The Brave and Balanced Fundraiser

Say What You Mean. Trust What You Know. Have you ever known exactly what you needed to do—and then watched yourself not do it? Maybe you keep asking for one more opinion. Overpreparing. Saying yes when you mean no. Avoiding the conversation. Waiting until you feel completely sure. From the outside, a lot of playing small can look surprisingly responsible. But what if the problem isn’t that you nee...

Plant Allies for When You're Feeling a Little Off This episode is a little off-topic—and straight out of my home apothecary. I woke up feeling like I might be coming down with something, and almost automatically started reaching for the herbal allies I’ve learned to work with over the years: astragalus and reishi tea, elderberry tincture, an Epsom salt bath, homemade soup—and the fire cider I...

Why the Life You Want May Require You to Move Before You’re Ready For a long time, I carried an image of what it meant to trust: open your arms, have faith, and wait for what’s meant for you to arrive. Lately, I’ve been wondering if there’s something missing from that picture. Because I don’t want to get to the end of my life and realize I was so busy waiting, preparing or trying to get things rig...

What to Do Instead of Bypassing So if we stop bypassing, what do we do instead? We stay. Not forever. Not because discomfort is inherently good. And not because we need to wallow in every difficult emotion that comes along. We simply practice staying present long enough to notice what’s actually happening before we rush to avoid it, fix it, reframe it or make it disappear. In this final installmen...

The Hidden Cost of Needing Everyone to Be Okay There’s a difference between being peaceful and needing there to be peace. If you need everyone around you to be happy, comfortable and pleased with you, keeping the peace can become a full-time job. You monitor people’s reactions. Soften what you really mean. Say yes when you mean no. Take responsibility for someone else’s disappointment. Rush in to...

When Being Easy to Work With Gets Expensive “I hate drama.” “I’m pretty easygoing.” “It’s not worth making a thing out of it.” “I can just let it go.” Sometimes that’s discernment. And sometimes it’s avoidance dressed up as a virtue. In this third installment of Bypassing Bites , we’re looking at conflict avoidance—and the ways being agreeable, flexible and “easy to work with” can keep us from say...

Why the Thing That Gives You Relief Today Creates Trouble Tomorrow Avoidance gets a bad rap. But here’s the problem: avoidance works. Don’t send the email. Don’t make the ask. Don’t have the uncomfortable conversation. Say “it’s fine” and move on. And almost immediately, you feel better. That relief is exactly what makes avoidance such an effective self-preservation strategy—and why we keep return...

Spiritual Bypassing and the Feelings We’d Rather Not Feel What if “staying positive” isn’t always as healthy as it sounds? In this first installment of Bypassing Bites , a five-part mini-series from The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser , we’re looking at spiritual bypassing—the ways we can use positivity, gratitude, forgiveness, spirituality and even personal-growth language to avoid feelings we’d...

Releasing the fear of imposing so you can fundraise with clarity and ease. In this live coaching session, Erin sits down with Susan Fox, a practitioner and nonprofit founder who feels like she’s imposing whenever she asks for donations. Together, they unpack the money stories she inherited from family, the “I have to do it all myself” pattern, and the shame that shows up in her body every time she...

What Your Split Energy Is Communicating Before You Say a Word You say you want the gift. The promotion. The client. The opportunity. But is all of you moving toward it? In this episode of The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser , Erin explores “split energy”—what happens when one part of us wants something while another part is quietly backing away. Using the story of a real estate agent who seemed en...

The Hidden Patterns Making Fundraising Harder Than It Has to Be September used to make me itch. As a professional fundraiser, I knew the all-important fourth quarter was approaching, and I never felt ready. Appeals, Giving Tuesday, events, planned giving messaging—my days were long on tasks and short on energy. I kept working, but underneath all that activity was a familiar mix of overwhelm, press...

Navigating the Heebie Jeebies of Learning in Public We love growth. We just don't necessarily love letting other people watch us grow . There's an awkward middle between deciding you want to get better at something and actually becoming good at it—a place where you don't quite know what you're doing yet, other people may be watching, and you can't control what they think a...

Why your first reaction to a big vision may be the very thing keeping you small Have you ever had an exciting idea—only to talk yourself out of it before it had a chance to breathe? In this episode, I share a powerful insight from a recent one-on-one business retreat: the biggest obstacle to our dreams often isn't a lack of time, money, or opportunity. It's the habit of rushing straight...

How to Stop Believing the Stories That Keep You Small What if the loudest voice in your head isn't the wisest one? In this special collaboration episode, Erin sits down with Tania Cervoni , host of Banish the Lies , to explore the stories we unknowingly carry about ourselves—and how those stories shape our confidence, our relationships, our careers, and our willingness to pursue what matters...

How Plants Can Help You Return to Calm, Healing, and Self-Sovereignty In this personal episode, I'm stepping outside my usual fundraising conversations to share one of the practices that has profoundly shaped my own healing journey: working with medicinal plants. When I became seriously ill in early 2020, I found myself searching for ways to support my body while the world felt uncertain. Tha...

The Fear That Keeps Brilliant Women Playing Small Have you ever downplayed your accomplishments, brushed off a compliment, or hesitated to celebrate a win because you didn't want to seem arrogant? Many of us were taught that being humble is a virtue. But what if some of what we've been calling humility is actually fear? In this episode of The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser , Erin McQuad...

How Unexpected Endings Can Lead You Back to Yourself Losing a job can feel devastating. It can shake your confidence, your identity, and your sense of security. But what if getting fired wasn't the end of your story? What if it was the beginning of something far more aligned? In this episode of The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser , Erin McQuade-Wright shares her own experiences of both being...

Why Emotional Intelligence Matters More Than Fundraising Experience Serving on a nonprofit board can be one of the most meaningful ways to give back—but it can also become one of the fastest paths to burnout if you're carrying too much responsibility without enough support. In this episode of The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser , Erin McQuade-Wright explores what effective board fundraising r...

How cognitive distortions drive fundraising anxiety—and a simple progressive muscle relaxation practice to shift your nervous system back into ease, clarity, and authentic confidence. Ever feel like you have to be “palatable” to donors—like you need to shrink, mask, or perform to succeed? In this episode, Erin sits down with Kelly Hint, LMHC, NCC, and OCD specialist, to unpack the difference betwe...

Why Other People's Emotions Keep Pulling You Away from Your Most Important Work Have you ever sat down with a clear plan for your day… only to find yourself pulled into everyone else's problems? In this episode, Erin shares a simple metaphor from the New Mexico desert that completely changed the way she thinks about work, leadership, and people-pleasing. Using the image of lava rock—with...

What Teachers and Fundraisers Can Teach Each Other About Burnout, Boundaries, and Being Human Teachers and fundraisers may seem worlds apart—but underneath the surface, they're doing remarkably similar emotional work. In this special podcast swap episode, Erin joins Betsy Burris , host of Teaching Through Emotions , for a wide-ranging conversation about the invisible emotional labor that come...

How Your Words Can Make Donors Pull Away Have you ever answered a simple question and then kept talking long after you'd already answered it? Maybe you've explained your reasoning, then explained your explanation, then explained why you explained it in the first place. If so, you're not alone. In this episode of The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser , Erin McQuade-Wright explores the...

 Why Moving Faster Isn't Always the Answer What if the thing making you feel like you need to speed up is actually the thing asking you to slow down? In this episode of The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser , Erin McQuade-Wright explores the hidden cost of living in a constant state of urgency. From fundraising campaigns and Giving Tuesday deadlines to overflowing inboxes and endless to-do list...

The “state” shift that turns scarcity into abundance… fast In this episode, Erin sits down with Dr. Pollyanna Chavez, hypnotherapist and NLP trainer, to explore why your state might be your most powerful fundraising tool. Pollyanna shares the surprising origin story that led her into hypnosis and neurolinguistic programming — a wild mustang that mirrored her internal anxiety — and then guides Erin...

And Why They Keep Becoming Your Reality What if the thoughts you repeat most often about money are quietly shaping your entire life? In this episode of The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser, Erin McQuade-Wright explores the hidden “money mantras” many of us inherited in childhood — beliefs like money is hard to make , there’s never enough , I have to sacrifice myself for money , or people with money...