Hey Fundraiser!

Mary Petersen

Welcome to Hey Fundraiser, the podcast for nonprofit Executive Directors and major gift officers who are done guessing. Each week, host Mary Petersen pulls back the curtain on what actually works in major gifts. Not theory. Not whiteboard frameworks. Real scripts, real strategy, and the exact moves you can use in your next donor meeting. Mary spent 25+ years as a working major gift officer and built a methodology that closes 5 and 6-figure gifts in months, not years, by going deep with a focused portfolio instead of chasing volume. If you've ever frozen up before an ask, stared at a "wish list" of donors with no idea who to call first, or wondered why the industry keeps telling you a major gift takes 18 months to close, this is your show. You'll leave every episode with one clear thing to do on Monday morning. Hit follow and start building real momentum.

  1. 4日前

    Special Episode: Mary answers YOUR Fundraising Questions

    This is a different kind of episode, and it might be one of Mary's favorites yet! No theory, no framework from the top down. Just three real questions sent in by fundraisers like you, answered live. Mary digs into how to do prospect research in-house with zero fancy tools (hint: your donor database already knows more than you think), how to translate big campaign priorities into asks that actually feel personal to a donor, and how to build a real system for stewardship and donor upgrades so gratitude doesn't rely on one exhausted fundraiser's memory. She closes it out with the story of how she got into fundraising in the first place, and yes, a 22-foot python named Rajiv is involved. Got a question of your own? Send it to mary@heyfundraiser.com or drop a voice memo on Speakpipe. It might be the next episode!  🪑 The Small Table Intensive. Half a day. Build or rebuild your major gift program around fewer donors and deeper relationships, using the methodology from my book Small Table Big Philanthropy. 🎯 The Ask Workshop. Half a day. The exact words to use when it's time to ask for 5 and 6-figure gifts. Walk in nervous about the ask. Walk out with the script. More from Mary: 📘 Mary's books. What to Say and Small Table Big Philanthropy. The books behind the methodology. 🔥 Major Donor Meeting Mastery. My step-by-step system for donor meetings that move the relationship forward. 👩🏻‍💻 Momentum Training. My complete packaging + ask system, all in one place. 💻 Connect with Mary Petersen Website: heyfundraiser.comYouTube: @heyfundraisersInstagram: @heyfundraiserLinkedIn: ...

  2. 7月17日

    I Just Taught My First Small Table Intensive. Here's What Happened

    In this episode, I walk you through what we built together and answer the six questions that came up in the room, because I guarantee you're asking them too. Does the dinner have to be in someone's home? What do you do with loyal donors who won't return your calls? Can you invite people who have never given? And the big one: do you ask for the gift at the table, or the next morning? (The answer to that last one took me years and a lot of money left on the table to learn.) If you've read Small Table Big Philanthropy and thought "okay Mary, now help me actually build mine," this episode is your preview of exactly what we do in the Small Table Intensive.  🪑 The Small Table Intensive. Half a day. Build or rebuild your major gift program around fewer donors and deeper relationships, using the methodology from my book Small Table Big Philanthropy. 🎯 The Ask Workshop. Half a day. The exact words to use when it's time to ask for 5 and 6-figure gifts. Walk in nervous about the ask. Walk out with the script. More from Mary: 📘 Mary's books. What to Say and Small Table Big Philanthropy. The books behind the methodology. 🔥 Major Donor Meeting Mastery. My step-by-step system for donor meetings that move the relationship forward. 👩🏻‍💻 Momentum Training. My complete packaging + ask system, all in one place. 💻 Connect with Mary Petersen Website: heyfundraiser.comYouTube: @heyfundraisersInstagram: @heyfundraiserLinkedIn: ...

  3. 6月26日

    The Summer Move that Makes Your Year-End Easy

    Most fundraisers treat summer like the slow season. That's the mistake. Summer is the single best relationship-building season of the year, and what you do with your donors in July and August is what you'll close in October and November. In this episode, Mary makes the case for summer as your secret weapon and hands you the exact moves to use it. You'll learn the low-stakes cultivation tactics that actually deepen donor relationships (yes, the lemonade and the walk are strategy), and the one conversation that takes the pressure off your entire fall: sitting down with your prospects to map out the next six months together, so you're protecting their holidays on purpose instead of chasing them through the Jewish High Holidays, Halloween chaos, and Thanksgiving.  🪑 The Small Table Intensive. Half a day. Build or rebuild your major gift program around fewer donors and deeper relationships, using the methodology from my book Small Table Big Philanthropy. 🎯 The Ask Workshop. Half a day. The exact words to use when it's time to ask for 5 and 6-figure gifts. Walk in nervous about the ask. Walk out with the script. More from Mary: 📘 Mary's books. What to Say and Small Table Big Philanthropy. The books behind the methodology. 🔥 Major Donor Meeting Mastery. My step-by-step system for donor meetings that move the relationship forward. 👩🏻‍💻 Momentum Training. My complete packaging + ask system, all in one place. 💻 Connect with Mary Petersen Website: heyfundraiser.comYouTube: @heyfundraisersInstagram: @heyfundraiserLinkedIn: ...

  4. 6月19日

    How One AFP Chapter Creatively Supported Its Members

    Mary shares highlights from her keynote at the AFP Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties Summer Symposium, a full morning with 110 fundraisers built entirely around major gift confidence. She covers the difference between cultivation and avoidance, the relationship rhythm that moves donors forward without feeling transactional, and why confidence isn't a personality trait – it's a skill set you can build. She also breaks down the three takeaways that landed hardest in the room: go deeper not wider (why 20 deep relationships beat a portfolio of 150), ask sooner with permission-based language, and why getting out from behind your desk and living your life might be the most underrated major gift strategy there is. 🪑 The Small Table Intensive. Half a day. Build or rebuild your major gift program around fewer donors and deeper relationships, using the methodology from my book Small Table Big Philanthropy. 🎯 The Ask Workshop. Half a day. The exact words to use when it's time to ask for 5 and 6-figure gifts. Walk in nervous about the ask. Walk out with the script. More from Mary: 📘 Mary's books. What to Say and Small Table Big Philanthropy. The books behind the methodology. 🔥 Major Donor Meeting Mastery. My step-by-step system for donor meetings that move the relationship forward. 👩🏻‍💻 Momentum Training. My complete packaging + ask system, all in one place. 💻 Connect with Mary Petersen Website: heyfundraiser.comYouTube: @heyfundraisersInstagram: @heyfundraiserLinkedIn: ...

番組について

Welcome to Hey Fundraiser, the podcast for nonprofit Executive Directors and major gift officers who are done guessing. Each week, host Mary Petersen pulls back the curtain on what actually works in major gifts. Not theory. Not whiteboard frameworks. Real scripts, real strategy, and the exact moves you can use in your next donor meeting. Mary spent 25+ years as a working major gift officer and built a methodology that closes 5 and 6-figure gifts in months, not years, by going deep with a focused portfolio instead of chasing volume. If you've ever frozen up before an ask, stared at a "wish list" of donors with no idea who to call first, or wondered why the industry keeps telling you a major gift takes 18 months to close, this is your show. You'll leave every episode with one clear thing to do on Monday morning. Hit follow and start building real momentum.

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