Fall Funder Series: A Discussion with John Tracey, Program Director of the Simons Foundation

Nonprofit GrowthDevelopment
Written By Sherry Quam Taylor

This week on my Business Behind Fundraising podcast, I’m bringing Part Two of a Three-Part Fall Series featuring funders we all admire! I’m asking all the questions that you want to know from funding partners. They’ve been super generous with their advice.
 

We started with a bang last month with Shireen Zaman of the Ford Foundation’s BUILD program. 

 

Now, here in September, you’ll hear from John Tracey, Program Director, Science, Society and Culture of the Simons Foundation.

 

Sidenote:  I had COVID when I recorded this interview. Please ignore how awful I sound and near choking/coughing! But, John made up for it! You’ll love the conversation!

 

Here’s the snapshot from our time together:

[08:00] What has changed with Simon’s funding model and approach since Covid?

 

[10:00] Are higher amounts of General Operating here to stay?

 

[13:20] John shares how orgs can form strong relationships with funders…

 

[15:50] What partnerships look like with Simons? John shares more about wrap-around services…

 

[17:30] Misconceptions John sees in the sector and what this has to do with the eclipse! [Spoiler: Being a funder is not a cushy job!]

 

[21:30] What's the funder journey you should take if the foundation is not open-call?

 

[24:00] John’s advice on reaching out to funders… “I’m on LinkedIN! My DMs are open”

 

These are really a treat for me to host as I get so many of these questions from my clients every week!

 

I’d like to say a big thank you to John for his time, honest answers, and candid advice! YouTube link below . . . Apple Podcast link here.

WATCH ON YOUTUBE

Whenever you’re ready, here are THREE things you can do next:

👣 Follow me on LinkedIn here where I share the same lessons I teach my clients about attracting larger gen-ops dollars and adding 7-figures + to their bottom line. 

🍎 Read my GUIDE! THE TRUTH ABOUT GIVE/GETS :: Top 5 Reasons Your Board’s Give/Get Is Leaving Thousands (Sometimes Millions) on the Table. See how limiting board members to the Give/Get model restricts gifts and keeps your staff from reaching their full fundraising potential. Here to get it.

📈 Work with me to scale your org's revenue by 2-5X and fund your organization’s Strategic Plan // If you’re a business-minded CEO already raising MILLIONS but need to diversify revenue and secure more general-operating dollars to invest in growth, you can apply to work with me here.

Sherry Quam Taylor

Sherry Quam Taylor works with growth-minded Nonprofit CEOs who are scaling their organizations but still need larger amounts of general operating support to truly grow. She breaks their teams free from the limitations of transactional fundraising and helps them reimagine their entire approach to revenue generation.

The high-performing leaders Sherry works with want to find and secure more unrestricted revenue from investment-level donors. They simply need more funding to do what’s in their Strategic Plan. To achieve this, she transforms their teams and boards into high-ROI revenue generators - revealing how they can align every hour they spend fundraising with new principles that double and triple donation sizes.

As a result of learning her methodology, Sherry’s clients regularly add 7-figures of gen-ops revenue to their bottom line by learning how to attract investment-level donors that WANT to fund their work. But the biggest transformation they experience is knowing the exact strategy, path, and team that will propel them to generate the 2-10X dollars their strategic plans require.

Sherry attributes the success of her business to her passion for modeling radical confidence to the future CEOs in her house - her two teenage daughters.

https://www.QuamTaylor.com
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Fall Funder Series: A Discussion with Aba Taylor, Executive Director of Brookline Community Foundation
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Fall Funder Series: A Discussion with Shireen Zaman, Program Officer, BUILD // Ford Foundation