On today’s show, I interview Mary Hiland with Hiland Consulting.  Mary has been involved with nonprofit organizations for more than 40 years.  She went from volunteer to staff to executive director.  Mary led two mergers of her nonprofit with 530 staff and has worked with budgets ranging from $100,000-$26 million. Mary is now a consultant and coach for…Continue reading Episode 128 | How to Build a Strong Board with Mary Hiland

If you’re anything like me, you love good motivation.  We’re told we need to motivate our teams, our volunteers, ourselves, but is it actually garbage?  The definition of motivation is the desire or willingness to do something.  Motivation Garbage comes from Mel Robins and her book The 5 Second Rule.  She says motivation is garbage…Continue reading Episode 127 | Is Motivation Garbage?

Your Zone of Genius is the intersection of your interests, passions and skills and ultimately result in your superpower or your zone of genius. On today’s show we tackle the 7 questions to ask yourself to harness your zone of genius. To start let’s review the four main operating zones as described in Gay Hendricks…Continue reading Episode 126 | 7 Questions to Ask Yourself To Harness Your Zone of Genius

Over the last two years, my husband and I have been in the process of building our dream home.  It all started when I did this one thing…I made a decision!  To make a decision means you’re cutting off all other options to achieve your goal/dream.  For me, I wrote a personal check to myself for $250,000 and…Continue reading Episode 125 | The One Thing I Did to Make My Dream Home a Reality and How I Used The Same Thing to Raise Millions

I modeled this fundraiser off of a conference I recently attended.  The conference felt so special and exclusive and that’s how I wanted the guests to feel at this fundraiser.  I always want every person – donors, staff members, and volunteers alike – to feel special and like they are a part of something bigger than themselves. I wanted…Continue reading Episode 124 | How I Raised More Than $500,000 In Less Than 3 Months with No Printed Invitations and Only 50 Guests

Arlene Cogen spent more than 20 years in the trust and investment services industry, and 9 years in non-profit development. She is a sought-after speaker and coach as well as a certified financial planner.  Arlene is also the author of Give to Live:  Make A Charitable Gift You Never Imagined.  Why is philanthropic giving so important? People give to causes for…Continue reading Episode 123 | Philanthropic Giving with Arlene Cogen

David Baker is a recovering lawyer who has provided comprehensive fund development services to nonprofits, social service agencies, churches, and libraries for over 20 years. David has raised hundreds of millions of dollars through major gift efforts. He has consulted with organizations in California, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, Georgia, Tennessee, Utah, Arkansas and more for capital and endowment campaigns, comprehensive fundraising efforts, planned giving, development…Continue reading Episode 122 | Effective Stewardship with David Baker

Culture in the U.S. is driven by success and the Enneagram teaches that every type has a driver/motivator.   Teresa McCloy has been married to her husband Dale for 36 years and live on a 3rd generation family grain farm in Central Illinois. Now that she’s living and leading her passion, the joy has returned to her everyday, ordinary REALIFE! It continues to be a process and she wants you to feel the…Continue reading Episode 121 | Enneagram and Intentionality with Teresa McCloy

Today’s guest is my dear friend and new business partner, Joel Kessel. I love talking strategy and in this episode Joel shares his 8-Steps to a successful strategic plan including: Step 1 ==> Plan-To-Plan Step 2 ==> Environmental Scan Step 3 ==> Ideal Future Vision Step 4 ==> Current State Assessment Step 5 ==> Areas…Continue reading Episode 120 | Strategic Planning with Joel Kessel

In today’s episode we address the very common desire to want to jump right to our final destination. Of course we want to raise those funds fast, but we just might miss the best part…the journey! Mary shares how to enjoy the journey by doing the following 5 things:  1. Travel with people you like.…Continue reading Episode 119 | 5 Ways to Enjoy the Journey Towards Your Fundraising Goal

Today’s episode features social media expert, small business owner, and nonprofit executive director, Lauren Davis. Lauren lives close to Chicago in Rockford, Illinois, but works with people around the world to overcome their personal branding discontent and grow their presence so that they can focus on sales, exposure, leadership and community impact. She was named…Continue reading Episode 118 | What Every Nonprofit Needs to Know About Social Media with Lauren Davis

Today we may get a bit emotional, but as you know emotions are important especially when raising funds for your cause.  In this episode we tackle 3 important questions (that I totally stole from my friend, Mike!).  They include: 1. What Pisses You Off? (The Injustice) 2. What Breaks Your Heart? (The Compassion) 3. What…Continue reading Episode 117 – What Breaks Your Heart and How Can You Use That to Raise Funds

Marketing expert, Mike Kim, joins the show to address what’s working and what’s not in nonprofit marketing. Find out why you need to address the elephant in the room and how to do that by addressing these 3 P’s… 1. Potential 2. Promise 3. Progress Most people are willing to give you a hand up…Continue reading Episode 116 | How to Address the Elephant in the Room and Master Your Marketing with Mike Kim

Some of us have an easier time than others, but the same thing holds us all back from growth and it comes back to…TRUST. It’s for good reason that our guard goes up especially if you really care about your cause. So how do we overcome our trust issues.  These four things will help: 1.…Continue reading Episode 115 | The #1 Thing Holding You Back From Growth

It is common to assume that our potential donors know exactly how they can give and serve our causes. But could you imagine if you walked into a restaurant, sat down at a table, and the waiter or waitress never gave you a menu? I’m sure you’d be annoyed and frustrated and probably wouldn’t come…Continue reading Episode 114 | How to Create a Winning Sponsorship Packet

Most nonprofit and ministry leaders are determined to fund their mission and often wonder if they are doing everything they possibly can to raise funds, which leads to the question…”Is cold-calling a good idea?” In today’s episode we talk through the most efficient way to cold-call and how to add warm-calls to your marketing efforts.…Continue reading Episode 113 – Is Cold-Calling a Good Idea?

In today’s episode we jump in and look at how we’re uniquely equipped to raise funds using our specific strengths.  We talk through the four stages of competence by Martin M. Broadwell (known as the four levels of teaching) including: 1. Unconscious incompetence 2. Conscious incompetence 3. Conscious competence 4. Unconscious competence and  Gay Hendricks…Continue reading Episode 112 | How to Use Your Strengths to Fundraise

In this episode, I can’t help but go after the lies that our charities are believing.  The three lies that need to die include:  1. There is only so much money to go around. 2. No one wants to give. 3. People only want to give to projects. All three of these tap into the…Continue reading Episode 111 | The 3 Nonprofit Lies That Need to Die

In this episode we dig deep into “The Donor’s Journey.” This is the path that every donor, volunteer and staff goes through when they decide whether to link arms with your cause and align themselves with the work you do.  The 7 Steps include: 1. Know 2. Like 3. Trust 4. Try 5. Give 6.…Continue reading Episode 110 | 7 Steps to Sustainability

In this episode we not only talk through the three reasons why it’s hard to motivate your board members (or advisory group), but we also dig in and talk through what you can do to turn things around.   Here are the resources we talked about on today’s show: Free webinar training for board members is…Continue reading Episode 109 | 3 Reasons Why It’s Hard to Motivate Board Members to Fundraise

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” -Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company At 15 years old, Ford left home to become an apprentice and if it’s good enough for Ford it should be good enough for us. Growing and learning from others is an…Continue reading Episode 108 – What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There

Today’s interview is with Dr. Michael Hudson – a speaker, coach, and “idea-junkie” – who wants to help leaders do work that truly matters. During our time together Michael shares his 3 R’s and gives insight into how we can improve our storytelling so our message not only gets heard, but also get’s repeated. For…Continue reading Episode 107 | How to Get Your Message Heard with Michael Hudson

Bridgett Myers is the Chief Development Officer at FosterAdopt Connect (and Mary’s former boss). Bridgett assumed the new role in January 2018 after serving in executive leadership with the American Cancer Society for 23 years. Bridget digs in and shares incredible fundraising tips and hiring advice every non-profit executive leader should know. You don’t want…Continue reading Episode 103 | How to Get Corporate Sponsors to Call You with Bridgett Myers

Today’s episode features CFRE and AFP Master Trainer, Jason Lewis. Known for his willingness to question deeply engrained beliefs and assumptions of how effective fundraising really works, Jason shares his knowledge and expertise in this episode. If you’re interested in hearing how fundraising should really work, then you need to listen in. Here are some…Continue reading Episode 102 | How Should Fundraising Really Work with Jason Lewis

After 100 episodes, I’m more committed than ever to your success. In this episode I share my three big takeaways from the past 100 episodes including: 1. I started this podcast with the intention of teaching others how to raise funds, but I ended up learning so much more. 2. Habits are hard to start,…Continue reading Episode 101 | The 3 BIG Takeaways From The Past 100 Episodes of The Show

Today’s guest is wealth advisor, Laura Waller, with P3 Life Builders where she focuses on helping for profit and nonprofit leaders to live a life of Purpose, Power, and Prosperity. Listen in as Laura shares the 3 S’s to fund and fuel your growth in 2019 including: 1. State of Mind 2. Story 3. Strategy…Continue reading Episode 97 | The 3 S’s to Fund and Fuel Your Growth in 2019 with Wealth Advisor, Laura Waller

Join me as we take a trip down memory lane. In this episode, I share why I do the work that I do and why this podcast exists. You also get to be the first to hear about my next project. Space is limited for this NEW project, so don’t waste any time in reaching…Continue reading Episode 78 – How to Avoid Being Lonely at the Top