Brooke Erickson - Fractional Fundraiser

From Nonprofit Golden Handcuffs to $144K with Boundaries That Actually Work

Brooke Erickson thought she had it made. Seven years building a million-dollar fundraising program from scratch. A CFRE certification. A team she'd hand-trained. All the markers of nonprofit success.

The reality? She was hitting a ceiling that felt unbreakable.

"I'm in my forties. I've got kids who are gonna be going into university within the next 10 years," she recalls. "Even though I loved my day-to-day, I really needed to start making more money."

At $75K annually, Brooke was applying for "national level development director" jobs and getting... nowhere. The few responses she got were lateral moves that barely budged her salary. Meanwhile, her expertise was undeniable—she'd taken an organization's fundraising from almost nothing to over a million annually.

Sound familiar? You're damn good at what you do, but the traditional nonprofit career ladder is basically broken.

The Fractional Shift

Brooke had been hearing about fractional fundraising through our emails for months. But it was meeting us at AFP and listening to our podcast featuring other fractional fundraisers that made it click: this wasn't just consulting. This was strategic oversight plus hands-on implementation.

"It's such an amazing solution," she explains. "Typically nonprofits have had two options: hire a consultant to create a plan that your staff then has to implement—which doesn't tend to work because it requires a lot of skill—or hire somebody junior to just learn fundraising on the spot, which is also typically not very successful."

Fractional work bridges that gap. Expert-level strategy with expert-level execution.

The Learning Curve (And Burnout That Almost Broke Her)

Here's the part most people don't talk about: Brooke's first three months were a disaster.

She took on four clients instead of three. She managed the recruitment and onboarding of her replacement at her former job. She ran a holiday campaign because "there was no one else to do it." She was working with organizations she'd never worked with before while trying to prove herself everywhere.

"I really burnt myself out in a big way," she admits. "I was just wanting them to think I was valuable. I took on way more work than I could do."

Classic fractional mistake: trying to prove worth through overdelivery instead of expertise.

But here's what saved her: she had boundaries built into her life. Kids who needed to be picked up from school. A partner who expected her present for dinner. Natural start and stop times that no amount of people-pleasing could override.

"Those are what determined what my boundaries are for working. I just, that's what I got. I can only do what I can."

The Results: Sustainable Success

Today, Brooke runs a full roster of three clients at $4,000 per month each. That's $144K annually—nearly double her nonprofit salary.

But the money is only part of it.

She works one client per day, keeping her focused and present. She takes meetings with anyone who wants to brainstorm because she genuinely loves the work and it keeps her pipeline full. People reach out constantly because her positioning is crystal clear.

"Business development has been really easy for me," she says. "I have people contacting me out of the blue all the time."

Most importantly? She's planning ahead. Her kids' RESPs (education savings accounts) are getting maxed out. The family debt is getting paid off. For the first time ever, they're living within their means while actually building for the future.

The Strategic Next Step

Instead of just scaling client volume, Brooke is thinking strategically about capacity. Her next move? Partnering with a copywriter for campaign work.

"I would love to have a copywriter that I just know will write it for me," she explains. "Maybe I charge $5,000 and every time there's a campaign, I just go to my copywriter."

Smart move. Build the team that supports the business model, don't just add more clients.

The Bottom Line

Brooke doubled her income and gained control over her schedule, but the real transformation was mindset. She went from trying to prove her worth through overwork to being confident in her expertise and boundaries.

"It will get easier after a year of doing it, after two years of doing it," she reflects. "Just give it one year, probably two, for it to become really manageable."

For someone who built a fundraising program from nothing to a million annually? She definitely knows how to play the long game.

The Metrics:

  • Income: $75K → $144K annually (92% increase)

  • Client load: Sustainable 3 clients vs. overwhelming 4+

  • Boundaries: Work confined to school hours by choice, not chance

  • Pipeline: Consistent inbound leads from clear positioning

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Katy Pedersen - Fractional Fundraiser

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Marcela Zafra - Fractional CMO