44 episodes

What Donors Want - a podcast by I.G. Advisors - features a series of thought-provoking conversations on the state of our beautiful, yet in many ways broken, non-profit sector. We want to collectively imagine solutions to the things that keep us up at night, and inspire more progressive practices and ways of collaborating. This podcast is part of I.G.'s mission to #FixTheFlow of resources for good.

What Donors Want I.G. Advisors

    • Society & Culture
    • 5.0 • 7 Ratings

What Donors Want - a podcast by I.G. Advisors - features a series of thought-provoking conversations on the state of our beautiful, yet in many ways broken, non-profit sector. We want to collectively imagine solutions to the things that keep us up at night, and inspire more progressive practices and ways of collaborating. This podcast is part of I.G.'s mission to #FixTheFlow of resources for good.

    Leadership in the Social-Profit Sector With Farah Mohamed

    Leadership in the Social-Profit Sector With Farah Mohamed

    Rachel and Alisha speak with the incomparable Farah Mohamed - a leader with over 25 years of experience in the government, social-profit, and for-profit sectors.

    Currently, Farah is the CEO of The King's Trust Canada, a charity that creates pathways to employment for barriered youth across Canada, but you may also know her from her roles as CEO of the Malala Fund, founder & CEO of G(irls)20, or the decade she spent in the Canadian government, among many other preeminent leadership positions.

    Together they dive into Farah’s career, why she uses the term ‘social-profit’, what it takes to be a CEO, generational differences at work, and much more.

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    This episode is sponsored by Segal Family Foundation, and our Media Partner is Alliance Magazine. Head to www.alliancemagazine.org and get 50% off your Alliance subscription with the code ‘WhatDonorsWant’ at checkout.

    • 37 min
    Should UK Foundations Have A Minimum Grant Payout?

    Should UK Foundations Have A Minimum Grant Payout?

    In this episode, Rachel Stephenson Sheff and Emily Collins-Ellis speak with three philanthropy experts on the debate around whether mandatory minimum payout rates should be introduced for charitable foundations in the UK. Drawing on Pro Bono Economics’ recent report on the potential of the UK’s ‘Hidden Dragon’ Foundations that are ‘sitting on assets’, we discuss the opportunity to increase funding for social causes whilst also balancing donor freedom and the long-term sustainability of foundations.

    Our brilliant guests were: Charles Keidan, Executive Editor of Alliance Magazine; Nicole Sykes, Director of Policy at Pro Bono Economics; and Rhodri Davies, Founder and Director of Why Philanthropy Matters.

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    This episode is sponsored by Segal Family Foundation, and our Media Partner is Alliance Magazine. Head to www.alliancemagazine.org and get 50% off your Alliance subscription with the code ‘WhatDonorsWant’ at checkout.

    • 43 min
    Imagination Infrastructure - What We All Need To Bring About The Future We Want

    Imagination Infrastructure - What We All Need To Bring About The Future We Want

    In this episode, Rachel Stephenson Sheff and Emily Collins-Ellis speak with Cassie Robinson about the need to invest in ‘imagination infrastructure’ to support communities in developing practices around collective imagination to envision new futures beyond the status quo.

    Cassie holds roles with Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Arising Quo, and Pro Bono Economics.

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    This episode is sponsored by Segal Family Foundation, and our Media Partner is Alliance Magazine. Head to www.alliancemagazine.org and get 50% off your Alliance subscription with the code ‘WhatDonorsWant’ at checkout.

    https://www.cassierobinson.work/

    • 45 min
    The Power of Trust-Based Funding & The African Visionary Fellowship

    The Power of Trust-Based Funding & The African Visionary Fellowship

    In this episode, Rachel Stephenson Sheff and Beatrice Onyango speak with three of Segal Family Foundation’s African Visionary Fellows - all about the power of unrestricted funding, and what it can unlock across the Continent and beyond:

    🟡 Delphine Uwamahoro, Our Sisters Opportunity (OSO)
    🟡 Abaas Mpindi, Media Challenge Initiative
    🟡 Jackie Leonard Bomboma, Young Strong Mothers Foundation (YSMF)

    ****

    This episode is sponsored by Segal Family Foundation, and our Media Partner is Alliance Magazine. Head to www.alliancemagazine.org and get 50% off your Alliance subscription with the code ‘WhatDonorsWant’ at checkout.

    • 44 min
    The Legacy of MacKenzie Scott With FRIDA, SAGE & Panorama Global

    The Legacy of MacKenzie Scott With FRIDA, SAGE & Panorama Global

    Imagine this - you get a call out of the blue from a consultant offering an unrestricted grant of $10 million that you can use however you like, spend on any time frame, and you never have to send a *single* update to the donor. You only have a couple of days to confirm whether or not you want to accept, and it turns out the donor is none other than MacKenzie Scott.

    In this episode, Rachel Stephenson Sheff and Emily Collins-Ellis speak with two MacKenzie Scott grantees to talk about their experience of receiving a phone call just like this: FRIDA The Young Feminist Fund (Clara Desalvo, Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Manager), and Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders also known as SAGE (Michael Adams, CEO). They’re also joined by Gabrielle Fitzgerald, Founder & CEO of Panorama Global, who shares some fascinating research on the subject.

    They discuss:

    🟡 What it was like to receive a call out of the blue offering $7 million and $10 million in unrestricted funding (!)
    🟡 The ethical implications of accepting money from MacKenzie Scott, and FRIDA’s brilliant ‘Money Is Political’ response (https://bit.ly/3uqIXiz).
    🟡 The benefits - and challenges - of accepting the donation.
    🟡 The research Panorama Global has done around MacKenzie Scott’s giving and how it isn’t (yet) leading to others following suit at scale (https://bit.ly/3SLrdsb).
    🟡 Advice they have for others looking to get on the radar of MacKenzie Scott.

    ****

    This episode is sponsored by Segal Family Foundation, and our Media Partner is Alliance Magazine. Head to www.alliancemagazine.org and get 50% off your Alliance subscription with the code ‘WhatDonorsWant’ at checkout.

    ▪️ FRIDA The Young Feminist Fund: https://youngfeministfund.org/
    ▪️ Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE): https://www.sageusa.org/
    ▪️ Panorama Global: https://www.panoramaglobal.org/

    • 58 min
    Feminist Resource Mobilisation With Roz Lee

    Feminist Resource Mobilisation With Roz Lee

    Rachel Stephenson Sheff and Emily Collins-Ellis speak with the incomparable Roz Lee - a leader who has dedicated her life to advancing racial, gender, economic and LGBTQ justice through community organising, advocacy, political education and philanthropy.

    Roz has held leadership roles at the Equality Fund, Ms. Foundation for Women, and the Arcus Foundation. She is also the first-ever Professor of Practice at the Centre for Feminist, Queer and Transgender Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

    While this episode is technically about fundraising - trust us when we say you will walk away a different person, and you’ll probably want to hire Roz as your life coach. Rachel, Emily, Roz - and I.G.’s community of #FixTheFlow Fellows - chat through:

    🟡 What Roz has learned from working as both a grant maker and a fundraiser.
    🟡 How Roz conceptualises the role of ‘fundraiser’ within the wider activist ecosystem.
    🟡 How fundraisers can approach their role with a feminist mindset (both in terms of day to day ways of working, as well as in relationship with funders).
    🟡 The incredible abundance mindset Roz brings into her work (and life!) and how this is the best anecdote to burnout.

    ****

    This episode is sponsored by Segal Family Foundation, and our Media Partner is Alliance Magazine. Head to www.alliancemagazine.org and get 50% off your Alliance subscription with the code ‘WhatDonorsWant’ at checkout.

    • 51 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
7 Ratings

7 Ratings

ZJLord ,

Roz Lee’s episode was truly warm, generative and clear

Loved the episode with Roz Lee. Her clarity and warmth, and reminders about what it can mean to operate with, from and through a feminist lens.
Roz’s willingness to emphasize the power of language , and to be open about her path to now, was timely and a breath of fresh air.

JR140890 ,

Great podcast

Love the energy! Fantastic discussion, can't wait for the next one.

Double_Macc ,

Invaluable & Insightful

As a fundraiser this kind of behind-the-scenes perspective is seriously helpful. Getting to hear what makes donors tick and what they look for is gold dust to fundraisers and charity/non-profit proffesionals. I enjoyed the first podcast and look forward to the next one! Could you do one with a corporate donor?

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