There are those who believe that the donor-centric fundraising model may be perpetuating the very inequity we seek to address in the nonprofit sector.
One such person is Vu Le, writer, speaker, and former Executive Director of Rainier Valley Corps, a nonprofit in Seattle that promotes social justice. He believes there’s a better way – community-centric fundraising.
Vu is joined on today’s podcast by Michelle Shireen Muri, strategic advisor and consulting coach who co-chairs The Council for Community-Centric Fundraising, a movement founded on the belief that fundraising should be first and foremost grounded in race, equity and social justice.
This podcast will challenge you to examine and think deeply about your relationship with donors and will define and elaborate on the principles of community-centric fundraising.
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About Vu Le
Vu Le (“voo lay”) is a writer, speaker, vegan, Pisces, and was the Executive Director of Rainier Valley Corps, a nonprofit in Seattle that promotes social justice by developing leaders of color, strengthening organizations led by communities of color, and fostering collaboration between diverse communities. Known for his no-BS approach, irreverent sense of humor, and love of unicorns, Vu has been featured in dozens, if not hundreds, of his own blog posts at NonprofitAF.com, formerly nonprofitwithballs.com. Vu does keynotes, panels, and other speaking gigs and can talk about a variety of subjects: funding dynamics, cultural competency, self-care, unicorns, and what Game of Thrones can teach us about the nonprofit field. Has a spouse and 2 kids. Stepped down from Rainier Valley Corps to focus on writing. Stepped down as ED in December because of burnout and desire to spend more time with family and other endeavors. Maintains an active blog at Nonprofit AF.
About Michelle Shireen Muri
Michelle Shireen Muri is a strategic advisor, collaborator, fundraiser and coach at Freedom Conspiracy, Co-Chair of The Council for Community-Centric Fundraising and host of The Ethical Rainmaker, a new podcast, coming soon!
Ignited by a beautiful volunteer experience, Michelle has crafted her career through 15 years of resource generation through social justice movements. Her successes and tenure at Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, now the largest immigrant rights org in the nation, gave her a critical lens towards fundraising and a deep love of community solidarity.
She believes there is deep power and personal healing in the work of generating resources from a values-aligned space.
Credentials: Board Member, Sexual Violence Law Center, Fellow, Sergeant Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, Washington Equal Justice Community Leadership Academy, Fellow, NYU Wagner School of Public Service Women of Color Lead The Way Fellowship
