If you have been following the Fundraising Freedom Podcast, when I first started it I actually called it the Mary Valloni Show. And if you’ve been following for a while, you know that I follow the steps that I teach in my book, Fundraising Freedom. Those steps follow the acronym FREEDOM because what I want…Continue reading Episode 181 | What It Looks Like to Focus Your Vision

Today we’re talking about how to create a personal or an organizational budget that actually works for you coming into 2021. I know that budgeting is something that some people love, and other people hate – there’s a love-hate relationship with the budget. And for many of you, you’ve probably already gone through the budgeting…Continue reading Episode 180 | How to Create a Personal or Organizational Budget That Actually Works for 2021

Today, we are jumping into the topic of thankfulness. As we gear up for our Thanksgiving holiday this week, I wanted to be sure that we talked about how we can thank our donors. So, we’re going to talk about the top 20 ways to thank your donors in 2020. As you know, this is…Continue reading Episode 179 | The 20 Ways to Thank Your Donors in 2020

My guest today is Sarah, Olivieri. Sarah is the founder and the heart behind the company Pivot Ground. She’s a nonprofit business strategist, an author, and a former executive director. I think she’s going to bring just a huge wealth of information to you on how to pivot during this season. Tell us a little…Continue reading Episode 178 | How to Pivot With Sarah Olivieri

Today we’re talking about the number one reason fundraisers fail. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not because we didn’t work hard enough. The number one reason fundraisers fail is from internal conflict. As you know, right now we are dealing with a pandemic, more than likely about to be hit with some economic challenges because…Continue reading Episode 177 | The #1 Reason Fundraisers Fail

We are talking about how to build a new relationship with money today. In the last couple of episodes, I have been really practical in my messaging. But today, I wanted to take a little bit of a different turn on our conversation and talk specifically about money itself. Now for those of you who…Continue reading Episode 176 | How to Build a New Relationship with Money

Today, we’re going digging into the year-end appeal and I’m sharing the three things you need to include in your letter. This is very specific for 2020. As you know, this year has been very unusual so that means that your year-end appeal needs a new and fresh update. Did you know that a quarter…Continue reading Episode 175 | 3 Things You Need to Include in Your 2020 Year-End Appeal

Today, we’re talking about how to end 2020 strong. And we’re really going to be talking about your 90-day plan. These last 90 days are going to end the year strong and allow you to really come into these final last months with some clarity, focus, and really give you some practical steps on how…Continue reading Episode 174 | How to End 2020 Strong (Your 90-Day Plan!)

Today we’re talking about the seven questions to ask yourself before that next big meeting. If you’ve been following the podcast for a while, you’ve been following the seven steps that I teach in my book, Fundraising Freedom. On all the lessons that I’ve taught over these last 173 episodes, I hope that you’ve gotten…Continue reading Episode 173 | The 7 Questions to Ask Yourself Before that Next Big Meeting

I want to share with you today some common things that successful people do. Number one, they don’t allow fear to cripple them. Now think about people who are public speakers, they do not let the fear of public speaking stop them from accomplishing or stepping foot on stage. They don’t allow fear to cripple…Continue reading Episode 172 | The 10 Things Successful People Do To Accomplish Their Goals

Today we’re talking about virtual events, live events, all that good stuff with my guest, Wendi Freeman. Wendi is the founder and CEO of Be Bright Events. She has worked in the for-profit space, and she’s done a lot of work in the nonprofit space as well. Wendi has more than 15 years of experience;…Continue reading Episode 171 | Planning Virtual Events with Wendi Freeman

Today we’re talking about the three things you need to effectively grow and multiply your cause. The reason why I wanted to talk on this topic is that multiplication is really what we’re all about, right? When we join or when we start up an organization, our goal here is to affect as many people…Continue reading Episode 170 | The 3 Things You Need to Effectively Grow and Multiply Your Cause

We’ve been talking a lot lately about a variety of different ways that you can raise funds and today, I wanted to bring a special guest on to talk specifically about working with philanthropists. Kris Putnam-Walkerly is a Global Philanthropy Advisor and she has more than 20 years of experience working with philanthropists. Kris has…Continue reading Episode 169 | How to Communicate With Philanthropists with Kris Putnam-Walkerly

My guest today is Ben Starling III. Ben is a former director of philanthropy, has worked on huge projects like the Museum of the Bible and Scripps Research Institute. He’s from Palm Beach, Florida, and he runs a business called Southern Philanthropy. Southern Philanthropy offers custom-tailored fundraising services for profit, nonprofit organizations, and philanthropists. Tell…Continue reading Episode 168 | Major Gift Fundraising with Ben Starling III

In the past few months, we have been talking about how to navigate this new “normal” as we walk through the season of a pandemic. Over the course of these last several months, you’ve had to make a shift. You’ve had to start looking at different ways of running your fundraising efforts. And so today,…Continue reading Episode 167 | The Industries That Are Booming During COVID-19 and What That Means for Your Cause

Today I’m joined by Philippa Fabbri, director of communications, fundraising, and school design at the Elsen Academy in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape South Africa. What do you enjoy about fundraising? I wouldn’t say I’m passionate about fundraising but I’m passionate about showing the longevity of my school and making sure that we outlast any crisis…Continue reading Episode 166 | Making the Move from Live to Virtual Events With Philippa Fabbri

Today I’m talking about moving to online fundraising. How do we still build relationships and still communicate and engage donors in the online space? First of all, I just want to share a few statistics with you. Only 3% of charities rated their board and executive leadership as being digitally savvy. This means that we…Continue reading Episode 165 | What You Need to Do to Shift Your Fundraising Online

This episode airs the week of my 40th birthday and I’m pretty excited about it! I’m looking forward to the next decade and letting my thirties live in the past like they are supposed to. Today I want to take you on a walk down memory lane and share a little about what has happened…Continue reading Episode 164 | The Single Most Important Thing I Learned in My Thirties

Today we are talking about the eight words that might explain why you’re stuck. As we’ve been talking about over the last several episodes, we’ve been dealing with a pandemic and trying to navigate not being in our offices and adjusting to working from home. Now, some of you may have already been working from…Continue reading Episode 163 | 8 Words That May Explain Why You’re Stuck

Today, I am joined by special guest Evan Cox. Evan works for Joyce Meyer Ministries and has a background in nonprofit work with the St. Louis Dream Center, Hand of Hope, and many others. He’s also an incredible copywriter. I’ve invited him onto today’s show to share his insight on fundraising and the work he’s…Continue reading Episode 162 | Fundraising with Evan Cox