Our first Faculty-in-Residence: Mallory Erickson

Aug. 17 – Sep. 25, 2026 · What the Fundraising

We could not have asked for a better voice to launch Faculty-in-Residence.

For six weeks beginning August 17, 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.

Mallory’s work starts with an important shift in thinking: the fundraiser, not the donor, is the leading indicator of fundraising success. Donor behavior, she argues, is largely a lagging reaction and a response to how fundraising is conducted and how the fundraiser feels while doing it. So instead of opening with tactics, her research opens with the human being doing the asking.

It’s a case built by braiding together three bodies of evidence: modern fundraising and sector data, the executive-coaching frameworks she’s certified in, and the neuroscience of the nervous system — how chronic stress, the fight-or-flight response, and trust shape our capacity to connect. Across her podcast she’s translated peer-reviewed science from researchers like Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett, Dr. Paul Zak, and Dr. Ethan Kross into the lived reality of frontline fundraising.

What Mallory’s residency looks like

Over six weeks, we’ll move from a wide-ranging Keynote conversation (free to all) into a members-only Exploration episode about the research itself, followed by two original articles.

Then we close with the part we’re most excited about — our live Symposium

Members: come ask the questions

Mallory’s residency ends with a live Symposium roundtable — and the panel asking the questions will be drawn from you. We’ve recruited a few Speaking Engagement members to sit at the table with us, put their real questions to Mallory, and think out loud alongside her and a live audience.

Welcome, Mallory. We’re honored to have you first.