299: What Most Fundraisers Are Doing Wrong Today with Meredith Johnston

This conversation explores why modern fundraising still struggles with outdated systems despite living in a technology-driven world. It raises important questions about how fundraisers are expected to manage hundreds of donor relationships while spending hours on administrative tasks rather than building meaningful connections. The discussion challenges traditional fundraising methods and reveals how technology, automation, and better workflows can completely transform donor engagement and fundraising success. Meet Meredith Johnston, who serves as the Vice President of Development at Family Health Centers of San Diego (FHCSD). Since 1970, FHCSD has been dedicated to delivering compassionate, affordable, and high-quality health care and supportive services to all individuals, with a strong focus on uninsured, low-income, and medically underserved communities. Today, FHCSD is recognized as one of the 10 largest federally qualified health centers in the United States, operating more than 90 locations throughout San Diego County. Each year, the organization serves over 227,000 patients, including 91% who are low-income and 29% who are uninsured. Throughout the conversation, Meredith shares practical insights from her career journey, explaining how fundraising has evolved and why organizations must adapt to changing expectations. Her experience gives credibility to the discussion around leadership, donor management, and operational efficiency. Meredith discusses the importance of using technology to support fundraisers rather than overwhelm them with manual tasks. She explains the value of tracking donor behavior, improving data quality, and focusing on active relationship-building. The conversation also addresses perfectionism, anxiety, and the fear of making mistakes, encouraging fundraisers to take action, embrace imperfection, and prioritize meaningful donor interactions over passive busywork. In this episode, you will be able to:  Recognize the importance of technology in modern fundraising. Understand how outdated systems limit fundraiser effectiveness. Identify tasks that should be automated to save time. Learn how data quality improves donor engagement and workflows. Recognize the value of focusing on relationship-building activities. Understand the difference between active and passive fundraising actions. Recognize how perfectionism can prevent meaningful action. Learn why major gift officers should focus on tasks only they can do. Understand how leadership support improves fundraiser productivity. Get all the resources from today’s episode here.  Support for this show is brought to you by Donor Perfect. Our friends at Donor Perfect really understand fundraising on so many levels. Stay aligned while working online with a seamless and secure payments experience for your donors and your team. Empower donors to give where they are, whenever they like, automate data entry, and process online, monthly, and mobile payments, and accept payments over the phone. 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.