New Podcast: Fundraising When Following a Founder—A Case Study with Laurie Quinn at The Stern Center
Are you the leader of an organization who's following a decades-long founder?
There are unique challenges, for sure. You're building off something great while trying to reset the table.
Laurie Quinn of the Stern Center for Language & Learning and I talked about this on this month's case study podcast episode! Listen in at YouTube here and Apple Podcasts here!
Laurie shares, “As a leader, I was looking to reimagine our team. I was very honest with you when we got together [and shared], I'm in a moment of tremendous transformation. I've got two long time staff retiring. I'm five years [into my role]. I have a part-time, very skilled person who I work closely with in fundraising, but we are a really lean team right now. And…in a nonprofit, every position you add is gold. [So,] before we add anybody back, I want to be really sure of exactly where we're headed, what's possible…And so it was a great time to partner up with you and reset the table for the organization...So we went deliberately together, covering a lot of ground and the lessons pulled forward very naturally for us as a now growing team. The many aha moments we've had along the way with you, have taught us to internalize questions and build muscle as a team.”
At one point in this discussion, Laurie and I talked about this work together allowing her and her time to see fundraising as a creative and joyful opportunity. THAT is music to my ears!
And the numbers are behind this joy! Laurie's team is currently raising more money with less staff. They are spending time on the right activities and relationships. This is hours-to-dollars fundraising.
And other outcomes from our work together? Laurie says, …"Finally, for our specific organizational purposes, having the courage to tell our story more broadly in different ways and reaching out to particularly that kind of middle tier of donors and to new donors with confidence. You don't already have to know everything about what we do to be moved to give to a mission like this. And so, yeah, it's been really wonderful to get the chance to dig into that important work with you.”
The best part of my job is getting to work with and learn from incredible leaders. Laurie is high on that list for me. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.
Whenever you’re ready, here are THREE things you can do next:
👣 Follow me on LinkedIn here where I share the same lessons I teach my clients about attracting larger gen-ops dollars and adding 7-figures + to their bottom line.
🍎 Read my GUIDE! THE TRUTH ABOUT GIVE/GETS :: Top 5 Reasons Your Board’s Give/Get Is Leaving Thousands (Sometimes Millions) on the Table. See how limiting board members to the Give/Get model restricts gifts and keeps your staff from reaching their full fundraising potential. Here to get it.
📈 Work with me to scale your org's revenue by 2-5X and fund your organization’s Strategic Plan // If you’re a business-minded CEO already raising MILLIONS but need to diversify revenue and secure more general-operating dollars to invest in growth, you can apply to work with me here.
