Jeff Schreifels
Hey everyone, thanks for joining me today. Today I have as our guest Christopher Beck. Christopher is the social director of individual and planned giving for the High Museum in Atlanta. And he's been a frontline fundraiser for over 20 years. He's also very active as a board member for AADO, Daylight Advisors, and membership co-chair for the Georgia Planned Giving Council.

And he also works very closely with AFP Global. And he's been a mentor for fundraisers of color around the country. So let's bring Christopher on and let's get into some real talk. Hey Christopher, great to have you.

Christopher Beck
Jeff,
Jeff, what's going on, man? Hey, man, no complaints, man. It's the holiday season, so we good. We good.

Jeff Schreifels
How are ya?
Yeah, it's holiday season. You're down, you're in Atlanta. I'm in Philly area. Sorry about your Falcons. I don't know if you follow them, but they're not doing so great.

Christopher Beck
Yeah. Yup. Yup.
Hey man, listen, listen, listen. I am a realist, hear me, I'm a realist Dallas Cowboy fan. So what that means is, so let me tell you what that means, right? My goal is for the Cowboys to go 500 every year. That's my goal. That's my realistic goal. Hey, I'm just saying, man. I'm just saying, know, Hey, that November thing is real for us, man. So I'm just saying.

Jeff Schreifels
⁓ well, that's even worse. That's even worse. ⁓
Wow, you really set the bar high.

All right, well, for our listeners, ⁓ Chris and I, we've known each other for a few years now. And when we, I've been thinking about Real Talk for real fundraisers and really wanting to also at the, I think part of real talk for real fundraisers is talking about equity, ⁓ equality, all the issues around DEI issues that we've had and really delving into a lot of the issues with fundraisers of color. And I thought of Christopher as a great guest, but then as I started really thinking, I'm like,

We need to do more than just have one podcast about, well, what's the play to, know, fundraisers of color. We really should do something more than that and really get in depth about issues and have a real discussion about it. And that means that, you know, I really want to set aside at least once a month or so having a discussion with Christopher and I as co-hosts really of this, where we really get into those issues. We have guests on all of those things that, ⁓ where we can have more time spending on the issues rather than just, ⁓ one podcast on this. So for 2026, we really want together kind of delve into some of those issues. But Chris, before we get into all of that, I'd really love to hear your story. ⁓ You know, talk about your journey as a fundraiser, how we met, why we're doing this, all that kind of stuff. So why don't you talk a little bit about yourself?

Christopher Beck
Yeah, sure.

Sure. Thanks, Jeff. And look, first of all, let me just share, man. Thank you for your willingness to, since we met, right? You you've always, I remember my first phone call, you you were very serious. It was in the height of COVID, actually, I remember, and the unrest, and you were really passionate about, and just really wanted to do something. And I gotta be honest, I was like, you know, is this guy for real, you know? But then the more I've gotten to know you, you really have put your time and your effort and your money behind it, like real talk. So I want to say, really appreciate that, man, because it's what it's going to take going forward, right?

But a little bit about me. I got my career started back in Nashville, Tennessee, with the Boy Scouts of America. Shout out to the Boy Scouts. ⁓ I didn't, and my people may not know this, but my former, my actual degree is in teaching, so.

Jeff Schreifels
So is mine.

Christopher Beck
Okay, cool. And so,

man, listen, I taught in the underserved part of town at the time. And that's probably was my first time realizing that it was kind of a difference in economics. And I was kind of sheltered as a kid in a good way. Love my upbringing. It was good. You know what I mean? But I just, it's probably my first time kind of just seeing economic imbalance, right?

Jeff Schreifels
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.

Christopher Beck
And so the school I taught in, again, under-resourced. And so we would have to go and get the kids after Labor Day, like literally go door knocking, right? Getting the kids to come, right? And so I'll never forget this. One of my students at the time, I didn't realize it was his home. I knocked on the door and he came to the door. He was like eight, nine at the most. He's like, Mr. Chris, Mr. Chris. I'm like, yeah, like, what's up, man?

Jeff Schreifels
Yeah.

Christopher Beck
Like when you're coming back to school and he was like, and when he came to the door, like his, he had siblings that came behind him, but he was the oldest at eight or nine. And I was like, ooh, I walked away from that house. I was like, okay, something's wrong. You know what I mean? And I said, where's your mom? And she was like, she was like, she's working, she's not here. I'm like, okay. And gave him a little paper. Like, okay, I'll see you at school in a few weeks, you know? But I walked away from that like something's wrong. And I just felt like it was more that I could do. Right?

So fast forward, I'm a person of faith. And so I made this list of things that I want to do in my next job. Right. It was like, make the community better, you know, be, you know, all these crazy things. Right. And so long story short, man, I end up applying for this job. Didn't realize what it was. And they gave me a call and didn't know what it was because

Jeff Schreifels
Mmm.
You
Mm-hmm.

Christopher Beck
I am a teacher slash fitness person. Was into fitness really big and I didn't have any non-profit experience. And they gave me an interview and again, they gave me a ride day and I took the ride day with this guy named Harold Witherspoon. Shout out to Harold. Great guy who became ⁓ my boss. He's a good friend, mentor to this day. He's like my brother to this day. But Harold taught me, he taught me how to do this work from a relational way, Jeff, and I'll never forget it. And I owe him everything.

Outside of my faith, I owe him my career. But he taught me about relationship capital. And so long story short, I got the job with the Boy Scouts and I served in an underserved part of town again. Like I keep getting these roles, right? You know, in these underserved parts of town. So I remember going, you know, I'm about six months in, Jeff, and I'm going around and I'm going around and it's like people didn't, you know, they just...

Jeff Schreifels
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.

Christopher Beck
It's like, it was it was a disconnect between what I was trying to do and kind of who they thought we were as an organization. So long story short, man, it, was rough, you know, just getting started. But I had some good, Harold had a good boss. My other good friend, Samuel Jackson, that is his real name. Is Samuel Jackson. Sam works for a foundation in Nashville. Uh, this other guy named Martez Moore, who also works for the Boy Scouts now, who his career has been in the Boy Scouts. And we kind of, like, we were a team, like we were a team and then we kind of just did our thing and we really took scouting to another level in the area.

But as I grew in my career, I also started to see that fundraising was a big thing, right? And so you fast forward, you know, I get some other opportunities and it's been good. I've been very fortunate to work with some great organizations, the Boy Scouts, I've been with St. Jude, now I'm with the High Museum of Atlanta as the Associate Director of Individual and Planned Giving. And so it's been good. So I owe a lot of my, all of my career ⁓ to my faith and my family, and good people who've helped me along the way.

But as we know, Jeff, things have really changed over, know, I'll say since COVID, right, the unrest, things really, really, really changed a lot. And from fundraising, how we go about fundraising to kind of this new donor landscape, all the things, man, it's just a very different world now. And I think as you alluded to some of the things that we're gonna talk about in 2026, I think, those topics are kind of really things that people need to keep top of mind going forward. And I think if they don't, you're probably going to get left behind. And that's really what you don't want to be. Because again, how we did fundraising 10 years ago is very much different in 2026, let alone 20 years ago, right? So you have a different donor pool that's out here now. You have a shrinking middle class donor. But you got...

Jeff Schreifels
Thank you.
Yeah.
Yeah.

Christopher Beck
Crazy, right? You got more wealth than anything right now. And you got, I was looking at a number of other, a figure the other day, kind of the next gen and millionaire base grew by 17%, 35 and under, right? Grew by 17%. Their wealth grew more than that of the boomers, which grew like 4% last year, right? So that tells you how things are shifting around. And then so if we don't adjust as a sector, if we don't adjust, ⁓ to kind of these new trends, yeah, we're gonna be left behind.

Jeff Schreifels
Yeah, yeah.
All right. Tell me your motivation for wanting to do this co-hosting of Real Talk for real fundraisers, really focusing on fundraisers of color and the issues surrounding non-profits in that space.

Christopher Beck
Yeah, so I think now Jeff the time is right, right? I think there's no need to explain what's already been understood from 2020 going forward, right? So we know about that. We know what happened, right? Enough said, right? So now what does this new playbook look like, right? And I think for the most part, I was sharing with somebody recently, you know, there's no, in my opinion, there's no secret sauce right now to kind of how you do this fundraising thing, right? I think the sauce is being made as we go, as we kind of in this new space.

And I think how I go about it is kind of create this ⁓ safe to fail method where fail, fail fast. There are no failures like you just all learning, right? All learning, learnings. And so that's kind of how I operate because right now things are changing by the day. Again, I mentioned the next gen world, right? You got the great wealth transfer that's happening, right?

I read another stat here recently that talked about 2040, it's just a few years away, right? 2040, that the next gen group, that's gen X and millennials will own the lion's share of the wealth, lion's share. Boomers and solid generation own about 12–13% of it, right? And you also got content creators and influencer marketing right now that's...

Jeff Schreifels
Yeah.
Yeah.

Christopher Beck
If I had to say, it's kind of this new direct mail thing. It's kind of an in tandem with direct mail, right? So now is the time, right? We have to figure out how do we create this new ecosystem of charity work to engage funders and potential funders. And if you don't, as charities, if you don't kind of keep what you have currently, steward and build that, sunset things when you need to, but also try to build this new cadre of engagement tools. You gotta be able to do both at the same time.

And I think that's where a lot of people, some are saying, well, I'll just stay, I'll keep my old methods of doing things, you know, and that's fine. You totally have your choice to do that. But I will say, watch out, right? And to throw in, I was talking to a friend yesterday.

Jeff Schreifels
Yeah.

Christopher Beck
She's from Peru and she's in the charity space. She was talking about different communities, right? And so we were talking about how now is, you know, irrespectively, you know, it used to be back in the day, you know, middle-aged white guy writing a check, all the things, right? Well, now you have, you now have communities, right? Hispanic, AAPI, Black, LGBTQ, next-gen. So if you're not...

Jeff Schreifels
Okay.

Christopher Beck
As a charity, as a director, if you don't have your tentacles in all those different communities, you're gonna be left out because each one of those communities now have fun, they have spending power, right? But here's the deal, they have, but they give very differently, right?

One of my friends who's in the LGBT community, he was talking about how recently he went to an event and you know, somewhere and... He said he didn't feel, ⁓ he said he just didn't feel welcome, right? Not that anybody treated him bad, but he just didn't, he didn't feel the connection, right? He didn't, he said something was missing, right?

And so now as a director, as a charity leader, I mean, a director of a charity, you have to figure out how do you bring in and make everybody feel inclusive, right?

Jeff Schreifels
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.

Christopher Beck
Everybody, right? So it's not enough just to be like, it's like this. No. You know what I mean? So that's why this podcast, you said, well, why now? Because these are the issues, opportunities that we have to deal with in the sector. You can't hide behind it anymore. You can if you want to. You can duck your head, but you're going to lose out.

And the other piece, and I'll let you share here in a second. I was also sharing yesterday with my friend that philanthropists are very sophisticated now, right? And they have choices, right? Because you have the middle donor shrinkage is real, it's happening, like it's going on right now, but you have more wealth. So if you think about it, the philanthropists actually controls kind of the, they have a lion's share of the landscape now, right?

They can kind of dictate to the charities kind of what they want, right? Meaning I want access to your board, I want this, I want this, this, this. And if they don't get it, well, OK, well, I'll just go somewhere else, right? Until that charity can meet them kind of where they are. And so that's a whole nother caveat. And I don't think people really think about it. I think about that, right?

The last count, actually, it was over 2 million charities, 2 million charities in the US alone that donors have to choose from. And if, as a charity, if you can't meet that prospective donor kind of where they are, or even the current donor, make them feel like they're included, or they have a voice, they'll just leave. I mean, because they got choices. You know what I'm saying?

Christopher Beck
So that’s why this podcast and others like this are gonna be so crucial going forward.

Jeff Schreifels
Well, in prep for this podcast, you put together five really meaty questions that you wanted to ask me. So I've been doing a deep dive because I'm like, I better have some good answers for Christopher. But as I got into it, I realized, well, these questions are really...

Christopher Beck
Hahaha

Jeff Schreifels
Each one of these could be its own podcast. And so as I thought about it, we were talking about this, how let’s go through these five here and kind of give a little overview of some of my thoughts around it. But then we want to take each one of these over the course of 2026, bring on some guests to really talk into those questions and amplify them a little more about what the answers really should be, where we should go.

Because we were talking earlier where you said, you know what, we need to stop talking about everything and start doing some things, taking action. And at Veritus we're all about, it's not enough to talk about, we got to do this. ⁓ And so I just think, I think now would be great...

Christopher Beck
Right, right, right.

Jeff Schreifels
If you could start asking me, let's get into these five questions, because this really will set the tone for what we're gonna talk about, especially the first part of 2026. So, why don’t you get into it? Let's do it.

Christopher Beck
Right.
Let's do it, man. All right.

So question number one — the current equity barrier. From your consultant perspective, what is the single biggest equity barrier you see right now in the typical non-profit fundraising office, either in their staff, board, or donor base that is actively limiting their revenue potential?

Jeff Schreifels
Yeah. So I did a lot of thought on this. And so I think the single persistent equity barrier in non-profit fundraising is really the homogeneity in decision-making power — meaning there's only white men really making decisions, ⁓ particularly within boards and senior development leadership.

⁓ And too often, I think individuals are setting fundraising strategy, approving campaigns. You know, they're defining what is success in philanthropy from that narrow cultural and socioeconomic background. So what happens then, the result of that is that messaging fails to resonate with diverse communities, right?

If only white people are setting the tone, it may not hit well with people of diverse communities. And then the networks that circulate within the same, they're all about the same circles of wealth and influence. We're not moving beyond that. And then hiring practices really, it really replicates the dominant culture.

So you hire white folks, you limit innovation. And I mean, I don’t think you're just — don’t think — I think what happens is you don't — you're not really authentic. ⁓ So it's not just a moral thing to create equity. It's really a structural thing that needs to happen because otherwise organizations, they're just kind of fishing in the same small donor pond. They’re neglecting other broader networks of wealth in communities of color, immigrant communities, younger LGBTQ, values-driven donors — they're being left out.

So that's, I think, the decision-making power — that's the biggest thing right now. That's the barrier for equity.

Christopher Beck
Appreciate that, Jeff. That's huge, man. Again, guys, these are just some of the questions, right? So we're giving you guys a little teaser, right?

⁓ So number two — the financial upside of diversification. Beyond the moral argument, what are the tangible financial opportunities for an organization that intentionally diversifies its donor base? How does opening the door to new communities actually increase the total money raised — and which major demographic is most often overlooked?

Jeff Schreifels
Yeah. You know how like this year we — you know, when government funding went down for a lot of organizations — and so everyone was talking about, you got to diversify your revenue sources, you know, and they were talking about, you know, you can't just rely on foundations or corporate. You also have to — you got to have a good mid and major gift program. You've got to have that, you know?

So those kinds of strategies, diversifying your revenue — but you also really need to think about diversifying your donor base. Because when you're not doing that, you're losing out on revenue from other communities that would give to you if you reached out to them — and you're not doing that. So it’s smart to expand your own market by doing that and engaging other communities.

Christopher Beck
Yeah, you're right.

Jeff Schreifels
Because it will increase the total number of your households that are giving. It improves retention because you're expanding the types of donors that are a part of your mission now. And that fosters, I think, a lot of loyalty. You attract corporate and foundation partners that are really prioritized around equity-centered grantees.

⁓ You know, so I mean if you look at Latinx, Asian American, African American wealthy individuals — that is the most rapidly growing segment of US philanthropy. In fact, Black donors give a higher proportion of their disposable income to charity than white donors do — but they're rarely ever cultivated as major gift prospects. Engaging those donors, I think, ⁓ through culturally competent stewardship can lead to more revenue. So it's not just, yeah, morally we should be including more people into our work — but there's a financial, huge financial upside.

Christopher Beck
Absolutely.

Jeff Schreifels
That we're losing out with — out on — by not including other donors of color. ⁓

And then, you know...

Christopher Beck
That's going to be one that I really want us to get into next year because I think to your point — I mean, all that, all that's facts, so facts — but it's like, I think also people don't understand how you have — if you have not done your homework and kind of really went into those different communities and put in time, sweat equity, and built authentic real relationships...

I think that's where people get — most charities get frustrated. They're like, “Well, that person don't want to give if they’re, you know, Asian or whatever.” Well, have you really put in the time? Have you really went in and put in the time to understand how that community works? Right? Because every community has a certain way that it moves, right?

And you have to give respect to each community to understanding how it moves. And you can't just go in — “Well, we're the charity.”

Jeff Schreifels
Exactly.
Yes.
Yes.

Christopher Beck
Now keep in mind what I said — now the charities now don't really per se have ownership. It's really the donors and the philanthropists. They do. So if you don't give respect to that — to each community — you're going to kind of be left out.

Jeff Schreifels
Yeah.
Yeah.

And what we know from research is that donors — high net worth donors of color, particularly like first generation wealth holders — they prefer relationship-driven engagement versus transactional solicitations. You can't have that unless you are in those communities. You are having those discussions. You are gaining that trust. But that also means from the non-profit perspective, you need to diversify...

Christopher Beck
Yep.
Absolutely. Absolutely.

Jeff Schreifels
The type of fundraisers that you have. You need to have people — fundraisers of color — if you are also going to be in those communities and those different groups of donors. You have to represent.

Christopher Beck
Absolutely.

And I was talking to another person, ⁓ sector colleague in a different state, and they were talking about how one of their donors told them — they had a donor of color — and the donor said it was hard for them to see themselves in their organization. They didn't see themselves in it. You know what I mean?

So here you got the frontline person trying to do all they can to be like, “No, but we really do care,” right? You know, and the organization does care, right? But he was having a — they were having a really hard time getting the donor to say, “Hey, you know, we are doing this.”

So then that goes back to what you're talking about — you know, making sure that you're having those internal communications with your marketing team, your board, whoever — to be like, “Look, we gotta, you know, here's an opportunity to get better, right? We can bring in more people if we just kind of switch this up just a little bit.” You know what I mean?

So yeah, so again, that's why this...

Jeff Schreifels
Yeah.
Yeah.
That’s right. That’s right.

Christopher Beck
Podcast would be — it's going to be big. You know, let's ask one more, right? Let's see. The talent retention asset.

The fundraising sector struggles with staff turnover. How does building an inclusive and equitable internal culture in the development office become a core fundraising asset — one that helps you attract, retain, and empower top talent who in turn drive greater long-term revenue?

Jeff Schreifels
Yeah. Well, first of all, ⁓

Turnover is really expensive. It costs the — doing studies — it costs between six and nine months of a person's salary or position lost. So that's expensive.

But then in fundraising, it's even more because when you are shuffling front, you know, frontline fundraisers in and out — let’s say every 13 to 15 months — you're never really establishing those deep relationships with donors. And so then you bring on another one, and I've heard from donors like, “That organization does some good work, but I have to tell you, something's not right because I have a new representative calling me every year — a different person's on working with me. And it makes me think something's wrong over there.”

Okay, so that's from just...

Christopher Beck
Mmm.
Mm.
Ooh. And Jeff, hold up, hold up, hold up.
And you said a donor told you this. I mention this, see? So that's, that's... Yeah.

Jeff Schreifels
Yes, yes.

But when you have an inclusive, equitable internal culture, you attract more diverse candidates who have broader networks. You retain staff because you're fostering psychological safety...

Christopher Beck
Mmm.

Jeff Schreifels
And really being transparent on their career pathway. So for example, you can't just, “We need to diversify and let's hire a fundraiser of color,” and everyone else is white. That’s the culture. I mean, you probably have been in this situation — and it's not comfortable. And many of those fundraisers don't feel safety.

And so you have to create that environment prior to all of that happening. ⁓

And then with that, then you're empowering emerging leaders. So you're bringing on a more diverse staff that eventually will lead to more emerging leaders of color to help shape the strategy — which I was talking about the first time thing where it was too homogeneous in the decision-making power. So that leads to a more diverse strategy as well.

Christopher Beck
That's real talk, Jeff.
Yep.

Jeff Schreifels
And as a result, you get greater continuity of donor relationships and then a team that's really emotionally invested in the mission. ⁓ And that's really a key ingredient, I think, for consistent year-over-year growth and revenue. So this talent thing is really important, and we’ll get into that a lot as well.

Christopher Beck
Yeah.
Yeah, but these are just some of the questions, guys, that we're going to be talking about again. And I want to be clear. This is not — we are not bashing anybody. I want to be — we want to be clear. This is simply a conversation — things that we all think about whether you say it or not — like you think about it. Right?

And so, and so again, like we talked about, there's no need to explain what's already understood. We've been through that. So now how do we move forward, right? That’s why groups like AADO, Black Canadian Fundraisers, just ⁓ Rising Colors Professionals — all these groups, you know, exist for support.

Some of our brothers, ⁓ one of my Asian brothers in AADO, Shane Carlin, who's doing a phenomenal job in the Asian philanthropic community. Some of my brothers in the Hispanic community doing some big work there. So this is how things are moving now. And you're gonna have to connect with...

Jeff Schreifels
Yeah. Yeah.

Christopher Beck
You know, Black Women Fundraisers — like all the things. Like this, this, this is kind of — I don’t want to say new — this is the sector now. This is not, you know, this is — this is the sector now. And you know, whether you accept it or not, that's left up to you. But here it is. And it's not going anywhere.

Jeff Schreifels
Right. All right, we've got two more questions going on.

Christopher Beck
That's right. That's right. OK. Last two. ⁓ OK.

Here’s a good one, Jeff.
Actionable stewardship and major gifts — how does an equitable approach to donor stewardship change the conversation with major donors? Can you share a concrete example of how changing a specific policy or practice led to a deeper relationship or a larger, more sustained gift?

Jeff Schreifels
Okay. So this is how I think equity changes donor cultivation.

Equitable stewardship really recognizes donors as partners in community change — not just capital. So it's not about just their money, it's about them being real partners. ⁓ So the shift in the conversation is something like “what we need from you” to “what we can achieve together.” So that’s, you know, it’s just kind of overall — that's kind of how you think about it. ⁓

But a concrete example — I am aware of this one organization — they revised their naming policy. So they had this, you know, certain donors, they give them a type of — you're a leadership donor or that kind of thing...

Christopher Beck
Mm-hmm.
Mm.
Yep.

Jeff Schreifels
So they had prioritized large single-source donors. ⁓ And what they did was they changed it to coalition naming — recognizing collective giving from community members. So they would take small gifts pooled from like BIPOC-led businesses and created a coalition kind of named thing.

Christopher Beck
Mmm.
Wow.
Love that, love that.

Jeff Schreifels
And so it wasn’t about just individual, but a collective. So they got broader ownership from the new community center that they were trying to get funding for. New relationships with the business owners who were previously left out because those businesses couldn't give a $100,000 gift or a $10,000 gift. They were able to pool together these smaller gifts.

Christopher Beck
Mm-hmm.
Mm.

Jeff Schreifels
But even so, they got a six-figure gift from a major donor who loved the new approach. Like they were inspired, so they gave a big gift for that. So I think when donors see that equity is actually embedded in your practice — and it's not just language, going back to, you know, doing the stuff, not just saying the stuff — trust from the donors and investment deepens.

Christopher Beck
Time.
So you bring up another good point, right? Everybody wants ⁓ unrestricted funds, right?

So, when you — what you just said — but when you can show impact and clear demonstration, you will get unrestricted funds when it’s made very clear, right? And that's what I heard from that, right? That’s nice. That's good work. So shout out to the organization. Shout out.

So last question, here we go. The future risk of resistance.

Five years from now, what would be the biggest difference in terms of financial health in an organization between a development office that embraces equity and inclusion — and one that resisted? Uh-oh.

Okay. All right. So I think there are five major areas. First one I'll talk about — revenue streams.

So equity-embracing organizations — they will see diverse, resilient, community-integrated donor bases versus the equity-resistant — we'll call them the equity-resistant organizations — they're going to have a shrinking pool of aging, homogenous donors.

Christopher Beck
Mmm.
You — whoa.

Jeff Schreifels
Okay, it’s just gonna happen.

The next is reputation. So the equity-embracing organizations — they’re gonna be seen as trustworthy, relevant, and future-oriented. Versus the equity-resistant ones are gonna be viewed as outdated and just disconnected.

And then you look at just talent — that area. The equity-embracing organizations — they’re gonna retain creative, diverse, mission-aligned fundraisers. The equity-resistant organizations — they're gonna have high turnover, low morale, and limited innovation.

And then the next one is partnerships. The community-embracing ones — they’re going to be eligible for equity-focused corporate, government, and foundation funding. And the equity-resistant — they're going to miss out on all those major growth opportunities.

And then finally, sustainability. So the equity-embracing organizations — they're really going to be built for the long term. They're going to be adaptable and they're going to have belonging. The equity-resistant organizations — they are going to be financially fragile and then culturally they’ll be just tone deaf. ⁓

Those are pretty stark — the difference between equity-embracing and equity-resistant organizations over the next five years. So I mean...

Christopher Beck
Mm-hmm.
Mmm.

Jeff Schreifels
If you're a non-profit and you haven't really embraced this, you're going to be in trouble. You are going to be in trouble. I don't care what this new current administration is promoting. And we're already seeing the backlash of this administration and just their hatred that they're spewing. ⁓

We are going to be moving this way. ⁓

So I really think that ultimately, non-profits that resist equity — they're gonna lose funding and they'll lose legitimacy. ⁓ But those that embrace it really will redefine what effective philanthropy is going to look like in the next generation.

Christopher Beck
Wow, Jeff. I mean, that's a mic drop right there, man. That’s big talk.

Jeff Schreifels
I mean, I think this is why all five of these questions that you sent me several weeks ago — and I’ve been pondering them for a long time now — is so important and why we want to really use these five questions to launch this for Real Talk for Real Fundraisers, because this is important stuff. We've got to, you know, there's all...

Everyone's in right-now time. What are the trends for 2026? You know, everyone wants trends — that's the big thing. What's big? This area right here should be one of the things that you really tackle as a non-profit. These five questions are things that you need to tackle and that’s why we want to get into it.

Christopher Beck
Man, we are excited. You know, again, this is just trying to help the sector get better. You know, we all win together, right? You know?

And so this is what it's about. And so just having real talk — again, not calling out anybody or any organization. We just trying to just make people — our job here, guys, is to make you think. It's to make you think about what if, and what could be, and what's your part in it, right?

And how will you help the sector that we all love, that we all got into to make the world a better place — all the things that we know and say — but what's going to be your part? Because now is not the time to sit on the sideline and just wait for everybody else to do their thing. Nope, you gotta jump in. You don’t have to, but it would help. But some of us are really jumping in — as they say, 10 toes down. We all in.

Jeff Schreifels
Exactly.
Yeah.
Yeah. Well, ⁓ this has been fun. I'm really glad we finally got to launch this together. 2026 is going to be awesome. And ⁓ I'm loving going to be grappling with these questions with you, Chris. I think ⁓ that's what Real Talk's all about. We're going to have some great guests on. We will get in-depth about some of this...

Christopher Beck
I know, right?
Okay, cool.
Yep.

Jeff Schreifels
All of these questions. But for the listeners here — yeah, Real Talk for Real Fundraisers in 2026 — this is going to be part of this. Along with some of the other topics that we'll always be discussing, this is going to be a recurring one that Chris and I are going to co-host for 2026. So we look forward to that. So thanks, everyone, for listening. And we’ll see you next time.