. Like everything is off the cuff because if. And I'm not criticizing anybody who uses those tools, but for me, it makes me way too rigid. I lose my curiosity. I can't go into a podcast interview and say, oh, I'm going to definitely ask these 10 questions and I'm going to be genuinely curious. Like my brain can't do it in order for me to like really fully be there and listen and try to connect dots. And so I think like what you're talking about with folks just has so many different applications and is so important. And maybe, you know, for folks who are like, oh, but I always, you know, followed a briefing sheet that had 10 questions. It's like, okay, well how can you maybe have your first 10 minutes not go there yet? Or what are those like kind of tiny steps to activating your curiosity and leaning a little bit deeper until you feel maybe fully safe to go into a more open ended conversation.
- [28:51]
Unknown Speaker
Yes, I love that. And maybe of the 10 questions that you eventually want to ask, you highlight two or three that are going to be the framework for a great conversation. Like it's just a framework, a jumping off point. And then you are just going to go with the flow and like you would within any of your personal relationships. Right?
- [29:13]
Mallory Erickson
Yes.
- [29:14]
Unknown Speaker
You know my partner Trent, he know if I come to him with a list, he knows he's in trouble and vice versa. Yes.
- [29:25]
Mallory Erickson
The other day I told Brian, I was like, I have six things. And he was like, oh. But to your point, I've also sat down with friends before and be like, hey, like, I'm so excited to hang out. And before I forget, I want to make sure that while we're together today, we talk about X and Y. Because I wanted to do that in person. And we're finally here, you know, and.
- [29:44]
Unknown Speaker
Yeah. Yes.
- [29:45]
Mallory Erickson
I feel like they're totally, like, relationship driven and connected ways to, like, check off those things that don't make the whole conversation. Like you're holding this secret agenda and you're trying to figure out the best way to, like, sequence that secret agenda. And the other person doesn't think there is an agenda.
- [30:03]
Unknown Speaker
Yes, exactly. You know, and you're reminding me too of kind of the opposite, where sometimes fundraiser development officer will show up with a donor and it's just a nice visit. How are the kids? How'd the soccer game go? How's your Florida home? Is it recovered from the hurricanes? And while it's a pleasant visit, did the donor receive value? Did you learn more about them and really begin to understand them at a deeper level, a personal level? Was there a value exchange that makes the donor say to themselves, I really enjoyed visiting with Mallory and I look forward to the next time we get together? Right. So. Meaning they understood in some way the impact of their giving or what the current challenges are, including the vulnerabilities, like, what's not working? What are the challenges that you're facing? What's going on with your funding right now? What are some of the successes we're achieving? Like a real value exchange. Again, yes, we care about each other, we've built a personal relationship, but what brings us together is our shared value and shared values and belief in this work, this mission. So again, we just want to make certain that it's not just a lovely visit, but it actually, there is a value extra exchange. Just like when you finally get to visit with your girlfriends or your best friend and you walk away just feeling not only acknowledged and understood, but that we've moved something forward together.
- [31:38]
Mallory Erickson
Yes, 100%. And that what I love about that I was just taking some notes is like just the sort of like expectation setting. Right? Like, I had a old client reach out to me recently because she was like, I just had the weirdest experience. I went on a relationship building meeting and the person was really upset. I told them I wasn't going to ask for money and I didn't. But then they were, like, mad that I hadn't been, that I have that whole meeting and didn't ask them for money. And so anyways, I think it's just such a good reminder that, like, everybody's going into everything with, with expectations. And it's always great to check those again. You know, be clear in your communication, how you're setting things up, but then also in the moment to, like, check those live. Because when somebody said yes to the meeting, everything could have been different than the moment you're actually sitting down. And so I just love what you're saying because it. We should always be challenging our assumptions on both sides of the line.
- [32:37]
Unknown Speaker
Yes, absolutely. Yeah, Great distinction.
- [32:41]
Mallory Erickson
Okay. I could talk to you forever, but tell everyone, is there anything I haven't asked you that I should be asking you around this?
- [32:48]
Unknown Speaker
Well, I want to make a statement and then issue a challenge, if I may.
- [32:53]
Mallory Erickson
I would love it.
- [32:55]
Unknown Speaker
I think that as fundraisers, as fundraising professionals, nonprofit leaders, so often we drive the organization in unexpected ways. And I often describe it as, with all due respect, I describe it as like we're the tail wagging the dog, right? We're the ones who are so often pushing executive leadership or pushing the board to think bigger, to think bolder, to be more ambitious in our goals, in our strategic plan, in what we want to accomplish, just to be bigger, braver and bolder. And we're pushing that. And so I just invite you to think about, ask yourself with your team, I don't care if you're a team of two or a team of 12 or more. Sit down. Maybe it's a little carrying lunch or a zoom. And you ask yourself, if anything were possible, what would we aim to achieve? And really start putting meat on that. Now, that's not a 12 month kind of thing. I'm talking about a big, hairy, audacious goal, right? A three year, a five year, maybe even a ten year vision. What would you achieve if you could achieve anything? And then begin to think, how do we seed this? How do we take this conversation, what we've bubbled up here, that undoubtedly inspires us, and how do we seed that and create a generative conversation at the executive leadership level and then have them drive that generative conversation at the board level? Because we need this. Our communities need this. Our, frankly, our world needs this right now. They need us being our biggest, bravest, boldest versions of ourselves. And so you're the one, like, we're the ones we need to do it.
- [34:43]
Mallory Erickson
Yes, I love that. I've just been thinking and saying that so much more like, we're the ones we've been waiting for and we can do this, we can do this. And so I'm so so so grateful for all of your wisdom for all of your time today. Tell people where they can go to follow you, learn more about you, work with you, all the things.
- [35:02]
Unknown Speaker
Awesome. Thank you. So you can definitely connect with me on LinkedIn Tammy Zonker and sign up for my major gift newsletter which you can do on LinkedIn or you can go to fundraisingtransformed.com and if you're interested in learning more about our Modern Institute for Charitable Giving, which is a three day seminar offered virtually all online, you can go to Modern. Thank you Mallory. So great to be with you.
- [35:33]
Mallory Erickson
It's always so good to be with you. And thank you so much again.
- [35:37]
Unknown Speaker
My pleasure.
- [35:38]
Mallory Erickson
You at the Community Conference Yes.
- [35:40]
Unknown Speaker
See you soon Conference.
- [35:41]
Mallory Erickson
Okay, see you soon.
- [35:48]
Tammy Zonker
I hope today's episode inspired or challenged you to think differently. For additional takeaways, tips, show notes and more about our amazing guest and sponsors, head on over to Mallorykson.com podcast and if you didn't know, hosting this podcast isn't the only thing I do every day. I coach, guide and help fundraisers and leaders just like you inside of my program, the Power Partners Formula Collective. Inside the program, I share my methods, tools and experiences that have helped me fundraise millions of dollars and feel good about myself in the process. To learn more about how I can help you, visit MalloryErickson.com PowerPartners Last but not least, if you enjoyed this episode, I'd love to encourage you to share it with a friend you know would benefit or leave a review. I'm so grateful for all of you and the good hard work you're doing to make our world a better place. I can't wait to see you in the next episode. Fundraising doesn't have to feel like a solo battle. My book what the Embracing and Enabling the People behind the Purpose offers practical strategies and frameworks to help you navigate the challenges of fundraising with ease and impact. And with our free discussion guide, you can deepen learning and collaboration with your team or book club ready to transform the way you Fundraise? Head to Mallorykson.combook to order your copy today and anywhere books are sold and you can grab the guide there too.