135: Donor Engagement: Navigating Community Centric Fundraising with Mallory Mitchell

There are a lot of questions out there about community-centric fundraising. Will focusing on communities instead of donors hurt your fundraising efforts? What’s the risk of raising money at all costs? What’s the difference in donor engagement and communication when it comes to donor-centric vs. community-centric frameworks? Is it even ‘worth’ the hassle? Well, in this episode, Mallory Mitchell will answer these questions and help you take your fundraising to the next level at the same time. 

Meet Mallory, a devoted fundraiser and co-founder of Aligned Strategy Group. Mallory's love for fundraising began during her undergrad days when she worked in a call center, calling alumni for donations. Over the years, she has developed expertise in helping nonprofits adopt community-centric fundraising principles, focusing on individual giving. Her experiences at Minneapolis Urban League opened her eyes to the struggles faced by BIPOC-led organizations, inspiring her to seek out alternative fundraising methods. Today, she is a strong advocate for community-centric fundraising and its potential to create a more inclusive and equitable sector.

In this episode, you will be able to:

• Uncover the distinctions between Community-Centric and Donor-Centric Fundraising.
• Learn about the negative impact of excessive profit-seeking in fundraising and the risk of raising more money at all costs. 
• Discover how to involve various community members, not just donors, in your organization's fundraising.
• Develop ways to infuse community-centric principles into your fundraising activities while preparing for possible setbacks.
• Recognize the value of forging strong personal connections with donors and expressing appreciation in appropriate ways.

Get all the resources from today’s episode here. 

I am so excited to be partnering with Neon One to be bringing you this mini-series all about how we improve our donor communications and create more engagement. There is so much wisdom in this series from how to create more engagement in your email campaigns to how to incorporate community centric fundraising practices into your communication. But another resource that I love is the 2023 Neon One Email Report which is designed to give you practical strategies for creating compelling emails to help you improve your email campaign performance. There are great benchmarks, analysis, and tips and tools all in one place so check it out TODAY!

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Website: malloryerickson.com/podcast

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