The Brave and Balanced Fundraiser

The Brave and Balanced Fundraiser is the podcast I wish had existed during my 15 years in fundraising. It’s a love offering to the people behind the mission—the professional fundraisers who give their hearts and energy every day to make the world better.

This show isn’t about strategy, metrics, or money. It’s about you—the human being doing the work. Each episode offers real tools and soulful conversations to help you regulate your nervous system, reconnect with your purpose, and renew your energy so you can lead with clarity, compassion, and courage.

If you’ve ever felt stretched thin, overworked, or caught in the constant pressure to perform, this podcast is your invitation to return home to yourself. Join me to learn how to cultivate balance, resilience, and authentic impact—from the inside out.

Full Episode Transcript: https://share.descript.com/view/fkFZpmNYF3v

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The Brave and Balanced Fundraiser

Why do I Keep Doing That?!

September 22, 2026 • Erin McQuade-Wright

0:00 | 13:38

The Hidden Patterns Making Fundraising Harder Than It Has to Be

September used to make me itch. As a professional fundraiser, I knew the all-important fourth quarter was approaching, and I never felt ready. Appeals, Giving Tuesday, events, planned giving messaging—my days were long on tasks and short on energy.

I kept working, but underneath all that activity was a familiar mix of overwhelm, pressure, and avoidance.

What I understand now that I didn't understand then is that the problem wasn't just my workload. Some of the patterns I brought to my workload were making an already demanding season even harder.

In this episode, we explore why we keep doing things we know aren't helping us—overthinking, taking rejection personally, saying yes when we mean no, avoiding uncomfortable conversations, and carrying things that aren't ours to carry. We'll look at how to recognize these patterns with curiosity and begin choosing a different response.

Because maybe you don't need another Q4 strategy right now. Maybe you need fewer old patterns coming with you into Q4.

Join me for a free workshop:
Why Do I Keep Doing That?! Discover the Hidden Patterns Shaping How You Fundraise, Work and Lead

September 24 | 3 p.m. Eastern
90 minutes | Virtual | Free

Send Erin a text

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Erin McQuade-Wright 0:02

Welcome to The Brave and Balanced Fundraiser, the podcast I wish I'd had during my 15 years as a professional fundraiser. I'm your host, Erin McQuade Wright. This is your space to breathe, realign, and reconnect with the part of you that chose this work for a reason. Together, we'll explore tools and practices that help you show up less stressed and spread thin and more grounded, brave, and on purpose. I'm so glad you're here. Let's get started. Thinking back to my 15 years in professional fundraising, I would get this feeling in September like an itch. I knew how important the fourth quarter of the year was, and I knew it was coming, and I could see it there on the horizon, and it was At a certain point, it became almost like an allergic reaction. I could see that there were appeals and Giving Tuesday There were events. There was planned giving messaging There was planning for the next year, right? The goals and activities coming up for the next year. And if you are squirming in your seat right now or feeling tightness in your chest, i've got you. In this episode, I wanted to explore something I didn't understand way back when. Sometimes the problem isn't just the workload, it's the patterns we bring to the workload. And when we get clear on what those patterns are, then we can stop making an already demanding season harder than it has to be. Let's get into it I used to approach September the way someone approaches a battle in a movie. I was sort of girding my loins and putting on my armor and feeling like, "Oh, God, it's coming. Am I gonna be ready?" And I would wake up in the middle of the night In terror that I was missing something because I was always missing something. I was doing more than one person could humanly do I was having trouble delegating to my team because I was really feeling the question of what if it goes wrong? I need to own this. What if it goes wrong?