Episode Details

If you believed the headlines this year, you’d think generosity was shrinking. Inflation up. Layoffs everywhere. Grant budgets tightening. Every sector talking about a downturn and uncertainty. But inside my world (thousands of podcast listeners, email subscribers, clients, and community members), the story was completely different. This year was record-breaking! Record-breaking campaigns, major gifts, digital fundraising wins, growth for my clients, and for my own business.

In this episode, I share the seven biggest lessons that created growth in a year everyone expected to be hard, lessons about donor behavior, clarity, courage, visibility, momentum, risk, and the kind of leadership that drives revenue even when the headlines say otherwise. If you want a roadmap for your next year (one grounded in data, psychology, and lived experience), this is the episode to bookmark.

Topics:

• Why donor behavior outperformed negative economic headlines
• How fast, clear digital sprint campaigns outperformed long, traditional fundraising plans
• Where donor friction still kills revenue (and what to fix immediately)
• Why decisive, courageous action beats cautious planning in a slow economy
• How confidence compounds (and fear compounds) in fundraising leadership
• Why do the biggest revenue days happen at the very end of a campaign
• The relationship between bold visibility, clear messaging, and attracting the right donors
• Why criticism is a normal (and often healthy) sign of growth
• The importance of letting go (donors, systems, or staff) to make room for the next level
• Why you must stop putting donors in boxes and upgrade based on relationship, not assumptions

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

Bloomerang is the complete donor, volunteer, and fundraising management solution that helps thousands of nonprofits like yours. Book your demo here. Read The 2026 Giving Signals Report here. 

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Resources:

• Easy Emails For Impact™: The $5K+ Fundraising Campaign System
• Purpose & Profit Club® Fundraising + Marketing Accelerator   
• The SPRINT Method™: Your shortcut to 10K fundraisers 
• Instagram, LinkedIn, website , weekly newsletter  
• [FREE] The Brave Fundraiser’s Guide: Stop getting ignored. Start raising more.
  
  May contain affiliate links