
Staying Whole While Raising Big Gifts
Ever sat in your car after a donor visit just to catch your breath? Me too. And I think we need to talk about it. Raising big gifts is emotional work. In one week, you might hold a donor's grief, a board member's impatience, and your ED's worries about cash flow. Then you walk into the next meeting and show up warm and curious anyway. A major gift officer I'll call Alisha did that for months. Then she stopped calling her top donors. Every call felt like it needed more than she had left. She didn't need a new strategy. She needed a way to stay whole. Two minutes in the car before every visit. A kinder sentence after hard meetings. A Friday call with a peer. That spring, she closed the largest gift in her organization's history. That's what this week's episode of The Intentional Fundraiser is about: "Staying Whole While Raising Big Gifts." We talk about: The pressures fundraisers are carrying in 2026, named honestly Mindset and self-compassion tools that help you stay courageous Simple practices that protect your energy before and after big meetings A 30-day resilience challenge So let me ask you. What would change in your donor conversations if you walked in at full battery instead of twelve percent? 🎧 Listen to this episode, then share it with a fundraiser you know who's carrying a lot right now. More from Tammy Zonker Author of Calling All Heroes: Combining the Best of Donor-Centered and Community-Centered Fundraising for Greater Impact Founder of Fundraising Transformed President of Modern Institute for Charitable Giving Book Tammy to Keynote Your Next Event Reserve your spot at the upcoming Excellence in Major Gift Fundraising Seminar Subscribe to the Scaling Major Gifts newsletter Connect with Tammy Zonker on LinkedIn Resources: Show notes, links, and resources mentioned in this episode. Review my show: Please review my show . After you click the link, scroll to the bottom, first tap to rate with five stars, and then tap “Write a Review.” Then, let me know what you liked most about this particular episode or how you find my podcast helpful, valuable, insightful, or inspiring in some way. Privacy Policy: See Privacy Policy at https://www.fundraisingtransformed.com/policies Mentioned in this episode: Practivated Launchpad You just hired a fundraiser. The search took months. Now comes the hard part: getting them ready to sit across from donors. That's why our partners at Practivated built Launchpad, a 30-day onboarding program built on your organization's own mission, case for support and campaign messaging. Your new hire learns your story, gets coaching from Coach Tivy, and takes reps in realistic donor conversations made for their role. And you see their progress from the manager view. The result? New hires ready in four weeks instead of twelve. At the University of Central Florida, five of six new hires who went through Launchpad were promoted in their first year. Get your next hire to full stride faster. Book a demo at practivated.com/launchpad.

