Podcast: Empowering Diversity and Fundraising Success: A Conversation with Birgit Burton

Season 3, Episode 30

In this episode of “All About Capital Campaigns,” we are joined by a trailblazing leader in the world of fundraising, Birgit Burton. Birgit, the first African-American woman to chair the AFP Global Board, shares her insights and experiences on inclusion, diversity, equity, and access (IDEA) in the fundraising profession. She discusses the importance of fostering a diverse and inclusive fundraising environment and addressing systemic barriers and biases.

Birgit also delves into her founding role at AADO (African American Development Officers Network) and its mission to provide professional development, education, mentorship, and networking opportunities for fundraisers of color. Learn about the remarkable growth of AADO and its impact on the fundraising community.

Join us for an inspiring and informative conversation that highlights the importance of diversity, mentorship, and innovation in the fundraising sector.

Listen Now:

Amy Eisenstein:
I have a very special guest with me here today. I’ll give you a hint, she is the first African-American woman in AFP’s 61-year history to be voted chair of the AFP Global Board.

Hi, I’m Amy Eisenstein. My co-founder, Andrea Kihlstedt is taking a break today, but I have a very special guest with me today. I want to welcome Birgit Burton, who’s the executive director of AADO, the African American Development Officers Network, which she founded at Georgia Tech to provide professional development, education, employment support, mentorship, and networking opportunities for fundraisers of color.

She is a well-regarded speaker and author on the topics of fundraising and diversity. Birgit has served on the global board of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, AFP, for nearly a decade, and has the distinction of being the first African-American woman in AFP’s 61-year history to be voted chair of the AFP Global Board.

Welcome Birgit.

Birgit Burton:
Thank you, thank you. I was hoping you weren’t going to read my whole bio, because then the podcast would be over, and people would be on their way to their next event, but thank you.

Amy Eisenstein:
Well, I did cut it down, because you have so many accomplishments and so many distinctions, but we did have to highlight the big ones, right?

Birgit Burton:
Those are the big ones, and those are what I’m most proud of. Thank you.

About the “IDEA” Concept and What It Stands For

Amy Eisenstein:
Yes, you have so many accomplishments, but first I think I want to get started with your work at AFP and specifically with IDEA. Can you tell people what that stands for and tell us a little bit about the concept?

Birgit Burton:
IDEA stands for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access, and before I tell you a little bit more about that, let me tell you how we got there. Because I have the, I guess I would say the honor of having been the diversity and inclusion chair at the time that AFP changed from diversity and inclusion to IDEA.

So we were meeting as a committee as the Global Idea Committee, excuse me, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and we were trying to figure out what our focus was going to be, and we decided to look back at the diversity summit that had taken place in around 2016 in Pittsburgh. There was a lot of good work, Amy, that came out of that diversity summit, and people will be able to find the report from that diversity summit online. But at the end of it were some action items, and I’m going to say maybe six or seven action items.

So as the committee, we said:

“Why are we trying to find some new things that we need to focus on in the diversity and inclusion space? Let’s go back to that summit, what came out of the summit. There were over 100 people who participated in a full day of workshops and discussions.”

So we did that, and one of the things that came out of reviewing those action items was what other parts of what we need to focus on in the diversity inclusion space, including defining it, do we need to add?

And It came out that we needed to include equity and access were important parts of the work and diversity inclusion. So as we put the letters together, really somebody actually said:

“Wow, if you change it around, it comes out to IDEA.”

And I’ve even presented recently in London at one of the conferences, the CIOF conference, what’s the big IDEA, right?

Amy Eisenstein:
Nice.

Birgit Burton:
There’s so many different ways that you can use IDEA, but I’ll tell you, not every chapter was excited about using IDEA. Some thought, “That’s a little too corny, that’s a little too cute.” Then we eventually got past that to recognize that it’s really not about the title, the acronym, it’s about the work that we’re doing.

So yes, our commitment to diversity inclusion, AFP is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusion fundraising profession. It’s not just about the association, it’s about the profession. Our work emphasizes the importance of creating an environment where professionals from all backgrounds are welcomed, respected, and provided with equitable opportunities.

Not everybody feels that they have the same opportunities, not everybody feels included, not everybody feels welcomed, and so in the equity and access in our work going beyond diversity inclusion, it means addressing systemic barriers, biases and inequities within the fundraising sector, and aims to ensure that everyone has an equitable chance to participate, succeed, and lead in the fundraising field.

So, that’s a very important part of what we are focusing on in our IDEA work and what we’re encouraging our chapters and our members to focus on as well.

An IDEA Success Story

Amy Eisenstein:
That’s great. Can you give one example of how that’s playing out, or either one success story or one area, one specific action item that the committee is taking that’s either making progress or being worked on?

Birgit Burton:
Yes, so this will really be the second time that I’ve spoken about this. Recently, I was a keynote speaker of the South Sound chapter in Tacoma, Washington, where I talked about what many have probably heard about, an issue of anti-Black racism that took place in the Toronto chapter, which is at the time that this happened, the largest AFP chapter.

So that would be a different podcast to go through all of that, but I will tell you one of the positive things that has come out of that is work that we’re doing in creating a member fair behavior policy. So that will actually be a way for people, however they identify, whatever the challenge is, whatever they’ve encountered within the association as a member, whether it’s with another member or whether it’s in the chapter, they have a way to lift up that concern, that issue, that complaint, that it will be met with respect and understanding, and reviewed by a panel of people who will absolutely hear and take to heart what that member experienced to ensure that they’re treated fairly and equitable.

Advice for Women and Fundraisers of Color

Amy Eisenstein:
Yeah, good. Great. All right, Birgit, what advice do you have for women fundraisers and for Black fundraisers, especially those in campaigns who may be working with primarily white male donors and volunteers?

Birgit Burton:
This is based on my own experience and some things that I experienced that I’ve actually spoken publicly about working 25, 26 years at Georgia Institute of Technology. I say to every woman:

“She who has knowledge has power.”

That has been the difference between me being disrespected, left out, unacknowledged, undervalued.

Sorry to have to say this, Amy, because this shouldn’t be the case, but I have learned through my career, and I’m old, that when I come to the table with information that people don’t have, they sit up and listen.

Amy Eisenstein:
Yeah.

Birgit Burton:
So I will tell you that there are plenty of times that I should have been invited, included, valued, listened to because of my tenure, my experience, my title, and I wasn’t.

But I can tell you plenty of times when I had done my homework, when I have dug a little deeper and found information that people didn’t have, and I’ve been the one to say, “X, Y, Z.” People have said, “Really? And how did she know that? Or how did she get that information?”

They have made sure that I’m at every meeting, seek my advice, my counsel.

Amy Eisenstein:
Yeah.

The Importance of Going the Extra Mile…

Birgit Burton:
I could give you a story. It would take too long to tell it, but I will tell you that I found out that a prospective donor who told me in a conversation that I had with her that they were willing to consider a $30 million grant, and I knew that the people that were going to make the ask were only going to ask for 20. She said:

“I am not going to let them know that we’re willing to consider up to 30.”

But I had reached out to this person, because I had been excluded from the meeting that she had been invited to have the conversation, and that was a relationship that I had.

Amy Eisenstein:
Wow.

Birgit Burton:
So I ended up bringing that forward, and people were absolutely floored.

Amy Eisenstein:
Yeah.

Birgit Burton:
Because how did I know that? So not all the time will you be able to get that kind of big information.

Amy Eisenstein:
Yeah.

Birgit Burton:
But I just know in the people that I mentor, that I counsel, when I’ve told them:

“Go that extra mile, do your homework and come to the table with information that makes you valuable, and you’ll be respected and included.”

Amy Eisenstein:
Yeah, that’s such great advice. So go the extra mile, do your homework, do the research, and build those trusting relationships. That’s another takeaway I heard from that.

The Founding of AADO (African American Development Officers Network)

All right, so let’s move over to another one of your amazing roles, and that is your role and your founding role with AADO.

So over the last decade … Well, first of all, remind everybody what AADO is and talk about what are your biggest accomplishments over the last decade, and really what are your goals for the next decade?

Birgit Burton:
So I founded AADO, the African American Development Officers Network, because I was hired at Georgia Institute of Technology in 1998, and I discovered not long after starting that I was the first frontline person of color that the university had ever hired in the development office.

After having worked for 11 years as the area director for the United Negro College Fund, which had a staff that was 95% people of color, I suddenly found myself in not even a reverse situation, because there was nobody that was doing fundraising that was a person of color.

So I reached out to what’s called the Atlanta University Center, where the historically Black colleges and universities are near Georgia Tech, the HBCUs that I raised money for 11 years working for UNCF, and I started a network so that we would be able to come together, share best practices, maybe commiserate a little, but support one another.

We started off having a get together that turned into a conference. And so 25 people gathering now today, which I’m very proud to say, we have over 3,500 members around the country.

Amy Eisenstein:
Wow.

Birgit Burton:
And in Canada. We have probably about 50, 60 members in Canada. Of the 3,500, about 85% are people of color fundraisers and others who are in the profession, and the rest are allies and talent managers or recruiters.

Amy Eisenstein:
Uh-huh.

Birgit Burton:
So, I’m thrilled about that. What I’m most proud of is that for about 22 years, we were just an informal network that I managed with a slew of volunteers.

Now we are formal 501(c)(3), we have an amazing board, and we are continuing to do the work of supporting the fundraisers of color in the profession. We post jobs. Our jobs on the AADO website, the views that the jobs get is unbelievable. At one month, it was over 10,000 views.

Amy Eisenstein:
Wow.

Birgit Burton:
And was shared a hundred and something times.

Amy Eisenstein:
Yeah.

Birgit Burton:
It’s not just people of color coming and looking at the job postings, and so that has been a big accomplishment. We are getting ready to launch an organizational membership program, because we don’t charge AADO members currently anything, because we don’t want them to have to make a choice between other association memberships.

So our members don’t pay anything, but we’re starting an organizational membership and we haven’t launched it, and we have eight members.

Amy Eisenstein:
I love that, that’s great.

Birgit Burton:
We have eight lead members and two categories, ambassador and champion. So, those are going to be organizations that support AADO and will agree to a statement that says we believe and promote diversity.

Amy Eisenstein:
Oh, great. Sign us up. All right, we’re going to be your ninth member.

Birgit Burton:
All right, I love it.

Amy Eisenstein:
All right, so —

Birgit Burton:
Thank you.

Amy Eisenstein:
… what’s the website for AADO? How can people find it?

Birgit Burton:
It’s aadonetwork.com.

Amy Eisenstein:
Dot com. Okay, perfect.

Birgit Burton:
Dot com. Yes, it’s going to be org soon, but don’t get distracted. It’s com now, aadonetwork.com, and when we’re ready to transition.

Amy Eisenstein:
It’ll redirect.

Birgit Burton:
We’ll… yes.

Amy Eisenstein:
That’s fine. All right, perfect. Well, that’s really exciting.

Fundraising Trends to Keep an Eye On

All right, let’s go back to talk about AFP for a minute. Well, not necessarily talking about AFP, but as the chair of AFP, what are some of the most exciting or important fundraising trends that you’re seeing right now? What should people be paying attention to and looking out for?

Birgit Burton:
So, I know that we probably a published list of what that is. I’d like to share what. So I’ve been going around the country. I’ve been in Canada, I’ve been in Guadalajara, I’ve been meeting members everywhere. Number one, which we already talked about, so I won’t go on any longer about it, everybody is concerned about diversity and inclusion.

So IDEA is a profession, everyone. So we’ll go on beyond that. People want to know, really understand what the numbers are. When I was in Guadalajara in Mexico, it was really interesting because I met with the president of the University of Guadalajara, and he wants to actually establish a certificate, perhaps a degree in philanthropic studies,

And really wants to focus on what are the numbers who’s giving, and that’s what everybody asks. USA giving report. Everybody’s on the edge of their seats. What do the numbers look like? Then we drill down into it because really what do those numbers mean? When we’re talking about, people are asking a lot of questions about high-end donors, what percentage of the giving is really coming from the McKenzie Scotts?

And so people really want to understand more about those giving trends. Another one is artificial intelligence. I mean, that’s no surprise and the controversy around that and how does that fit into fundraising? Actually, had someone tell me the other day, “Oh my goodness, I wrote the most amazing donor letter through ChatGPT.”

Amy Eisenstein:
Yes, I’m hearing more and more about that, and I think if listeners haven’t played around with and experimented with ChatGPT yet, you should and know that there are flaws, and you shouldn’t use it to write a letter and then use it verbatim, but for very rough drafts.

I actually use it for bullet points sometimes, I’ll ask it to give me a list of 20 reasons a donor should give. Then I’ll pick four. Maybe it spits out something that I haven’t thought of, so then I’ll write it based on that. But you should be playing with AI. It is not only the way of the future, it’s current.

Birgit Burton:
It’s current. It definitely is. I did put something in once looking for some keynote bullets for something, and I put AFP and I didn’t spell it out, and it brought back the Association of Finance Professionals or something. So I was laughing about that. I knew that —

Amy Eisenstein:
It’s not always right.

Birgit Burton:
… I gave it the right information, but yeah. So another one is you’re seeing a lot of trends towards donor advised funds. I know that’s not new, but I have recently, and I’m saying in the last three or four weeks, had ADO members ask me if I could give them more information or connect them with the right foundation that could assist in establishing a donor-advised fund.

We’ve talked about it at my previous employer at Georgia Tech, and actually with some foundation grants perhaps establishing at the university, a fund, a donor-advised fun. It’s like we already have our endowment, our fund. We don’t need to create one within your university. But those are some of the trends that I’m seeing.

Amy Eisenstein:
Good things for people to know about. Pay attention to, notice.

Birgit’s Advice for Those Heading into a Capital Campaign

All right. So if you had one piece of advice for fundraisers heading into a capital campaign, because that’s most of our listenership, what would be your one piece of advice for fundraisers who are heading into a capital campaign?

Birgit Burton:
This might sound 101-ish, but I say get a mentor, somebody who knows this, the new vice president for development at Georgia Tech actually was a friend of mine 20 some years ago. And so she stepped into the role at Georgia Tech right as I was retiring.

But we were remembering years ago when we were friends and starting on this journey, and I said to her before I was leaving, because the university is entering a capital campaign, I said:

“The former vice president had an advisor, a capital campaign advisor, an individual that counseled him through the campaign. He was his paid go-to person, and my vice president had been through free campaigns, so he wasn’t brand new to it, but I really believe that you need somebody that you can have those conversations with, that can give you solid advice on challenges that you’re experiencing and knows from experience.”

Amy Eisenstein:
Yes.

Birgit Burton:
Going into consulting after you’ve led campaigns and you go out and retire is a great direction to go because I think that the advice and counsel, the sage advice and counsel that someone with that experience can give you is important. So whether you hire that person or you seek a mentor, I think it’s really important.

Amy Eisenstein:
And I think both. You want to probably have a paid expert by your side, an advisor or a consultant. And you want to surround yourself with mentors as much as you can. Great advice. I love that.

Many of my mentors I found through AFP and I have mentees through AFP. So you want both. You need paid expertise probably and colleagues in the field.

What’s Next for Birgit

So Birgit, what’s next on your horizon? What’s next for you?

Birgit Burton:
So I finish my time as the global board chair, December 31st. I will lead ADO for two, three, maybe four more years. And then what I’d really like to do is two things. One, I own a house in southwest Michigan. It is my parents’ house, and I really want to turn it into an Airbnb because It’s eight miles from a resort town called South Haven, Michigan.

And people come from Indiana and Illinois and Ohio and Kentucky to this town to go to the beach to… It’s one of these quaint towns that it looks like it would be the backdrop for one of those Hallmark movies, The Little South.

So I wanted to change that, do that. And then lastly, my grandmother was an amazing woman, and I am adopted. My parents adopted me in Germany. My grandmother became my grandmother. She’s not my blood grandmother, but it doesn’t matter. She is the woman that I learned philanthropy and generosity from.

And there’s a long story, but I just want to say that my parents are gone. All the people that really knew her well are gone. And I discovered some articles recently going through some things at my parents’ house, and my grandmother was invited by President Kennedy to serve on a 300 woman count group for a summit that was led by Eleanor Roosevelt.

And this was in an article in the newspaper, and she got a telegram from President Kennedy to come be a part of this summit a month before the march on Washington. So I am excited to begin doing the research on that, learn more about my grandmother, visit the Kennedy Library, and really put together a whole story of my grandmother on a website so that her story and her legacy live on. So that’s what I’m really excited about doing beyond my fundraising journey.

Amy Eisenstein:
That is awesome. I love both of those goals for you. I can’t wait to hear more about them. We’ll check back in a year or two and see how much progress you’ve made, I’m sure.

All right. Birgit, thank you so much. It’s wonderful to hear about all of your accomplishments with AFP, with IDEA, with AADO. I mean, you are such an amazing role model for women, for black women, for people, all fundraisers in this field. And I just thank you for everything you do for our field.