192. Tenacious Fundraising: How to Keep Going When Funders Keep Saying No, with Sarah Tavener

192. Tenacious Fundraising: How to Keep Going When Funders Keep Saying No, with Sarah Tavener

From Fundraising Bright Spots by Rob Woods, Bright Spot

February 27, 2026 · 28 min · Episode 192

About this episode

Sarah Tavener shares her journey of securing a multi-million-dollar donation after 19 years of persistence.

Every fundraiser knows the sting of a donor saying “no.” An invaluable skill is knowing when to step back and when to learn, adapt and try again. In this encouraging conversation, Sarah Tavener, Head of Global Philanthropy at Mines Advisory Group (MAG), shares the remarkable story of how she secured a multi-million-dollar donation after 19 years of thoughtful persistence with the same funder! We hope Sarah’s insights will help you be tenacious and creative when your idea or proposal still makes sense, so that you too get the transformational results that your hard work deserves. We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show (e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media). You can find both Rob and Sarah on LinkedIn.

People in this episode

Host: Rob Woods

Guest: Sarah Tavener

Topics covered

  • fundraising
  • persistence
  • donor relations
  • philanthropy
  • non-profit strategies

Keywords

  • fundraising
  • donor rejection
  • persistence
  • philanthropy
  • non-profit
  • multi-million-dollar donation
  • Sarah Tavener

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Mines Advisory Group

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