AFP ICON Series : Jesse Park - Fundraising Futures

In this episode recorded live from AFP ICON, Charity Jen welcomes Jesse Park, President of Amplify, for a wide-ranging conversation on the future of fundraising. Stepping out from behind the exhibit booth to fully experience his first ICON as an attendee, Jesse shares his three intentional goals: connect with fundraisers, dig deep into data trends, and fuel creative collaboration across the sector.

From conversations with international peers to the insights sparked by new research reports, Jesse unpacks how data storytelling and visionary thinking are pointing toward a paradigm shift in how nonprofits operate. If you’re looking for a forward-thinking perspective on where our sector is headed—and how to build it together—this episode is a must-listen.

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Here are some notable moments from this episode:

00:00 – Welcome and intro to Jesse Park of Amplify

01:11 – Jesse’s 3 goals for attending AFP ICON

02:04 – Building deeper relationships with AFP chapters

03:52 – Takeaways from global and local conversations

04:30 – A paradigm shift in nonprofit fundraising

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Episode Transcript

S1 (00:18):
You're listening to From the Nest, where fundraising ideas take flight.
I'm Jen Newmeyer, also known as Charity Jen. In this
icon series, I'm pulling up a chair with nonprofit pros
from across the country. We recorded these interviews on the
spot in Seattle, capturing unfiltered insights, some light bulb moments,
and really a whole lot of heart. So let's jump

(00:41):
in with Jesse Park, president of amplify.

S2 (00:48):
Hi, Jesse. Thank you so much for joining me on
the podcast. It's a delight to have you here.

S3 (00:54):
Always a pleasure, Jen. Thanks.

S2 (00:56):
So we are here at Icon and there are thousands
of nonprofit professionals who are here. I would love to
hear sort of what your experience has been so far.
And if this is your first icon or if you've
been before.

S3 (01:14):
So this is my first icon attending. I am normally
actually in the exhibitor booth. All right. And, uh, we
changed around our strategy this year. And I said I'm
going to attend and focus on really building relationships. So
I came in with three goals. One is to connect

(01:34):
with other fundraisers. Two is to understand the trends and
data so that we can create actionable insights into how
we move forward as a community and industry. And three,
collaborate creatively as a fundraising community on how do we

(01:55):
address the current situations going on within nonprofits, right.

S2 (02:00):
Yeah. And how are you doing with meeting those goals
so far?

S3 (02:07):
Well, I think that meeting and connecting with fundraisers is
the big thing. So I've actually spent a lot of
time connecting up with local AFP chapters that I and
my company are involved with, as well as including meeting
up with the DC chapter. Yes. Uh, yesterday and last

(02:29):
night and, uh, spending a lot of time with the
AFP Philly chapter as well. So, uh, that's been great
because I'm just kind of like deepening relationships and having
meetings and connecting with people that I couldn't do if
I was just at a booth. Uh, I think the
sessions I've been attending have focused on data and really

(02:53):
looking at stuff. I'm a big data nerd, and I
focus on not just what what does the data say,
but really understanding the story that it tells us on
where we need to go. And so I look at
this stuff with Q4 coming out of, uh, just recently

(03:13):
and then, um, Neon one with their generosity report just
coming out this morning, really taking a synergy across the
board on what does this mean and what are the
opportunities that we can take away from this, uh, to,
to move forward. And that leads into different conversations like
we're having today, which leads to that third objective of

(03:36):
collaboratively discussing how do we move forward as a community.

S2 (03:40):
Yes, yes. And you were telling me about some conversations
that you were just having where we're outside of the
exhibit hall. There's lots of conversation happening. And so I
would imagine there are some takeaways that you already have
about collaborating.

S3 (03:55):
Yeah. So interesting conversations a lot just around the state
of nonprofits, specifically in America. So I got into some
interesting conversations with some of our international friends who are like,
so what's going on? And being able to talk and
answer and say, in reality, we don't even know sometimes

(04:20):
what it is, but we're here walking it all out.
And just interesting idea generation for sure.

S2 (04:27):
Yeah, yeah. And what has been your favorite part of
the conference so far?

S3 (04:33):
Definitely just the opportunity to network and have meetings and
the generosity of time that everyone provides to each other
to just like, have those deeper conversations and connect has
been really good in terms of my biggest takeaway. Um, uh,

(04:55):
so far is really more a matter of thinking forward,
of where we're going to be as an industry. It's
something I've been thinking about for several months now in
in 2025 as it launched. And just understanding the data points, uh,
are really creating an opportunity for us as an industry

(05:17):
that I think is creating a whole paradigm shift of
how nonprofits as a whole are going to be working.
And fundraising is a discipline is going to be happening.
And I think it's not talked about enough. But there's
under lying, lying conversations happening and rippling that I think

(05:38):
is going to be very interesting to see how this
plays out. Um, where we're going to see the visionary
organizations really starting to lead the charge in terms of
a total transformation of what this industry even looks like
and how it performs over the next coming years.

S1 (05:54):
Yeah.

S2 (05:55):
Yeah. I think there's going to be a lot of
really interesting articles coming out, and we'll have this time
next year, some really interesting, I think, as you had said,
some some of those visionary organizations that are going to
kind of be leading the way for, for all of us. Absolutely. Yeah. Well,
it has been great to have you here. Thank you

(06:15):
for being on, uh, from the podcast with Charity Jen.
It's been a delight to get to know you and
looking forward to getting back to DC and continuing the conversation.

S3 (06:25):
Absolutely, Jen. Looking forward to it too.

S2 (06:27):
Thank you, thank you.

S1 (06:34):
Thanks for listening to From the Nest where fundraising takes flight.
If you enjoyed this conversation, don't miss the rest of
the incredible voices we met at the AFP Icon conference.
You can hear from all of the nonprofit professionals, innovators
and change makers by visiting. And if you need more

(06:55):
tools and insights from the field, head to Charity comm
to explore the resources I've gathered from AFP icon and beyond,
including strategy, tips, templates and more. And if you haven't yet,
check out my latest book, Digital Fundraising Transformation The Insider's
Guide to Revolutionize Your Strategy and Raise More. It will

(07:16):
help you supercharge your nonprofit marketing and fundraising efforts. Until
next time, keep lifting each other up.