New Podcast: Learning to Lead Investment-Level Conversations—A Case Study with Melissa Frueh at Illinois Stewardship Alliance

Nonprofit GrowthDevelopmentCase Study
Written By Sherry Quam Taylor
Image of Melissa Frueh with Illinois Stewardship Alliance and the case study podcast titled, "Learning to Lead Investment-Level Conversations", a case study, Sherry Quam Taylor.

“Make a habit of reaching out to people when you don’t need something.” - Justin Welsh

We all know relationships aren’t transactions. This is especially important in fundraising.


Melissa Frueh of the Illinois Stewardship Alliance and I talked about this on this month's case study podcast episode! Listen in at YouTube here and Apple Podcasts here!

In friendship, we don’t spend weeks wondering what reason we have to reach out to that person. What would I say? What could I show them? What story could I tell? What excuse do I have for reaching out?

We just pick up the phone and call them because we are in a relationship with them. We don’t need anything. It’s natural because we’ve taken that time for it to be like this.

And when the entire sector tells you that fundraising is events, appeals, applications, and campaigns it’s often confusing and hard to convince all parties to make the shift.

It can be the same way with donors. It’s practical relationship building:
☀️Playing the long-game
☀️Taking 12-, 18-, or 24-months to get to know someone
☀️Natural conversations
☀️Reaching out when you don’t need anything.
☀️Comfortably making the ask when it’s a win/win

But we chase, create urgency, & force deadlines. ← Let’s stop this by the way.

This is often a skillset issue. Not everyone has been trained to lead investment-level conversations!

But, you can equip your team to make this shift. It’s not a fast shift, but it builds a truly sustainable organization.

This is what I do every day. It’s incredibly rewarding to watch these shifts in strategy take place. I love how Melissa and her fearless leader Liz Moran Stelk have embraced this shift. They've been eager learners since day one and it's paid off!

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.

Sherry Quam Taylor

Sherry Quam Taylor works with business-minded Nonprofit CEOs whose Strategic Plans require expansive budgets and larger amounts of general-operating revenue for growth. To become investment-level ready, Sherry helps leaders see their revenue potential and helps them see what may be blocking donors from giving in this way. Sherry’s clients know how to attract larger donors by solving the funding challenges at the root of the issue.

As a result of learning her methodology, Sherry’s clients become sustainable, diversify revenue, and know how to add significant amounts gen-ops revenue to their budgets. But mostly, their development departments and board have transformed into high-ROI revenue generators – aligning their hours with relational dollars and set free from the limitations of transactional fundraising.

Sherry attributes the success of her business to her passion for modeling radical confidence to the future CEOs in her house - her two college-aged daughters.

https://www.QuamTaylor.com
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New Podcast: Next-Leveling a High-Performing Development Team — A Case Study with Drew Moran at Nourishing Hope