313: How Fleeing Discomfort Is Holding Back Your Fundraising

Fundraising is filled with uncertainty, vulnerability, and moments of discomfort—but what happens when those feelings start driving our decisions? In this episode of What The Fundraising, Mallory Erickson dives into the hidden ways fundraisers respond to discomfort and how those stress responses can unintentionally derail fundraising success.

Drawing from her executive coaching work and research on fundraiser behavior, Mallory explores how flight and freeze responses show up in everyday fundraising activities. From avoiding donor conversations to endlessly perfecting reports and strategies, these patterns can keep fundraisers stuck in cycles of busy work, scattered action, and missed opportunities.

Listeners will learn how to recognize when stress is influencing their fundraising decisions and how to build the capacity to sit with uncertainty, have deeper donor conversations, and take the actions that truly move their organizations forward.

In this episode, you will be able to:

Recognize how discomfort impacts fundraising decisions.

Understand the connection between stress responses and fundraising behaviors.

Identify when busy work is replacing meaningful fundraising action.

Learn why uncertainty can feel so dysregulating.

Understand how perfectionism can prevent fundraising progress.

Build awareness around avoidance patterns.

Develop more conscious responses to fundraising challenges.

Create stronger donor relationships through vulnerability and connection.