In the report The Lived Experience of Fundraisers of Color produced by Cause Effective, two-thirds of the respondents mentioned facing obstacles in their development careers due to their race.
More than half of those surveyed acknowledged they might be reluctant to recommend that people of color they know enter into the fundraising profession, “because fundraising involves external relationships where bias might be present” and “fundraising reflects and magnifies the racial hierarchies of our culture.”
On this episode of Nonprofit Nation, I sit down with Kia Croom, a fund development executive with 20 years of experience. Kia launched the Black Fundraisers’ podcast to celebrate, inspire and equip Black fund development professionals to excel and positively impact Black communities.
Some of my favorite episodes have featured Johnnetta Cole, the first Black woman president of Spelman College and later Bennett College, social entrepreneur Trabian Shorters, and fundraising executive Dianna Campbell.
Kia also spearheads an initiative called Fundraising in Black - a series of fundraising capacity-building courses targeted to Black and Brown fundraising professionals.
Connect with Kia:
About Julia Campbell, the host of the Nonprofit Nation podcast:
Named as a top thought leader by Forbes and BizTech Magazine, Julia Campbell (she/hers) is an author, coach, and speaker on a mission to make the digital world a better place.
She wrote her book, Storytelling in the Digital Age: A Guide for Nonprofits, as a roadmap for social change agents who want to build movements using engaging digital storytelling techniques. Her second book, How to Build and Mobilize a Social Media Community for Your Nonprofit, was published in 2020 as a call-to-arms for mission-driven organizations to use the power of social media to build movements.
Julia’s online courses, webinars, and keynote talks have helped hundreds of nonprofits make the shift to digital thinking and how to do effective marketing in the digital age.
Take Julia’s free nonprofit masterclass, 3 Must-Have Elements of Social Media That Converts
Take my free masterclass: 3 Must-Have Elements of Social Media Content that Converts
In the report The Lived Experience of Fundraisers of Color produced by Cause Effective, two-thirds of the respondents mentioned facing obstacles in their development careers due to their race.
More than half of those surveyed acknowledged they might be reluctant to recommend that people of color they know enter into the fundraising profession, “because fundraising involves external relationships where bias might be present” and “fundraising reflects and magnifies the racial hierarchies of our culture.”
On this episode of Nonprofit Nation, I sit down with Kia Croom, a fund development executive with 20 years of experience. Kia launched the Black Fundraisers’ podcast to celebrate, inspire and equip Black fund development professionals to excel and positively impact Black communities.
Some of my favorite episodes have featured Johnnetta Cole, the first Black woman president of Spelman College and later Bennett College, social entrepreneur Trabian Shorters, and fundraising executive Dianna Campbell.
Kia also spearheads an initiative called Fundraising in Black - a series of fundraising capacity-building courses targeted to Black and Brown fundraising professionals.
Connect with Kia:
About Julia Campbell, the host of the Nonprofit Nation podcast:
Named as a top thought leader by Forbes and BizTech Magazine, Julia Campbell (she/hers) is an author, coach, and speaker on a mission to make the digital world a better place.
She wrote her book, Storytelling in the Digital Age: A Guide for Nonprofits, as a roadmap for social change agents who want to build movements using engaging digital storytelling techniques. Her second book, How to Build and Mobilize a Social Media Community for Your Nonprofit, was published in 2020 as a call-to-arms for mission-driven organizations to use the power of social media to build movements.
Julia’s online courses, webinars, and keynote talks have helped hundreds of nonprofits make the shift to digital thinking and how to do effective marketing in the digital age.
Take Julia’s free nonprofit masterclass, 3 Must-Have Elements of Social Media That Converts
Take my free masterclass: 3 Must-Have Elements of Social Media Content that Converts
Julia Campbell 0:00
Hello, my nonprofit unicorns real quick. If this podcast has helped you at all in the past year, can you do me a favor and leave a rating and a review. This helps the almighty algorithms determine that my podcast is worth showing to new people. I appreciate it. And I appreciate you now on with today's show. Hello, and welcome to nonprofit Nation. I'm your host, Julia Campbell. And I'm going to sit down with nonprofit industry experts, fundraisers, marketers, and everyone in between to get real and discuss what it takes to build that movement that you've been dreaming of. I created the nonprofit nation podcast to share practical wisdom and strategies to help you confidently Find Your Voice. Definitively grow your audience and effectively build your movement. If you're a nonprofit newbie, or an experienced professional, who's looking to get more visibility, reach more people and create even more impact, then you're in the right place. Let's get started.
Julia Campbell 1:14
Hello, everyone, welcome back to the nonprofit nation podcast. I'm your host, Julia Campbell. I'm so thrilled to be here with you today's topic, fund development and how it's different from fundraising, and how you can do it better. And my guest is Kia Croom. She's an experienced fun development executive with 20 years of experience. And to date, she's raised close to $400 million for nonprofits of all sizes across the nation in a variety of cars areas, including stem, housing and homelessness, youth development, education, HIV AIDS and more. Kia is a fundraiser and a digital marketer who's energized about working with agencies committed to improving the quality of life for black and brown people in underserved communities. And in 2021, Kia launched the black fundraisers, podcast everyone check it out in your app to celebrate, inspire and equip black fund development professionals to excel and positively impact black communities. And I've been listening to the podcasts and some of my favorite episodes ones I really recommend that you check out genetical the first black woman president of Spelman College and later Bennett College, social entrepreneur and author treyvion shorters, who I absolutely love talks about ethical storytelling, asset framing and fundraising and fundraising executive Diana Campbell. So there's some podcasts listening for you. So Kia, welcome to the podcast.
Kia Croom 2:49
Hi, I'm happy to be here.
Julia Campbell 2:51
I'm so excited. So you say on LinkedIn. I didn't choose a career in fundraising, fundraising chose me. So tell me about your journey and how you became a fundraiser.
Kia Croom 3:03
Sure. Interesting story. I'll give you the short of the long, I went to an HBCU Clark Atlanta University, major in journalism, and I actually had ambitions to become a broadcast anchor. Because growing up in Oakland in the Bay Area, one of the first black professional women that I ever saw, would come on my TV in the mornings when my mother would get me and my sister ready for school, her name was faith Fancher, and I can't remember what network she was on. But anyway, she was always really well put together. She was beautiful, you know, and to seem like a glamorous job, right? And it just goes to show how much representation matters but anywho I want it to be like faith Fancher, I want it to be broadcast anchor, I want it to share news, good, bad otherwise, right. And I get to college. And one of the first things that I did was I got involved with a local nonprofit. And this wasn't something new. I grew up in a household where even though we were, you know, in a construct of poverty, I don't like to refer to sis poer in the spirit of assets framing, even though we were in a construct of poverty, we were taught my sister and I to give and to do charity and to have concern for your fellow man or woman right. We were encouraged to volunteer and we saw our mother doing some social justice work, whether it was HIV AIDS education, because I grew up in the 80s, and the height of the crack epidemic. And we know a lot of sisters were contracting the virus at that time. So I saw my mother doing community work. I saw my mother volunteered and organizations like UNICEF, for instance. So fast forward, I'm in Atlanta, freshman, sophomore, writing for a couple of news outlets interning, and but nonetheless, I'm volunteering at this local homeless agency, and I'm volunteering on weekends, collecting donations, and so forth. And one of the board members learned about me learned about my work and said, My goodness, you know, why don't you get involved, consider getting involved with this organization called hosted divine intervention, I be happy to connect you because I've learned that you're quite an impressive writer. And, you know, this individual felt like I was operating beneath my gifts and talents by collecting their in kind donations on the weekend. So this individual connected me with the organization's executive director. And we didn't quite know, in that moment, right. I mean, I knew that she was such an inspiration, I saw the work that she was doing in housing, homeless veterans, in helping people get off the streets. That's the work that hopefully divine intervention did. They were small community base, kind of fledgling organization. So I get involved meet the founder, and I don't quite remember how I Oh, I got it. Now. Of course, you know, the individual that connected a share that I was a journalist. From there, it became okay, well, Kenya, why don't you try your hand in helping us to write some grants? And I remember seeing grants?
Julia Campbell 6:57
Oh, don't tell anyone, you're a good writer
Kia Croom 7:01
Because I don't know the first thing about writing a grant, you know, but, okay, I'm happy to help wrote this grant for the organization. It was a community impact grant proposal for the United Way, Atlanta. And I honestly forgot about it, you know, went back to what I was doing, volunteering for the other organization, so forth. And a few months down the road, when the whole to divine intervention founder learned that they received this grant, it was like $200,000, they jumped for joy. And they wanted me to do more of this. And the rest is her story.
Julia Campbell 7:44
Yes. I love that. And I think that story will ring true for a lot of people. And I know a lot of my guests, myself included, we found our way into fundraising by being talented somewhere else in the organization. And then realizing that the connecting the dots and writing and crit crafting a compelling story was hugely impactful when we were actually doing fund development, which is what we're talking about today.
Kia Croom 8:13
Oh, yes, it was a match made in heaven. It's like, okay, so I can use the skills that I would have used as a journalist to do work that is meaningful, like, this is an ace in the hole, and I never looked back.
Julia Campbell 8:27
So I really appreciate what you wrote on LinkedIn. And on your website, you have a personal goal, to engage and coach 1000 Black fund development officers over the next five years. So tell me about that, and how this works.
Kia Croom 8:43
Sure. So since I started podcasting, I had been good, and it's just so blessed and fortunate to hear from black fundraisers across the globe. We're talking folks in Canada in the United Kingdom and Africa, domestically, I mean, all over the place that are wanting to know Okay, first and foremost, not so much about fundraising strategy, but more or less, how do you survive? Right? How have you survived working in this sector for 20 years? How do you keep the fight? Right? Where do you find the energy? Where did you find your voice? Those are the kinds of questions that I get. And I think that is a result of us. And when I say us, I'm referring to my tribe as black fundraisers. Not always having those resources and connections to mentorship is really important because it's one thing to be doing the work, especially working inside organizations where we don't necessarily enjoy inclusion, the men censorship and supports are a big part of what keeps us in the work, right? Having that tribe having that community to affirm. You asked me, How does it work? Essentially, the way that it works is I've created a fundraising initiative called fundraising in black. And it is a fundraising capacity building program. I'm offering a series of fundraising capacity building courses targeted to black fundraisers, but I'm not forsaking my brown brothers and sisters either. So well, I say black fundraisers just noted, it's interchangeable for Brown, right? I'm taking the show on the road and convening groups of black and brown fundraisers across the country, teaching my learnings over the years things that you don't necessarily learn in a book that you learned with trial and error, whether it's conducting a B split test on subject lines, right for your E campaigns, or leveling up your digital strategy, or creating the corporate partnership initiative, write a comprehensive one, and just really whistling goal and intention to help organizations run by black and brown individuals to level up their strategies.
Julia Campbell 11:22
I think that's fantastic. And I think it's very needed just from a lot of guests that I've had and conversations I've heard in the sector. So I do want to talk about your podcast in just a minute. But I also have a question for you, because it was something that intrigued me in a lot of the writing that you do and your your LinkedIn profile, you focus on fund development. So for all of those fundraisers out there, or people that are not familiar with the sector, what is the distinction between fundraising and fund development?
Kia Croom 11:57
So can I just wanted to button something up really, really quickly and out yesterday, a question I wanted to say, for your listeners that are interested in fundraising and black, please, please, please reach out to me, if you wish to partner to bring fundraising in black to your community, you can drop me a line via LinkedIn or you can email me directly at crow kiss@gmail.com. That, you know, I just wanted to button that up.
Julia Campbell 12:27
Absolutely. I will put all the links in the show notes as well. So people will be able to contact you and it's fundraising in black.org. Okay,
Kia Croom 12:36
so to your question, distinguishing fundraising from fun development, the way that I look at it is this fun development is the process of creating and enhancing relationships with donors and donor prospects to secure a gift, right? You we hear people all the time, say secure the bag, right? It essentially paves the way to the gift through a series of steps or actions, right, that would propel or incite a donor or prospect to want to make a gift to you. It's the conversations you have is the commonality that shared humanity is when you're talking to that donor and listening for, you know, where they're impassioned, and what really grabs them about your agency and what kind of impact they want to make on an individual level of micro macro level, whatever their ambitions are, and how you foster this relationship in such a way where they're partnering with you to affect that change or achieve that impact, right. It's the moves management function of just simply put relationship building,
Julia Campbell 13:59
relationship building, and fundraising is the outcome.
Kia Croom 14:03
Fundraising is the outcome, it's the result. If you think of it this way, fund development is all about the relationships you create as you take steps towards securing the bag. While fundraising is one of the tactical strategies you employ to get the bag
Julia Campbell 14:22
and what kinds of challenges are you seeing in the fund development sector? And what can we do you know, how do you address them? How can we address them?
Kia Croom 14:33
One of the cardinal challenges that I see for black fundraisers fundraisers of color in particularly in in Spanish speaking for myself, my lived experiences a fun black fundraiser. Organizations, particularly those led by black and brown people do not always have the social currency that some of the organizations Hey If, right, what do I mean by that, you know, if you come from and I joke about this all the time, you know, kind of the rough side of the mountain, like I did, you know, you come from an underserved community in inner city, I didn't have mother or father that was in a fraternity, you know, they did have a PhD and, you know, the school of hard knocks, but you know, they weren't Stanford, Harvard, or, you know, any university for that matter, right. So with that being said, those networks that you want to come on as a fundraiser and dial for dollars, if you will, you know, they're not always available, we don't always have that access, right. So the relationship building aspect or that fund development is really, really key. Who are you creating and fostering relationships with? And are you or are they willing to open their network up to you, right, to give you more social currency to validate or not, and I don't mean to validate to suggest that the work one is doing has to be validated by you know, a particular funder, but what I'm saying is, you know, we need those door openers, and those sponsors those access to those relationships that are not necessarily always readily available to us. That is a grand challenge that I see play out in the sector, as it pertains to, you know, fundraisers of color.
Julia Campbell 16:40
And I think that I mean, it really leads into a lot of the studies that I have seen, done by like AFP, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, where, you know, when I shared with you this statistic, 60%, of black fund development professionals left their job because they experienced discrimination. And I'm sure it was also a result of experiencing discrimination around these kinds of relationships that maybe they were expected to bring to the table, or other people had. And, you know, there's all sorts of ways that that can lead to discrimination. But how can and I know this is a huge question, how can we, you know, for me, as a SES white woman committed to anti racism, but how can nonprofits and allies be more intentional about creating an inclusive workplace and supporting Black fund development professionals in a more intentional way?
Kia Croom 17:43
Sure. So what I often say, to my white allies and counterparts that, you know, really want to lift us up, is to be willing to be what I call accomplices, right? And when I say accomplices, you know, I always get a chuckle. From the individual I'm talking to I've had people to react and say, of conflicts, that sounds like, you know, a co conspirator in a crime, right. And what I say to them is, Listen, you know, the workplace racial trauma in the discrimination that black fund development professionals are experiencing, we've seen discrimination and racism rise to a criminal level of criminal activity, we've seen that play out in the media, right? How those biases have resulted in deaths of black men, black women, and so forth. So when I say accomplice, that's what I mean, you know, and I mean that for shock value. Here's a couple of things that are necessary. For those wanting to be more intentional about creating inclusive workplaces for notches, flat butt, anybody, whether you're from a racial group, social group, or otherwise, complices, you know who you are, but do the organization's know who you are. Are you using your voice? Are you elevating the perspectives of your counterparts who you're witnessing or being my forward wrist? Oh, pressed, repressed, you name it, when you're in those zoom rooms, or you're in those board rows, and one of your counterparts has a suggestion. And I've personally experienced this and I don't claim to be the brightest bulb in the bunch, but I come up with some pretty darn good ideas on the fly. And you know, your white male supervisor gives a snare and Okay, moving on you You know that accomplished might raise his hand and say, well, listen, Kenya had a really valid point. And I'd like to hear more before we move on. Right key, do you mind revisiting this? Because I don't, I don't want us to lose this, right. And I actually had this exact thing happened. And I said, my piece, and after I was finished, that accomplished, said, Are you satisfied with your response? Or is there anything additional, you feel that we need to hear from you in this moment before we move on?
Julia Campbell 20:35
That's incredibly powerful.
Kia Croom 20:39
So the accomplices, you know who you are, are you willing to come forward? And are you willing to use your voice? Are you willing to use your privilege to inhibit those inhibitors to inclusion, those microaggressions those times in which you see a person being talked over or disregarded or left off of a calendar, invitation to a vital meeting, you're always looking for the person that you're not hearing from and lifting up their perspective, and challenging the organization to operationalize norms around inclusion, strong norms, around inclusion, that is the only way and I'm gonna let you in on a secret. It has to be adopted from the top down. I have seen firsthand what happens when an organization is full of individuals who say hell no, we won't go, this has got to come to an end. Our black counterparts have been just ripped, you know, to pieces and put on display here. It's one thing when folks are outraged and take a stand who are not in leadership, and there's this push pull. But if Leadership isn't modeling that top Dale is not going to have any kind of indelible impact in the workplace is likely to be one that inhibits inclusion, and it's not equitable.
Julia Campbell 22:20
That's really important. I love what you said about do you feel like we have listened to you? Do you feel like there's anything else that you need to add? And I think it's important for people listening, and I recognize this as well as an accomplice, that it's vitally important that we do not rely on communities of color, and black fundraisers to bear the burden of teaching us how to be more inclusive and equitable. So thank you for sharing that. I think we, we have speaking for me need to do the work ourselves as well. And I appreciate the resources that you have in this area. I mean, I don't know when you sleep, you've got this podcast and a business, you have the just philanthropy initiative. Can you tell us about the just philanthropy initiative?
Kia Croom 23:09
Sure. So just philanthropy is something that's really, really meaningful to me. Just philanthropy, right? Just philanthropy is philanthropy that is really intentional about making some kind of social impact, right. So via just philanthropy, I partner with companies that are doing that are willing to do the inward work and say, Listen, how can we shore up the community around us, right? We have a business and in this community, let's say it's East Oakland, East Oakland, steel, by my estimation, resembles the 80s when I grew up there, and here we are in 2022. So via just philanthropy. I'm interested in partnering with companies to say, You know what, I'm not going to ignore the payroll that's happening around, right. I want to be a part of the solution for this community. And I'm not coming to the table claiming that I have the answers that I know what I need to know about the inequities. But I'm coming to the table to listen, and I'm prepared to put my money where my mouse is to help make this community better for the people that are in this community and bear the brunt of inequity. I'm prepared to show up. And that work really, really energizes me that work has resulted in students getting resources and supplies they need right that work has resulted in students and aiming scholarships, right, you know, to go to college, that work has resulted in I mean, just countless stories that, you know, I could go on and on about about how I've partnered personally with companies to make a social impact that they feel good about, that I feel good about and that their communities feel good about.
Julia Campbell 25:24
I love that so much. And I want to talk about your podcast, I saw that you're celebrating your third season. Congratulations. And you started in 2021. So tell me about the podcast what you love about it, where it's going, what's your vision for your podcast?
Kia Croom 25:45
Yeah, so I love the podcast, the black fund raisers podcast, I started it had no idea who would be listening, if they find the content, you know, listen worthy or not, Boy, was I wrong, was it I uncover a treasure trove I found my tribe, I found that there are other black fundraisers who live in the US and even abroad, that although we live in different parts of the world, or parts of the country, we share the same lived experience with inequity inside our organizations where we are operating from a place of passion. You know, we're we're operating off have lived experience and wanting to make a societal return, but finding that our voices are bridled, and that we're not being resourced and developed and supported. So I found my tribe and while people are listening, and contact me and tell me how much I do for them, and how I inspire, and motivate them, I think the reverse is true, I gleaned so much inspiration and so much support. And you know, I've self funded this thing through, you know, these first few seasons and hadn't necessarily figured out the best way to monetize it. But it was important enough for me to keep doing it, because of my commitment to ensuring that black fundraisers, get access and get information, you know, get access to funders not not just get information on like tactics and strategies, but people you know, in the philanthropic space that they can reach out to, you know, if you're listening to the philanthropy table talks, you can reach out to those philanthropies. They want to hear from you and be in relationship with you. So it's my contribution to my tribe, my community of kind of trying to bridge that gap, if you will,
Julia Campbell 27:53
well, black fundraisers podcast, find it anywhere, you're listening to this podcast. And I will put the link in the show notes. I wanted to make sure that I highlight for people that are kind of looking like where does where do they start? I know, on your website, Kiacroom.com, you have this great free, nonprofit dei resource hub. And it's designed to give nonprofits, a lot of the tools that we've talked about today, but also to go further to help them improve their diversity and inclusion practices. So where do you think they should start first and know the hub is a great resource? But if we're just overwhelmed, and we don't know where to start? What is your top tip here?
Kia Croom 28:41
Yeah, I mean, I would encourage visitors to go to the More tab, you know, in the in the website header, and go to racial equity, and philanthropy. There's a bastion of resources there. I mean, the racial justice resource hub, and, you know, are you enacting that it depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking for statistics, like meta data studies that build the case for, you know, more inclusion, for instance, if you are, let's say, your funder, and you're wanting to build a case for a more inclusive grant making strategy, you know, there's resources in the racial equity and racial justice hub on why grant making through a racial justice lens is vital, right? When you're wanting to be a more inclusive and equitable grantor, but not only that, the HAL you know, what are some strategies that you might employ now, for someone who wants more opinion and pieces, blogs for someone who kind of wants to search themselves and see where they fit. You know, in this dialogue in this discourse, there's the blogs, opinion pieces, I tried to really segment this material out. So that folks could really get a good idea of what they're looking for. If you're looking for resources on COVID-19, racism and equity, you know, I remember when the CDC declared racism, a public health threat, right, you know, you can find those resources there.
Julia Campbell 30:37
That's a wonderful, I love that. It's a free resource. It's really very comprehensive. So I encourage everybody to take some time to go through it. And a question, our last question that I think I want to start asking at the end of every podcast, because it's such a fantastic question, when you did an interview with the African American Development Officers network, they asked you, how do you want to be remembered as a professional? And I'd love to ask you that question here.
Kia Croom 31:07
Yeah, this is a great question. And I simply want to be remembered as a champion for racial justice. I look at my career, I look at the organizations that I've had the pleasure and privilege of representing and working for or working with, and they've all been organizations responding to inequity, right. The inequities are the result of a very systemic issue of, you know, structural racism or systemic racism, institutional racism, right. I wasn't so intentional about that. But as I looked at, you know, the causes, whether it's human service, you know, making sure that people have meals and housing, education. I want to be remembered as a champion for justice for people of color, communities of color, a person that fought to ensure communities of color are resource to thrive, because it's my belief, and I don't believe that this is just Chrome conjecture here. It's my belief that we will see improves community outcomes, wants community, communities of color, under resourced communities, get the services and support they need in order to thrive. I think that it will make life better for everybody.
Julia Campbell 32:41
And on that note, I think we should end there, those fantastic. Thank you so much for being on the podcast Kia.
Kia Croom 32:49
Thank you. I've had a wonderful time talking with you.
Julia Campbell 32:52
Yes. All right, everyone, go to Kia Croom. That's kiacroom.com. Or look in the shownotes for all of the links and the resources that we talked about today. And I'll see you on another episode of nonprofit nation. Thank you.
Julia Campbell 33:14
Well, hey there, I wanted to say thank you for tuning into my show, and for listening all the way to the end. If you really enjoyed today's conversation, make sure to subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast app, and you'll get new episodes downloaded as soon as they come out. I would love if you left me a rating or review because this tells other people that my podcast is worth listening to. And then me and my guests can reach even more earbuds and create even more impact. So that's pretty much it. I'll be back soon with a brand new episode. But until then, you can find me on Instagram at Julia Campbell seven, seven. Keep changing the world nonprofit unicorns.