The Brave and Balanced Fundraiser
The Brave and Balanced Fundraiser is the podcast I wish had existed during my 15 years in fundraising. It’s a love offering to the people behind the mission—the professional fundraisers who give their hearts and energy every day to make the world better.
This show isn’t about strategy, metrics, or money. It’s about you—the human being doing the work. Each episode offers real tools and soulful conversations to help you regulate your nervous system, reconnect with your purpose, and renew your energy so you can lead with clarity, compassion, and courage.
If you’ve ever felt stretched thin, overworked, or caught in the constant pressure to perform, this podcast is your invitation to return home to yourself. Join me to learn how to cultivate balance, resilience, and authentic impact—from the inside out.
Full Episode Transcript: https://share.descript.com/view/fkFZpmNYF3v
Episodes
18 episodes
Fundraising Resilience: What Are You Making It Mean?
How donor “no’s,” board scrutiny, and grant rejections shape your nervous system—and how to build real resilience from the inside out.Fundraising is a profession built on exposure to rejection. Donors decline. Boards stress-test y...
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28:29
Reactive Boss, Constant Pivoting: How Fundraisers Handle Workplace Whiplash Without Burning Out
How to stop managing everyone else’s anxiety and protect your clarity, confidence, and fundraising results.If your workplace feels like emotional whiplash—full speed ahead on a campaign one day, questioning the entire strategy the...
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19:19
Fundraising From Abundance with Beth Ann Locke
Practical major gift strategies to reduce fundraising anxiety, build trust, and stop operating from pressure—with insights from a 30-year fundraising veteran.Major gifts aren’t just strategy—they’re state. In this episode of T...
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1:03:07
Is Your Fundraising Working, or Just Wearing You Out?
How to Measure Fundraising Success Beyond Dollars RaisedWhat does it really mean for fundraising to be “working”?Most fundraisers are trained to answer that question by looking at external metrics: dollars raised, donor ret...
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16:39
A Guided Meditation to Release Fundraising Anxiety
A calming, somatic reset to help you regulate, soften, and return to yourself.This gentle guided meditation is your nervous-system reset—a place to soften the pressure, reconnect with yourself, and release the anxious momentum tha...
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9:25
Before You Quit Your Fundraising Job: Power, Control, and Choice
A guided inquiry for nonprofit fundraisers navigating burnout, job stress, and career decisions.The average fundraiser stays in their role for just 16 to 24 months — a statistic that points to burnout, pressure, and chronic...
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30:13
Scarcity vs. Abundance in Fundraising: How Your Nervous System Impacts Donor Giving
Why the “Come-From” Energy of Fundraising Shapes Donor Relationships, Confidence, and ResultsFundraising isn’t just about strategy — it’s about the state you’re in when you ask.In this episode, Erin explores how
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13:22
Money, the Nervous System, and the Fundraiser’s Body with Claire Messett
How Money Psychology Shapes Fundraising Conversations, and What You Can Do About ItEpisode Summary Money is part of a fundraiser’s daily work—but few fundraisers are ever taught how money impacts the nervous system.In t...
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54:27
Rooted and Ready: A Short Somatic Reset for Fundraisers
Reset your body, breath, and energy so you can fundraise from ease—not urgency.Today I’m sharing a short somatic grounding practice I use with my coaching clients — a crystal singing bowl and a simple mantra designed to help your ...
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7:26
When Anxiety Drives the Bus: How Fundraisers Lose Their Power — and How to Get It Back
Understanding your body’s stress response so you can fundraise from clarity instead of panic.Anxiety shows up loudly in fundraising… tight chest, clenched gut, racing thoughts, shrinking creativity. In this episode, Erin shares a ...
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29:45
Transcend Fundraising Guilt Like a Rockstar
Trading guilt for curiosity so you can fundraise with more ease, energy, and self-trust.That nagging voice that says you should be doing more? Most fundraisers know it well. In this episode, Erin unpacks fundraising guilt...
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14:28
Pouring Out & Filling Back Up: A Fundraiser’s Guide to Renewal with Melody Wells
How a major gifts fundraiser prevents burnout by planning emotional refills on purpose.Fundraising asks a lot of your brain, your heart, and your nervous system. In this conversation, Erin sits down with major gifts fundraiser ...
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59:05
Fundraiser or "The Help?"
What to do when your expertise isn’t respected—and how to stop making it mean something about you.📘 Episode SummaryWhat happens when you bring solid fundraising expertise—and someone with less experience dismisses it? In th...
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17:50
Meditation: Making the Ask
A somatic, compassionate practice to regulate your nervous system before making the ask.📘 Episode SummaryThis bonus meditation is a guided somatic practice designed to support you before donor meetings, fundraising conversa...
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13:00
Fundraising Anxiety: What Your Body Is Trying to Tell You
A somatic look at stress, pressure, and the internal signals fundraisers ignore.Fundraising anxiety isn’t a mindset problem — it’s a nervous system response. In this episode, Erin breaks down why fundraisers experience tight che...
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20:51
Why Fundraisers Burn Out: The Hidden Pattern No One Talks About
Understanding the emotional cost of fundraising—and why it’s not your fault.📘 Episode SummaryWhy do fundraisers leave their jobs every 16–24 months? In this episode, Erin reveals the hidden pattern driving burnout: the chro...
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12:55