About this episode

Tom Kelly discusses how to raise more money for nonprofits by focusing on building trust rather than increasing the frequency of donation requests.

📚 Grab your copy of Tom Kelly's book, The Million Dollar Nonprofit: https://ip.charityauctions.com/free-book-podcast  What if the easiest way to raise more money wasn't asking for more money? It sounds backwards, but some nonprofits constantly ask for donations and see little growth, while others ask less often and consistently raise more year after year. The difference isn't the number of fundraising appeals. It's the strength of the relationships behind them. In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly explains why fundraising is less about maximizing asks and more about maximizing trust. Tom introduces a simple but powerful framework: Deposit. Demonstrate. Invite. Deposit: Every donor relationship functions like a bank account. Before making another withdrawal through a fundraising appeal, make deposits through stories, impact updates, encouragement, gratitude, and meaningful communication. Donors stay engaged when they feel connected, not constantly solicited. Demonstrate: Show supporters the results of their generosity. Share progress, outcomes, and real stories that prove their contributions matter. Tools like DonorBooks help automate impact reporting…

People in this episode

Host: Tom Kelly

Topics covered

• fundraising
• nonprofit management
• donor relationships
• trust building
• impact reporting

Keywords

• fundraising
• nonprofit
• donor engagement
• relationship building
• impact communication

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: DonorBooks

Books & works: The Million Dollar Nonprofit

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