What It Really Takes to Get Booked as a Fundraising Speaker

I’ve been getting asked a lot lately how to get booked more as a fundraising speaker, especially in the PRC, foster care, and adoption space. I’m grateful for those questions, and I don’t take them lightly.

The honest answer is that a lot of what looks like a “system” from the outside is actually the result of a long mix of things coming together over time. Some of it is absolutely God given. Some of it is 25 years in ministry. Thirteen of those years preaching and learning how to stand in front of people and actually hold a room. Some of it is comedy training and learning timing, reading people, and understanding how to connect with an audience quickly. Some of it is going back and getting a certificate in fundraising from the Lilly School of Philanthropy so I could better understand the world I was serving in. And a lot of it is just a lifelong desire to be on a stage, and then honestly God humbling me along the way so I could actually carry what comes with that instead of using it for myself.

A big part of my growth also came through a mentor who took a chance on me early on. He didn’t just give me advice from a distance. He let me open for him for about a year at small churches, just learning how to support someone else’s event and understand the rhythm of it. Then after that he slowly started letting me “headline,” but only at even smaller churches for another year. That process taught me more than anything else about how to actually stand in front of people, how to fail a little without it being the end of the world, and how to grow into the responsibility instead of trying to rush it.

What I’ve learned is that there are parts of this that you can absolutely grow in and get better at. But there are also parts that are not really “teachable” in a clean step by step way. Things like how you make people feel in a room, how quickly you read an audience, how you respond when something doesn’t go the way you planned, how you carry yourself when the stakes are high. Those things can improve with time and experience, but they don’t really transfer like a template you can just copy from someone else.

I think that’s where people sometimes get frustrated, because they’re looking for a clear formula. And I understand that. But the truth is there isn’t really a shortcut here. If someone is consistently getting booked, it’s usually because there’s a long trail behind it that people don’t see. Relationships built over years, a lot of rooms that didn’t go perfectly, a lot of learning what works and what doesn’t, and a lot of consistency in showing up even when nobody is watching.

You can definitely learn things like how to structure a fundraising talk, how to tell stories that actually move people, how to build and maintain a list, and how to stay in front of the right people. Those are real skills and they matter. But they sit on top of something deeper.

I think people don’t end up being booked just because they have a strategy. They get booked because over time they become someone people trust to stand in front of their audience and represent their mission well.

For me personally, I also have to keep reminding myself that none of this is really about building a platform for me. It’s about serving the organizations I’m invited into, doing it with excellence, and being faithful with whatever doors God opens. The stage is something I’ve wanted my whole life, but I’ve also had to learn that it comes with weight, responsibility, and a need for humility if you’re going to carry it well.

So I don’t say any of this to discourage anyone. If anything, I would just say it’s worth going into this with open eyes. Be willing to work for a long time. Be willing to get better slowly. Be willing to grow in character and skill at the same time. And don’t underestimate how much of this is built over years, not moments.

Now, with all this said on my blog, it looks like I will not be able to monetize a course! haha