261: Building a Heartfelt Nonprofit with Mark Dombkins

Building a nonprofit that genuinely connects with people requires more than a compelling mission; it demands empathy, strategy, and courage. Mark Dombkins, Founder at Forever Projects, shares insights from his journey leading a nonprofit dedicated to ending the Tanzanian orphan crisis through income creation for women. He and his wife Anna live in Australia with their six children, three of whom they adopted while working in Tanzania between 2010 and 2013. During the conversation, He mentions the importance of clarity and naivety in leadership, emphasizing storytelling as a powerful tool for inspiring generosity and trust. Mark emphasizes the importance of meeting donors where they are, understanding their realities, pressures, and motivations, rather than expecting them to adapt to an organization's mission. He describes how his team grew brand awareness and future demand through lean, abundance-minded strategies such as community events. These gatherings weren't designed to convert donors immediately but to create joy, hope, connection, and insight, trusting that value-driven experiences would naturally lead to deeper engagement. Mark also reflects on the constant tension between short-term fundraising pressures and long-term strategy, stressing the importance of supportive governance and the courage to say no to opportunities that don't align. For him, discomfort is a vital teacher, both in leadership immersion trips and in the discipline of reframing opportunity costs as signs of focus and progress. Finally, Mark explores how innovation, culture, and identity shape giving. He notes that many major donors are motivated as much by new ways of solving problems as by the cause itself. In this episode, you will be able to: Discover how storytelling and empathy can transform donor engagement. Understand the power of meeting donors where they are and creating meaningful community experiences. Gain insights into balancing short-term fundraising pressures with long-term strategic vision. Explore the discipline of saying no and embracing discomfort as a tool for growth. Learn how innovation, culture, and identity shape giving and strengthen a nonprofit’s impact. Agency in giving is crucial for fostering genuine generosity. Get all the resources from today’s episode here.  Support for this show is brought to you by Practivated. Practivated delivers AI-powered donor conversation simulations that let fundraisers practice in a private, judgment‑free space—building confidence, refining messaging, and improving outcomes before the real conversation even begins. Developed by fundraising experts with real‑time coaching at its core, it’s the smart way to walk into every donor interaction calm, prepared, and ready to connect. Learn more at practivated.com 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.