What Trust Is Built On
Each week I write this Breakthru Guide as a small act of devotion: to join with givers, to honor this great vocation, and to stand with the brave souls who keep showing up everyday and extending invitations.
💖Please share with your friends who are on the frontlines raising funds for amazing causes💖
Welcome to the newcomers!
(This is part 6 of the INSPIRED series - “R is for Resilience”. See previous posts here.)
When Marcus launched City Cycle in Chicago, most people assumed it was just another cleanup initiative.
And that made sense at first glance. His first flyer said: “Turn your trash into good.”
It was only him - a borrowed van and a few bins on the South Side - collecting used electronics and household scrap. Nothing flashy. No paid staff. No formal partnerships. Just a man with a quiet obsession and a fierce belief: even the smallest, most insignificant things can be repurposed for good.
He called it “micro-recycling.” Not just phones and wires - but the things most people wouldn’t even stop to notice - broken tools, bent screws, cracked speakers, scratched-up toasters. Objects that had lost their usefulness… at least to the people who tossed them aside.
Every Saturday morning, Marcus showed up consistently, parking near an old grocery store that had been closed for years. Some weeks he received a handful of drop-offs. Some weeks, nothing at all.
The Power of Showing Up Daily
Three months in, he got an email from a city liaison.
“Are you officially registered?”
Six months in, a well-meaning community leader pulled him aside.
“I love the spirit,” they said, “but this doesn’t really scale.”
A year in, a local pastor invited Marcus to speak to a youth group - but only after two other guest speakers dropped out. He showed up anyway.
Two years in, something shifted.
A middle school art teacher arrived with a carload of salvaged parts.
A retired engineer volunteered to help sort and test components.
A donor from out of state - someone who’d simply stumbled across a mention on a local blog - offered to cover a full year of warehouse storage.
Then, three years in, Marcus launched City Cycle Labs - a workshop where neighborhood teens transformed recycled junk into creative tools: solar-powered radios, LED lights, even a scoreboard for a nearby community park.
At the first donor appreciation event, a 17-year-old student named Ray - took the microphone. He held up a transistor board and said:
“If he hadn’t been standing out there every Saturday, I’d have never seen this as anything but trash… which, if I’m honest, is how I saw myself too.”
Resilience Doesn’t Always Announce Itself
Marcus never had a viral moment. No splashy campaign. No surprise check. His “success” came one repaired thing, one repurposed person, one repeated Saturday at a time.
And slowly, that consistency began to build something more valuable than buzz: Trust.
Givers started taking him seriously.
Community leaders asked how they could help.
People who had once walked past him quietly circled back.
“You’re still here,” they’d say.
Resilience doesn’t always look heroic. Sometimes it just looks like: Yep… I’m still here…
Why It Matters for Fundraising
We talk a lot in this work about vision, innovation, breakthrough.
But if you want to build real, lasting partnership with givers, resilience is what earns you the right to be heard.
Anyone can make a splash once.
Trust is built by showing up again.
And again.
And again.
When your report goes unanswered - send the follow-up.
When a donor goes silent - make the call anyway.
When a meeting gets canceled - reschedule without taking it personally.
Not because you’re desperate.
But because your mission is worth it.
You don’t have to get it perfect. You just have to keep showing up.
Three Characteristics of the Resilient Fundraiser
If you’re feeling the grind right now, here’s what to remember:
1 - Consistency communicates integrity.
Showing up - even when you’re tired - tells people they can count on you.
2 - Momentum follows patience.
The results you’re hoping for may arrive later than you planned. That doesn’t mean they won’t arrive at all.
3 - Small work still moves the mission.
That email. That thank-you call. That half-hour visit. Each one is part of the sacred process of building trust.
You’re Still Showing Up - and That’s Enough
There are a hundred reasons to quit early.
But there’s one good reason to keep going: Trust - and transformation - only happen over time.
Keep showing up. You don’t need to have all the answers. You don’t need to rush the results.
You just need to stand in the place your mission has called you - one more day.
And then another.
And then another.
That’s what Marcus did. And somewhere, right now, someone like 17-year-old Ray is still walking into that workshop, believing his life - like everything else there - can be repurposed for good.
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If you haven't taken advantage of some of the resources I've created to help major gift fundraisers, take a look now! Initial calls with me are free and "no strings attached". Sometimes folks feel like they need to wait and not 'bother' me until they have a pressing issue. No need for that...just make the call. 🕺
Here's where you can access a lot of content for free:
* Major Gift Fundraising MRI Scan - A story-based self-assessment that helps you name your instincts, clarify your posture, and grow with intention. Takes less than 20 minutes and gives you a custom coaching summary based on your responses.
* JappaFry Writer - A freely available AI tool that draws from over 175 pages of original teaching, storytelling, frameworks, and strategy from my 30 year career in major gift fundraising.
* Follow me on LinkedIn - You'll get short pro-tips and reflections on major gift fundraising every day between 5-7am pacific.
* Breakthru Newsletter - As you've seen here, these are longer weekly posts (audio and written) sent directly to your email.
* Breakthru Blog - the newsletter from the previous week gets posted here each week for everyone (so email subscribers get it a week early).
* Breakthru Podcast - Interviews with high net worth givers about how we as fundraisers can get better at inviting them to the party. And audio readings of Breakthru Blog posts.
Before getting to the PAID stuff: My opinion is that no small ministry with a tight budget should be spending more than $3-5k (total) for major gift coaching/consulting. Most of you will be good-to-go spending far less than that. This was a major issue for me when I was a frontline fundraiser - major gift consultants were an expensive 'black-box-of-confusion' for me. That stops now.
Here's the PAID stuff:
* Online Catalyst Course - This is a full brain dump of my 28+ years of experience - good, bad, ugly. It's built around the fundamentals, the sacredness, and the fun, of major gift fundraising. It's infused with Henri Nouwen reflections. Many people can take this course and they will be 'cooking-with-gas' and not need any additional coaching from me on the core systems. I'm grateful that this course has gotten *great* reviews.
* Live coaching with me - I refer to this as "brain rental". The ROI on live coaching, as you might imagine, is extraordinary.
Finally, be sure to connect with my colleague Ivana Salloum. She's super awesome and can help with scheduling and access to resources, etc.
I look forward to hearing about your good work!
Blessings,
