From Fundraiser to Founder: Mike Esposito on Building Community and Innovation in Nonprofit Work

Tasha: [00:00:00] Good afternoon. Can you please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your nonprofit origin story?

Mike: Sure. So I’m Mike Esposito. I am the founder of Mike Esposito fundraising, a nonprofit fundraising consultancy. I started in fundraising, over 10 years ago. Kind of starting out with more like volunteer.

Roles peer to peer fundraising and just really loved working with nonprofits and seeing the impact of how fundraising kind of translates to more, capacity for organizations to take on more programming and grow their impact in so many different ways. Had the opportunity to work with some international nonprofits on the ground, worked on really amazing campaigns that we’re able to raise over $50 million. And just eventually made the transition into consulting about three years ago and just started my own, practice [00:01:00] last year, in the fall. Which really focuses on helping small to medium sized nonprofits with fundraising, coaching, campaign council, as well as, development assessments and fundraising plans.

Tasha: So what has it been like being a founder? Because I always like to talk to people. If you were to give like a one sentence description, how has it been?

Mike: I would say. It is a lot of work and, not as glorious as people make it out to be, but yes, extremely rewarding. So that’s how I would describe it in like a nutshell.

It’s really great. It’s a little bit lonely, but it’s definitely worth it.

Tasha: I feel like that’s the thing that. I heard from so many others when they’re going, oh yeah, you’re going out. You’re doing your own thing. It must be incredible. And you’re like, yeah, it is. There’s so much about it.

That’s awesome. But it’s also overwhelming and [00:02:00] everything comes back to you and the loneliness piece. I totally feel that and big change up for me has been since last September, having a little bit more of a team feel and bringing in people like yourself for the partners and these other additional discussions linked in.

All of a sudden you need those outlets because there’s a lot of the time that you are doing the work by yourself.

Mike: Exactly. A hundred percent.

Tasha: So you’ve been in the sector for quite a while. What would you say is your favorite thing about working in the nonprofit space?

Mike: Yeah, so this is funny that, you posted this earlier today, but, you made a post earlier today that I thought was incredible ’cause it connected, fishing and doing puzzles to the like, nonprofit work and community building. And I really love that because I’m a huge, I really like fishing and I, like puzzles as well and didn’t even think that [00:03:00] connection of just having patience and having persistence with those activities is

in some ways, I think what can drop some people to fundraising and community building and nonprofit work. Yeah. And just being able to put in so much time, energy, passion and effort, and then see that kind of all play out at some point, whether it’s through a grant or through build it, bringing a community together or executing on a program that takes a long time.

I think that type of rewarding work is what is my favorite part of it. And, being able to see that in, fundraising and fundraising consulting is definitely, a big part of the work for me. And, particularly with working with, client organizations, being able to feel like you’re kind of a small part of.

The end product is, definitely inspiring and, you know what keeps me coming back for more.

Tasha: It’s exciting to be part of the wins, right? It’s like even when they’re [00:04:00] not directly. Yours. And I think that’s why I enjoy community building so much, because even whatever is happening in the nonprofit high community is super exciting.

But also watching the people who are part of the community, building their own communities, getting to watch their engagement, that’s one of, you know, as a fan of LinkedIn, I love seeing what people are up to. And seeing it in real time too, because that’s the hard part I find. With the marketing background newsletters, if I have to wait weeks to find out about something, like I wanna be excited about it now during the win, right?

That moment, and I’m pretty good for patients to take my time sometimes, but that’s the moment to get, to celebrate wins with either your clients or your community members, is just the best. Definitely. What about challenges? What do you feel like some are some of the biggest challenges you see faced in this space right now?

Mike: Yeah, today I feel like a lot of the challenges, particularly with US based nonprofits, is kind of tied to the [00:05:00] current administration and changes that are coming through that, that are affecting nonprofits on a daily basis and just. So many different ways. I feel like I hear about it, almost hourly sometimes with some of the clients that I’m working with, and especially with prospective clients as well, how it’s affecting their budgets, how it’s affecting how they think about the work, how they plan.

And then I think another piece too is, that is challenging is this idea of like tradition versus, innovation. And this is something I actually posted about earlier today on LinkedIn and, sometimes organizations will get stuck in this, you know, we’ve always done it this way, type way of thinking.

And it can be really hard to shift to new and innovative strategies if that’s always the way you’re looking at the work and the processes and the tech that you’re using. And, so I think for me, I know it’s being able to bring like creative and new ways of approaching the work to challenge some of those older, [00:06:00] traditional ways that, sometimes hold organizations back.

Tasha: This is maybe more relevant to the work you’re doing now, but are you seeing people who want fundraising coaching? Primarily? They’re new to the sector. Or have they been in the sector a long time and they’re looking for those new ways of potentially being or doing?

Mike: Yeah, I found kind of a mix.

So for some it’s, newer organizations, a lot of the times it’s, executive directors who may not have a fundraising background. And then other times I’m finding it’s, we want this coaching before we get into this corporate sponsorship strategy that’s tied to this big event that we’ve got coming up.

So it’s very specific to. A campaign or an appeal versus a broader strategy. So a mix actually of different types of, organizations, different types of leaders, and, [00:07:00] using the coaching for different outcomes.

Tasha: And you’ve been involved with a FP for quite a long time. And the young nonprofit professionals network, right?

Or the, with the fundraisers, is that correct? I’m trying to remember. I feel like we’ve talked about this in the past.

Mike: Yeah, so it’s, the emerging leaders network of part of a FP and as well as a mentorship group and the sponsorship committee for fundraising Day in New York, which is the big conference in New York that we hold.

Tasha: That’s awesome. And how are you seeing those groups come up against some of the challenges in the current fundraising landscape? Because I feel like things have always been a little bit all over the place for marketing in nonprofit. Either people get it and they’re really jazzed and they spend money on it or they don’t at all.

But fundraising is kind of one of those core components that has always been a part of the nonprofit sector, and it feels like it’s under fire more than some other areas of the work.

Mike: Yeah, definitely. And, particularly for, [00:08:00] fundraising day in New York, the conference, we were a little bit nervous, going into it this year because we thought that, there may be cuts to professional development stipends, and, challenges just tied to getting people in the room for the conference.

Yeah. We did start seeing that in the beginning and we were able to combat it by offering some reduced pricing, scholarship initiatives and things like that. But definitely see it affecting, that, those groups as well and conferences as well. I think that was also a big reason why we made shifts to the programming of the conference as well to address that, hey, like this is a really turbulent time right now.

This is the time to be hearing from experts in the space on, how they navigated, economic uncertainty, political uncertainty in the past and how you should approach the work today. After hearing from these leaders. So I definitely think [00:09:00] that we saw how, the new administration had changed things and we made sure that we addressed it in the programming and the pricing and the scholarships and the way we marketed as well.

So, yeah.

Tasha: That’s super thoughtful. I love that because I think we need those spaces for community, for open conversations or brainstorming, I think even together, right. In some sort of meaningful way. And that can be really hard to do in an online format without the right people, without the right facilitator, it’s really hard to get to those deeper conversations.

Mike: Exactly.

Tasha: I love, you’ve been a member of the nonprofit Hive for a while now, and I two questions kind of relating to that, but peer groups, you were talking about mentorship in the fundraising community, but how has peer support factored into your nonprofit journey in general, but maybe even now as a newer minted consultant founder, how does [00:10:00] peer support work for you?

Mike: Yeah, so I think that. Peer support, particularly like I think the Hive is great at, being able to connect you with not only, consultants in the space, but with people who are working for nonprofits, people who are working on the tech side. All, different, sides of the work. And

I feel like sometimes this work can be lonely and to be able to have a support network that’s not only in your zip code, but also globally, I feel is so reassuring in so many different ways and allows you to show up to the work, more confidently and just. More effectively. I’ve found it peer networks, to be really helpful with , testing new ideas that I haven’t really brought to the market yet.

To, brainstorm solutions to challenges that are, things that maybe you don’t wanna talk about, to your colleagues or to your clients. And, just to be able to have a [00:11:00] person there that. Is willing to offer some quick feedback, I think is really helpful. And I think the last thing is being able to offer connections.

Hey, I hear you’re struggling with this. I know someone who can help, who can really help you or can maybe provide you with a little bit more support in that particular area and be able to offer that connection, right away through LinkedIn or email. I think that’s, where I’ve really seen it as helpful.

Tasha: I have absolutely heard from other people about you doing this. Mike, just a heads up. And this is the thing, right? We all have, and not that I wanna dive down too far down the wall, but we all do have our personal brand to some extent, right? Especially as we start getting out there. And I think there’s a huge value in this sector for.

Making peer networks for lots of reasons. A, the number of times I’ve seen grants come up that are not really perfect for a particular group, but I’ll think in my mind, oh my goodness, this is a specifically indigenous led initiative grant. I [00:12:00] love being able to jump in my LinkedIn and go, oh my goodness, have you seen this?

Because. The reality is most of us don’t, even with the best tools, the best ways of investigating, even with our new friend Chat, GPT, out there searching for things for us, we don’t always come across those things. And it feels really great when somebody has even vetted it a little bit to kind of go, oh my goodness, we’ve vibed.

You’re gonna vibe with this person a hundred percent. This is going to be a moment that you two are going to connect because we clearly connected. That’s such a ringing endorsement always in my mind when somebody says, oh, you’re gonna love so and you know. Yeah. I think we just have started to trust those recommendations more than something the internet is going to spit it our way.

Mike: Yeah, definitely. And I forgot to mention, but just a few weeks ago I meant to tell you this too, I meant to email you about this, but I had this great hive connection. Hive chat [00:13:00] and I said to the person, oh we’re both based in New York City, you should check out these events that are coming up.

And then they came to the next event and I met them in person and then, I connected them with a few, like at least two or three people in the space ’cause they were looking for new roles and fundraising and it was just. For me. ’cause I feel like a lot of times I, get matched with people outside of New York.

I got to actually meet the person in in real life. And then, maintain that connection and, I just feel like that’s so cool and is unlike any other, group that I’ve been a part of.

Tasha: It’s heading in that direction. It’s getting exciting because I think we’re starting to hit that spot of critical mass in a couple of cities.

Although recently I was able to connect to Texas based hive members who I wasn’t sure how close it was. Texas is enormous, right? So all I can see is, oh, they’re both in Texas. You don’t know. But they didn’t know each [00:14:00] other. And I thought, well, this is great. Here’s two people. They’re both in fundraising similarly, which is definitely our overrepresented.

Section. There’s a lot more fundraisers. I dunno if they’re more social or why that happens, but, and they plan to get together for coffee, right? And if that’s what happens during our hive chat, instead, two people get together. We’ve had two people in New Zealand meet up for a beer before instead, which they only live two hours apart.

So they were like, oh, we just got together for a beer, and they sent a picture. That is awesome and I hope that’s where things head next is that evolution into. Those in-person meetups like and encourage people in the network because it’s attracting great humans. So you can pretty much guarantee it’s gonna be lovely if two people decide to get together in person too.

So what would you say and , I mean, thank you for sharing that story ’cause it always makes me so happy to hear that. But what have you gotten out of being a Hive member and where do you see some of the things going in the future in terms of like connections and how we can [00:15:00] build?

Mike: I love this question. , It’s funny because, I’ve started a few,, like one-on-ones or meetups with people recently. And before I even jump into talking, the first question that I’ve been getting is, so what is this non nonprofit hive you keep talking about on your newsletter and, on, LinkedIn and Instagram?

And I, just like laugh, initially laugh, and then I’m like let me tell you a little bit more about the Hive. That’s awesome. Because I’m as you can tell, I’m kind of obsessed with it. But what it’s really given me and what I try to highlight when people ask me this, is that it’s these like spontaneous connections with people in the space that you would’ve probably never met otherwise.

I think it’s like the perfect amount of time, like 30 minutes on the.to really get to know somebody. Share a little bit about yourself and your work and see if there’s ways in which you can help each other out, connect each other, provide opportunities, provide [00:16:00] quick solutions to problems. So I feel like it’s been a space to find collaborators, find friends, and then also just find like cheerleaders of your work that are gonna support you and, comment on your LinkedIn posts and, give you a heart reaction and just be there for you, virtually and maybe like the other person I mentioned in person. Yeah. And yeah, just, a chance to give back and provide, brainstorm solutions and, help and quick advice when you can. As you know, I joined.

I wanna say it was the fall or the winter of, 2023. Very beginning, beginning days. And I can’t believe just like how much it’s really grown and evolved and the changes that have happened from the beginning and just even me, getting to meet you at Icon, back in Toronto, I think that was 2024.

Yeah. And to now be part of the Trusted Hive network. I’ve just, I’ve gotten so much out of it. I could probably talk about it in like a 90 minute workshop, just [00:17:00] so I’ll try and cut it. Cut it short here. But I think it’s more than a community. I feel like it’s a movement that’s really shaping the future of nonprofit work and how, nonprofit professionals globally can support each other in different ways.

Tasha: I am gonna have to get you to give that webinar because you do a way better job of selling than I do. That’s awesome. And seriously, like I was gonna say you. Yeah, so September, 2024. Like you’ve just dove in with both feet. I’ve got you. You’ve had 28 conversations, which is crazy and awesome, and definitely puts you in like that top tier of involvement and just really thankful. I always feel like you’re someone who can give me feedback, who, is I can throw anybody at you in a chat. And I’m always like, oh yeah, Mike’s gonna be great. It’s gonna be awesome. And that is a skillset you’re very generous with the knowledge that you’ve gained.

And so I think that’s always [00:18:00] great. And you’ve been a past sponsor too, so you know all the things you’ve gotten involved in all the ways, which is really exciting. And how best can people get in touch with you, follow up with you if they’d like to connect?

Mike: I’d say, just shoot me a message on LinkedIn.

You can go to my website, mikeespositocfre.com I also have mikeesposito.com now, which took me a while to get,

Tasha: it’s a popular one.

Mike: I know it’s a popular one, and I wasn’t willing to pay the initial price, but somehow I guess the person forgot about they owned it, so I got it. Nice. That’s

Tasha: awesome.

Mike: Again, perseverance, waiting the patients.

Tasha: Yep.

Mike: That’s great. But, yeah, so just, the contact button on my website or just DMing on LinkedIn. I’m pretty active on LinkedIn as you know, Tasha. That’s awesome. And, yeah, but just super grateful to be part of this community and be able to support in any way I can.

Tasha: That’s great. Thanks so much for doing this with me, Mike.

Mike: Yeah, [00:19:00] anytime.