269: Beyond Passion: The Art of Leading with Skill, Not Just Spirit with David Rhode

An episode of the What the Fundraising podcast, hosted by Mallory Erickson, titled "269: Beyond Passion: The Art of Leading with Skill, Not Just Spirit with David Rhode" was published on November 11, 2025 and runs 30 minutes.

November 11, 2025 ·30m · What the Fundraising

Summary

In this episode of What the Fundraising... Fundraising isn’t just about asking; it’s about understanding. The most successful fundraisers know that sustaining an organization couldn’t be done with passion alone. Passion must be combined with skill, strategy, and authentic human connection.  David Rhodes is an award-winning and bestselling author, keynote speaker, educator, deputy director at PennPAC, and founder of Dot Dot Org. With more than 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, David helped organizations and leaders grow with clarity, purpose, and sustainability. As for a former founder and executive director who led an organization for 15 years, he now focuses on CEO mentoring and coaching. David also teaches nonprofit branding and consulting at the University of Pennsylvania, bringing a practical, real-world perspective to the next generation of changemakers. He is the Axiom Business Book Awards Gold Medal winner for “Passion Isn’t Enough: A Practical Guide for Nonprofit Leaders,” released in November 2024, which helps nonprofit leaders develop the skills and confidence that are needed to lead beyond passion. He and his family now live in New York City. He joined us today to discuss the importance of skills beyond passion for nonprofit leaders.  In this episode, you will be able to: Learn why passion alone isn’t enough to sustain effective nonprofit leadership. Understand how to ask deeper questions that lead to transformational giving. Discover ways to navigate close donor relationships while keeping impact at the center. Understand the importance of embracing authenticity in fundraising conversations. Learn what practical strategies can develop the mindset and skills needed to lead with confidence and clarity. Get all the resources from today’s episode here.  Support for this show is brought to you by Zeffy. Zeffy is a game-changing fundraising platform built exclusively for nonprofits. Zeffy is a game-changing fundraising platform built exclusively for nonprofits. Unlike other platforms that take a cut of your hard work through credit card and transaction fees, Zeffy is 100% free from transaction and platform fees. That means every dollar you raise goes directly toward fueling your mission. Trusted by more than 50,000 nonprofits, Zeffy empowers organizations of every size to streamline their fundraising with tools to collect donations, sell tickets, and manage donors all in one place. Getting started takes less than 15 minutes, and once you’re set up, you’ll have more resources to put toward what really matters: your cause. Connect with me:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_malloryerickson/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatthefundraising YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@malloryerickson7946 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/mallory-erickson-bressler/ Website: malloryerickson.com/podcast Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-the-fundraising/id1575421652 If you haven’t already, please visit our new What the Fundraising community forum. Check it out and join the conversation at this link. If you’re looking to raise more from the right funders, then you’ll want to check out my Power Partners Formula, a step-by-step approach to identifying the optimal partners for your organization. This free masterclass offers a great starting point.

Episode Description