Fundraising gets a bad rap, even from fundraisers. Mallory Erickson, our first Faculty-in-Residence, spent this week’s Keynote making the case that it’s actually sacred work, helping people put money toward what they care about most.
A big idea from her excellent book, What The Fundraising: Embracing and Enabling the People Behind the Purpose is that the ask is really an offer. You’re not extracting a gift, you’re giving someone a way to live out their values. Get curious about what actually drives a person and you build a partnership instead of a transaction.
She’s also blunt about scarcity. You can only raise what you believe is possible, and a shop grumbling about “only ten thousand alumni” is sitting on a base most nonprofits would envy.
She says burnout isn’t really about overwork. It’s rejection, uncertainty, and the stories we tell ourselves about the discomfort. Worth sitting with.
Big Themes This Week
Fundraising is sacred work. Done well it helps people move money toward what they care about most, and the stigma comes from society, not from the work itself.
Great fundraising is not an ask, it’s an offer. Alignment means understanding what drives the other person and co-creating a win-win, not extracting a gift.
You can only raise what you believe is possible. Scarcity mindset, not the size of your alumni base, is often the real ceiling.
Team Discussion Questions
Are we brave enough to tell someone this isn’t the right fit right now, and trust that honesty builds the relationship?
Where is scarcity thinking quietly capping what we believe is possible with our base?
When the ask feels like dread, are we blaming overwork instead of the beliefs and pressures underneath it?
Upcoming Member Events
Agora
Behind the Scenes of a Signature Alumni Event: Lessons from the Bentley Alumni Conference
A great alumni conference can do more than bring people together — it can create the conditions for relationships to grow, alumni expertise to strengthen the institution, and university priorities to become meaningful and relevant to graduates.
In this Agora, Allison Kerivan, Executive Director of Advancement Relations, will take attendees behind the scenes of the Bentley Alumni Conference, the university’s flagship professional development and networking experience, and share how it has evolved into a strategic platform for alumni engagement and donor cultivation.
Date: Thursday, September 3 from 12 - 1 pm
Faculty-in-Residence
For six weeks beginning August 17 - September 25, Speaking Engagement welcomes Mallory Erickson — executive coach, creator and host of the What the Fundraising podcast, and author of the book by the same name — as our inaugural resident.
We’ll have a final live Symposium event for members on September 23.
