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I’m Melissa and this blog is my personal passion project. Before we dive into content, I’d like to share with you a bit about my “why” to help us get to know each other. I am originally from a small town in Connecticut but my work has taken me all over the world. I have flown around the globe at least 9 times, visited 29 countries and 28 U.S. states. I currently call Florida home. My travels have provided extraordinary opportunities to understand philanthropy on a global scale and the motivations and perceptions of diverse cultures around the world. At the time when I was eating sea cucumber in Shanghai, speaking to constituents in Seoul, and seeing the sights in Singapore, I never realized the impact those experiences would have on my work. Each visit, each country, taught me something about people and I began to see a commonality that connected us all.
People are naturally inclined to help others. I’m a “glass is half full” person. I believe people are inherently good because I’ve talked to countless donors, volunteers, and nonprofit leaders. I’ve been working in nonprofits for 17 years. I started stuffing annual fund appeals at a boarding school in Connecticut in 2007 and grew from there. I’ve scaled annual funds, led capital campaigns, recruited volunteers, planned galas, coordinated reunions, written appeals, managed brand redesigns, served on strategic planning committees, developed budgets, advised boards, coached teams, and closed transformational gifts. This work isn’t what I do, it’s who I am.
In 2013, I went back to school to earn my M.S. in Nonprofit Leadership from Walden University. In the pandemic I decided to exit lockdown better than I entered it and began my doctoral journey again at Walden. Finishing my doctorate in public administration allowed me to make a unique contribution to the field of nonprofit research and I published “The Viability of Venture Philanthropy in a Nonprofit Organization.” That body of research solidified something I instinctively knew early in my career but couldn’t articulate it as clearly as I can today – impact matters.
I have always been drawn to organizations like Save the Children where you sponsor a child because I feel like I am making a difference. I’d gladly provide a mosquito net to Doctors Without Borders because I can visualize the child who is safe from disease while they sleep under the net. Those campaigns felt tangible to me, that was genius marketing. Now, I have seen behind the curtain. I realized that Doctors Without Borders was going to buy those mosquito nets anyway. My dollars didn’t allow a staff member to rush out and purchase one more net but what I did realize was the brilliant marketing approach that made what they were already doing specific and tangible. That realization was the spark that ignited a flame.
In 2012, I joined the faculty at the Annual Giving Network and for the first time shared an approach my own team was probably sick of hearing about, “Innovations in Annual Giving”. As I presented to fundraisers of all experience levels, I explained the concept of how to make giving tangible for donors by working across departments to understand budgeted expenses. This approach allowed fundraisers to speak to donors specifically about things they could support, things the organization was already planning to do. It was a hit. I’ve used that core concept as a flexible model for every program I’ve run since. It’s never exactly the same, but when applied properly, it’s impactful.
Convincing my own CFO and board that this was the right model had its challenges. Honestly,the CFO took more convincing than the board (enter many long discussions about restricted vs. designated giving), but that is a whole other post. I explained a way of approaching fundraising that made sense. It was a win/win for donors and the organization. It required creative thinking, a suspension of belief that “best practices” were the only way to fundraise, but the results were undeniable. We increased giving by more than 25% overall that year and it only grew from there.
That early success empowered me to challenge assumptions. I learned it was okay to try new things. I learned that “best practices” were not always “best”. That’s the bedrock of this blog. I’ll share my thoughts on new technology, industry trends, and best practices. My thoughts are intended to inspire questions, spark creativity, and push organizations beyond “the way we’ve always done it” because there is no one size fits all approach in nonprofit leadership. Not Every Nonprofit is a collection of thoughts, reflections, and stories intended to bring out your inner rebel and inspire you not to limit your own potential.
