Huddle Up with Mark The Fund Coach

Mark Duncan
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Non-Profit
  • Weekly

A key to fundraising success is through building trusting relationship with high capacity donors. Relationship Fundraising, the most effective way to raise money. I Empower nonprofit leaders with the skill and confidence to secure large contributions from wealthy individuals. This podcast provides nonprofit

  1. 3d ago

    S3 E8 The Road to a Million, Part 2: Why Your Nonprofit Is Stuck — And It's Not Just About Money

    Why do some nonprofits struggle to grow even when their leaders are working harder than ever? In Part 2 of The Road to a Million, Mark Duncan explores four organizational barriers that may be keeping your nonprofit stuck: limiting money mindsets, the executive director's leadership trap, reactive fundraising, and a lack of alignment between executive leadership and the board. Discover why sustainable growth requires more than increasing your fundraising goal—and how relationship-driven major gift fundraising can help create the financial stability needed to expand your mission. You'll also hear three practical questions to bring to your next leadership or board conversation. Free companion resource: From Money Mindset to Mission Growth: An Organizational Action Guide. Download the guide and take the next step toward building a sustainable million-dollar nonprofit. Here's the Money Mindset Assessment to see your organization's Money Mindset.

    S3 E8 The Road to a Million, Part 2: Why Your Nonprofit Is Stuck — And It's Not Just About Money

  2. Oct 27

    S3 E7 The Road to a Million, Part 1: What's Keeping Your Nonprofit from Becoming a Million-Dollar Organization?

    What if your nonprofit had twice the financial resources it has today? How many more people could you serve? What new opportunities could you create? And what's really keeping your organization from getting there? In this episode of Huddle Up with Mark The Fund Coach, we're kicking off a new three-part series called The Road to a Million. Inspired by a recent coaching conversation, we're challenging nonprofit leaders to rethink the financial limitations they've accepted and imagine what greater resources could make possible for their missions. We'll explore the difference between maintaining an organization and growing its impact, why nonprofits sometimes remain stuck at the same operating budget year after year, and how major gifts and relationship fundraising can create a pathway toward sustainable growth. If you're leading a small or midsize nonprofit and wondering how to take your organization to the next level, this series is for you. Because the goal isn't a million dollars. It's what a million dollars makes possible.  Subscribe to Huddle Up with Mark The Fund Coach for Parts 2 and 3 of The Road to a Million. Subscribe to The Weekly Huddle for fundraising insights and resources: https://www.thefundcoach.com/opt-in

    S3 E7 The Road to a Million, Part 1: What's Keeping Your Nonprofit from Becoming a Million-Dollar Organization?

  3. Oct 20

    S3 E6 The Ask Is Over. Now What? How Major Gift Leaders Respond and Strengthen Donor Relationships

    The Ask Is Over. Now What? How Major Gift Leaders Respond and Strengthen Donor Relationships You've built the relationship. You've made the ask. And now the donor has responded. What happens next? In this episode of Huddle Up with Mark The Fund Coach, Mark explores one of the most important—and often overlooked—parts of major gift fundraising: how you respond after the solicitation. Whether a donor says yes, no, needs more time, or goes quiet, your response can strengthen or undermine the trust you've worked to build. Discover how to navigate donor decisions with confidence, follow up respectfully, and recognize why stewardship is about more than acknowledging a gift. Because relationship fundraising doesn't end when the ask is over. The donor's answer matters. But how you respond matters just as much.** Join The Weekly Huddle for more practical Major Gift Leadership insights: https://www.thefundcoach.com/opt-in

    S3 E6 The Ask Is Over. Now What? How Major Gift Leaders Respond and Strengthen Donor Relationships

  4. Oct 13

    S3 E5 Making the Ask Without Making It Awkward: How to Invite a Donor to Make a Major Gift

    You know your donor. You've built trust. You've explored what matters to them. But when it's finally time to invite them to make a significant gift, the conversation suddenly feels uncomfortable. In this episode of *Huddle Up with Mark The Fund Coach*, Mark explains why asking for a major gift doesn't have to feel like a sales pitch—and how Executive Directors can approach the conversation with greater confidence. You'll discover how to connect the invitation to a donor's interests, make a clear and respectful request, give the donor space to respond, and navigate a "no" or "not yet" without jeopardizing the relationship. Because the ask isn't about pressuring someone to give. It's about inviting them to invest in a vision they care about. A great major gift ask doesn't interrupt the relationship. It grows out of it. Get more practical Major Gift Leadership ideas in The Weekly Huddle: https://www.thefundcoach.com/opt-in

    S3 E5 Making the Ask Without Making It Awkward: How to Invite a Donor to Make a Major Gift

  5. Oct 6

    S3 E4 Stay in Touch Without Always Asking: How to Create Meaningful Donor Touchpoints

    You know you should stay connected with your major donors. But what do you say when you’re not asking them for money? Too often, nonprofits confuse communicating with donors with actually building relationships. Newsletters, annual reports, event invitations, and appeals all have a role—but sending more communications doesn’t necessarily create a deeper connection. In this episode of Huddle Up with Mark The Fund Coach, Mark explores how Major Gift Leaders create meaningful donor touchpoints based on what they’ve learned about the individual donor. You’ll learn why donor discovery should shape future interactions, how to find genuine reasons to reach out, why not every conversation needs to move someone closer to an ask, and how a simple message—“I remember what matters to you”—can communicate something far more powerful than another cultivation tactic. Because relationship fundraising isn’t about pretending to care. It’s taking the time to actually care. Want more practical Major Gift Leadership ideas? Join The Weekly Huddle FREE: https://www.thefundcoach.com/opt-in

    S3 E4 Stay in Touch Without Always Asking: How to Create Meaningful Donor Touchpoints

  6. Sep 29

    S3 E3 Stop Waiting Until You Need the Money: Why Major Gift Relationships Must Start Before the Ask

    Your organization needs to raise money. So the board starts asking: Who can we ask? But if that's when you begin building relationships with prospective major donors, you've already put yourself at a disadvantage. In this episode of Huddle Up with Mark The Fund Coach, we're exploring why Major Gift Leaders build donor relationships long before they need to ask for anything. We'll talk about why your organization's urgency isn't necessarily your donor's urgency, how transactional fundraising creates a cycle of constantly starting over, and why genuine cultivation is about much more than waiting for the right moment to make an ask. You'll also learn how to begin building a relationship pipeline by identifying people whose connection with your mission is worth intentionally deepening today. Because relationships aren't what you do before the ask. Relationships are the work. Want practical Major Gift Leadership ideas like this every week? Join The Weekly Huddle FREE: https://www.thefundcoach.com/opt-in

    S3 E3 Stop Waiting Until You Need the Money: Why Major Gift Relationships Must Start Before the Ask

  7. Sep 22

    S3 E2 Stop Talking. Start Listening: The Major Gift Leader's Guide to Donor Discovery

    Major donor meetings can create a lot of pressure for nonprofit leaders. You prepare your talking points, review your programs, memorize the statistics, and try to figure out exactly what you're going to say. But Major Gift Leaders understand that the most powerful skill in a donor conversation isn't speaking. It's listening. In this episode of Huddle Up with Mark The Fund Coach, we explore donor discovery and the difference between knowing about a donor and actually understanding the person behind the gift. You'll learn how to enter donor conversations with curiosity instead of an agenda, ask questions that invite meaningful stories, and listen for the experiences, values, and aspirations that reveal what truly matters to someone. We'll also talk about why “Tell me more” can be three of the most powerful words in relationship fundraising—and why discovery should determine the next step in a donor relationship rather than simply becoming another technique for getting to the ask. Because your goal isn't to discover the quickest route to someone's wallet. It's to discover whether there's authentic alignment between what they care about and the change your mission is working to create. Keep Growing as a Major Gift Leader If this episode helped you think differently about your donor conversations, join me in The Weekly Huddle. Each week, you'll get the latest episode of Huddle Up with Mark The Fund Coach along with practical ideas to help you build trusting donor relationships, lead major gifts with greater confidence, and become the Major Gift Leader your mission needs. Subscribe FREE to The Weekly Huddle: https://www.thefundcoach.com/opt-in

    S3 E2 Stop Talking. Start Listening: The Major Gift Leader's Guide to Donor Discovery

  8. Sep 15

    S3 E1 Your Donors Don't Want Your Fundraising Pitch

    Welcome to Season 3 of Huddle Up with Mark The Fund Coach! Your major donor doesn't want your fundraising pitch. They don't want to sit through a presentation about your programs, your budget, or everything your organization needs. They want a conversation. In this Season 3 premiere, we're exploring one of the most important shifts you can make as a nonprofit Executive Director: moving from pitching donors to building authentic relationships with them. You'll learn why the best major donor conversations begin with curiosity and listening, how to ask better questions that uncover what your donors truly care about, and how to move the conversation away from organizational needs and toward meaningful possibilities for impact. We'll also tackle an important misconception about relationship fundraising: building relationships doesn't mean avoiding the ask. It means creating enough trust, understanding, and alignment that an invitation to give becomes a natural next step. If you've ever felt like meeting with a major donor means you have to become a salesperson, this episode will give you a different perspective. You don't need a better pitch. You need better conversations. That's part of becoming the Major Gift Leader your mission needs. FREE GUIDE: 5 Habits of Executive Directors Who Land Big Gifts: https://bit.ly/4hFkOth Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mlduncan/ To get this video podcast in your inbox, visit and subscribe here: https://www.thefundcoach.com/opt-in Let's Talk! Click here to schedule a Major Gift Strategy Session to get clarity on what your mission needs: https://calendly.com/thefundcoach/complimentary-coaching-session Windfall - Wealth Analytics Report: https://analytics.windfall.com/partner/the-fund-coach

    S3 E1 Your Donors Don't Want Your Fundraising Pitch
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A key to fundraising success is through building trusting relationship with high capacity donors. Relationship Fundraising, the most effective way to raise money. I Empower nonprofit leaders with the skill and confidence to secure large contributions from wealthy individuals. This podcast provides nonprofit

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