Brittney Miller: I’m Brittney Miller, Director of Development. 

Lisa J. Baxter: So we’re going to jump right in. So as a nonprofit leader, you’ve worked with a diverse range of nonprofits from grassroots to higher education. Can you tell us what drives you and what is your personal mission? 

Brittney Miller: I would all sum it up really within my grandmother.

My grandmother grew up in a small town in Louisiana. She brought her six kids here to South Central Los Angeles. And that is really where my lens for everything has been. That’s my guiding North star to a lot of things has just been the roots within South Central that we grew up in. And really out of that, just serving underserved communities is my mission.

I think so many people see our communities and the negative things, the by products of things. But I always saw us in our richness, our dopeness. I saw entrepreneurs. I saw musicians, beauticians, the best chefs in the world. I, I saw so many things. For me, my work is really what I believe to be a conduit and to help bring resources that truly can elevate and just showcase who we really are.

Why Fundraisers are Creatives 

Lisa J. Baxter: I love how you bring your aunts, your grandmother, as well as when I think about grandparents, I also think about our ancestors and how everywhere we go, that’s who’s behind us, pushing us forward and cheering us on and just the vision that you have. I think also that’s really fundraising too, looking at things, not just from a standpoint of what is what you get, but what is the root of it?

How can we move, whether it’s an initiative, whether it’s a story that we’re telling, how can we bring out the beauty so that other people can also engage in it? Now, I recall when we were speaking a couple months back and you raised the thought that fundraisers are creatives and I never thought of it quite that way.

Can you unpack that for us? 

Brittney Miller: Yeah, so fundraisers are indie creatives because our role demands innovative thinking and the ability to connect with people really on a visceral emotional level. The year I came into fundraising really around 2015, 2016. And that was the year that Insecure came out. It was also the year that Solange’s A Seat at a Table came out.

So it was all of me and my Black girl magic and all the things. But what I saw, specifically, when I think of Issa Rae and where she is now, the audience, of how she built her audience. And the connection that she brought the audience into her world. So whether that was with her YouTube, whether that was with the newsletters, whether that was with social media content and the rollout of those things and how she told stories in the midst of all of those channels gave me really the high level view, I would say of.

Oh, that’s how you bring people in. And you have to think like that. You have to be able to be that flexible to certain different things of how to really engage donors and how creatively we can think about bringing in resources. For me, if I ever have a list of value propositions, but I will start there is that fundraisers have to be able to see ourselves as creators.

Breaking Free from the Norm: Fundraising Reimagined

Lisa J. Baxter: I love that. And it’s funny because I don’t know if the traditional fundraisers might see it that way because they’re locked in a certain way of doing things. But I do think that when you do have vision and you can open up your mind to other things, you can look at it that way. And it, and it sounds so much more fun.

Right now you’re saying Issa Rae is like the patron saint of how you decided to navigate the world. And I think that’s so cool because a lot of times I don’t think we know the impact that certain people, especially in pop culture, have on us. Looking at fundraising or fundraisers as creatives really opens up another dialogue and it gives you another, I think, another way of navigating these spaces that may not be as flexible as you might need it to be.

How does creativity show up for you in your fundraising practices? 

Brittney Miller: So I think once I got that, just a little bit touching back on it, I came into this space where I felt it was very just, it’s the mundane. We’re looking at the annual year to year, looking at the calendar and we’re going to do the mail order.

Everything became robotic. And so filtering through the lens of like, how can I look at this differently? And how can we do some of the things that maybe we’re already doing or incorporate new things in a way that it’s innovative and catching and then also compelling to donors on an emotional level. I think creative, innovating campaigns and how we are able to not only highlight the goal of however many dollars we’re trying to raise, but highlighting the impact and how we decide to share those stories, leveraging partnerships, being a listener to those who are funders and hearing where their interests are lying and how you can be able to incorporate that into your work have been key pieces of how I can create on this canvas. 

Innovative Creativity: Finding New Ways to Inspire Donors

Lisa J. Baxter: And it’s just waiting for you to put whatever you need to put on there to me.

The first thing that I’m hearing is that the mindset needs to be there. You have to be open to looking at things differently first, right? Before you can say, okay, now how can I step back and be creative? And then also what you’re saying is that you have to really authentic. And genuine in your approach.

You’re not necessarily reinventing a wheel, but you need to look at things from, okay, how can we do it this way for the most impact? So then how do you think creativity should play out fundraising and how nonprofits run with campaigns may be being a way for fundraiser to test their creativity. 

Brittney Miller: So I would say this creativity should be embedded in the very fabric of how nonprofits operate.

And I think absolutely what you’re saying, it goes into the mindset. This means fostering an environment where fundraisers have the ability to create new ideas and they’re welcomed and experimentation is encouraged. When we’re thinking about campaigns, I think historically it’s just been, again, focused on the dollar amount that we’re raising, but then let’s actually, let’s think a little bit more about the work that we’re doing.

Think about who we’re serving and understanding those stories and highlighting them and getting them involved. And I think those are some of the best campaigns I feel like I’ve done has just really been about getting who we’re raising dollars for getting them involved. That funders can be able to hear them.

And then in the way in which they can hear them. So whether that’s short films, whether that’s coming in to just show of how their impact has truly impacted their lives and how we’re putting them on display. But it’s an experience. And I think that’s some of the things that historically campaigns have just been in this one box.

It hasn’t been an experience and I think to think about it again, that kind of goes that lending on that creativity piece of making sure we’re welcome to experimenting new ideas. There’s a holistic approach, there’s flexibility, but then also we want to make this an experience for our donors. 

Cultivating Partnerships to Bring Creative Missions to Life

Lisa J. Baxter: Got it. And it sounds like it would need to be from the top on.

If you’re talking about a new mindset, if you’re talking about thinking about things differently, that precedence has to be set. It’s interesting when it comes the other way around when it’s not necessarily the CEO, but it comes from other folks, how are you managing up in that way. What do you think that would look like when you are coming into an environment that may not so readily be open to these new creative practices or mindsets? What are some of the things that you would share with our audience that might be helpful in those instances? 

Brittney Miller: For me, I came into a space where I’m often working with multi generational and how people think being younger compared to some of my other colleagues or leaders, I think people are just like, Oh no, that’s such an old way of thinking.

No, there’s value there too. I think one of the things that. You touched on it and managing up and being part of the process with them of helping them actually see the process, see the thought process, showing them and having them be involved with the process. I think early on, it was more so throwing ideas out, but not actually showing them the full product.

And I think that’s one of the things you fundraisers, when you’re trying to do something different. I think you are going to have to take the onus on yourself to be able to be proactive and actually show products, show ideas in full totality, and then having leadership be a part of that process, that thought process, instead of, it’s very easy to just, we should be, or they’re doing this, or this is what’s happening, no, create it, and then I believe that they will come.

Lisa J. Baxter: Yeah, it’s, and I do think that’s a good way to go about it because we can say all day, Oh, this is not working, but if we’re not coming with solutions or showing them, this might be a way that you may want to move forward. Obviously more people are going to listen. Also, it brings to mind the fact that a lot of folks I’ve seen fundraisers sometimes defined as puppet masters.

And I always thought I never liked that. I didn’t like that narrative because I’d never felt like it was a puppet master. Because when you say puppet master, that is giving the inclination that somehow you’re being manipulative or what have you. What I think is, is a different way to look at it as someone that’s guiding and that’s leading you.

So that’s where I think leading yourself comes into play there. Sometimes you’re going to be the one that not everybody sees a vision, right? Yeah. When you see the vision, how are you going to be able to share it with the members of the organization in a way that they can really see it clearly and then they can really start saying, okay, these are the things that we need to do to achieve this goal.

And these are the things that take time, right? 

Brittney Miller: Absolutely. And this is one of the things from just my background. I also see the work is very communal. Like not only with. Donors and with funders, but it was also with your team. And so helping them, like it’s a process as well. With changing mindsets, and it’s a communal process and walking them through that too.

Because at the end of the day, the goal is we want to be the absolute best. It shouldn’t be a silo. And so I think that also thinking in this process of while you are on this journey to help others bring along so that I think we have to think in that way, too, of this is it’s all of us. And how can we help others come along with us. 

Balancing Strategy and Creativity: Practical Tips for Fundraisers

Lisa J. Baxter: Yeah and I think a lot of what I’m hearing moving into this new shift that I’m seeing in fundraising is that everybody’s understanding that there’s a lot of heart work that we do in order to move forward. And so I think that the more that I hear about that type I’m a little bit more attuned to that because I do feel that’s where it starts. 

I’m also thinking about how does the thought of creativity and fundraising lend to advancing or growing our fiscal goals? What does that look like for someone coming in and having the vision and saying, okay, we may have a campaign or maybe it’s not even a campaign. It’s an initiative. We want to grow this particular program.

What are the things that are needed holistically so that our audience can approach this particular moment in time in their particular organization? 

Brittney Miller: Yeah, I think the things that are needed, one is understanding the goal. Setting some clear expectations for us to be able to experiment within. We do need to be able to try something new.

And I know that we have to reach a goal and we want to approach these things aggressively and I get those things, but in order to try anything out, there has to be an element that we can try some things out. And I think it’s the risk to be able to experiment during that time. So if that’s during campaigns, I think that’s one of the most foundational things that leaders should have.

And leading their fundraising team is the opportunity to have that experimentation. Obviously defining our fundraising goal, highlighting whatever the initiatives that we need to highlight within that campaign, but let’s give also an opportunity for us to just do a little bit experimentation, it may lend us to greater funding opportunities that we didn’t think before, or the other thing to maybe say, Hey, it could be a guiding line and saying that didn’t work.

So let’s highlight what continues to work and maybe put focus there. But I think without even giving us the space to do that, it puts, it’s become stoic and I think that’s where philanthropy has been when I think that’s one of the things where I feel strongly that leaders should be able to give us that space.

Lisa J. Baxter: Make fundraising fun again, make it fun. It should be fun. And I love this idea of experimentation and taking scaled risks. I actually looked at the difference between actors and fundraisers and there wasn’t that much difference. And one of the things was taking a risk. It’s about building relationships.

It’s about knowing the psychology of people. Cause you know, we learn body language. There are all these things, those intersections there. And I feel in a way that those two being an actor and being a fundraiser can be one and the same. Not that we’re putting on a role, but that we’re trying to figure out the best way to get across to this donor or to a group of people and share with them, Hey, this is a mission that you want to get involved in or what have you, and we need to stop being afraid. We’re just in this kind of like little conservative box, you need to break out and just try it and see if it works, if it doesn’t, because when you’re acting and you do a pilot, you don’t know whether or not it’s going to work, right? 

Brittney Miller: We have to really think that people live multifaceted lives and what can resonate with us can be at different levels. You have donors who are parents or who may be our caretakers. And depending on what your work is, we live so many different things.

Our lives, not just one monolithic thing that we’re just going through. No, we’re having experiences all around us. It would be missed opportunity if we continue to do things one way, when life is happening. And I think as fundraisers, we have the opportunity as creators to capture different things that we’re experienced.

Community & Creativity in Fundraising: Building Relationships That Last

Lisa J. Baxter: When I think about it in that way, it sounds so exciting because that means that there’s an opportunity for the organization to say, Hey, let’s do some things differently. And let’s all sit down with all voices at the table. Also the constituents, the people that we serve, our volunteers, the community members, just everybody has a voice at the table. And I think those are the areas where we sometimes miss the mark. So yeah, now a lot of your work has revolved around program development. What are the key factors in building successful programs that advance the missions that you’ve worked for? 

Brittney Miller: For me, building successful programs is just another place where I have all the fun of coming up with all these fun ideas.

I also encourage fundraisers. And I think fundraisers should think like this too, of like when you’re speaking with donors and just hearing kind of those things that they’re interested into, if the opportunity is not already there, create it. It’s just exciting to be involved in the midst of things that are so impactful.

But building successful programs. For me, begins with a thorough needs assessment. That’s one of the things. So working in higher ed, a lot of times I would meet with deans and program directors and wanting to understand what are the challenges students are having, or what are the really great opportunities?

What are the kind of the niche things that maybe you all don’t notice? And so that involves researching and directly engaging with the constituents that we serve to understand specific challenges or opportunities. And then I think from there, having that collaboration involving key stakeholders of, hey, what’s your experience and what things can we leverage? And then I think from there setting clear achievable objectives that align with the organization’s missions that helps keep the program focused and goal oriented. We want to make sure we have that. And then I think continuous education. And feedback of how measuring the success of this program, how impactful is it and where do we need to change?

Where do we need to pivot? I think that metric framework is a baseline of how I’ve been able to create so many awesome, wonderful programs. 

Lisa J. Baxter: I love that because what you’re saying is that a world where tactics and creativity can coexist. 

Brittney Miller: Yeah. 

Lisa J. Baxter: I think sometimes when you say creativity, people start getting afraid.

Brittney Miller: Like off the rails. 

Lisa J. Baxter: Yeah. But they can all coexist because you’re coming in, like you said, if the opportunity is not already there created, you’ve already basically have the foundational block. So what are you going steer it in another direction? And I love how your face lit up when I asked you the question about programs.

So I could tell you’re really into creating and being the author of these things. And then also bringing others into the table to really make it an equitable experience for everyone. Now, what are some of the biggest challenges that you faced in nonprofits and how have you overcome them? 

Overcoming Challenges with Creative Fundraising

Brittney Miller: I think it has been in what we’ve talked about people seeing the vision leader seeing the vision and we’re going to what has worked or what has always been a tradition and coming in and changing things up that has been, overall, looking over the years I’ve been in, it’s been helping leaders see the vision. Leaders need to be part of the process. It’s another skill level of being able to also translate this work that’s palatable for them. And that they can understand and they can see it through the lens that they’re used to seeing things in.

So that kind of the baseline kind of things of cost and things like that, being able for them to understand and feel comfortable with something that is different, but it’s involving them in the process. It’s creating something for them to actually be able to see. 

Lisa J. Baxter: Now, how would you recommend people get their leadership to see the vision.

Do you have a process? I know you said including them and involving them. And sometimes they might not always be an easy thing because you might have your manager and they’re like, yeah, we don’t need to involve so and so. What do you do in those instances? 

Brittney Miller: Yeah. So I’ve had that too, where it’s not as easy as I’m saying that it is, this can be a process and it can take time.

This is something over time. I think truly I’ve had to probably have other wins in other areas for leaders to be able to see, okay, she may be good. And I think I’ve had to go about it in a way that patience has carried me through for them to be able to see that let’s give attention to this. I wish there was a shorter process or something that is easier to say, but I will say for me, it’s been patience and already being the kind of leader and driven person that I am, I’ve been able to have really the incredible opportunity to have some really great fundraising wins that carried me to be able to bring up new ideas and, or new and challenged new things in ways that I don’t think coming into a new space or not going about it, I don’t think I would have had that success.

So I think it really has been for me, the experience and track record that I already had as a fundraiser to be able to have it open leaders up to a new way of thinking. 

Lisa J. Baxter: Yeah. And what I’m actually hearing from you, and this is just me personally, is that you’re also approaching it in the way that you approach the donor, because what you’re talking about is building trust. Right. We say, 

Brittney Miller: yes. 

Lisa J. Baxter: Patient donors timetable. So it’s the same thing with our leaders. 

Brittney Miller: Absolutely. And I think we have understand that I think was as amazing as things are and things that we’re like, we could do one of the, I think like you said, how we look vision donors, how we envision people to it’s on a trust, how we have relationships with people on this trust base.

Can I trust you? I think that has to, that’s the same kind of process when you’re dealing with leaders. And so I think because of just the track record that I’ve had, the relationships that I’ve had, the things that I’ve been able to do allowed me to allow them to be able to see the vision and some of the things that I were bringing.

Lisa J. Baxter: Yeah. And that’s why I say so much heart work has to be done with fundraisers. When you are building trust, you first have to trust yourself because you can’t get upset if somebody is not trusting you and you don’t trust yourself. And there has been instances, I don’t even know what I’m doing. And that came out.

That’s the energy that I was getting. 

Brittney Miller: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 

Collaboration and Support in Fundraising

Lisa J. Baxter: I had to check myself and say, Hey, like this is going to be a process. I think about Eli’s trust triangle and the three questions you need to ask yourself. And because that I think is like the top of it. It’s do these people, does this leader, does your manager trust you to do this work or trust you that this vision is going to at least be not necessarily just a risk in general, but a scaled risk able to measure.

And we’re able to say, okay, maybe we can now go this way instead of going that way to make, to really make it a success. Now, what strategies have you found most effective in fundraising and sustaining support and thinking of, and coming from a lens of being this creative?

Brittney Miller: I think collaboration has been really great for me being able to, so that if that’s rather working with corporate partners and having them be part of the process.

The work that we’re doing and then having some really great events through that collaboration and raising a lot of funding, I will, I feel is a theme that I can see in my work is that, or whether that in higher education, working with a lot of outside community leaders and leveraging some programming there or support there to enhance programming that I was building.

But that was able to bring in some funding resources. For me, I think I’ve used a lot of collaboration. And I think just, again, goes along with the background for me being very communal and building rapport and real relationships with individuals. 

Lisa J. Baxter: Yeah. And what I’m hearing is that you’re very community centric.

We’re in this phase where we’re moving to community centric, which I think is really going back to basics, the way that it should be the very, just grassroots. 

Brittney Miller: And I want to say something to that. Cause I just read that we’ve seen this huge evolution of community runs, run clubs, and I think that just speaks to community is always going to win.

That’s not surprising to me. I’m in the Englewood area of California and run clubs are every weekend. It’s a thing, which run club are you in? Where are you all going? It’s the, and so I think on a deeper level that speaks to who we are as people and what we really, what we desire and need.

So I think I lean on that. 

Lisa J. Baxter: Yeah. I, and I love that you say community will always win, but we have to also remember what it takes to build community, right? It’s an ongoing thing. It’s a commitment of being humble. It’s also understanding that you may not have all the answers. So what is that for you in building community?

Can you expound a little bit more on how you build those authentic relationships so that then these amazing things can happen. 

Brittney Miller: So whether we’re talking about with higher education or just with working and other nonprofits that I’ve had of understanding the work that we’re doing, understanding those challenges and opportunities that’s happening within their work, I think it takes me getting involved.

It takes me maybe spending more time and going outside of, okay, we have the fundraising work, but really carving out time to spend time in the work that we’re doing to be able to see the impact. And I think on the side of, with donors carving that time out with them to spend understanding the work and having them be involved carving more time for them to be on sites.

I think that’s been one of the things to have to come out to be able to experience the work. So I think for me, building those relationships, it’s taking me to get involved and to have the one on one contact. Lately, I will say like with a lot of the organizations I’ve worked with and done consulting for, I think they’ve had consultants who were, who have just said, Oh, no, I’m just behind the scenes.

And I need to be on the scenes. You need to be in the mix. You need to be on the ground building those relationships. And I think for me, I think too, another thing that we’ve got comfortable when we’re experiencing the devastation of COVID and just all of what that was. But no, we have to get out, we have to be out, we have to be with people.

We have to see what’s going on. We have to understand the impact. We have to be able to do that, to tell the stories and understand that. So I think for me on both sides, whether that’s donors and also just on the work side is getting involved at every level. That has been, for me, of how to build community.

Lisa J. Baxter: And I think that’s a step that a lot of us miss, especially those that are working in underserved communities. It’s if you have say of afterschool program, right. The principals of those schools should know you really need to, like you say, on every level. I call it meeting the people. What are you doing today?

I’m meeting the people today, going out, we’re learning more about them. And that is really how you are able to bring all voices to the table because say you have a campaign or initiative, you can get them involved because, Oh, they handle that. They would know who to bring in and collaborate with. So you could do that respectfully and honor that those relationships.

So yeah, I, I totally understand. 

Brittney Miller: I read this quote and it was, uh, by, um, Jim Langley and he’s so popular in the nonprofit world. And he had this kind of list of affirmations of why I always raise more than you. I thought it was funny, but he said, I am authentic. You are the mythic fundraiser that so many organization leaders want and pay the consequences for.

And I love that because I was shots fired, but I also love that because authenticity for me is getting out and meeting the people. So many oftentimes fundraisers don’t take the step to, to even do that. And it’s so high on wanting to meet, but no, you need to get out. And I think that’s part of being authentic and translating with people and, um, relating to, to the work and understanding the work.

Lisa J. Baxter: And that is honestly what I think is the difference. You can’t work in an underserved area and not understand the community in which you’re in. How do you prioritize and manage your time effectively as a nonprofit leader? 

Brittney Miller: It’s a balancing act. 

I can honestly say it’s a balancing act. And I will just give kudos to you for listeners who don’t know you were my mentor at a time where I was just elevating my career and I’m a bit nervous about that, but I think one of the first things you taught me early on is being able to really create this, whether it’s a list or a calendar or whatever, to see things.

And I think that I’ve kept that with me because I think before coming into fundraising, it was, I want to do all the things I want to raise this and I’m going to do this and this, but I think literally starting your day. So one of the things I’ve taken from is looking at understanding the landscape of philanthropy.

And I’ve taken that whether it’s reading an article, I think that really sets the tone and that I’ve carried with me. And I think it’s so important to my work. It gives me a really good guiding lens that I think understanding how the field is changing, how I can add to that. And then balancing my day of whether it’s by meeting with people, if I’m taking a call, if I’m putting a campaign together or a piece together, some content together, I think it’s a balancing act.

I look at the goals that I need to meet. And I think from there, begin to set, whether what’s on the highest priority or something that I can put off until later. I think understanding for me, what are the goals? What are the things that need to actually in the immediate have to happen? What are some things that I could spend a little bit more time creating some meaning there, and I think that can give me some time to, to spend and elaborate on, and then filtering it through that system.

Lisa J. Baxter: Yeah, we definitely need to have systems because it can get out of control. 

Brittney Miller: It can get crazy. 

Lisa J. Baxter: In a minute, but the learning piece is key. We always, I say, always be learning, always, always about your sector. And last question. What is your one piece of advice to our listeners and our nonprofit leaders out there?

What would you say to them? 

Brittney Miller: I would say, I think, to remember who you’re doing this work for and to be open. I think that’s my main value proposition. And so open is open to the opportunities of how we can change, opportunities of how we can pivot, opportunities for us to continue to highlight, focus on what we’re doing.

Lisa J. Baxter: Thank you so much for joining us. It has been awesome. I really appreciate it. 

Brittney Miller: Thank you for having me.