Collaboration and Conflict Resolution

The Table Was Always Open

When I began my career in fundraising, I didn’t realize how much my childhood had prepared me for it. Growing up in a big family, one of nine kids, our home was always buzzing with activity. My father was a lifelong volunteer, dedicating his time to St. Vincent De Paul, the Boy Scouts, and our local church. My mother, despite managing a household that sometimes felt like a small nonprofit itself, made sure everything ran smoothly. But what stood out most was how, on any given holiday, our table expanded to welcome whoever needed a seat. A neighbor. A former coworker. A widower. A priest.

That way of life, welcoming, celebratory, and deeply rooted in community, runs parallel to philanthropy. Fundraising isn’t just about securing gifts. It is about bringing people together, aligning values, and working toward a shared mission. And just like in any family, a strong development team needs trust, communication, and the ability to navigate inevitable conflicts.

Development and Programs

One of the most common challenges in fundraising isn’t the ask itself. It is the teamwork required behind the scenes. Development teams often find themselves in tension with program staff, marketing, or leadership. I have seen it time and time again.

The program team says, “You just see donors as numbers, not as people who care about our work.”

The fundraising team thinks, “We can’t raise money if we don’t have compelling stories, and no one is sharing them with us.”

Leadership says, “Why aren’t we raising more? Can’t we just get another grant?”

These conflicts don’t happen because people don’t care. They happen because everyone cares so deeply. But when these tensions go unresolved, they can derail even the best fundraising plans.

Building a Culture of Collaboration

Over the years, I have learned that the best development teams operate like great families. Everyone has a role. Everyone’s voice matters. Conflict is addressed with open communication. Here are a few key lessons I have picked up along the way.

Transparency
At one nonprofit I worked for, the fundraising team was struggling to get buy-in from the program staff. They saw us as the money people who swooped in, made promises to donors, and left them to fulfill commitments they never agreed to. We needed to build trust.

We started by inviting program staff into donor meetings, not just to talk but to listen. We held quarterly real talk meetings where fundraising, marketing, and program teams sat down to discuss challenges and wins. When program leaders saw how we framed their work for donors, and when we understood their daily struggles, collaboration improved.

Resolution
In one of my roles, we had a major disagreement over a corporate sponsorship. The fundraising team had secured a generous corporate partner, but the marketing team pushed back on branding requirements, and the program staff worried about mission alignment. Everyone dug in their heels.

Instead of letting it escalate, we brought in a neutral facilitator, a well-respected board member, to help us navigate the discussion. We worked through each concern, clarified non-negotiables, and ultimately found a compromise that worked for all parties. The result was a sponsorship that strengthened our mission rather than compromising it.

Celebrate Wins Together
Fundraising can feel like a never-ending cycle. There is always another campaign, another goal, another deadline. But one of the best ways to keep teams united is to celebrate the wins together.

One year, after a particularly grueling end-of-year campaign, we didn’t just send a generic thank-you email to donors. We gathered our entire staff, program, marketing, finance, and leadership, and read donor impact stories aloud. Hearing the real-life impact of our work reminded us that fundraising isn’t about dollars. It is about people.

Everyone Has a Seat at the Table

Fundraising isn’t just the responsibility of the development team. It is an organization-wide effort. When fundraising is seen as a collective mission, where every department plays a role, the impact is greater than any one person’s efforts.

Just like in my childhood home, where everyone had a seat at the table, fundraising is about inclusion, shared purpose, and a willingness to listen. No matter the role someone plays, whether they are making an ask, writing a story, or delivering care, their contribution matters. When we recognize that, we create something bigger than fundraising. We create a community where everyone has a seat at the table.