People in Fundraising: A Nonprofit Podcast by Tim Wilson

People in Fundraising, ep. 150: Christina Martin Kenny, Founder of Guava Tree Strategies

For this podcast's 150th episode, I am so pleased to share this interview with Christina Martin Kenny. Many in the "People in Fundraising" community and the nonprofit world are familiar with Christina's excellent LinkedIn posts about workplace challenges that many young mothers who are also nonprofit leaders face. It is a critical topic, and Christina has done admirable work providing platforms for others to candidly discuss their experiences.
In our conversation, Christina also describes:
* Her recent launch of Guava Tree Strategies, a nonprofit consulting firm that "helps nonprofits move beyond survival mode by building sustainable fundraising strategies and nurturing strong teams, so they can focus less on the money and more on the mission."
* A post she wrote in early 2025 about nonprofit leaders shifting from institutional development shops to consulting. It has 5,300+ reactions and over 500 comments, demonstrating the importance of this topic and trend. Christina talks about why this trend won't change "until orgs. start viewing their staff as an investment into their mission," and what holds nonprofit orgs. back from this needed re-framing. Here is Christina's original post:
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/cmkenny_theres-a-concern-about-how-many-non-profit-activity-7265008260078825472-4fqi?utm_source=social_share_send&utm_medium=member_desktop_web&rcm=ACoAAAFOPkMBdO1ZccHn1d0ANmpJpzBHWDK0Rzs
* Nonprofit leaders who have enriched and supported Christina's career, including Tasha Van Vlack of The Nonprofit Hive; Courtney Harrness; and We are For Good's Becky Endicott and Jon McCoy.
* Christina's reaction to this quote from British author Vex King: "My kind of people are those who wish others well, remain accountable for their actions, seek growth with you, are kind to strangers, and keep it real without being unnecessarily rude." She shares who comes to mind in her life who has these attributes.
Thank you Christina for a wonderful and engaging conversation! I wish you and your company continued success and enjoyment.

People in Fundraising, ep. 149: Samantha Roose, Fractional Marketing for Nonprofits

Fundraising copywriter and messaging strategist Samantha Roose joins "People in Fundraising" to shine more light on philanthropic psychology and strategic storytelling. I was really excited to connect with Samantha off of LinkedIn to discuss these topics! In our conversation, Samantha enthusiastically talks about:
* Working with nonprofit orgs. "to help convey the heart of their work to donors, and to help donors be able to live out what is most important to them through their gifts." With an intro as strong and persuasive as that, I was eager to hear more!
* How her lifelong fascination with words and messaging being used for good led to copywriting, directing nonprofits, and seeing how copywriting for nonprofits, and then developing a stronger awareness of how nonprofits engage their donors.
* Joining Brenda Moore's legacy giving consulting firm for faith-based and higher educational institutions. Brenda encouraged Samantha to learn about fundraising copywriting, which was her entree into the development world.
* Philanthropic psychology, which focuses on how the mission of a nonprofit organization aligns with donors' values and affirms their good work. And Samantha's approach to drafting and refining appeals, and how she gets to a point of her assignment and then steps away to ponder before returning to finish the work.
* What she learned about herself through a meaningful tradition in her family of 14 people, where each week her family members would get paired up in two's and write a letter to the other person starting with "Your most endearing quality to me today is..." I totally love that family tradition!
 
Thank you, Samantha, for an outstanding conversation!

People in Fundraising ep. 148: Val Roberts, longtime prospect research leader and Tim's first boss

25 years ago this month, Val Roberts became my first-ever manager in nonprofits. I was new to fundraising, with almost no knowledge about prospect research. In the 2+ years that Val was my boss, she helped develop my skills and interest in this side of fundraising. Plus, from Val I learned the value of making work fun and enjoyable - so important in my first post-college role. 
While I had temped for 6 months on the same floor as Val's team at Harvard Business School, we worked on opposite wings in Teele Hall and didn't know each other. Val took a chance and gave an opportunity to a relative unknown - and a quarter-century later, Val's impact on my career and life are profound and so meaningful. 
I am delighted to share Val's "People in Fundraising" interview. She joined me from Panama, where she is loving retirement! In our conversation, Val talks about:
* Career highlights, including how prospect research has dramatically expanded due to technology improvements and how it is viewed by nonprofit leaders. Val jokes that she started in prospect research "back in the dinosaur days, when there was no Internet!"
*How Val's "pathological curiosity" was well-suited to researching donors, alumni, and prospects for her higher education and healthcare employers during her 35-year career.
* What led her to become a dedicated world traveler, and what motivations brought her to Panama. 
* The importance of cultivating a lifelong sense of joy and wonder about life and our world. 
 
Thank you, Val, for a wonderful conversation about your career and life! I loved hearing about your innate curiosity about life, peoples, and cultures from around our world. 

People in Fundraising, ep. 147: Skip Nordhoff, Huts for Vets & Fletcher School at Tufts University

I'm honored to share today's "People in Fundraising" conversation with fundraising leader and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Skip Nordhoff! We worked together for several years at Harvard Business School, and in our interview, Skip speaks highly of many people from his time there, including Anjali Raina; Flo Amoroso; Josh Merrow; and Dean Nitin Nohria.
Skip also discusses: * How he entered the fundraising world, from college recruiting and corporate recruiting to considering being an independent school teacher.
* Why "service to others beyond yourself" is one of Skip's core beliefs, leading him to be commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps after graduating from Denison College. Skip went on to serve 7 years on active duty, flying helicopters on overseas deployments, and 21 years in the Marine Corps Reserves.
* The mentorship and encouragement of Boston-area fundraising leaders Diane Robbins (who hired Skip for his first development role, at Wheaton College) and David Woodruff.
* Skip's recent involvement as a new director of Huts for Vets, a nonprofit that offers wilderness therapy retreats for veterans and active-duty service members. Skip was introduced to this amazing organization by Ryan Del Grosso, who Skip knew from the Harvard Business School Armed Forces Association.
Thank you Skip for a moving, powerful, and enjoyable conversation! It was terrific to reconnect with you and I know our audience will appreciate hearing about your career in fundraising.

People in Fundraising, ep. 146: Chris Schuler, venture philanthropy and glioblastoma awareness

I am grateful for LinkedIn to connect with people who are passionate about improving the lives of other people. Today's guest, Chris Schuler, is such an example. Without LinkedIn, we likely would not have ever met. It's an honor to share his story with our audience. In our interview, Chris discusses:
* How the untimely passing of his father, Donald, to a form of brain cancer (glioblastoma; GB) fundamentally changed Chris' life and his work, prompting him to become a strong advocate for GB awareness and research funding.
* His nonprofit and community volunteer roles, including with Scouting America.
* His view of how venture capital investment and venture philanthropy can drive innovation to improve and expedite patient outcomes across a range of cancers and other diseases.
Thank you, Chris, for a wonderful and energizing interview! I look forward to sharing your thoughts and experiences with our audience.

People in Fundraising, ep. 145: Stephen Rowe, Co-Founder of Apra Australia; Pyro.Solutions

"People in Fundraising" is thrilled to welcome its first guest from Australia, Stephen Rowe! At the time of our interview in April, Stephen was nearing completion of his 13-year career in fundraising advancement at Australian National University.
As he later posted on LinkedIn, "The fundraising sector has taught me that the best outcomes happen when you combine strategic thinking with genuine human connection - whether with major donors, grateful scholarship recipients, or a colleague navigating the complex needs of a university."
In our conversation, Stephen discusses these and other topics:
* How he entered fundraising in 2007 via an online ad in New Zealand, and how the skills needed aligned with Stephen's university studies and skills.
* The inspiration for him and other prospect researchers to co-found Apra Australia almost a decade ago, and how this chapter has grown in membership, conferences, and other offerings.
* The general cultural attitude toward philanthropy in Australia, which is generally that donations from private citizens are not as expected or prevalent as funding from local, state, and the federal government systems.
Thank you, Stephen, for a great conversation! I wish you the best in your future pursuits.

People in Fundraising, ep. 144: Ilana Xinos, Exec. Director, North American Bison Discovery Center

I am very excited to share today's "People in Fundraising" interview with a guest whose work exemplifies local and regional nonprofits' impact on their communities. It is an area I have wanted to focus on more frequently. Ilana Xinos is the Executive Director of the North American Bison Discovery Center in North Dakota, and she eagerly describes her responsibilities this role (fundraiser, tour operator, stewardship, marketing, board oversight, tractor driver!, etc.) over the last decade.
Ilana also shares:
* Why the Center is called a "Discovery Center," and not a museum - and how it has grown and evolved in its various operations in the last 30+ years, including traveling exhibits and planned virtual offerings via its website.
* Her take on why the bison holds such a sway over the American cultural consciousness, its history on the North American continent (at the peak of population in the 1870s, there were at least 60,000,000 bison before mass slaughters drove the number to less than 500 a decade later), and subsequent recovery and conservation efforts.
* As her role focuses more on fundraising, what skills she feels confident in as a development officer, and where she sees need for training, networking, and best practices from other orgs. on how to continually improve the Discovery Center's fundraising.
This was such an informative interview, and one of my most enjoyable over the nearly 150 conversations so far! Thank you, Ilana, for your time and the enthusiasm you brought to our segment!

People in Fundraising, ep. 143: Evan Wildstein, Good Nonsense and the Social Impact Staff Retention Project

Nonprofiteer Evan Wildstein joins "People in Fundraising" to talk about his career in the social impact world. Among his many contributions to the fundraising world, Evan is the author of "The Nonprofiteer's Fundraising Field Guide," a 75-page manual released just over two years ago.
In our terrific conversation, Evan discusses:
* His current title, Chief Decent Human Behavior Officer and how this title came about.
* What led Evan and another "People in Fundraising" guest, Michelle Flores Vryn, to launch the incredibly illustrative Social Impact Staff Retention (SISR) survey in 2014. This annual survey "collects data on nonprofit worker engagement," per its website.
* In our interview, Evan specifically notes that - more than compensation, opportunities for advancement, or other factors - flexibility in one's schedule, in the form of remote or hybrid work, is "double-digit" higher among all other considerations among nonprofit survey respondents when they are thinking about joining or leaving a nonprofit.
* Thought leaders such as Bob Greenleaf and Parker Palmer. Bob popularized the concept of "servant-leader," and Parker authored, among other works, "An Undivided Life," which explores the dynamic concept of humans "seeking wholeness in our ourselves, our work, and our world." Evan describes why these theorists, and others, are meaningful to his life and work.
Thank you, Evan, for an outstanding and illuminating conversation! I know our audience will enjoy hearing your thoughts on wholeness and bringing one's full self to nonprofit work, and how interwoven our careers and personal lives can be.

People in Fundraising, ep. 142: Abbey Harlow, Owner of Harlow Nonprofit Consulting

Abbey Harlow is the first "People in Fundraising" guest to represent Vermont. Closing in on getting at least one nonprofit leader from each of the 50 U.S. states! I appreciate Abbey's willingness to chat with me, as we weren't even 1st connections on LinkedIn when I reached out to invite her on the podcast. Abbey's focus on small nonprofits and her specialties in development and communications strategies were very interesting. In our conversation, Abbey discusses:* What about working with small- and medium-sized nonprofits, "distilling their complex work into simple and moving stories," as Abbey writes on her firm's website, are most appealing and challenging for her.
 
* What led Abbey to launch her own nonprofit consulting company, and the types of nonprofits and projects that she works with. 
 
* Being an avid reader. I asked Abbey for her thoughts on this quote from Emily Dickinson: "There is no frigate like a book...to take us lands away; How frugal is the chariot...that bears the human soul." On Abbey's company website, if you have a StoryGraph account, you can find a list of books she is reading. 
 
Thank you Abbey for a delightful conversation! I am grateful to share our just-audio conversation with the "People in Fundraising" community, and for followers to learn more about you and your work. 

People in Fundraising, ep. 141: M. Jay Duggan, CEO of Launch Legacy Consulting

Jay Duggan joins "People in Fundraising" from Georgia, and he was one of the many terrific guest leads sent my way months ago to get representatives from about a dozen states that had yet to be repped on this podcast. I really enjoyed talking with Jay about many development topics, including:
* Jay's decision to leave institutional nonprofit work to start, in the summer of 2021, his own firm - Launch Legacy Consulting. It has an awesome website! Launch has since become a Duggan family operation, with his wife Cherie as a co-founder and son Jon joining recently as Director of Philanthropic Strategies.
* Launch Legacy Consulting's focus on both Major Gifts and Planned Giving prospects and strategies. What attracted Jay specifically to planned giving, based on his background in insurance. 
* As a father of five, what Jay hopes his children will take from seeing him balance or integrate work and family life - as well as what he hopes they will understand about why he works in nonprofit fundraising.
Jay's passion for and expertise in Major and Planned Giving, in advance of nonprofits' missions, shine through in our conversation. Thank you, Jay, for a wonderful and engaging interview!