What Does Real Inclusion Look Like?

Nonprofit leadership is often judged only by performance metrics, overlooking whether people feel safe and able to be themselves. True leadership goes beyond token inclusion. It requires creating environments where people are empowered to bring their whole selves to the work.

In Episode 262 of What the Fundraising, host Mallory Erickson speaks with Sarah Ali, founder and CEO of SA Philanthropy, about how reclaiming joy and purpose transforms how diverse leaders show up. These insights are drawn directly from that conversation.

Why Token Inclusion Falls Short

Use this diagram with the Your Donor Journey Blueprint (guide).

There is a gap between being included and being safe. Many organizations check a diversity box without ensuring that the people they hire hold actual power or feel safe to speak up without fear of punishment.

According to Sarah Ali, What the Fundraising Episode 262: "We don't need inclusion. We need safety. We need power. We need space to lead without shrinking."

For visibly diverse leaders, assumptions often precede their work. Sarah recalls joining calls with senior leadership where the atmosphere shifted the moment she appeared. Unconscious bias can lead people to assume a hijabi woman might not understand complex issues like climate change.

Islamophobia can affect whether visibly Muslim leaders feel safe at work and in public. Inclusion in our sector must account for these lived realities, rather than treating representation alone as evidence of safety.

Identity as Strength, Not Something to Divorce

Use this diagram with the Your Donor Journey Blueprint (guide).

Sarah once tried to separate her identity from her professional credibility, viewing her faith and womanhood as incidental. She eventually realized that distancing herself from her identity validates the idea that who you are has no role in how you lead.

"Being a visibly Muslim woman in a global trend of Islamophobia 100% defines me," Sarah told Mallory Erickson in What the Fundraising, Episode 262. She views this not as a limitation, but as a superpower.

Fundraisers are storytellers. If we cannot hold the complex parts of our own identities, we cannot truly understand the stories of our donors or the communities we serve.

The Danger of the Single Story

Sarah uses Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TED Talk, The Danger of a Single Story, to frame how fundraisers should view identity.

"There's no such thing as a single story. We are all multifaceted. I wear hijab and pray five times a day, but I also like to hang out with my friends at a Yemeni coffee shop late at night." (What the Fundraising, Episode 262)

In major gifts, success relies on understanding these different parts of a person’s identity. The same curiosity required to connect a donor to a cause applies to team management and organizational culture. Sarah notes that the stories of our people are where we find the "golden nugget" for authentic connection.

Building Safety Through Story

A team member may be hesitant to use AI even when they are confident in other areas of their work. Leaders should make room to understand that hesitation without treating it as a lack of ability.

The hesitation was rooted in trauma. During her graduate studies, she was falsely accused of using AI for her thesis. Because the team prioritized safety, this story eventually surfaced. We do not pry. We create conditions where stories emerge naturally because the environment is safe.

The Changing Face of Wealth and Philanthropy

The demographics of wealth deserve attention in fundraising strategy. Our analysis of Islamic finance and Waqf structures examines giving instruments that may be relevant to Muslim donor communities.

"If we don't critically interpret how we feel about our own selves and how we perceive the changing face of wealth, we cannot consider ourselves to be good fundraisers," Sarah argues. Organizations that ignore these diverse donor communities will miss a historic opportunity (What the Fundraising, Episode 262).

Why Play Is the Antidote to Burnout

Sarah suggests that play is the most effective way to address burnout.

"They say that the opposite of trauma is play. If more space is given to play and less to stressful meetings about not hitting the target, my sense is we’ll also feel better overall. And we will not burn out." (What the Fundraising, Episode 262)

While facilitating design thinking, a collaborative approach to solving problems, for senior international nongovernmental organization (INGO) leaders, she used Lego blocks to break through professional rigidity. This created the safety needed for real connection. Her team uses Emotional Weather check-ins, allowing staff to describe their state, from sunny to tornado, without the pressure of a formal report.

The Crisis of Disappearing Entry-Level Roles

Automation is threatening entry-level positions. By eliminating these roles, organizations lose the fresh energy and capacity for play that prevents stagnation. Understanding how AI tools are reshaping fundraising is vital for leaders who want to use technology responsibly.

Entry-level staff often bring a curiosity that has not been worn down by years of sector pressure. Automating these roles may actually accelerate the burnout of remaining staff.

Connecting Donors to the Joy of Giving

Sarah began her career in law, but moved to face-to-face monthly donor acquisition. She discovered the deep satisfaction in connecting a donor to the joy of giving.

That joy should be the foundation of our work. As Sarah shared in What the Fundraising, Episode 262: "Connect yourself to the joy, and then hold that joy with others. You'll find the story, the safety, and your work will feel like play again."

What Leaders Can Do Today

About the Podcast

What the Fundraising is hosted by Mallory Erickson, creator of the Power Partners Formula™. The podcast features raw conversations that challenge nonprofit leaders to rethink leadership. Listen to more episodes.

Put this into practice

Choose these tasks as a starting assignment for your team. The roles and review timing below are suggested working arrangements, not benchmarks.

1. Discuss one decision from the episode

Suggested owner: Team lead. Invite colleagues to consider who influences a real budget, hiring or campaign decision. Record questions without requiring anyone to disclose personal experiences or speak for an identity group.

2. Review participation and decision rights

Suggested owner: People lead. Map who advises, approves and implements that decision. Prepare a specific change for affected colleagues to review, rather than adding another invitation with no authority behind it.

3. Commit to one change

Suggested owner: Executive lead. Agree an achievable change to the process, workload or support available to staff. Name the owner, delivery date and a safe way for colleagues to give feedback.

Check progress: At a monthly review, ask the people affected whether the agreed change happened and what remains unresolved. Adjust the practice rather than treating attendance as proof of inclusion.

Your homework

True inclusion requires charity leaders to move past token representation by offering genuine decision-making power and psychological safety to diverse staff. When organisations honour the lived realities of their teams and reject single narratives, fundraisers can build deeper connections with their colleagues and understand shifting donor communities.

Protecting entry-level roles from automation and reintroducing regular space for play will reduce sector burnout and restore authentic purpose to the work.

Before you move on to anything else, complete these three tasks:

1. Schedule a fifteen-minute agenda item for your team meeting this week to trial an emotional weather check-in, allowing staff to communicate their current capacity on a scale from sunny to stormy without pressure.

2. Draft a one-page decision matrix by Friday that maps who holds final approval authority versus advisory input on your current departmental budget and campaign choices.

3. Compile an inventory of three entry-level fundraising positions by next Wednesday to assess whether recent automation has displaced development opportunities and curiosity for junior staff.