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170: The Rule-Breaker’s Guide to Year-End Fundraising

Season 1 Episode 170 Published 10 months, 1 week ago
Description

If you’re done following the same old fundraising playbook, the polite one that keeps your goals small and your growth stuck, this episode is your permission slip to break the rules.

In The Rule-Breaker’s Guide to Year-End Fundraising, I share how safe, “board-approved” strategies are quietly capping your potential, and how modern fundraisers are rewriting the rules to build momentum, trust, and record-breaking campaigns. You’ll hear how one of my clients ran two back-to-back campaigns that both exceeded goals by leading with authenticity, urgency, and story, not fear or etiquette. Because the truth is, safe doesn’t scale. It’s time to stop waiting for approval, stop softening your message, and start leading with conviction. Rule breakers don’t just raise more money, they raise more energy, excitement, and impact.

Topics:

  • Why playing it safe keeps your campaigns stuck on repeat
  • The biggest lie in year-end fundraising (and what to do instead)
  • How to release the “parking brake” on your campaigns and gain real traction
  • What modern, momentum-driven fundraising looks like
  • How one client ran two campaigns in a row, and hit both goals
  • Why innovation looks risky until it works (and then everyone copies it)
  • How to stop fundraising like it’s 2005 and lead with courage instead


For a full list of links and resources mentioned in this episode, click here.

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