The Big Bold Fundraising Story

"The purpose of life is a life of purpose." Robert Byrne

Mission

• Do more, be more, through inspired, effective fundraising.

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Vision

• Improving lives worldwide, one Funding Partner at a time.

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Values

• Integrity
• Ethics
• Compassion & Empathy
• Fun
• Impeccable Communication
• Humor
• Courage
• If you can well: DO, If you can't: SAY NO.
• Trying leads to greatness: thrive in the Arena.

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena .... " - Theodore Roosevelt

Years ago, I was asked to present about the importance of fundraising .... to a room of professionals starting at square one with their fundraising knowledge. To this team, 'stewardship' had something to do with boating. (Someone actually guessed that.)

To prepare, I thought: in two minutes, how can I kick-off a fundraising presentation with a down-to-earth icebreaker to get their attention (or at least keep the snoring/scrolling to a minimum)?

I came up with: 'What Do Tangerines and Development Have in Common?' 1. Sweetness (to Funding Partners and your mission) matters. 2. The ap-peal (groan) must be simple - and important to our potential Funder. 3. Good things (both tangerines and donations) can come in small packages. As laughter filled the room and I passed around tangerines to attendees, cue a more in-depth conversation (and no snoring).

The juiciness (smile) of this experience (and many more after) sparked the idea for what has become Big Bold Fundraising. Because, friends, as fundraisers (or nonprofit leaders or marketing pros), we are not NASA engineers: our mission isn't that complicated, and we never will need to contact Houston. We just sometimes make it unnecessarily complex.

Thus, Big Bold Fundraising exists to cut through the noise, share what WORKS - and make fundraising FUN, EFFECTIVE and, like a relatable two minute intro, SIMPLE.

• An Enneagram 7, CliftonStrengths Strategic, Ideation, Futuristic, Relator, Arranger. (For team leadership and fundraising, I'm a big fan of these two assessments - ask me why!)
• Some things that light me up: writing, beach, books, travel, great conversations, dancing, hiking, time alone, good coffee, Fall, music.

A FEW PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS, FULL BIOGRAPHY GLADLY PROVIDED

• A CFRE-certified nonprofit leader, fundraiser, storyteller, writer, strategist, and coach; in 17 years, contributed to raising $42 million.
• Experience + a proven success record includes major gifts, campaigns, planned giving, and endowments.
• For a large healthcare system, staff-led the major gifts fundraising efforts including for a successful $20 million capital campaign, the largest in organizational history.
• For four small-medium community nonprofits (under $25 million/annual revenue), launched or rebuilt fundraising, marketing, and communications programs.
• During COVID, as Chief Development & Marketing Officer of a human services nonprofit, innovated an Emergency Hardship Fund and personally raised over $500,000 that benefited 400 families.
• Seasoned presenter: one-on-one to hundreds.
• National training responsibility for 30 US offices; contributed to a division's revenue growth from $80 million to $110 million.
• In 2014, became Founder, Coach, and Get-It-Done Partner of a fundraising, marketing, and communications practice (now Big Bold Fundraising). Honored by long-term engagements/partnerships with small-to-large nonprofits and universities.