Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast The Brave and Balanced Fundraiser
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Is This Podcast for YOU? | 07 Jan 2026 | 00:03:12 | |
Why fundraisers burn out—what it costs us, and what becomes possible when we finally turn inward and get free. Episode Summary In this opening episode, Erin McQuade-Wright—former professional fundraiser of 15 years—shares why she created The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser and why focusing on the inner life of the fundraiser is not only healing… but essential for our sector’s sustainability. Fundraising is the engine of the nonprofit world, yet fundraisers are burning out every 16–24 months. Erin names this reality, shares her personal story of fundraising trauma, and introduces the tools and perspectives that helped her shift from white-knuckled survival to grounded, aligned leadership. If you’ve ever felt overstretched, anxious, alone, or like the numbers were “good” but the cost was too high, this episode offers validation, resonance, and a new way forward. What You’ll Learn in This Episode
Key Takeaways
Reflection Question Where is fundraising currently costing you energy, peace, or wellbeing—and what might become possible if you didn’t have to white-knuckle your way through it? Take a moment to journal on this or reflect during a quiet part of your day. If this episode resonated… Subscribe so you never miss a Tuesday episode, and share this with a fundraising friend who might need this space of support, grounding, and encouragement. ✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth Listen to all episodes + subscribe: Join the community: Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call: Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support: Connect on Instagram: | |||
| Brave and Balanced Fundraiser Welcome | 02 Jan 2026 | 00:00:39 | |
A podcast for fundraisers ready to stop burning out and start showing up whole. Summary Welcome to The Brave and Balanced Fundraiser, a podcast created for fundraisers who are committed to their mission and ready to care for their inner world. Hosted by former professional fundraiser and coach Erin McQuade-Wright, this show is your space to breathe, realign, and reconnect with the part of you that chose this work for a reason. Each week, you’ll explore practices that help you shift from stressed and stretched thin to grounded, brave, and on purpose — in your work and in your life. What This Podcast Is About Every episode opens a window into the internal side of fundraising so you can:
If fundraising often feels meaningful and exhausting, you’re not alone — and this podcast will help you navigate both with more ease and clarity. Join the Community Connect with other fundraisers practicing these tools inside The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser Facebook Group. Stay Connected Website: VitalistCoaching.com ✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth Listen to all episodes + subscribe: Join the community: Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call: Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support: Connect on Instagram: | |||
| Why Fundraisers Burn Out: The Hidden Pattern No One Talks About | 08 Jan 2026 | 00:12:55 | |
Understanding the emotional cost of fundraising—and why it’s not your fault. 📘 Episode Summary Why do fundraisers leave their jobs every 16–24 months? In this episode, Erin reveals the hidden pattern driving burnout: the chronic under-resourcing of the fundraiser’s inner life. Erin shares how rising goals, shifting funders, and donor pressure interact with deeper, often unconscious beliefs about money, worthiness, and belonging. You'll learn why fundraising can mirror old patterns from our past—and why understanding this brings relief, power, and choice. If you’ve ever felt behind, not enough, or excluded from decisions that shape your goals, this episode will help you recognize: it’s not personal, and it’s not your fault. 💡 Key Takeaways
📝 Journal Prompt What might change if you believed your worth wasn’t tied to your numbers? Book your 1:1 Brave and Balanced Breakthrough Coaching Session here: https://calendly.com/vitalistcoaching/brave-balanced-breakthrough ✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth Listen to all episodes + subscribe: Join the community: Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call: Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support: Connect on Instagram: | |||
| Fundraising Anxiety: What Your Body Is Trying to Tell You | 09 Jan 2026 | 00:20:51 | |
A somatic look at stress, pressure, and the internal signals fundraisers ignore. Fundraising anxiety isn’t a mindset problem — it’s a nervous system response. In this episode, Erin breaks down why fundraisers experience tight chests, clenched stomachs, throat pressure, and racing thoughts when preparing to make an ask… and why none of this means you’re bad at your job. Drawing on somatic practice, trauma-informed coaching, and fifteen years of fundraising experience, this episode helps you understand how your ancient wiring interprets budget shortfalls like a threat, how donors pick up on your internal state through co-regulation, and how anxiety quietly shapes (and sometimes sabotages) your relationships with donors. You’ll also hear two contrasting “versions” of the fundraiser: Understanding the difference is the key to asking with confidence, receiving with ease, and building long-term donor trust. This episode is foundational for any fundraiser who has ever wondered: Spoiler: Yes. And it starts in your body. 💡 Key Takeaways 1. Anxiety is not a flaw — it's biology. Your nervous system reacts to budget shortfalls the same way your ancestors reacted to predators. Nothing is wrong with you. Your body is doing its job. 2. Donors feel what you feel. Nervous system co-regulation means your internal state is always communicating, even if your words sound confident. 3. Anxiety narrows your vision and creativity. Fundraising from fight-or-flight constricts your thinking, your options, and your relational presence. 4. A regulated fundraiser is a magnetic fundraiser. When your breath slows, your energy settles, and you stop tying your worth to the donor’s “yes,” everything shifts. 5. Anxiety is a messenger, not a master. It’s pointing to a place inside that wants safety, attention, or care — and you can learn to give yourself that. 📝 Reflection Question for Your Journal Where in your body does anxiety show up — and what might it be trying to protect? 🎧 Companion Resource Be sure to listen to the guided meditation designed specifically for this episode: 👥 Join the Community Come sh Book your 1:1 Brave and Balanced Breakthrough Coaching Session here: https://calendly.com/vitalistcoaching/brave-balanced-breakthrough ✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth Listen to all episodes + subscribe: Join the community: Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call: Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support: Connect on Instagram: | |||
| Meditation: Making the Ask | 10 Jan 2026 | 00:13:00 | |
A somatic, compassionate practice to regulate your nervous system before making the ask. 📘 Episode Summary This bonus meditation is a guided somatic practice designed to support you before donor meetings, fundraising conversations, or any moment when anxiety begins to take over. In this practice, Erin gently guides you through grounding in your body, noticing your felt experience, and working with Byron Katie’s inquiry process (“The Work”) to loosen the grip of anxious thoughts that often show up before making an ask. You’ll explore a real fundraising memory—at a level that feels manageable—and uncover the belief fueling your anxiety. Then, through awareness, inquiry, and compassionate self-forgiveness based on the Spiritual Psychology tools from the University of Santa Monica, you’ll shift into a regulated, steady internal climate. This meditation helps you:
Use this practice anytime you want to regulate your nervous system before fundraising, asking for support, or stepping into leadership. 💡 What This Meditation Supports
🛑 Important Note This meditation includes checking in with your body and revisiting memories. If you know you carry Big T trauma, or if certain memories feel overwhelming, please practice this with a licensed therapist or trained somatic practitioner. 📝 What You’ll Need
🎧 When to Use This Meditation
👥 Join the Community Come share your experience with this meditation inside The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser Facebook Group, where fundraisers support one another in cultivating emotional mastery, nervous-system regulation, and grounded leadership. ➡️ Ready for deeper support? If you'd like personaliz ✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth Listen to all episodes + subscribe: Join the community: Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call: Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support: Connect on Instagram: | |||
| Fundraiser or "The Help?" | 13 Jan 2026 | 00:17:50 | |
What to do when your expertise isn’t respected—and how to stop making it mean something about you. 📘 Episode Summary What happens when you bring solid fundraising expertise—and someone with less experience dismisses it? In this episode, Erin explores a common but rarely discussed dynamic: being treated like “the help” instead of a strategic professional. She shares a personal story about having her work overruled, the emotional spiral that followed, and the deeper pattern underneath it. You’ll learn how early messages about money and worth can shape your reactions at work, why certain comments sting more than others, and how to stop letting others’ opinions define your value. If you’ve ever felt dismissed, underestimated, or sidelined as a fundraiser, this episode will show you how to reclaim your power and stop shrinking in the face of pushback. 💡 Key Takeaways
📝 Journal Prompt How would you stand, speak, and decide if you deeply believed your worthiness wasn’t up for grabs? Book your 1:1 Brave and Balanced Breakthrough Coaching Session here: https://calendly.com/vitalistcoaching/brave-balanced-breakthrough ✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth Listen to all episodes + subscribe: Join the community: Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call: Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support: Connect on Instagram: | |||
| Rooted and Ready: A Short Somatic Reset for Fundraisers | 05 Feb 2026 | 00:07:26 | |
Reset your body, breath, and energy so you can fundraise from ease—not urgency. Today I’m sharing a short somatic grounding practice I use with my coaching clients — a crystal singing bowl and a simple mantra designed to help your body shift from urgency into presence. This tone aligns with the root energy center, the seat of safety and stability, and the vibration interacts with the soft tissues of your body to gently downshift your nervous system. You’ll hear the sound bowl, the mantra, and a brief guided moment to reconnect with your breath and your inner steadiness. Think of this as a quick nervous-system reset you can return to anytime — before a donor meeting, between tasks, or whenever your inner climate feels tight or overwhelmed. Vibrational sound supports the body through entrainment, helping your system settle so your thinking becomes clearer and your energy more grounded. Fundraising feels different when you begin from calm instead of pressure. If this practice helps you, share it with a fellow fundraiser who might need a moment of ease today. ✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth Listen to all episodes + subscribe: Join the community: Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call: Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support: Connect on Instagram: | |||
| When Anxiety Drives the Bus: How Fundraisers Lose Their Power — and How to Get It Back | 03 Feb 2026 | 00:29:45 | |
Understanding your body’s stress response so you can fundraise from clarity instead of panic. Anxiety shows up loudly in fundraising… tight chest, clenched gut, racing thoughts, shrinking creativity. In this episode, Erin shares a deeply personal story of fundraising during a budget crisis — and how her body’s ancient fight-or-flight wiring took over, narrowing her focus, driving unsustainable actions, and ultimately exacting a physical cost. You’ll learn why anxiety feels so overwhelming, why it isn’t evidence that something is wrong with you, and how your nervous system is simply trying to keep you safe. Most importantly, you’ll discover how to recognize the signs, interrupt the panic cycle, and return to a grounded state where creative solutions, agency, and clarity live. In this episode, you’ll hear:
This conversation is especially for fundraisers who feel like their work is “life-or-death” for the mission, their jobs, or their team. You are not alone — and your body has been trying to talk to you. If this episode stirred something in you, keep an eye out for the companion meditation episode designed to help you regulate and return to center. Book your 1:1 Brave and Balanced Breakthrough Coaching Session here: https://calendly.com/vitalistcoaching/brave-balanced-breakthrough ✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth Listen to all episodes + subscribe: Join the community: Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call: Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support: Connect on Instagram: | |||
| Transcend Fundraising Guilt Like a Rockstar | 27 Jan 2026 | 00:14:28 | |
Trading guilt for curiosity so you can fundraise with more ease, energy, and self-trust. That nagging voice that says you should be doing more? Most fundraisers know it well. In this episode, Erin unpacks fundraising guilt—the kind that shows up at 3 a.m. with a running list of everything you didn’t do—and why using guilt as your main motivator quietly drains your energy, creativity, and joy. Instead of beating yourself up for “not enough,” you’ll explore what happens when you switch from guilt to curiosity and start treating your body’s signals as feedback, not failure. In this episode, you’ll hear:
Journal prompt: Book your 1:1 Brave and Balanced Breakthrough Coaching Session here: https://calendly.com/vitalistcoaching/brave-balanced-breakthrough ✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth Listen to all episodes + subscribe: Join the community: Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call: Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support: Connect on Instagram: | |||
| Pouring Out & Filling Back Up: A Fundraiser’s Guide to Renewal with Melody Wells | 20 Jan 2026 | 00:59:05 | |
How a major gifts fundraiser prevents burnout by planning emotional refills on purpose. Fundraising asks a lot of your brain, your heart, and your nervous system. In this conversation, Erin sits down with major gifts fundraiser Melody Wells to talk honestly about what it costs to pour yourself into donor relationships—and how she intentionally fills back up so she can keep doing the work she loves. Melody shares how integrity and alignment (her version of ikigai) fuel her fundraising, why she refuses to take donor “no’s” personally, and how anxiety work and therapy unexpectedly prepared her to stay steady in the yes/no roller coaster of major gifts. She also walks through the three personalized “refill” categories she keeps on a written list—so when she’s emotionally depleted, she doesn’t have to think about how to recover. In this episode, you’ll hear:
Journal prompt: Book your 1:1 Brave and Balanced Breakthrough Coaching Session here: https://calendly.com/vitalistcoaching/brave-balanced-breakthrough ✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth Listen to all episodes + subscribe: Join the community: Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call: Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support: Connect on Instagram: | |||
| Hold Your Own Energy: A Somatic Reset for Fundraising Events | 07 Apr 2026 | 00:23:42 | |
A Nervous System Approach to Donor Events, Fundraising Anxiety, and Executive Presence Have you ever left a fundraising gala feeling outwardly successful but internally depleted? Fundraising events are high-stimulation environments — filled with noise, hierarchy, expectation, and subtle power dynamics. For many nonprofit professionals — especially empathic or highly sensitive fundraisers — these spaces can trigger nervous system overdrive. In this episode of The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser, Erin explores:
If you’ve ever felt yourself scanning the room, over-accommodating influential donors, or subtly shrinking in high-dollar environments, this episode offers a grounded alternative. Because your authority in fundraising does not come from hovering near power. It comes from holding your own. What You’ll Learn in This Episode
The 20-Second Reset (Quick Reference) At your next fundraising event:
Presence is power. Book your 1:1 Brave and Balanced Breakthrough Coaching Session here: https://calendly.com/vitalistcoaching/brave-balanced-breakthrough ✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth Listen to all episodes + subscribe: Join the community: Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call: Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support: Connect on Instagram: | |||
| The Enneagram in Fundraising: Your Superpower and Your Growth Edge | 31 Mar 2026 | 00:28:07 | |
How Your Enneagram Type Shapes Donor Relationships, Major Gifts, and Sustainable Fundraising Success Have you ever wondered why certain parts of fundraising feel effortless — while others drain you? In this episode of The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser, Erin explores how the nine Enneagram types show up in fundraising. You’ll discover your fundraising superpower, your hidden growth edge, and how your unconscious personality pattern may be shaping donor conversations more than you realize. This is not a technical deep dive into wings or subtypes. It’s a practical, high-level lens to help you:
We all carry all nine types within us — but most of us have one dominant pattern that drives our behavior under pressure. When you understand your pattern, you stop fighting yourself and start leading yourself. Curious about your type? You can take a free Enneagram test here: For a more in-depth, paid assessment developed by Enneagram researchers Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson: If this episode resonated and you’d like personalized support applying this insight to your fundraising and leadership, you can learn more about working with Erin at: Fundraising doesn’t require changing who you are. Book your 1:1 Brave and Balanced Breakthrough Coaching Session here: https://calendly.com/vitalistcoaching/brave-balanced-breakthrough ✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth Listen to all episodes + subscribe: Join the community: Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call: Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support: Connect on Instagram: | |||
| Fundraising Resilience: What Are You Making It Mean? | 24 Mar 2026 | 00:28:29 | |
How donor “no’s,” board scrutiny, and grant rejections shape your nervous system—and how to build real resilience from the inside out. Fundraising is a profession built on exposure to rejection. Donors decline. Boards stress-test your plans. Grants fall through. Finance departments stay cautious. None of this is unusual—but what you make it mean about you can quietly erode your confidence over time. In this episode of The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser, Erin explores the hidden nervous system impact of repeated “failures to be perfect” and why resilience in fundraising isn’t about grit—it’s about recovery. You’ll learn:
This episode includes practical reframing questions, a 90-second emotional processing tool, and simple nervous system resets you can use immediately after setbacks. Journal Prompt: If you want support strengthening your resilience and leading from clarity instead of bracing, you’re invited to explore working with Erin. You’ll find the link in the show notes. Book your 1:1 Brave and Balanced Breakthrough Coaching Session here: https://calendly.com/vitalistcoaching/brave-balanced-breakthrough ✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth Listen to all episodes + subscribe: Join the community: Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call: Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support: Connect on Instagram: | |||
| Reactive Boss, Constant Pivoting: How Fundraisers Handle Workplace Whiplash Without Burning Out | 17 Mar 2026 | 00:19:19 | |
How to stop managing everyone else’s anxiety and protect your clarity, confidence, and fundraising results. If your workplace feels like emotional whiplash—full speed ahead on a campaign one day, questioning the entire strategy the next—you’re not imagining it. Reactive leadership creates instability, and fundraisers often end up absorbing the emotional fallout. Here’s the hard truth: you cannot regulate another adult. Not your boss. Not your board chair. Not your colleague. (If that’s hard to swallow, Erin references The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins*.) What you can regulate is yourself. In this solo episode, Erin breaks down how nervous system dysregulation shows up as constant pivoting, second-guessing, and emotional contagion in fundraising workplaces—and how to stop unconsciously managing everyone else’s anxiety as part of your job description. You’ll learn how to:
Erin also shares a simple regulation ritual you can try immediately—including a medicinal-strength lavender and chamomile tea practice—to help you discharge stress and return to steadiness. Because steady fundraisers raise more money. Journal Prompt: If you want support applying this in real time—whether you’re navigating a reactive boss or noticing your own leadership insecurity—Erin offers coaching designed specifically for fundraisers working in high-pressure environments. You’ll find the link to connect below. Book your 1:1 Brave and Balanced Breakthrough Coaching Session here: https://calendly.com/vitalistcoaching/brave-balanced-breakthrough ✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth Listen to all episodes + subscribe: Join the community: Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call: Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support: Connect on Instagram: | |||
| Fundraising From Abundance with Beth Ann Locke | 10 Mar 2026 | 01:03:07 | |
Practical major gift strategies to reduce fundraising anxiety, build trust, and stop operating from pressure—with insights from a 30-year fundraising veteran. Major gifts aren’t just strategy—they’re state. In this episode of The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser, Erin is joined by major gift specialist Beth Ann Locke, a 30-year fundraising veteran who teaches connection-based, customized strategies that grow major gifts without turning fundraisers into exhausted social butterflies or transactional “donor-chasers.” Together, they explore what happens inside a fundraiser’s nervous system when money pressure is high, confidence is battered, or the workplace rewards hustle over relationship. Beth Ann offers practical ways to build donor conversations around trust, curiosity, and alignment—plus simple operational shifts that create more capacity (like deep-work boundaries and post-meeting decompression time). They also discuss Beth Ann’s role in catalyzing the early sexual harassment survey that helped prompt AFP’s broader research—bringing visibility to a workplace reality too many fundraisers have been forced to carry alone. In this episode, you’ll learn:
Connect with Beth Ann Locke:
If this episode helped you, share it with a fundraiser friend who’s been carrying too much pressure—and leave a review so more fundraisers can find the support they deserve. Book your 1:1 Brave and Balanced Breakthrough Coaching Session here: https://calendly.com/vitalistcoaching/brave-balanced-breakthrough ✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth Listen to all episodes + subscribe: Join the community: Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call: Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support: Connect on Instagram: | |||
| Is Your Fundraising Working, or Just Wearing You Out? | 03 Mar 2026 | 00:16:39 | |
How to Measure Fundraising Success Beyond Dollars Raised What does it really mean for fundraising to be “working”? Most fundraisers are trained to answer that question by looking at external metrics: dollars raised, donor retention, number of asks, meetings held, emails sent. And while those numbers matter, they don’t tell the whole story. In this episode of The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser, Erin McQuade-Wright invites you to look at fundraising success through a wider lens—one that includes not just outcomes, but internal cost. How are you sleeping? Are you able to rest when you’re off work? What’s happening in your nervous system as you move through donor conversations, deadlines, and expectations? You’ll explore the difference between external metrics and internal metrics, how chronic stress and anxiety affect fundraising performance, and why a regulated nervous system is not a “nice to have,” but a professional asset. This episode is for fundraisers who are technically successful—and quietly exhausted—and who suspect there might be a more sustainable way to do this work. If you’ve ever wondered whether your fundraising is working… or just wearing you out, this conversation is for you. Book your 1:1 Brave and Balanced Breakthrough Coaching Session here: https://calendly.com/vitalistcoaching/brave-balanced-breakthrough ✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth Listen to all episodes + subscribe: Join the community: Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call: Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support: Connect on Instagram: | |||
| A Guided Meditation to Release Fundraising Anxiety | 26 Feb 2026 | 00:09:25 | |
A calming, somatic reset to help you regulate, soften, and return to yourself. This gentle guided meditation is your nervous-system reset—a place to soften the pressure, reconnect with yourself, and release the anxious momentum that fundraising can create. In this bonus episode, Erin leads you through a grounding practice designed to help you separate who you are from the sensations of anxiety moving through your body. You’ll tune into love, safety, breath, and presence… and remember that anxiety is not a personal failing, but a messenger asking for compassion and attention. This meditation will help you:
Use this anytime you feel overwhelmed, tense, or disconnected from yourself. Your inner world is yours to lead—and every time you pause to reset, you’re building the resilience that supports you, your donors, and your mission. ✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth Listen to all episodes + subscribe: Join the community: Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call: Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support: Connect on Instagram: | |||
| Before You Quit Your Fundraising Job: Power, Control, and Choice | 24 Feb 2026 | 00:30:13 | |
A guided inquiry for nonprofit fundraisers navigating burnout, job stress, and career decisions. The average fundraiser stays in their role for just 16 to 24 months — a statistic that points to burnout, pressure, and chronic stress in nonprofit fundraising jobs. If you’ve ever thought:
This episode is for you. In this guided episode, Erin leads nonprofit fundraisers through a gentle inquiry process adapted from Byron Katie’s The Work (https://thework.com/), designed to help you slow down, question stressful beliefs, and reconnect with your own power before making a major career decision. Rather than asking “Should I quit my fundraising job?”, this episode explores:
This is not about convincing you to stay or go. You may want to listen once to absorb… Book your 1:1 Brave and Balanced Breakthrough Coaching Session here: https://calendly.com/vitalistcoaching/brave-balanced-breakthrough ✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth Listen to all episodes + subscribe: Join the community: Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call: Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support: Connect on Instagram: | |||
| Scarcity vs. Abundance in Fundraising: How Your Nervous System Impacts Donor Giving | 17 Feb 2026 | 00:13:22 | |
Why the “Come-From” Energy of Fundraising Shapes Donor Relationships, Confidence, and Results Fundraising isn’t just about strategy — it’s about the state you’re in when you ask. In this episode, Erin explores how scarcity and abundance live in the body, not just the mind, and why your nervous system plays a bigger role in donor relationships than most nonprofit training ever acknowledges. You’ll hear how early experiences with “no” can quietly wire scarcity patterns that follow us into adulthood… and into fundraising. Erin also shares a real-world example from her own career, where an organizational culture of fear and over-politeness led to fewer donor connections, less risk-taking, and missed opportunities. Most importantly, this episode offers practical, immediately usable tools to help you regulate your nervous system before donor conversations — so you can show up calm, confident, and connected, regardless of the outcome of the ask. In this episode, you’ll learn:
Resources & Practices Mentioned:
💬 Join the conversation Book your 1:1 Brave and Balanced Breakthrough Coaching Session here: https://calendly.com/vitalistcoaching/brave-balanced-breakthrough ✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth Listen to all episodes + subscribe: Join the community: Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call: Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support: Connect on Instagram: | |||
| Money, the Nervous System, and the Fundraiser’s Body with Claire Messett | 10 Feb 2026 | 00:54:27 | |
How Money Psychology Shapes Fundraising Conversations, and What You Can Do About It Episode Summary In this episode of The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser, Erin McQuade-Wright is joined by money psychology coach Claire Messett for a grounded, insightful conversation about what really happens in the body during fundraising conversations. Drawing from her background in neuropsychotherapy, Claire explains how early experiences with money shape our sense of safety, worthiness, and power—often long before we’re consciously aware of it. Together, Erin and Claire explore how scarcity thinking, nervous system dysregulation, and identity patterns can quietly hijack donor conversations, and how fundraisers can return to presence, agency, and calm. This episode is especially relevant if you:
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Resources & Links
About the Podcast Book your 1:1 Brave and Balanced Breakthrough Coaching Session here: https://calendly.com/vitalistcoaching/brave-balanced-breakthrough ✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth Listen to all episodes + subscribe: Join the community: Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call: Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support: Connect on Instagram: | |||