Real Talk for Real Fundraisers

Fundraising can be meaningful work, but it can also come with a lot of pressure and scares. The worries can range from making the ask to wondering whether you’ll hit your goal or keep your job. Even experienced fundraisers carry fears that can be difficult to talk about, especially when the economy feels uncertain, workloads keep growing, and expectations seem impossible to meet. In this Halloween episode of Real Talk for Real Fundraisers, Jeff Schreifels is joined by Veritus Group Client Experience Leaders Laura Lang and Edie Dahlen to explore the biggest fears identified in a survey of more than 60 fundraisers and non-profit leaders. Together, they unpack seven common concerns, including asking for gifts, hearing no (or getting no response), missing goals, losing your job, seeming pushy, navigating a shaky economy, and feeling overwhelmed. They explain what’s behind these fears and offer practical ways to face them, reminding fundraisers that they’re not alone in what keeps them up at night. The conversation also turns to some of the bigger pressures fundraisers face inside their organizations. Jeff, Laura, and Edie discuss how to set realistic donor goals, communicate progress to leadership, and recognize that major gift relationships can take 18 to 24 months to mature. They offer solutions to engage donors during economic uncertainty without making assumptions about their ability or willingness to give. They also note the importance of protecting yourself from burnout by maintaining a manageable caseload and taking real time off. Show Highlights: In this episode, you’ll learn about… How to make asking for a gift feel more natural by understanding donor interests, using Permission-Based Asking™, and giving donors the freedom to decide. How to handle rejection, silence, and uncertainty by following up thoughtfully, qualifying donors, and treating a no as information rather than a personal failure. How to manage fundraising goals and job-related anxiety by setting realistic expectations, making your progress visible, and helping leadership understand the time it takes to build major gift relationships. What to remember when fundraising fears creep in: trust your work, respect donor decisions, save the kind notes that remind you why you do this, and give yourself permission to step away and recharge.  Veritus Group is passionate about partnering with you and your organization throughout your fundraising journey. We believe that the key to transformative fundraising is a disciplined system and structure, trusted accountability, persistence, and a bit of fun. We specialize in mid-level fundraising, major gifts, and planned giving, helping our clients to develop compelling donor offers and to focus on strategic leadership and organizational development. You can learn more about how we can partner with you at www.VeritusGroup.com.   Additional Resources:   [Community Hub] Join the Community Hub! [Certification Courses] Learn more about our Certification Courses (and our current Early-Bird Deal) [Blog] Fundraising and Donor Horror Stories That Might Shock You 

Non-profits can have a strong mission, a dedicated team, and years of community service behind them, yet still struggle to reach the people who could become their most meaningful supporters. Often, the challenge begins with who has a seat at the table and whether the organization has built the relationships needed to earn trust beyond its traditional networks. In this episode of Real Talk for Real Fundraisers, Jeff Schreifels and Christopher Beck sit down with non-profit leader Harold Witherspoon to discuss how board composition, cultural trust, and long-term relationships shape an organization’s ability to fundraise and serve its community. Drawing on more than 30 years in the non-profit sector, Harold shares why organizations need to look beyond familiar networks and build genuine connections with the communities they hope to reach. Harold starts with the board, arguing that its strength depends in part on how well it represents the broader community. When decision-makers share similar backgrounds and perspectives, organizations can become comfortable with the way things have always been done, missing opportunities to connect with new audiences. He explains why building relationships is a long game, comparing it to dating: trust takes time, and meaningful partnerships grow through getting to know one another rather than rushing toward an outcome. From there, Jeff, Christopher, and Harold explore the value of relationship capital, the difference between serving a community and inviting its members to become stakeholders, and the importance of sustained engagement in building trust. Harold also shares his approach to recruiting and onboarding board members, developing existing staff into fundraising roles, and balancing a compelling mission with the sound business practices non-profits need to succeed. Show Highlights: In this episode, you’ll learn about… Why board composition matters and how a lack of diverse perspectives can limit an organization’s fundraising and community outreach. Why serving a community is different from inviting its members to become invested stakeholders in your mission. How to recruit and onboard board members who reflect the community, while developing staff from within to strengthen your fundraising team. Why long-term non-profit success requires both a meaningful mission and strong business practices.  Veritus Group is passionate about partnering with you and your organization throughout your fundraising journey. We believe that the key to transformative fundraising is a disciplined system and structure, trusted accountability, persistence, and a bit of fun. We specialize in mid-level fundraising, major gifts, and planned giving, helping our clients to develop compelling donor offers and to focus on strategic leadership and organizational development. You can learn more about how we can partner with you at www.VeritusGroup.com.   Additional Resources:   [Blog] How to Secure Board Members Who Really Work [White Paper] How Non-Profit Boards Contribute to Major Gift Fundraising Success [Podcast] Donors Can Smell It: Why Authenticity Wins 

This week we're sharing an episode from our friends at System Catalysts, a podcast about the philanthropists and changemakers working to improve the systems that shape our world. We think this conversation will change how you see the major donors on your caseload.Anthropologist Bridget Kustin, Senior Research Fellow at Oxford's Saïd Business School and Director of Ownership Project 2.0, has spent years studying billion-dollar family businesses and family offices. Instead of approaching wealth holders with criticism or flattery, she approaches them the way she once approached families in Bangladesh: as people, with curiosity about how their world actually works.What she found may surprise you. Nearly every wealth holder she met genuinely wanted to do good. So why isn't more money moving toward lasting change? Bridget points to a deep fear of failure that often starts at birth, a complicated and very personal relationship with risk, and a reluctance to gamble away what a family spent generations building. She also shares that many wealthy families give in ways that are ad hoc and inconsistent, often without a clear philanthropic strategy.For fundraisers, there's a lot here to sit with. Bridget hears again and again from wealth holders that she's one of the few people in their lives who doesn't want their money. That says something about the world our donors live in, where nearly every relationship comes with an ask. It's a good reminder that donors want to be known as people first, and that helping them tell a story of meaningful success, even when a problem won't be fully solved in their lifetime, may be what unlocks their giving.In this episode:Why most research on the wealthy falls into either criticism or praise, and what gets missed in betweenWhat family-owned businesses reveal about long-term thinking, risk, and responsibilityWhy so much philanthropy at the highest levels is scattershot rather than strategicHow fear of failure and loss aversion keep capital from movingWhy partnership, not individual credit, is what makes systems change possibleBridget's challenge to listeners: if you admire someone's work, what's stopping you from joining it?Learn more:Ownership Project 2.0: https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/research-and-insight/centres-and-initiatives/ownership-project-20-private-capital-owners-and-impactOwnership Project Action Lab: https://www.gtc.ox.ac.uk/academic/global-philanthropy-initiative/ownership-project-action-lab-from-academic-research-to-real-world-impactBridget's research: https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Bridget-Kustin-2123035529Listen and subscribe to System Catalysts here: https://lnk.to/systemcatalysts-show

If you’re looking at your year-end number and then at your to-do list and wondering how you’ll get it all done, you’re far from alone. Late September into October is when that pressure lands on almost every frontline fundraiser, and the roughly 75 days left in the year can feel impossibly short. In this episode of Real Talk for Real Fundraisers, Jeff Schreifels is joined by Lauren Centrella, a Veritus client experience leader and former frontline fundraiser, to walk through those 75 days one stretch at a time. Together, they break down how to prioritize your caseload, prepare for year-end asks, and stay focused on the donor relationships that matter most, so you can finish the year with a clear plan and feel good about the work you’ve done, whatever the final number. Lauren starts with the first week of October, when it pays to slow down and audit your caseload donor by donor. They cover where each donor stands against their goal and last year’s giving, who hasn’t given yet, and which gifts, including DAFs, stock, and QCDs, may come with earlier deadlines than you expect. They also discuss the internal conversations with Finance, Program, and Marketing that need to happen before the year-end rush makes them harder to have. From there, Jeff and Lauren cover how to prioritize high-value donors, revisit Tier C prospects, and use Permission-Based Asking™ through mid-December. They also discuss communicating with managers when goals shift and finishing strong with follow-ups, DAF gifts, out-of-office planning, and thank-you calls that deepen donor relationships. Show Highlights: In this episode, you’ll learn about… What to review in the first week of October, including donor goals, giving history, and gifts with early deadlines How to prioritize the donors who matter most, prepare for Permission-Based Asking™, and communicate with your manager when goals shift How to finish strong from December 16–31, follow up on commitments, and use year-end stewardship to strengthen relationships Lauren’s immediate action plan: identify your top five donors, find one impact story for each, and choose one outreach you can make this week Additional Resources:   [Blog] How to Build a Year-End Donor Plan [White Paper] 90-Day Year-End Fundraising Planner [Blog] Fall in Love with Fundraising Again Veritus Group is passionate about partnering with you and your organization throughout your fundraising journey. We believe that the key to transformative fundraising is a disciplined system and structure, trusted accountability, persistence, and a bit of fun. We specialize in mid-level fundraising, major gifts, and planned giving, helping our clients to develop compelling donor offers and to focus on strategic leadership and organizational development. You can learn more about how we can partner with you at⁠ ⁠⁠www.VeritusGroup.com⁠.   

Most stewardship programs are built around a formula: give at this level, receive this letter; give more, get invited to this event; give enough, get your name on a wall. But that model is quietly failing because donors can tell when they’re being processed instead of known. In this episode of Real Talk for Real Fundraisers, Jeff Schreifels and co-host Christopher Beck have a candid conversation with Dwayne Ashley, founder and CEO of Bridge Philanthropic Consulting, one of the largest full-service fundraising and advisory firms in the world. They explore what stewardship looks like when donors are treated as partners rather than sources of capital, including why the ask should move at the donor’s pace, why calling a donor for advice can be more meaningful than another impact report, and how gift acceptance and naming policies can quietly cost organizations major gifts. At the heart of the conversation is a simple idea: people give to people. Donors are evaluating your leadership, your flexibility, and whether they trust the people behind the mission just as much as they’re evaluating your programs. Jeff also shares a story from earlier that morning about being on the receiving end of a permission-based ask and what it felt like to experience that approach as a donor. This is a conversation about moving beyond transactional stewardship and creating donor experiences that actually feel personal. From designing experiences people want to attend to adapting your approach across generations, Jeff, Christopher, and Dwayne make the case that effective stewardship isn’t about following a formula. It’s about knowing the individual donor and building a relationship that works for them. Show Highlights: In this episode, you’ll learn about…  Why authentic stewardship is about knowing donors as people, not moving them through a tiered system  How permission-based asking, donor advice, and honest conversations can build deeper trust and partnership  Why gift acceptance policies, pledge practices, and organizational flexibility can either strengthen or undermine donor relationships  How to create more meaningful, personalized donor experiences by adapting to individual interests, expectations, and generations Veritus Group is passionate about partnering with you and your organization throughout your fundraising journey. We believe that the key to transformative fundraising is a disciplined system and structure, trusted accountability, persistence, and a bit of fun. We specialize in mid-level fundraising, major gifts, and planned giving, helping our clients to develop compelling donor offers and to focus on strategic leadership and organizational development. You can learn more about how we can partner with you at www.VeritusGroup.com.   Additional Resources:   [Blog] Three Critical Elements of Planned Giving [White Paper] Building a Culture of Philanthropy [Podcast] Christopher Beck: Five Questions Every Non-Profit Leader Needs to Answer About Equity