A 30% Revenue Increase in a Year with Madeline Taylor
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Tired of the same old fundraising that just doesn't reflect your community? Wish you could break free from the stuffy, traditional approaches and find ways to authentically connect with your donors?
In this episode, we ditch “best practices” and dove headfirst into fundraising in the queer community with Madeline Taylor, Development Manager at Out On Screen. Madeline, a passionate community builder and champion for equity, shares the strategic thinking behind their approach and how to channel the vibrant energy of your community into impactful fundraising. Out On Screen throws fundraising events true to them - drag shows, burlesque, 20-minute land acknowledgements, storytelling, and more.
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Key Episode Highlights:
Representation Matters: Building a board and staff that genuinely reflect the community you serve is crucial. It's not just about understanding fundraising – it's about understanding the lived experiences of those you aim to support.
Authenticity is Everything: Out On Screen's bold fundraising approaches, from playful drag shows to introspective partnerships, showcase a deep connection to their queer community. Don't be afraid to let your organization's true values shine through in your fundraising efforts.
Relationship-First Fundraising: Madeline emphasizes the importance of building lasting relationships with donors and community members, moving beyond one-time transactions and into meaningful partnerships.
Room for Growth: Even with the best intentions, there's always space to improve communication and relationship management in fundraising. Acknowledging this allows for continuous learning and evolution.
Values Alignment: Out On Screen carefully considers the ethics of funding sources, ensuring partnerships align with their mission and don't allow donors to simply "queer-wash" their image.
Don’t forget to become a supporter of our show!
Watch this episode on Youtube: https://youtu.be/xIU8e5L5UU0
Links and Resources:
Madeline Taylor (LinkedIn): linkedin.com/in/madeline-taylor-017
Out On Screen: https://outonscreen.com/
Vancouver Black Therapy and Advocacy Foundation: https://vancouverblacktherapyfoundation.com/
How to Carry Water: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28117412/
Connect with Maria on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mariario/
Support the show: https://www.buzzsprout.com/208666/supporters/new
1946: The Mistranslation that Shifted Culture: https://www.1946themovie.com/
Connect with Maria on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mariario/
Support the show: https://www.buzzsprout.com/208666/supporters/new
Transcript:
00:00:00 Madeline: The queer community has a lot of facets, as I've said, and one of those is sexuality. It was a very fun and sexy event. And I think that it's really, I find it empowering to be able to put on events like that, even though, like, based on my identity, that film wasn't necessarily for me. At the same time, being able to create a space like that where we can, like collectively experience something that's really pushing the envelope is an important part of queer community and I'm really proud that we could create that space.
00:00:38 Maria: Hi, friends. Ever wondered how you could turn your big ideas into results? I'm Maria Rio, your go-to guide for helping small nonprofits have real world impacts. Together, let's reimagine a better sector, tackle systemic issues, and yes, raise some serious cash. Welcome back to The Small Nonprofit, the podcast where your passion meets action.
00:01:10 Maria: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast. I'm your host, Maria Rio. And today, I have a really awesome guest with me today. So Madeline Taylor, who I've actually had the pleasure of working with over the past year, is here to share all their expertise on all good things on authentic fundraising. Hi, Madeline. How are you?
00:01:34 Madeline: I'm good. Thanks so much for having me. This is a bit of a thrill. So I really appreciate the invitation.
00:01:40 Maria: I'm so happy that you find this thrilling. And I'm really excited to share the conversation with all of our listeners.
00:01:47 Madeline: For sure.
00:01:48 Maria: Madeline, can you introduce yourself to our audience?
00:01:51 Madeline: Yeah, so again, my name is Madeline Taylor. My pronouns are they, them, and she, her. And for the last three and a half years, I've worked full-time in fundraising at Out On Screen, which is an organization based out of Vancouver, BC, which is on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. And we run the Vancouver Queer Film Festival as well as the Out in Schools program.
00:02:19 Madeline: And before that, my background was in podcasting and radio making and community radio. So that's why I find jumping back into the podcast space, even as a guest, to be a nice hearkening back to my previous career focus. So yeah. That's sort of the overview of me. Oh, and one thing I'll add as well is that I'm currently the fundraising consultant for the Vancouver Black Therapy and Advocacy Foundation, although that is a volunteer role.
00:02:50 Maria: Nice, that's awesome. And thanks so much for volunteering as a fundraising consultant. Not many people do that, so, good for you. But yeah, I wanted to talk about Out On Screen because I've been lucky enough to work with the organization over the past year on your fundraising. And there was so much that you're doing there that is so unique to your specific community, so authentic, so in line with what the queer community feels and thinks and behaves and all these really interesting parts. So I'd love to kind of dive into that a little bit deeper. So could you tell us a little bit about the programming more, in depth?
00:03:29 Madeline: For sure. Yeah. So as I said, I've been with Out On Screen for three and a half years and I'm their individual giving officer. We've run the Vancouver Queer Film Festival for the last 35 years. Last year was our 35th anniversary festival. Every year the festival is run in August, although we're in the process of reworking when the dates might be. So keep it, if you're interested in film or part of the queer community, keep an eye out for that.
00:03:58 Madeline: Yeah, and so the festival is 11 days long, it showcases up to about 90 different films, feature length and short films from all over the world. And under the leadership of our new artistic director, Charlie Hidalgo, every film that we showcase is made by queer, trans and two-spirit folks, as well as being about queer, trans and two-spirit folks. So along with all of the screenings, we have industry panels and lots of parties. We're very good at throwing a party. And we have this year, sorry, this past year in August, we also showcased a lot of local performers.
00:04:46 Madeline: So that was drag and comedians, and which added extra flavor and also was just a way for us to connect with different audiences from the community because, you know, we talk about the queer community, but it's not a monolith. There are so many, sort of sub communities within the queer community. And so inviting performers from many different respective backgrounds into the space was a really great way to start to expand who we're speaking to and hopefully creating, programming for. So that's VQFF.
00:05:20 Madeline: And then Out In Schools, which is the other branch of what Out On Screen does is an education program focused on SOGI education, which is Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity education. A bit of a hot topic right now across Canada, but in BC, it is a mandated part of school curriculum. So what our team does is we offer presentations about terminology and just conversations aimed at de-stigmatizing and educating people about the lives of 2SLGTBQIA+ people.
00:06:04 Madeline: And the way that we share those teachings with students is by showcasing age-appropriate short films which has been a really powerful way into those conversations and an opportunity to create empathy and spaces for dialogue. So then we have follow-up conversations in classrooms led by our team of incredible facilitators, again, folks from a range of backgrounds and identities who travel all around the province delivering these presentations all throughout the year.
00:06:39 Madeline: And this last year, we reached close to our pre-pandemic numbers, which was a really big deal for us, the pandemic, obviously because everything that we do is mostly in-person work. The pandemic hit us pretty hard, but we've adapted well and we're coming back stronger. So this last year we reached about 12,000 youth for the first time since 2019. So that was really exciting.
00:07:08 Maria: I love how all the programming has queer people at the center of it and love that you're saying that there's different communities within the queer community because that's something that, if you're not a part of it, you might not be super aware of, but I love how well represented many of these communities are at your organization's programming and even internally to your organization. So like the staff, the volunteers, the board, I think every single person there is part of the community. Am I right?
00:07:38 Madeline: Yes. Yeah. Obviously, it's not something that we don't explicitly require people to come out in interviews or anything, but it's very important for us that people, because that's illegal, but it's very important for us to make sure that people are very competent and familiar with the community. And again, the community writ large is an umbrella term that I'm gonna use, but just for listeners to know, if you're not queer in any way, that means a lot of different things for a lot of different people.
00:08:13 Maria: And how do you think having that lived experience on staff and at a governance level impacts your programming and how you fundraise and how you recognize donors, any of all those good things?
00:08:26 Madeline: Yeah, in a lot of different ways. I think that one element of it is that anyone who has come to realize that they themselves are, you know, two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, non-binary, intersex, asexual, or anything else, has had to rethink the way that we as individuals are taught to be in this society, and has likely experienced some level of marginalization as a result of coming into that truth within themselves. So I think that from that perspective, there's a little bit more space for people to empathize with other folks who are coming from other areas of marginalization. And I think that in terms of connection, many folks who come to those identities don't necessarily have, easy connection with their biological families.
00:09:34 Madeline: And so people are more inclined to find community and chosen family outside of their childhood homes by necessity. But it also means that we're really good at organizing and getting together and creating joy in unconventional ways and spaces. So I think from that perspective, it means that there's a lot of willingness to experiment. There's a lot of willingness to try new things. And there's just a little bit more openness in terms of everyone's perspective, which I love personally.
00:10:09 Maria: I'd love to talk about the festival a little bit more in depth, because I was lucky enough to go this past year for the 35th iteration of it. It was amazing, of course. I'm sure it's amazing every single year, but there were so many things about it that stood out to me specifically as someone who loves Community-Centric Fundraising, as so unique to your community and maybe to your organization actually, of how you're engaging with the broader queer community.
00:10:38 Maria: Because I've seen other organizations maybe closer to home for me that care specifically to white, gay, older men. And only, even though they say like, we serve the queer community, X, Y, and Z, like maybe your programming does serve more than that, but your fundraising definitely does not. And neither do your fundraising efforts. So that to me was something that felt very different about the festival. And I'd love, if you could give our audience maybe like one or two examples that we can dive into.
00:11:07 Madeline: Yeah, for sure. Well, I mean, first of all, I'll say that there is a large proportion of our donors who are older cis white gay men. And they're wonderful, largely wonderful folks and we're very grateful that they're involved and many of them have been dedicated supporters for 10 plus, 15 plus years. And most of those folks are super open to the changes that we've made and supporting the staff in direction that we want to take at the festival and at the organization that are different from the way they were and things were in like the early 2000s or in the 90s or in the late 80s even.
00:11:52 Madeline: While all of those folks are very important and a lot of them have been involved in the organization and supporting the festival in particular for many years, the community is hugely broad and we know that it's essential to support and showcase stories from as many perspectives as possible, especially perspectives from people of color and Indigenous people and Black folks, because we want to be creating a space that is welcoming and open and created by and for people who are not white, as people are saying the folks of the global majority, which is completely true.
00:12:31 Madeline: And so some of the ways that we're going about Community-Centric Fundraising in that manner is that we make sure to value all of the gifts that we receive, regardless of amount, in the same way, as much as possible. We are… We're doing outreach to lots of different kinds of donors. So not just completely focused on the folks who have been involved for many years, but also doing our best to connect with people who are only able to give a little bit right now, but maybe in a few years would be able to either volunteer their time or connect us to people in their network who have more resources, financial or otherwise, who would want to support the festival.
00:13:16 Madeline: We're also changing the way that we choose locations for festival events, so making sure that we have events in different parts of the city that aren't only, so for Vancouver specifically. The West End is sort of typically the, like gay neighborhood around Davie Street, but a lot of people who are not necessarily just gay men live in tons of other parts of the city. And so we had the majority of our events this year, actually in the downtown Eastside. Another thing is that all of our tickets, our theater tickets, there's access pricing available. And so we want to make sure that we never turn anyone away for lack of funds.
00:14:05 Madeline: And then the final thing that I'll mention is that we give tons of ticketing away to community groups. So we are just literally inviting people in and just saying, like, we would love it for you to be part of our audiences, experience what we're doing here. Hopefully see some film that is going to inspire you and help you feel represented. And that's been really hugely successful as well.
00:14:32 Maria: Speaking of the films, it was so nice to feel that way because for many queer people, like you definitely don't see yourself represented very often in a way that feels authentic. So to be able to see you, films like How to Carry Water, showcasing fat bodies and what that meant as a queer person and [inaudible] The Family that was directed by a trans person telling his story with his mixed family and what that is like was just so different because a lot of the times we kind of forget that these marginalizations are not just living in a bubble. You're not just an immigrant, you are also X, Y and Z.
00:15:14 Maria: So all these, kind of, different intersections being showcased in the films is so important and it's so nice to hear that there was community partnership in giving tickets at accessible pricing to other organizations. We have accessible organization pricing. We have the locations being accessible as well and also scattered so different kinds of queer community members can come and attend. And I also wanted to talk about the films a little bit more. So I'm sure you remember my shock after watching this movie, because honestly I've never been at an organization event that showcases porn so openly.
00:15:55 Madeline: Yeah.
00:15:57 Maria: But it was a packed room. And I think that made me feel like this film, which is Le Beau Mec, is not for me, even though I'm part of this community. This is not the subsection that I'm a part of. So while I was sitting in that room, watching this guy tell his story about his life, living in a France and being, as he calls it, a hustler, a sex worker. It was really interesting to see how I felt in that room and how the fundraising was being done through like we're less dancing and QR codes and the people in the room who were there to watch the movie and how they all kind of had a similar demographic. So I love if you could talk a little bit more about that specific intro to that movie and then maybe we could jump into some other intros to other movies.
00:16:52 Madeline: For sure. Yeah, so Le Beau Mec is a refurbished 70s art house porn film. It is very explicit. And yeah, it drew a very particular audience. I think like the viewing perspective and the energy that we wanted to create around the event was that it was like very cheeky and naughty but also like that it was a piece of art and that it was a piece of archival art because film from the 70s has a particular patina and especially, you know, anything pornographic from the 70s has a particular patina. So yeah, it was, we approached it tongue-in-cheek and we had a lot of fun creating the programming around it.
00:17:42 Madeline: We wanted to, one of the approaches that we take to fundraising during the festival is doing live asks. So we will ask donors who tend to give larger gifts throughout the year if they would be open to sharing a bit about why they give before certain films. And we'll use that as a jumping off point usually to create an ask for the audience and oftentimes a match challenge. So bigger donors will put up a certain amount of money and then hopefully we can match it from the audience.
00:18:18 Madeline: So in the case of Le Beau Mec, what we did was we hired two incredible dancers from the community who usually do go-go dancing. And they're these gorgeous people who came in fantastic outfits and they put together some music beforehand. And we had it as a surprise for the audience that there would be, live dance before the film. And their performance was sexier than any of the other performances that we had before films or at parties throughout the rest of the festival because the audience was there and ready to watch a sexually explicit film.
00:18:59 Madeline: Because we were trying to raise money at the same time, I had the idea of the dancers actually wearing QR codes on their bodies that people could scan. And we had a slogan above the QR code that said, scan me, daddy, which again, super tongue in cheek, very, very naughty and very fun. So it worked really well. And if we were to program a film of similar theme, it's definitely an approach I would try again.
00:19:36 Maria: That was wild. Yes.
00:19:38 Madeline: Yeah.
00:19:39 Maria: I was like, I've never seen an organization take this approach. And I'm so happy you did that because it was a huge success to do that 50/50 campaign and to really bring it home to people in a way that they can't ignore it.
00:19:53 Madeline: No, no. It was very in your face.
00:19:55 Maria: Something else about that beginning of the screening that I found really interesting was the actual leadership that was involved. So we had Brandon Yan, the executive director, wearing these super wide mesh shirts. You can see a lot. And then we have one of our board members who was in full drag. And they were both presenting the organization, talking about the work outside of the film festival, asking for donations, and just really being, as you said, tongue in cheek. I found that very, very interesting and very aligned with the vibe of the community and everything that we do. And then while you had that event at Le Beau Mec, you also had other films like Girlfriends and Girlfriends that spoke to other parts of the community, which was also really great.
00:20:44 Madeline: Yeah, absolutely. One thing I'll say just about the leadership presenting and Karan, who is one of our board members, was in full drag that night, which was fantastic. I'd never seen him in full drag before. So, and I wish I could remember the name of his drag character, I would have to ask, but anyways, I think, you know, the queer community has a lot of facets, as I've said, and one of those is sexuality. And it was a very fun and like, it was a very fun and sexy event.
00:21:20 Madeline: And I think that it's really, I find it empowering to be able to put on events like that, even though, like, based on my identity, that film wasn't necessarily for me. At the same time, being able to create a space like that where we can, like collectively experience something that's really pushing the envelope is an important part of queer community and I'm really proud that we could create that space and that it was such a success.
00:21:51 Madeline: In terms of other films, we, so we, the, what our artistic director tries to do is make sure that there's, like, something for everybody. And so there was another film called Girlfriends and Girlfriends that you just mentioned that was very focused on the lesbian community. I was there with a lot of my friends and it was a packed theater again. There were… There was a lot of excitement around it. And once the film got going, it was really focused around just messy relationships between lesbians in Barcelona.
00:22:26 Madeline: And something that I found really enjoyable was the connections that I was seeing between lesbian culture here and things that were paralleled in Barcelona. So that was a really fun moment as well. And yeah, was there anything else, any other films that you… really stood out for you that you wanted to focus on?
00:22:49 Maria: Yeah, the other film that comes to mind is, so your Centerpiece film, 1946, is speaking to a different sentiment that a lot of queer people carry. So yes, we do have a sexy, fun, flirty side. We're very amazing, you know, but there's also a lot of pain in the community. So while we used the fun, sexy, flirty side to fundraise, I want to talk about the introduction to 1946. So 1946 follows a director telling her story, discovering the mistranslation of a word in the Bible that led to a lot of ostracizing and marginalization of the queer community.
00:23:30 Maria: So it's an amazing film, definitely recommend you check it out. Before it showed the film, we had a two-spirit Indigenous speaker, and then you had, I think, also a staff person, talked about the importance of the work. So I'd love, if you could tell us a little bit about why you chose that, what they spoke about and how successful that was.
00:23:55 Madeline: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, as you mentioned, 1946 is focused on the Bible and the way that Christianity, especially in North America, has been weaponized against the queer community and continues to be weaponized against the queer community to scapegoat many folks in the community, currently transgender people, but in the past, anyone who was gay, largely gay men were scapegoated and painted as predatory or just criminal in one way or another, which we know is not true. And the impact that that has on people in their everyday lives, especially those who come from religious backgrounds.
00:24:43 Madeline: So opening the film, particularly in Canada, we had a welcome from Sandy, who is, as you mentioned, a two-spirit, I believe she's Métis person, and she talked about her background working as a trans sex worker, because in the 70s, that was the only way she could make any money. And the reasons that that happened for her and the connection to religious trauma, especially from the perspective of First Nations and Indigenous people with the history of residential schools in Canada. That was, I think, really essential to helping frame the film and just rooting the context for us locally and across so-called Canada. So that was really powerful.
00:25:42 Madeline: And the second person who spoke, intro-ing the film, was Travis, who was part of the programming team last summer. And they're really wonderful, powerful speaker. They have a really interesting background in terms of their work. And they talked about being a newer immigrant to Canada and how the United Church had actually been extremely supportive of him and his family and how, as Travis came into their queer identity, the challenges that they faced, but also the openness that they were able to approach their family with. And I believe their family was in the audience, which was really lovely.
00:26:30 Madeline: Yeah, it was just making sure that we acknowledged how personal these themes are for people in the audience watching. I know for me personally, I grew up in a semi-religious background, and so there were definitely moments during the film that hit pretty hard. I know there were a lot of folks who were crying. There were a lot of members of the United Church in the audience because we had sent a lot of tickets to them. We have a few United Churches in the Lower Mainland who support our programming, which is really wonderful. And I think for some people, they didn't totally know what they were getting into. But it was a powerful moment of affirmation and education.
00:27:12 Maria: I think it was a really interesting contrast between the first speaker and the second one, because one of them was talking about their relationship with the church being quite negative as part of residential schools, which makes total sense, obviously, and how a lot of queer people in the audience might relate to that. And then the second one, Travis was talking about their relationship with the church and how it was positive and how it shaped a lot of their understanding of life, and how a lot of audience members would also relate to that. So it's just really interesting talking about issues that would impact your community that are so nuanced that only people from the community can talk about, in that way and understand those nuances. So I love that. And I loved everything that you did at the festival. You did an amazing job.
00:28:03 Madeline: Thank you. Okay, listen. This festival had a special, it had a special energy around it and we were really proud of the way it went off. So.
00:28:12 Maria: I think you should boast a little. Tell us how much you raised, some good stats, anything that you wanna share.
00:28:17 Madeline: Sure, yeah, I mean, it was our best attended festival since before the pandemic. I think we saw over 20,000 audience members come through. We made our fundraising goal, which was $35,000 in honor of our 35th anniversary, which I want to note specifically the biggest success of that for me was that we had the largest number of donors give towards that total that we'd had in years. So it was over 300 donations towards that $35,000 total, which in my mind, like obviously the total amount is a big deal. But for me, it's also about creating new connections and having motivated so many new people to give in the ways that they could.
00:29:04 Madeline: And so there's just so much potential there for continuing to grow our community and grow our donor base and create more relationships that'll keep the festival relevant and afloat in years to come as some members of our community age out or maybe, you know, people enter retirement and they're not able to give in the same way. So it's just so important to make sure that we're connecting with as many different generations and demographics of folks as possible. I mean, just from a strategic perspective, it makes sense. And then obviously also ethically, it makes a lot of sense as well. So.
00:29:43 Maria: Yeah, and I love how you added like 300 plus new gifts at the festival, which is amazing, because that's on top of ticketed revenue and on top of sponsorships. Like it's just about doing those asks in person, whether it's a live ask or a scan me daddy, you know, you're really getting people to understand the broader mission and getting them involved as a donor, not just as an event attendee, which is one of my biggest tips with events, right? Like they can be quite transactional.
00:30:14 Madeline: Yeah.
00:30:15 Maria: So to have, that I really understand and hear from your leadership and hear a land acknowledgement that is 20 minutes long. That's not something that a lot of organizations would do. So I thought that it was just really important to highlight the work that you're doing there and have people learn a little bit more about that. But to get back on track, living so authentically to your values and to your community can often have some drawbacks.
00:30:41 Madeline: Yeah.
00:30:42 Maria: What do you think those are for you?
00:30:44 Madeline: It is impossible to please everyone at every turn. We deal with criticism on a regular basis and we expect it and we encourage it because if people are telling us how they feel about what we're doing, that means that they care. Like when I, if I see an organization doing something that I really don't agree with and I have no investment in that organization, I don't say anything to them, but maybe I'll unfollow and unsubscribe from their mailing list, you know? So as long as there's dialogue, to me, that's generative, and that's positive. And that's been the approach of our leadership as well, which is something that I find a lot of hope in.
00:31:26 Madeline: I think that that's one of the things about, again, the Umbrella Queer community, is that everyone has different needs and expectations, every individual person, and then also every smaller group. And I think that mostly the criticism has allowed us to grow and will continue to. I think that when you shut your ears off and like, are not interested in hearing it anymore, that's the problem.
00:31:57 Maria: Yeah, that makes total sense. And it's so difficult to account for everybody's different lived experiences. Like it's very different to be, you know, on autistic trans person that needed to be a black bisexual immigrant or something like that. So I could definitely see there being a lot of criticism based on I wanted to see myself represented or whatever kind of criticism that you might face. What about when it comes to fundraising? Do you get any criticism based on that?
00:32:29 Madeline: We've received community criticism based on our acceptance of funding from banks because they're involved in investment in resource extraction. And more recently, there's been a lot of criticism around bank investment in arms dealings, specifically with connections to Israel and lack of support for Palestinian people. And that's been a really huge theme of things that we have to look, just have to approach and engage in dialogue with our supporters and our audience around. And it's a big challenge. I mean, I think something that we talk about all the time is that there's no clean money.
00:33:26 Madeline: And I think it's from the perspective of a queer arts organization. The biggest thing that we are trying to mitigate for, is making sure that association with our image and our work isn't necessarily allowing institutions or corporations that want to partner with us to cover up any of their ethically dubious decisions by association with queerness, which is something that we talk about a lot. And we're imperfect. Like we don't have 100% ethical funding sources because...
00:34:13 Maria: It's not a 100% ethical world.
00:34:16 Madeline: Oh, absolutely not. No, and I don't think, I mean, you know, even if it's a donation from a private individual who maybe has made a lot of money in the stock market, it's like, what are you investing in? And we have no ability to really investigate at that level. But yeah, I think in terms of what the optics of association with our organization allows corporations to do or try to boost their brand, that's where we have a little bit of power to influence. And that's something that we wrestle with a lot.
00:34:48 Maria: When it comes to other organizations that might be listening to this podcast and how they approach their fundraising, are there any tips that you would give them on how to be more authentic to their community and what actionable steps they could take?
00:35:02 Madeline: Oh, I feel nervous to make suggestions because I'm fairly new to the industry. Because I have a bit of a background in journalism and before that, in oral history, something that I think translates really well to fundraising is when you're collecting stories to use in fundraising, which we do. We collect statistics and we collect first-person narrative to try to understand the impact that we're having and then translate that into asks to our community to showcase the importance of the work that we're doing. I think that it's so essential to never forget the impact that share, someone choosing to trust you enough to share their story with you what that impact can have on that individual person's life and that the way that you treat that person is a bit of a litmus test, I think, for how maybe you approach other aspects of fundraising.
00:36:08 Madeline: So it should never be extractive. Like, that's ideally a relationship that you're creating and maintaining, that you don't necessarily own that story to like run with it. That person should always be informed about how it's going to be used and when. That's a fairly small-scale example, but I find it to be a really important starting point and example of creating care in the work that you're doing.
00:36:31 Maria: I love that as a [litmus] test. That's a great example.
00:36:34 Madeline: Yeah, just because it's a lot easier to just do an interview one time and then never talk to people again. And then, you know, just send out printed materials or emails based on that person's words that, I mean, there's a lot of work that people have to do, but I think that in my mind, that's also a really good way to practice stewardship because you never know. You never know what people can show up with in the future. And I think that obviously, you know, I'm not perfect at this and I'm always trying to improve my practices in terms of communication and relationship management and maintenance as well. So I think just approaching things with care and integrity and transparency is, from my perspective, the best you can do.
00:37:24 Maria: Madeline, thank you again for joining me today. I am so happy to share what you're doing with the audience and to have them maybe try to see how they can live more authentically in their fundraising and see how their community is feeling. Are they feeling happy, sexy, flirty? Are they feeling sad? And how do you integrate that into your fundraising and into your storytelling. So thank you again. For people who would like to continue the conversation with you, where can they find you?
00:37:52 Madeline: Yeah, I'd love to connect with people over LinkedIn. I believe you have the URL, but you can also just search Madeline Taylor Out On Screen and I should pop up. So.
00:38:03 Maria: Yes, I'll add it to the show notes so you don't even have to look her up.
00:38:07 Madeline: Okay, great.
00:38:07 Maria: I'll let you be there.
00:38:09 Madeline: Perfect.
00:38:09 Maria: Okay. Well, thank you again, Madeline, and thank you all for listening to today's episode of The Small Nonprofit. If you want to see our lovely faces, as always, it will be uploaded to the YouTube channel, which is also linked in the show notes below. And I will also link the movies that we chatted about today because I think that they're all really amazing to check out and we'll link the Out On Screen website as well. So thank you again, Madeline.
00:38:37 Madeline: Thanks so much. And everyone follow Out in Schools and Queer Film Festival, Vancouver Queer Film Festival on Instagram and wherever else you engage in social media. Okay, thanks so much everyone.
00:38:50 Maria: And make a monthly donation.
00:38:52 Madeline: Yeah, I mean, yeah.
00:38:56 Maria: Thank you all, bye for now.
00:39:01 Maria: Thank you for listening to another episode of The Small Nonprofit. If you want to continue the conversation, feel free to connect with our guests directly or find me on LinkedIn. Let's keep moving money to mission and prioritizing our well-being. Bye for now.
