
39 min

Getting Donor Dollars Moving | Jen Risher, Half my DAF The PlayFull Podcast with Kristine Michie: Bringing Fun to the Serious Work of Changing the World
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- Business
If acceptance is the first step in a recovery, Jen Risher believes talking is its near twin.
Listen in as this week’s guest shares about her journey of becoming unexpectedly rich at a young age, and learning how to turn the surprising shame, embarrassment, and confusion that arose into a bold path of service and sharing with others.
Through her book, We Need to Talk: A Memoir about Wealth, and her company, HalfMyDAF, Jen tackles conversations and spurs action around money, power, and privilege with candor and conviction.
Jen shares about the Covid-lockdown-kitchen-table moment that turned into a hashtag, a clarion call, a movement. #HalfMyDAF has already unlocked tens of millions of dollars, shaking them loose from Donor Advised Funds (DAFs), where money gets stuck and is of no service to the nonprofits it's meant to support. That is, until it moves!
Using her family’s money (and others who have now joined in) as a match, Jen and (husband) David are incentivizing other philanthropists to join the effort. Whether you’re a donor, fundraiser, or nonprofit CEO, there’s news here for you.
In addition to a delicious diversion eating and discussing this week’s ice cream sponsor, Salt & Straw, we also hear how David is apt to don a prankster’s nose and glasses, the joy of working alongside family, and we still need to know why there are birds on her book's jacket cover.
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About Jennifer:
Jennifer Risher is an author, speaker, philanthropist, and investor. Her book, "We Need to Talk: A Memoir About Wealth" explores the impact of wealth on identity and relationships. In sharing her personal story, Jennifer aims to validate the emotional complexities of money and help others move out of shame, guilt, or a desire to keep wealth hidden and into meaning, joy, and purpose. She believes a more comfortable relationship with money and recognition of abundance has the power to fuel positive change.
In response to COVID, Jennifer and her husband, David co-created #HalfMyDAF to inspire more giving. Since 2020, they've contributed millions in matching funds, rallied donors and nonprofits, and created a community that has put over $40 million to work at nonprofits. #HalfMyDAF is now in year four and has partnered with Amalgamated. Over the last two years, Jennifer has also been investing with women-of-color fund managers to shift money and power and create a more equitable society.
Jennifer lives in San Francisco with her husband, loves tennis and spending time with her two twenty-something daughters. She is a member of Women Donors Network, Solidaire, and Women Moving Millions.
How you can connect:
Linkedin:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-risher/
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Sources and Websites from Episode
https://jenniferrisher.com/book-we-need-to-talk/
https://www.halfmydaf.com/
https://saltandstraw.com/
If acceptance is the first step in a recovery, Jen Risher believes talking is its near twin.
Listen in as this week’s guest shares about her journey of becoming unexpectedly rich at a young age, and learning how to turn the surprising shame, embarrassment, and confusion that arose into a bold path of service and sharing with others.
Through her book, We Need to Talk: A Memoir about Wealth, and her company, HalfMyDAF, Jen tackles conversations and spurs action around money, power, and privilege with candor and conviction.
Jen shares about the Covid-lockdown-kitchen-table moment that turned into a hashtag, a clarion call, a movement. #HalfMyDAF has already unlocked tens of millions of dollars, shaking them loose from Donor Advised Funds (DAFs), where money gets stuck and is of no service to the nonprofits it's meant to support. That is, until it moves!
Using her family’s money (and others who have now joined in) as a match, Jen and (husband) David are incentivizing other philanthropists to join the effort. Whether you’re a donor, fundraiser, or nonprofit CEO, there’s news here for you.
In addition to a delicious diversion eating and discussing this week’s ice cream sponsor, Salt & Straw, we also hear how David is apt to don a prankster’s nose and glasses, the joy of working alongside family, and we still need to know why there are birds on her book's jacket cover.
—
About Jennifer:
Jennifer Risher is an author, speaker, philanthropist, and investor. Her book, "We Need to Talk: A Memoir About Wealth" explores the impact of wealth on identity and relationships. In sharing her personal story, Jennifer aims to validate the emotional complexities of money and help others move out of shame, guilt, or a desire to keep wealth hidden and into meaning, joy, and purpose. She believes a more comfortable relationship with money and recognition of abundance has the power to fuel positive change.
In response to COVID, Jennifer and her husband, David co-created #HalfMyDAF to inspire more giving. Since 2020, they've contributed millions in matching funds, rallied donors and nonprofits, and created a community that has put over $40 million to work at nonprofits. #HalfMyDAF is now in year four and has partnered with Amalgamated. Over the last two years, Jennifer has also been investing with women-of-color fund managers to shift money and power and create a more equitable society.
Jennifer lives in San Francisco with her husband, loves tennis and spending time with her two twenty-something daughters. She is a member of Women Donors Network, Solidaire, and Women Moving Millions.
How you can connect:
Linkedin:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-risher/
—
Sources and Websites from Episode
https://jenniferrisher.com/book-we-need-to-talk/
https://www.halfmydaf.com/
https://saltandstraw.com/
39 min