Send us Fan Mail
Most of us walk into a networking event or donor meeting and lead with our job title. It’s safe. It’s also forgettable.
In this episode, you’ll learn a different way in: start with questions. You’ll hear how one simple opener gets people talking about who they are, beyond what they do. You’ll learn how to choose which parts of your story to share, based on who’s in front of you. And you’ll hear what it sounds like to talk with donors as a peer, instead of inspiring their pity.
ABOUT THE GUEST
Frank Velasquez Jr. is the founder of 4 Da Hood, where he helps organizations and leaders reclaim their stories. His goal is to help people lead with more authenticity, courage, and joy. Frank has spent about nine years in fundraising. He’s also a speaker who calls himself an “extroverted introvert.” He runs Ascending Leaders in Color, a cohort program for leaders of color. Each group has no more than 10 people, so leaders can be real, reconnect with each other, and reclaim every part of their story.
Frank shares:
- The difference between who you are vs. what you do
- The extroverted introvert’s secret
- How to decide what to share by listening first
- How to shorten the Community-Centric Fundraising principles learning curve
Listen to Frank's previous episode: https://www.buzzsprout.com/208666/episodes/18654392
Connect with Frank on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fvelasquezjr/
Connect with Frank: frank@4dahood.com
Visit 4 Da Hood: www.4dahood.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
ABOUT THE HOST
Maria Rio is the founder and CEO of Further Together, a fractional fundraising firm that specializes in Community-Centric Fundraising. She arrived in Canada as a refugee when she was young, and her early experience with charitable services is what drew her to nonprofit work. She started fundraising in 2011 as a face-to-face fundraiser, then led development and communications at small and mid-sized nonprofits.
Maria has spoken at AFP ICON, AFP Congress, APRA, Xlerate, and Imagine Canada, appeared on TVO's The Agenda and CityNews, and spoken at the Ontario Parliament. Her writing has appeared in The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, and the book Against the People: How Ford Nation is Dismantling Ontario. She was a finalist for the 2022 Charity Village Best Individual Fundraiser Award, received the 2025 Young Alumni Impact Award from St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto, and was one of ten Canadian entrepreneurs selected for the ELLA Accelerator Altitude program at York University's YSpace.
Maria pushes the sector to stop fundraising in a way that caters to donors instead of community, and start sharing power with those that our nonprofits exist to serve.
Connect with Maria on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-rio-ethical-fundraising/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Small Nonprofit Podcast is produced by Further Together, a Toronto-based fractional fundraising firm serving social justice nonprofits across Canada and the United States. Every engagement is built entirely on a Community-Centric Fundraising methodology.
Further Together is dedicated to driving systemic change, both inside and outside the nonprofit sector.
Fundraising has the power to do more than keep the lights on. Done well, and done ethically, it can shift power. Build movements. Change who gets a seat at the table.
That's our north star: creating real change inside the sector and beyond it.
Book a no-pressure chat with us: https://www.gofurthertogether.ca/discoverycall
Support the show
