Learning to Lead Investment-Level Conversations: A Case Study with Melissa at Illinois Stewardship Alliance
Tue Nov 18 2025
As the Director of Development at the Illinois Stewardship Alliance, Melissa Frueh helps center the voices of farmers and workers in the food system to champion impactful changes and create a system that works for and feeds everyone. This crucial community work requires consistent funding, and consistent funding requires belief in your cause from your donors. With a sales background in hand, Melissa has gotten seriously good at helping donors take the leap to greater investment opportunities.
Sherry and Melissa discuss the skills that translate from sales to the nonprofit world, building confidence as a first time director of development, and the strategies that help make investment-level conversations with donors easier.
What You Will Discover:
✔️ All work is development work if your organization's mission is clearly defined
✔️ Unlocking new ways of communicating your goals can make the challenge of seeking membership funding less daunting
✔️ Understanding the perspectives of your donors helps you meet them where they are at
✔️ Painting a clear and focused picture of your needs to a donor can go farther than any ask could achieve
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Melissa Frueh is the Development Director for the Illinois Stewardship Alliance, a statewide grassroots organizing organization that is building a stronger local food and farm system.
She lives in Chicago where she enjoys all that the city has to offer, and ventures into the northern great lakes region to relax.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-frueh-20636a113/
Website: https://ilstewards.org/
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Welcome to the Business Behind Fundraising podcast, where you'll discover how to raise the kind of money your big vision requires without adding more events, appeals, or grant applications. Learn how to stop blocking overall revenue growth and start attracting investment-level donors with Sherry Quam Taylor.
Sherry Quam Taylor's unique approach and success combine her background of scaling businesses with her decade-long experience advising nonprofit leadership teams. With out-of-the-box principles and a myth-busting methodology, proven results, and an ability to see solutions to revenue problems that others overlook, her clients regularly add 7-figures of revenue to their bottom line.
If you need a true partner to show you how to fully finance your entire mission, both programs, AND overhead, year after year… You're in the right place! #nonprofits #podcast
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As the Director of Development at the Illinois Stewardship Alliance, Melissa Frueh helps center the voices of farmers and workers in the food system to champion impactful changes and create a system that works for and feeds everyone. This crucial community work requires consistent funding, and consistent funding requires belief in your cause from your donors. With a sales background in hand, Melissa has gotten seriously good at helping donors take the leap to greater investment opportunities. Sherry and Melissa discuss the skills that translate from sales to the nonprofit world, building confidence as a first time director of development, and the strategies that help make investment-level conversations with donors easier. What You Will Discover: ✔️ All work is development work if your organization's mission is clearly defined ✔️ Unlocking new ways of communicating your goals can make the challenge of seeking membership funding less daunting ✔️ Understanding the perspectives of your donors helps you meet them where they are at ✔️ Painting a clear and focused picture of your needs to a donor can go farther than any ask could achieve —————————————— Melissa Frueh is the Development Director for the Illinois Stewardship Alliance, a statewide grassroots organizing organization that is building a stronger local food and farm system. She lives in Chicago where she enjoys all that the city has to offer, and ventures into the northern great lakes region to relax. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-frueh-20636a113/ Website: https://ilstewards.org/ -------------------------- Welcome to the Business Behind Fundraising podcast, where you'll discover how to raise the kind of money your big vision requires without adding more events, appeals, or grant applications. Learn how to stop blocking overall revenue growth and start attracting investment-level donors with Sherry Quam Taylor. Sherry Quam Taylor's unique approach and success combine her background of scaling businesses with her decade-long experience advising nonprofit leadership teams. With out-of-the-box principles and a myth-busting methodology, proven results, and an ability to see solutions to revenue problems that others overlook, her clients regularly add 7-figures of revenue to their bottom line. If you need a true partner to show you how to fully finance your entire mission, both programs, AND overhead, year after year… You're in the right place! #nonprofits #podcast