There's a fundamental difference between inheriting a well-oiled P2P machine and building one from scratch. When you're tasked with creating systems, culture and infrastructure that need to scale alongside explosive organizational growth, you're not just managing programs - you're architecting the future.
But here's what most people don't realize: the "builder’s mindset" isn't just about launching new initiatives. It's about thinking three steps ahead while solving today's problems. It's about maintaining the heart and soul of grassroots programs while constructing the professional backbone they need to thrive at scale.
In this episode, Marcie Maxwell talks with Kayln Henkel, Chief Advancement Officer at the Parkinson's Foundation, who's made her career out of building sustainable fundraising programs from the ground up. As employee #44 at the Parkinson's Foundation, Kayln has had a front-row seat to the unique challenges that come with rapid growth - scaling from three walk events to 50+, navigating mergers, launching new program formats and preparing leadership for the kind of transformation that changes everything.
Together, we'll explore:
- Strategic staffing evolution and emerging P2P roles
- Preparing leadership for growth through change management and ROI demonstration
- Maintaining program culture while building scalable infrastructure
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- (00:00) - Welcome to The P2P Soap Box
- (02:39) - Introducing Kayln Henkel
- (07:08) - Growing Up with the Organization
- (16:31) - Setting the Long-Term Vision
- (22:08) - Staffing
- (27:00) - Preparing the Team for Growth
- (31:50) - Learn More
What is The P2P Soapbox?
As peer-to-peer fundraising professionals, we are inherently passionate people. Passionate about our missions, our fundraisers, our events, and our campaigns. We barely shy away from sharing our opinions. Whether it's the debate between back-to-basics, or searching for the next big idea, the battle of retention versus recruitment, or even our very strong feelings about T-shirts and registration fees.
Welcome to The P2P box, a brand new podcast that amplifies the voices of our peer-to-peer fundraising community and gives us a platform — a box, if you will — to discuss the hot topics facing our industry.
Join your host and P2P BFF, Marcie Maxwell, the Managing Director of the Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum, as she sits down with industry peers and leaders, delving deep into their box issues, sharing best practices, and celebrating success stories.