CREATIVE FUNDRAISING: From Scarcity to Abundance
Overview
Scarcity is a mindset before it’s a reality. Meet innovators who are rethinking how nonprofits raise and steward resources. Lunch is on us!!
🌍 Friday, October 23 | 12-2 PM
Homebridge: 1035 Market St L-1 | San Francisco, CA
Fundraising is hard, and most nonprofits approach it as a competition. We assume we’re all chasing the same dollars from the same donors, so we guard our lists, keep our strategies close, and go it alone.
But that assumption is mostly wrong, and believing it makes it true. When we act like resources are scarce, we fragment, duplicate, and compete our way into the very scarcity we feared.
Technology promises to help, and some of it truly will. But new tools inside an old mindset just help us do the wrong thing faster.
So this month we’re tackling both. Two innovators are changing how giving happens. Others are changing how we steward what we already have: our money, our relationships, and our volunteers.
The Panel
Bryan Olesen, Funnel.live: Season 25 finalist on The Voice, flying in from Nebraska. Funnel.live lets causes turn a moment into a fundraiser: when a notable person is in town, supporters bid for a seat at the table, and the winning bids go to the cause.
Arthur Mrozowski, CEO, BlueCash.ai: Arthur grew up in Poland during the Solidarity era and came to the U.S. at 18. After a career in technology, he came out of retirement to make giving effortless. BlueCash.ai lets supporters give with a single tap of their phone, no app required, at a fraction of typical transaction costs.
Tom Tognoli, Partner, 1Flourish Capital; Advisor, Bass Rocks Asset Management: Tom co-founded Intero Real Estate in 2002 and led it as CEO through its 2014 acquisition by Berkshire Hathaway, until 2019. Today he’s a partner at 1Flourish Capital and an advisor to Bass Rocks Asset Management. A longtime advocate for financial literacy, he challenges nonprofits to stop parking money in the bank and chasing the next fundraiser, and to make their existing assets work for their mission.
Matt Kelmon, Founder and CIO, Bass Rocks Asset Management: Over 30 years managing options-based strategies; previously co-founded a Palo Alto investment firm that grew past $1 billion.
Your Moderator
Paul Peissner, Co-founder, INNOVAT3 Connected Communities: One of Convoy of Hope’s first volunteers, Paul helped lay the foundation for what became a world-renowned disaster relief agency, and today serves as its Tech Strategist and Community Innovator. A former Executive Director of CityServe Northern California, he brings four decades of humanitarian leadership and deep relationships across the tech and faith communities. Paul curated today’s panel and will moderate the conversation.
🔍 What We’ll Explore
This is a facilitated conversation, not sales pitches. Come ready to participate.
Why do new tools so often fail inside old mindsets?
What would it look like to make giving effortless?
Is your money working for your mission, or just sitting there?
How do relationships and volunteers become your greatest resource?
What can you do, starting now?
Sponsor Spotlight: Beegen.io
Begen is building volunteer-engagement software for churches and nonprofits, and it’s offering early access free during its pilot. Scan the QR code at the event to join.
Your Hosts
Event Details
📅 Friday, October 23, 12:00–2:00 PM Homebridge, 1035 Market St L-1 | San Francisco, CA—thank you to our venue sponsor Homebridge
🥪 Lunch will be provided
⚠️ Space is limited. Please register — and be considerate and cancel if your plans change.
🚗 Getting Here
Parking: IKEA building garage one block away — entrance on Stevenson Street at 945 Market St. Additional parking at Mission & 5th Street city garage.
Transit: Steps from Civic Center/UN Plaza BART and multiple Muni lines on Market Street.
Some of Our Community Partners:
💡 About the INNOVAT3 Connected Communities Meetup
The INNOVAT3 Connected Communities Meetup brings together civic leaders, innovators, social entrepreneurs, faith leaders, and community builders who believe collaboration is the key to solving the Bay Area’s biggest challenges. Cross-sector collaboration — the right people in the same room, intentionally, with clarity of purpose — produces results no single organization can match alone. That’s what INNOVAT3 does.
Our recent gathering at Homebridge on Market Street — exploring what happens when cross-sector collaboration meets healthcare — was one of the most effective meetups we’ve hosted yet. If you missed it, the video is posted on YouTube. Click here to watch it.
Come ready to engage.