Strengthening the Capacity of Black Fundraisers with Kia Croom

In the report The Lived Experience of Fundraisers of Color produced by Cause Effective, two-thirds of the respondents mentioned facing obstacles in their development careers due to their race.

More than half of those surveyed acknowledged they might be reluctant to recommend that people of color they know enter into the fundraising profession, “because fundraising involves external relationships where bias might be present” and “fundraising reflects and magnifies the racial hierarchies of our culture.”

On this episode of Nonprofit Nation, I sit down with Kia Croom, a fund development executive with 20 years of experience. Kia launched the Black Fundraisers’ podcast to celebrate, inspire and equip Black fund development professionals to excel and positively impact Black communities.

Some of my favorite episodes have featured Johnnetta Cole, the first Black woman president of Spelman College and later Bennett College, social entrepreneur Trabian Shorters, and fundraising executive Dianna Campbell.

Kia also spearheads an initiative called Fundraising in Black -  a series of fundraising capacity-building courses targeted to Black and Brown fundraising professionals.  

Connect with Kia: 

• Website:  www.kiacroom.com
• Instagram:  @kiacroom
• Twitter: @iamkiacroom
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiacroom/ 
• Email: croomkia@gmail.com 

About Julia Campbell, the host of the Nonprofit Nation podcast:

Named as a top thought leader by Forbes and BizTech Magazine, Julia Campbell (she/hers) is an author, coach, and speaker on a mission to make the digital world a better place.

She wrote her book, Storytelling in the Digital Age: A Guide for Nonprofits, as a roadmap for social change agents who want to build movements using engaging digital storytelling techniques. Her second book, How to Build and Mobilize a Social Media Community for Your Nonprofit, was published in 2020 as a call-to-arms for mission-driven organizations to use the power of social media to build movements.

Julia’s online courses, webinars, and keynote talks have helped hundreds of nonprofits make the shift to digital thinking and how to do effective marketing in the digital age.

Take Julia’s free nonprofit masterclass,  3 Must-Have Elements of Social Media That Converts

Take my free masterclass: 3 Must-Have Elements of Social Media Content that Converts