Stop Treating Fundraising Like Frosting on the Cake: A Century of Philanthropy Lessons with Doug Stewart

When your consulting firm has guided nonprofits through a full century of giving, from the Great Depression to today’s AI revolution, you develop some hard earned wisdom about what actually works. My guest, Doug Stewart, is the CEO of Marts & Lundy, the legendary fundraising consultancy celebrating its 100th anniversary next year. And after working with everyone from Ivy League universities to community arts organizations, Doug has a provocative take that challenges how most nonprofits think about fundraising. That mindset shift, from treating fundraising as a side function to making it central to everything you do, is just the beginning of our conversation.We’ll dig into why Doug is telling clients to move forward with major campaigns despite unprecedented uncertainty. How the most successful nonprofits are sustaining momentum through eight year campaigns. Why he believes the middle of the donor pyramid holds untapped treasure. And his surprisingly skeptical view of AI taking over donor relationships. Plus, Doug shares the fundraising metric that most organizations completely miss and why it might be the difference between struggling with annual gifts and unlocking transformational support.Ready to discover what a century of fundraising wisdom looks like in practice? Here’s my conversation with Doug Stewart.