#392- Fundraising Without Fear: Moving from Scarcity to Sustainability with Andrew Murphy

One of my favorite parts of this work is watching nonprofit leaders grow into fundraisers not because they become slick salespeople, but because they discover that fundraising is really about relationships.That's exactly what happened with my guest this week, Andrew Murphy.When Andrew stepped into the Executive Director role at the Wisconsin Inmate Education Association, he inherited an incredible mission and a passionate community of supporters. What he didn't inherit was a fundraising system. Like so many nonprofit leaders, he found himself staring at a donor list, sending emails, making phone calls, and wondering what he was supposed to do next.Over the last two years, I've had the privilege of working alongside Andrew as he built a fundraising program from the ground up. In this conversation, he shares what changed when he stopped thinking about fundraising as asking people for money and started thinking about it as inviting people into a meaningful partnership.We talk about the donor survey strategy that became the foundation of his work, how prison tours helped supporters connect directly with the mission, and why building genuine relationships created more sustainable results than any fundraising tactic ever could.What I love most about Andrew's story is that it isn't about a magic formula. It's about having a system, staying consistent, and leading with authenticity.And the results speak for themselves. WIEA has nearly doubled its individual giving, created a stronger pipeline of supporters, and moved from worrying about making budget to dreaming about what's possible next.If you've ever felt like you're making fundraising up as you go, if you've inherited a donor program without a roadmap, or if you're tired of operating from a place of scarcity and uncertainty, I think you're going to find a lot of encouragement in this conversation.Enjoy my conversation with Andrew Murphy.Important Links:Connect with Andrew: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-murphy-6b960bb8/My Big Ask Gifts Program: ⁠https://go.rheawong.com/big-ask-gifts-program⁠My Newsletter: ⁠https://www.rheawong.com/⁠