Podcast Summary: What the Fundraising – Episode 267

Title: Building a Culture That Values All Gifts and All Givers with Leslie Carmona
Host: Mallory Erickson
Guest: Leslie Carmona
Date: October 30, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of What the Fundraising features an in-depth conversation with Leslie Carmona, Senior Director of Donor Experience and Individual Giving at Wayne State University. Together with host Mallory Erickson, Leslie unpacks the deeply human side of fundraising leadership, the challenge of building a collaborative team culture in higher education, and the practical and philosophical shifts necessary to value all gifts and all givers—moving beyond a hierarchy dominated by major gifts.

The conversation bridges high-level strategy, personal leadership development, and tangible, community-centric practices. Leslie shares her experience designing an integrated, innovative donor experience team with a focus on proportionality, inclusion, and welcoming engagement—no matter the donor’s giving level.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Leslie’s Background and Approach to Fundraising (02:27–06:37)

• Context: Leslie manages a large, cross-functional fundraising and donor experience team at Wayne State University in Detroit.
• Team Design: She intentionally structured the team to foster collaboration and break silos common in higher ed, integrating donor relations, annual campaigns, student fundraising, and leadership gift officers.
• Aspirational Focus: “I want our team and our work to be the one that other organizations and institutions look at and want to be that way or want to do the kind of work we’re doing.” (Leslie, 05:16)
• Community-Centric Principles: For the last two years, her team has been intentionally integrating these principles across operations, despite institutional inertia.

Rethinking Innovation: Human Connection over Technology (06:37–10:23)

• Host Reflection: Mallory contrasts common notions of innovation as technology-driven versus Leslie’s focus on deepening human relationships.
• Meeting Donors Where They Are: The team prioritizes understanding how different segments (e.g., law school alumni) prefer to communicate, using those cues to guide engagement.
• Leslie’s Philosophy: “If my focus as I lead my team is this is what that human needs, or this is how I can best support this individual on a human level, I have a much higher-performing team because there’s a lot of trust built in those spaces.” (Leslie, 08:22)

Defining “What Works” in Fundraising (10:23–14:29)

• Rethinking Success Metrics: They measure success not just by revenue, but by the entire donor journey—solicitation, stewardship, and the cohesiveness of donor experience.
• Equity in Impact: “It does not matter to me if you are giving us a dollar or you are giving us $15,000. I want you to feel equally good about that decision, no matter what.” (Leslie, 12:36)
• Donor Growth: The team bucks higher ed trends by increasing total donor numbers year-over-year, focusing on the breadth of participation and retention.

Tactical Approaches to Inclusive Donor Engagement (14:29–18:12)

• First-Time Givers Program: Red carpets for all, not just substantial donors—“A little bit of staff time to make people feel really good about giving that first $10, $5 gift to our organization.”
• Consecutive Giving Community: Loyal donors (regardless of gift size) are celebrated for their ongoing commitment, not just those meeting major gift thresholds.
• Strategic Recognition: Focus on loyalty and consistency unearths planned giving prospects and deepens relationships beyond dollar value.

Leadership, Inner Work, and Team Emotional Culture (18:12–24:05)

• Mallory’s Question: How does Leslie maintain conviction in a landscape driven by major gift metrics and external pressure?
• Leslie’s Honest Assessment: Leadership is “a lot of emotional work,” requiring her to play both therapist and boss. She shoulders pushback for her team so they can focus on delivering impact.
• Data as Conviction: “I have found if I can lean in on the data, higher ed loves that.” (Leslie, 21:20)
• Calculated Risks: Leslie recounts sending an emergency fund appeal tied to community-centric values, leading to overwhelmingly positive responses and building trust for future innovation.

Curiosity, Psychological Safety, and Leadership Practice (25:26–29:26)

• Mallory’s Coaching Insight: Leslie’s approach—curiosity, reframing catastrophic thinking, and openness—creates psychological safety for her team to try new things.
• Leslie on Leading Calmly: “Being a good leader is being calm because we are herd animals and we respond to each other.” (Leslie, 28:23)
• Empowering Teams: Rather than shutting down ideas, Leslie encourages questions that allow teams to collaboratively validate or tweak proposals.

Removing Hierarchies in Fundraising Organizations (33:35–40:18)

• Challenging the Major Gifts Obsession: Leslie critiques the hyper-focus on major/principal gifts, arguing that it not only skews resource allocation but also creates harmful internal hierarchies.
• Proportional Giving: She champions equivalence in impact, recognizing that a $10 gift from a recent graduate might be as significant as a $10,000 gift from a seasoned donor.
• Breaking the ‘Thoroughbred’ Paradigm: “Have you heard this where people say… ‘The major gift officers are our thoroughbreds’? …So then what’s gift processing? Like, what are they? …If we don’t start placing more value on those pieces, I worry about what that means for the future of our industry.” (Leslie, 35:28–36:32)
• The Vision: A truly personal, long-term donor relationship begins at the first gift, not when a prospect is ready for a major gift ask: “If all we’re doing is trying to start the relationship at the moment where that person has the most capacity to give us the most—like, is that really a relationship?” (Leslie, 38:19)

Practical Steps for Organizations of Any Size (40:18–43:35)

• Adaptable Advice: Leslie acknowledges the size gap between Wayne State and tiny nonprofits, offering ideas about scaling engagement with volunteers or simple gestures.
• Blueprint for Lifecycle Engagement: She describes a framework wherein every stage (solicitation, acknowledgement, recognition, engagement) receives focus, ensuring nobody falls through the cracks.
• Change Takes Time: Transformation of organizational culture and donor pipeline is possible gradually, with incremental changes toward proportional, inclusive engagement.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Human-Centric Leadership:
  “Sometimes in a given day, you’re going to be part therapist, part boss, and that’s okay. …Leaning into those things have actually made me a better leader.” (Leslie, 00:38 & 19:40)

• On True Innovation:
  “Innovation isn’t always about new shiny objects. Sometimes it’s pulling out the robotic mechanisms and coming back to deep human connection and community.” (Mallory, 06:37–08:02)

• On Proportional Giving:
  “I am always thinking about that person that graduated two years ago that decides to give us $10 but is paying off, you know, $45,000 in student debt. That is just as big a contribution …as somebody who’s giving us 10,000 who’s 20 years out.” (Leslie, 14:29)

• On the Hierarchy of Fundraising Roles:
  “The development machine doesn’t work without all the other pieces. …Gift processing team that goes on strike—what are you going to do now? …None of the things that you do are going to work.” (Leslie, 36:32)

• On Long-term Culture Change:
  “I like to think… I want the people who sit in our chairs 10 years from now to be glad we were here doing this work.” (Leslie, 37:42)

• On Calm Leadership:
  “Being a good leader is being calm because we are herd animals… If I show up into a space and I’m anxious… everybody else at that table is going to join me.” (Leslie, 28:23)

Timestamps of Key Segments

• 02:27–06:37 – Leslie’s background, team design, and focus at Wayne State
• 06:37–10:23 – Innovation as human connection vs. technology
• 10:23–14:29 – Redefining what “working” means in fundraising
• 14:29–18:12 – Leveling the playing field for all donors; first-time and loyalty programs
• 18:12–24:05 – Leadership, handling resistance, and data-driven cultural change
• 25:26–29:26 – Psychological safety, coaching, and calm leadership
• 33:35–40:18 – Critique of fundraising hierarchies and major gift centricity
• 40:18–43:35 – Actionable first steps for organizations of any size
• 43:35–45:00 – Parting thoughts, encouragement for incremental change

Final Reflections

Leslie Carmona’s insights are a call to action for nonprofit leaders and fundraisers to disrupt outdated hierarchies, honor proportional giving, and cultivate a culture where every gift and giver is valued. The episode is rich with practical strategies and honest leadership wisdom, providing a roadmap for anyone seeking to modernize and humanize their organization’s approach to donor engagement.

Explore further: Visit MalloryErickson.com/Podcast for detailed show notes, resources, and episode extras.