ABOUT THIS PODCAST 🔗
Tired of chasing donors, begging for money, or following fundraising formulas that never deliver?
Fundraising Is Dead is your antidote.
Hosted by Ryan Dobson, author, speaker, and donor development expert who has helped raise hundreds of millions for nonprofits worldwide.This podcast exposes the broken systems that are failing you and replaces them with practical, relationship-driven strategies that actually work. The same ones used to build Focus on the Family a $163M budget.
If you're ready for fundraising that feels good, builds trust, and creates sustainable growth, you're in the right place.
Fundraising Is Dead is your antidote.
Hosted by Ryan Dobson, author, speaker, and donor development expert who has helped raise hundreds of millions for nonprofits worldwide.This podcast exposes the broken systems that are failing you and replaces them with practical, relationship-driven strategies that actually work. The same ones used to build Focus on the Family a $163M budget.
If you're ready for fundraising that feels good, builds trust, and creates sustainable growth, you're in the right place.
Update frequency:
every 33 days
Average audio length:
14 minutes
Guest interviews
English
United States
18 episodes
since April 28, 2025
episodic
LATEST EPISODE 🔗
A family switched from boxed cereal to bulk bags for six months. They saved every dollar. Then they wrote a check for eleven dollars and seventy-two cents — and included a letter explaining exactly what they had sacrificed to save it.
That letter was framed. A brass plaque underneath it read: This…
SEARCH PAST EPISODES
Search past episodes of Fundraising is Dead.
PREVIOUS EPISODES 🔗
Most nonprofits only look at one number: total donations. When it drops, they panic. They send more emails, make more asks, chase harder. And the donors leave faster.
The problem almost never shows up in the total. It hides inside it.
In this episode Ryan Dobson makes the case for data as the ear…
Most nonprofit leaders hear "investing in donors" and picture something they can't afford. A ranch trip. A fishing weekend. A private dinner. And they immediately think — that's for the big organizations. We can't do that.
They're wrong.
In this episode Ryan Dobson shows what investing in donors …
What if the most effective relationship-building tool in your fundraising arsenal costs twenty dollars, requires no pitch, and involves no ask whatsoever?
In this episode Ryan Dobson shares something he didn't invent — he witnessed it by accident, standing in a school office watching teachers sh…
Most nonprofit boards only do two things: show up to meetings and write a check. And that thin relationship is costing organizations one of their most valuable assets.
In this episode Ryan Dobson tackles the elephant in the room — why the fundraising industry keeps pushing the same broken playbo…
A donor took a full day off work, spent it with your team, and wrote you a $2,000 check. Nobody called. Nobody started a profile. Nobody noticed.
That donor had ten times more to give. And they slipped away.
In this episode Ryan Dobson breaks down the three gaps that cost nonprofits donors eve…
10:34 is not too short — that's actually a strength. Some of the most downloaded podcast episodes are under 12 minutes because busy people finish them. "A complete idea in your commute" is a feature, not a flaw. Own it in the description.
Most fundraisers think they know their donors. They know …
Most fundraisers think major donors want a compelling pitch. A strong case statement. The right proposal at the right moment.
They're wrong.
In this episode Ryan Dobson pulls back the curtain on what wealthy donors actually experience — the loneliness that comes with significant wealth, the fr…
Fundraising is dead. Not struggling. Not evolving. Dead. And in this first episode, Ryan Dobson makes the case for why — and what the industry needs instead.
Ryan grew up watching his father, Dr. James Dobson, raise over $3 billion for Focus on the Family across 35 years without ever asking anyo…
Fundraising is dead. Not struggling. Not evolving. Dead. And most nonprofit leaders already feel it — they just don't know what to do instead.
Ryan Dobson grew up watching his father, Dr. James Dobson, raise over $3 billion for Focus on the Family across 35 years. Without ever asking anyone for …
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ryan Dobson, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.
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