Funders on Fundraising

by Aspiration

Funders on Fundraising is a podcast about power, trust, and authenticity—and how money moves in the nonprofit sector. Hosted by Kelly James, a former funder, and Geoffrey MacDougall, a career fundraiser, the show opens up honest conversations between people who shape where resources flow and those who work to secure them. Each episode demystifies the craft of fundraising—how relationships form, how decisions are made, and how power and persuasion operate when money is on the table. Guests talk candidly about what excites them, what turns them off, and how trust actually gets built in real time. It’s not about philanthropy’s performance. It’s about the people, the structure, and the tactics that make meaningful commitments possible. Produced by Chris Lawrence and Urbanist Media Cover art by Ben Johnson Theme music by Evan Greer

Latest episodes

Showing 6 · updated from the feed

Misty Avila Gereghty - Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer at the James B. McClatchy Foundation

Misty Avila is a longtime nonprofit leader and current funder working to build infrastructure for multiracial democracy in California’s Central Valley. In this episode, s

Nov 24 2025
38 min

Elizabeth Eagen - Former Senior Program Officer at the Open Society Foundations

Elizabeth Eagen is a former Senior Program Officer at the Open Society Foundations, where she spent over a decade funding global digital rights and emerging technology wo

Nov 17 2025
56 min

Kent McGuire - Former Director, Education Program at the Hewlett Foundation

Kent McGuire’s understanding of power began at home in Lansing, Michigan, where his father led a United Auto Workers local and his aunt led the Michigan Education Associa

Nov 10 2025
42 min

Michelle Shevin - Former Senior Program Manager at the Ford Foundation

Michelle Shevin’s understanding of power took shape in an unlikely place—a graduate program run by the U.S. military—where she first learned to see how institutions build

Nov 3 2025
38 min

Sasha Rabkin - Advanced Education Research & Development Fund

Sasha Rabkin, Chief of Program Strategy & Innovation for the Advanced Education Research & Development Fund (AERDF), speaks plainly about what it takes to build trust. H

Oct 24 2025
42 min

Introducing Funders on Fundraising! (Trailer)

A preview of Season 1: Funders speaking candidly about what builds trust, how decisions are made, and the subtle signals that shape every funding relationship. Learn abou

Oct 24 2025
2 min

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