Today’s post is a bit of an outlier. It’s kind of personal, kind of bad news, but kind of good news.
The news is that after 112 episodes, Jeff Brooks and I have officially ceased our podcast, Fundraising Is Beautiful.
I’m sad just typing that sentence. The podcast is one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. (More on that below.)
I’m confident that listening to any of them will make you a more effective fundraiser.
But we’ve got a lot of episodes! You might wonder where to start. So here are three episodes that a lot of people found entertaining and/or helpful:
- Interview with Scott Harrison, founder of charity:water
How to Create Great Teasers and Email Subject Lines
How to Use Photos in Fundraising
Final Thoughts on FIB
If you’d like to read more about why we decided to call it a day, read Jeff’s great post about it.
And here’s my favorite tweet about its demise . . .
- There’s @jeffbrooks and @stevenscreen being innovative. The only people in the world *not* starting a podcast.
@toastfundraiser
If you’re still reading, let me share a couple things I learned while doing the podcast:
- I’m a better writer, public speaker, and teacher for having done the podcast. Those things are learned behaviors, and you’ll get better with practice.
- Having to explain and teach what you know will make you better at what you do. I’m a better Fundraiser for having done it.
- Jeff rubs his fingers together while talking and it makes a scritchy noise.
- There’s a whole set of topics that are of great interest to consultants… but aren’t of interest to Fundraisers trying to help their organization raise more money next month. And the universe of consultants is quite small compared to the universe of people trying to help their organization get better.
- Helpful podcasts with titles that sound like clickbait will get more listens. People are interested in specific topics and actionable tips on how to get better.
- The sound quality of some of the very first episodes is… dodgy. As in we were apparently recording with lousy mics. Near squirrels. In some kind of tube. I’m more than a little embarrassed about that but came to realize that it doesn’t matter. What matters is that we started. We fought the resistance. And beat it 112 times.
To anyone starting a podcast or a blog, I can’t recommend it highly enough. Not because it will raise your profile or anything like that. But because of what you’ll learn, what you’ll realize you know, and because it will make you better.
Thank You, Jeff
Grateful and humble thanks to Jeff for making Fundraising Is Beautiful with me for 10 years. I’m honored to have done it with you and learned from you. Thanks for all the laughs, the rants, and your friendship.
Fundraising IS beautiful.
* Lots of great episodes are available right now, but our team is still adding some of the older ones – so keep checking back!
