Nonprofits Are Messy: Lessons in Leadership | Fundraising | Board Development | Communications Ep. 238: Small Gifts, Big Impact: Building Sustainable Revenue from Everyday Donors (with Vivian Chang)
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Oct 11, 2025 Vivian Chang, leader of the Democratizing Philanthropy Project, brings her 30 years of experience in community power-building to the discussion. She emphasizes the importance of people-powered fundraising, showing how small donations can stabilize revenue and align funding with mission goals. Vivian highlights the value of grassroots donors as ambassadors and shares insights into her project’s accelerator program designed to boost digital fundraising. With timely provocations for organizations and funders, she champions grassroots fundraising in current crisis moments.
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Childhood Sparked A Career In Justice
- Vivian grew up noticing her immigrant parents losing parts of themselves navigating daily life in the U.S.
- That early observation motivated her 30-year career focused on dignity, power, and community-driven change.
Misaligned Funding Causes Mission Drift
- Funders' short-term metrics often misalign with organizations' core mission, causing gradual mission drift.
- Sustained, aligned funding supports the organization's essence, not just discrete policy wins.
People-Powered Fundraising Scales
- People-powered fundraising uses many small donations aggregated to create substantial, stable revenue for mission-driven groups.
- It requires intention, bandwidth, and systems, but it also builds ambassadors who defend and amplify your work.