Summary: April Ellison is the Director or Individual Philanthropy at the Detroit Zoological Society. I’m looking forward to meeting April and other fundraisers next week while I'm in Detroit for an engagement at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital. I really appreciated April’s willingness to begin our conversation with an experience where doubt could have gotten the best of her. It reminded me of Eleanor Roosevelt’s famous quote, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” As a woman, a fundraiser charged with the responsibly of asking powerful people for big checks, and the mother of a twelve year-old daughter, April recognizes how important it is to keep her confidence up, be willing to take risks, and lean into the possibility of failure. While being aware of the power dynamics that usually play out in our work, April attributes her success in fundraising to ensuring meaningful connections, discovering what she and her donors have in common instead of what is different, and recognizing everyone first and foremost as human beings. If you'd like to connect with April to continue this conversation or begin another, feel free to reach out to her on LinkedIn.
