Advocacy and Storytelling in Fundraising
Dear Diary,
I am very excited to share my interview with the notable interviewer, Prospect Development professional, and storyteller, Tim Wilson, Founder of the People in Fundraising podcast. The website and podcast profiles nonprofit leaders across the philanthropic world, bringing the human-interest side of people in fundraising. You can hear and watch his interviews on YouTube, Spotify, and Podbean.
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Q1: Tim, please share how you started the People in Fundraising podcast? What was the inspiration?
Tim: Thank you, Joan. for inviting me to share the background of “People in Fundraising!” I admire your work and am glad to be connected with you!
The idea for “People in Fundraising” took shape in 2018, when I was leaving my first employer, Harvard Business School, after 18 years, and moving to Utah for work and family reasons. Closing and opening career and life chapters made me reflect on my story, and from there I got more curious about other people’s paths to, and careers in, fundraising. Something about a new chapter in a new state, working for a new employer, encouraged me to become a new person in some senses. I realized I was more extraverted than I thought and felt that “ambivert” was a better term for my personality.
I’ve always been fascinated by people – what is their story? What challenges and success have they experienced? What is their worldview, their religious faith (all religions, nones, etc.)? How did they start their careers, and how did they get where they are today? Asking people questions about themselves has been an easier way for me to connect with others, because I am not super extraverted. Yet I learned that developing – and sincerely asking – non-intrusive initial questions felt natural to me, and that became an effective way to engage with people. I carry that approach to my podcast interviews.
“People in Fundraising” was originally going to be a book. My dad self-published an annual book of top U.S. universities in the early 1990s, in which he interviewed admissions and financial aid staff and students. That was a major inspiration for my approach. I planned to email or call people and ask questions, then transcribe the conversation.
The pandemic-era adoption of Zoom led me to consider a more immediate interview format, one that takes considerably less time than a book, while showcasing the interviewee’s voice, personality, and (in most cases) their face in our conversation. As I reflected on video interviews, I thought of one of my favorite songs, David Bowie’s “Sound and Vision.”
Zoom brings in sound and vision – in real-time, with expressions and colors of people’s clothes, what adorns their home or workspaces’ walls, instead of a single-colored image of an interviewee’s face, on a page, in a book, that might get published years down the road.
I love “Sound and Vision” so much, it influenced “People in Fundraising’s” theme song. I found a freelance musician on Fiverr, Kobe Ofei, of Ghana. Kobe quickly returned an intro song, and I loved it. It drew inspiration from “Sound and Vision” and the Smiths’ “How Soon Is Now?” yet was unique enough to be its own thing.
Q2: Years and many interviews later, would you agree that your podcast utilizes storytelling to advocate and capture the different experiences and people in fundraising to show us our connectedness? How are you shaping perspectives, and is this intentional?
Tim: Prospect research has been my day job for 25 years, and before that, I loved academic research. I am very intentional about how the conversation begins to form, even before the interview date. To do that, most questions I ask are specifically related to my guest that week; for example, if a guest has been a musician in a prior career, I am super curious to hear more about that and learn how they pivoted to nonprofit work. Quotes from authors, scientists, and musicians play a major role in my questions, because I find that these brilliant, creative types speak on a wide range of human-interest topics. These quotes get guests to think about big-picture topics, about their own motivations, aspirations, and how they make sense of the time they are granted on our planet.
Brene Brown deserves her own paragraph here, because her books are phenomenal – and I have gleaned tons of quotes from her writing that I cite in my interviews.
Ultimately of course, it is the guest who shapes the perspective, episode-by-episode. Each person, each story, each experience is unique. Yet, there are plenty of commonalities woven through these 100-plus episodes so far. That balance of uniqueness and connectedness is fascinating – just as I find it incredibly fascinating that, no matter where a guest is joining “People in Fundraising” from in the world, no matter the time zone, we have an instantaneous chat thanks to technology, coupled with the amazing processing power our brains have.
It will never cease to amaze me that a guest in Singapore hears my question, thinks, and responds in the almost exact same time frame as a guest in France or in Puerto Rico or Malawi, all places where guests have joined “People in Fundraising” so far!
Q3: What does storytelling mean to you?
Tim: From my perspective as host, storytelling means giving someone the gift of time, curiosity, and sincerity. The research, drafting of questions, and technical components of video editing, uploading, and posting on platforms are hard skills and not too challenging to learn. The human connection – especially when I am interviewing someone I have never met in real life, never even heard their voice until our Zoom starts – is absolutely fundamental to my podcast. You can’t manufacture that. I strive to treat each new-to-me guest with the same enthusiasm and respect as a guest I have worked with in the past, for example.
From the interviewee’s perspective, storytelling means they have a platform to share part of their life story. It is shared with me, and whomever watches and/or listens to the interviewee’s episode, now and into the future. Their story is important – to them, to loved ones, co-workers, and for some, to a future family who may treasure seeing their parent in the prime of their career and life, reflecting on the interviewee’s experiences and sharing lessons that helped them navigate professional and personal circumstances.
Just the thought of a guest’s future co-workers, future partner, and (especially as a parent of four kids myself), future children seeing their face and hearing their voice is powerful and moving for me. Stories that a guest shares will become part of their family’s narrative for generations to come.
Author Michael Frank wrote in an October 2022 New York Times book review, “In his 1936 essay The Storyteller, Walter Benjamin draws a distinction between the printed novel and the oral tale, where experience is ‘passed from one mouth to the next.’ The direct line of transmission is significant: The story you hear from a living witness embeds itself into the mechanisms of memory, as I’ve learned firsthand, like no other.” I love that sentiment.
Q4: Tim, I believe your interviews empower anecdotes and the humanity of those doing the work at nonprofits. When you think of your impact, what is one story or lesson that stands out to you from your interviews? What could readers learn about creating learning and communal spaces for their industries?
Tim: One impact “People in Fundraising” has is airing how guests have gone through hard experiences to get where they are today. Best-selling author Bruce Feiler remarked, “The proper response to a setback is a story.” I appreciate the guests who have waded into past difficulties in our interviews and shared that with my audience. It fosters a sense of “Someone else has gone through a hard time at work. I’m not alone. What can I learn from that person?” Whether it’s a reduction in force, a health scare, seeing dreams go unfulfilled, feeling professionally stuck, leadership changes – these accounts can definitely help listeners and watchers of “People in Fundraising.” That is a gift given by my guests; I just facilitate the exchange of the gifts of experience and wisdom from the guest to my audience.
Another lesson, which ties in to your second question about creating learning and communal spaces: I’m nothing special. “People in Fundraising” isn’t backed by donors. I don’t have staff or advisors or marketing professionals. But I had a vision, and an energetic determination, to create a communal learning environment using existing and widely accessible platforms, through which stories of people in social impact/development/nonprofit work can share their work and their life.
You are a great example of building community and creating connections, Joan! Your “A Researcher’s Diary” has an incredible variety of topics, and your website is easy to navigate, uncovering interesting posts that are applicable to fundraising; give an insight into the person you are; and offer tips for others in our professional community!
My advice, to answer the question about creating learning and communal spaces: Go. For. It! Please add your voice! Please share your perspective! One of my friends, Randall Hallett, has his own philanthropy podcast. His advice to me is what I’ll share with other people looking for community and learning: Whatever you share “doesn’t have to be perfect. It just needs to be professional and personable.”
I’ve made plenty of errors, and my guests roll with it, and people still tune in and react to posts. Why? Because there is something beautifully authentic about imperfection (sub-optimal lighting; a decorative tree falls over in my podcast studio, which is really a glorified spare bedroom; guests forgetting to name mentors in our interviews, etc.) Please let don’t im-perfections or imposter syndrome hold you back from speaking your mind. Create content that resonates with your passions and your soul!
There are other people looking for your voice, your experience, and your authenticity. Start posting. Share posts. React to others’ content. Please contact me to be a guest on “People in Fundraising!” My goal is to get 500 interviews, and I’m at 125. There is a phenomenal universe of stories waiting to be told. Thank you, Joan, for sharing part of your story in “People in Fundraising” earlier in 2024!
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I cannot thank you enough, Tim, for this brilliant and insightful interview. Readers, to echo Tim’s sentiments: People are looking for your voice, your experience, and your authenticity so take a chance in whatever it is you are striving for.
Until next time, August 15th!
Art Credit: LeNia Stitt
