Why Introverts Make the Best Fundraisers (And How Mentorship Proves It)
Posted by [email protected] on May. 27, 2026 / Membership & Spotlights / Subscribe 0
Author: Stephanie Rio| AFP-GPC Mentor and Co-Chair Mentoring Committee | Senior Director, Advancement at Committee of Seventy
When I first connected with Amy Stine, Membership and Annual Giving Manager at Natural Lands, I knew we'd get along. We're both introverts in a profession that sometimes feels designed for extroverts — full of donor calls, member events, and the expectation that you'll always have the perfect thing to say. Over the past year of mentoring Amy through the AFP-GPC program, I've been reminded of something I already believed but hadn't fully articulated: introversion isn't a liability in fundraising. It's a superpower.
(Pictured: Amy (left) and Steph (right) at a recent coffee date)
Finding Your Footing in a Field That Surprises You
Amy came to Natural Lands from a sustainability role at West Chester University, drawn by a genuine love of conservation and the organization's mission. What surprised her early on wasn't the donor relationships or the appeals writing. Rather, it was the complexity of managing a membership program that defied easy categorization. Natural Lands' membership model is more akin to NPR or PBS than a typical nonprofit donor pipeline, and from day one, Amy was navigating big internal questions: Does membership even make sense for this organization? Should members become individual donors with no membership affiliation? How do you build community at scale when you have 4,000 members?
Those aren't small questions. And sitting with them, rather than rushing to answers, turned out to be exactly the right approach.
The Introvert's Edge: Listening as a Strategy
One of the most meaningful conversations Amy and I have had is about how introverts can thrive in donor-facing roles precisely because of how they're wired. Amy shared that at member events, she sometimes shoes up with notes and practices talking points ahead of time. Sound familiar? Most fundraisers, extroverted or not, will recognize that feeling of nervous preparation.
“You can read a lot in how a donor responds — whether they’re passionate, straightforward, or still figuring out their connection. That observation alone, as an introvert, is incredibly beneficial in guiding the rest of the conversation.
— Amy Stine, Membership and Annual Giving Manager, Natural Lands
We worked together on building a set of opening donor questions — not as a script, but as a structure that lets Amy lead with listening. Questions like "What initially drew you to Natural Lands?" and "What part of our work has most resonated with you?" aren't just pleasant icebreakers. They give Amy the room to observe: Is this donor passionate or pragmatic? Engaged or passive? That read, made possible by careful listening, shapes everything that follows.
Practical Wins: Strategy, Stewardship, and Segmentation
Beyond mindset, our sessions have been full of tactical work. We’ve dug into drip campaigns for membership stewardship, renewal strategies, and how to communicate the ROI of member events to your team. Amy has a real gift for writing. Her annual appeals are some of the most effective and cherished work she does, and colleagues across her organization have told her they turn to her materials when they need to articulate what Natural Lands is all about. We’ve spent time thinking about how to extend that strength into new audiences.
One of Amy's key goals this year is learning to segment her 4,000-member base into smaller, more meaningful groups. The data is there: members who attend hikes with preserve managers, members who engage with educational programming, members who've been involved for years but never converted to larger giving. The opportunity isn't just retention. It's building the kind of depth that turns members into donors and donors into advocates.
What Mentorship Really Looks Like
I'll be honest: I learn as much from Amy as she (hopefully) does from me. She came into this mentorship with a clear-eyed view of what she needed; not someone to hand her a playbook, but a thought partner to help her think through decisions and question inherited practices. That kind of self-awareness is rare, and it makes for exceptional mentorship on both sides.
She also reminded me how much courage it takes to stay in a role you love, resist the pressure to “move up,” and focus on doing it exceptionally well. In a sector that often equates career growth with title changes, Amy’s commitment to deep expertise in membership and annual giving is genuinely countercultural. And frankly, it’s something this field needs more of.
Ready to Grow — as a Mentor or Mentee?
Whether you’re newer to fundraising and looking for an outside perspective, or an experienced fundraiser ready to give back, the AFP-GPC mentorship program creates exactly this kind of space.
It has been an honor to be Amy’s thought partner this past year, and I already know our coffee conversations are far from over. You don’t need to have all the answers. You just need to show up, listen well, and be willing to learn. That’s what mentorship is all about.
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