WHAT THE FUNDRAISING
89: Boost Your GivingTuesday with a Three-Year-Old's Words of Affirmation with Emmie Erickson
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“Anytime you try to literally create something from nothing and generate change and momentum from a place where it doesn’t exist, the mental process of going through that change yourself is relentless.”
– Estelle Giraud
Episode #88
Overview
In this episode of What the Fundraising Podcast…
Today’s episode of What the Fundraising is a conversation with Emmie Erickson, my 3-year-old daughter. For months Emmie has been asking me to ‘make a podcast’ and I decided that GivingTuesday would be a great time for Emmie to read you her favorite book – I Am: Book of Reminders by Juana Medina. There are affirmations inside this book that feel particularly important to remind you of this GivingTuesday. Plus, scientific studies demonstrate that we release all sorts of feel-good chemicals when we see or hear something cute — we’re wired to positively respond to cuteness. So, I hope this puts a smile on your face and if you need to practice the affirmations captured here, I highly recommend you listen multiple times and repeat after Emmie. Let’s boost those feel-good chemicals to help get you through this GivingTuesday, listen now to meet Emmie.
FAVORITE QUOTES
- “We are cheering for you. Go, fundraisers. I love you.” - Emmie Erickson
- “You can do it. I believe in you.” - Emmie Erickson
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Estelle Giraud
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
- Does your nonprofit need some TLC? Check out Neon One, the holistic donor management system that supports small and midsized nonprofits with tools for fundraising, communications, events, volunteers and more. You can learn about Neon One’s entire suite of products and services here.
- If you haven’t already, please visit our new What the Fundraising community forum. Check it out and join the conversation at this link.
- If you’re looking to raise more from the right funders, then you’ll want to check out my Power Partners Formula, a step-by-step approach to identifying the optimal partners for your organization. This free masterclass offers a great starting point!
- These Previous What the Fundraising Episodes Focus on Mental Wellness Topics:
- 🎧 Harnessing Your Inner Voice with Dr. Ethan Kross
- 🎧 How Emotions Are Made with Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett
- 🎧 Nonprofit Healing Requires Community Healing with Rebekah Giacomantonio
- 🎧 The Truth About Self-Love, Healing, and the Path to Remembering Our Deepest Selves
- 🎧 How a Mindfulness Practice Builds Alignment with Libby DeLana
- 🎧 True Self Care:Tending to Community, Ancestry, and Our Nervous Systems with Gabriel Kram
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TIPS AND TOOLS TO IMPLEMENT TODAY
- Turn those Dots into a Line: When it comes to fundraising, the narrative arc among various points is what engages donors/investors with the journey. Share the stories!
- When you come to the table with donors, remember: You bring valuable skills, the ability to make impact. You’re a change agent and that’s a superpower!
- Give yourself permission not to take it so personally. Show up, make your case and recognize that no one person or organization can make or break you or the work you’re doing. It’s a mindset shift that will empower you with transformational results!
- Remember: If you’re not getting A LOT of rejections, you’re not aiming high enough!
- Avoid the spiral: It’s okay to lovingly detach if a funder doesn’t see the right fit and not make it mean anything about you, your mission or organization.
- Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. It’s located right at your growing edge and gets easier with practice!
FAVORITE QUOTES
- “Anytime you try to literally create something from nothing and generate change and momentum from a place where it doesn't exist, the mental process of going through that change yourself is relentless.” - Estelle Giraud
- “In nonprofits, we often see that we set a goal, but if we don't hit the goal, we still try to do all the things we said we were going to do at that higher level with a much smaller amount of money. And that leads to this really complicated dynamic.” - Mallory Erickson
- “There's benefit to sharing some of that journey and learnings, even if it's not perfectly wrapped up in a little bow and successful. There is benefit in sharing a raw process as it happens.” - Estelle Giraud
- “The level of rejection that I have experienced through this journey is profoundly challenging. At its core, it like rock me.” - Estelle Giraud
- “At the end of the day, all of these decisions about whether or not somebody invests are a human conversation. We're making emotional decisions and if you put all this fear and pressure on it, you're not having an authentic conversation. You're not allowing them to connect with you.” - Estelle Giraud
- “Every (funder) conversation is an opportunity for me to share myself and what I'm building and really be open about that. And if they want to be a part of that, great. If not, that's okay. And that is a position of power. It shifts the framework.” - Estelle Giraud
- “If you are not getting rejected, half the time or 90% of the time … If you're not getting that rejection, you're not aiming high enough.” - Estelle Giraud
- “If we don't let ourselves actually process that experience (of rejection) by crying, by screaming into a pillow, by dancing it out, by moving our body in some way to move that energy, it can actually really damage us long term.” - Mallory Erickson
- “It’s about qualifying (investors), is this a fit or not? And if it's not a fit, that's fine. We can go in separate ways, but it's not like I have to win every single person over. I have to find the right people that are the right fit for what I'm building and doing.” - Estelle Giraud
- “What I want to embody as a leader and as a person and in all of my various identities is this leaning into being uncomfortable and growing in the uncomfortable situations, getting really comfortable with those and then … you stretch and get uncomfortable again.” - Estelle Giraud
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Get to know Estelle:
Estelle is CEO and cofounder of Trellis Health, a company whose mission is to build smart, comprehensive health records, starting with pregnancy and new families. Long term the company is building the scaffold for a distributed, learning health data platform. Estelle, who is a scientist by training, previously held leadership positions at the biotech company Illumina.
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I teach nonprofit fundraisers to bring in more gifts from the RIGHT donors… so they can stop hounding people for money. Fundraising doesn’t have to be uncomfortable.
- CEO & Creator of the Power Partners FormulaTM
- Disruptor in the funding sector, changing lives everyday
- Relentlessly committed to the movement of money into the nonprofit sector
- Focused on win-win partnerships that allow fundraisers to be authentic and empowered in their work
- Over 15 years working in nonprofits (managing director and ED of multiple fast-growth organizations)
MALLORY ERICKSON
