Katy Pedersen - Fractional Fundraiser
From Burnout and Rejection to Boundary-Setting Expert—How One Consultant Learned to Fire Bad Clients
Katy Pedersen was done with fundraising. Seven years in hospital development, serious burnout, and a "dark season" emotionally. Her exit plan? Teachers college.
Then came the rejection letter. Right after her 40th birthday.
"They're like, no thanks. We don't want you," Katy recalls. "Which is crazy because we need teachers, but..."
So there she was: burnt out, rejected, and begrudgingly applying for more nonprofit jobs with zero success. That's when she found herself doom scrolling LinkedIn and saw Cindy's post about a "new idea" she was working on.
What did she have to lose?
The Early Success (And Hidden Problems)
Katy joined the Nonprofit Fractionals Network in October 2021—back when it was barely more than an idea and a promise. By December 31st, she had two clients.
"I would never go back," she says now. "I am full in, full on, would never go back in-house."
But here's what she doesn't mention in that success story: she also fired three clients over the years. Two for toxic relationships, one for ethical issues she couldn't ignore.
The first client? She should have ended that relationship nine months before she actually did.
"I held on. And the reason I held on was because I was scared to say no to money," Katy explains, tracing it back to childhood financial scarcity. "If you get a job, you hold onto that job regardless of... no matter what you hold onto that thing."
The Learning Curve: Red Flags vs. Green Flags
Through those painful early experiences, Katy developed something invaluable: a systematic approach to identifying which client challenges are worth working through versus which ones will destroy you.
Her rule: If one red flag exists, they can probably work with it. But if two or more exist, don't take the client.
Some of her key red flags:
Founders with founder syndrome ("They cannot differentiate between what is my job and what is my life")
Won't share budgets ("It means they have decided not to watch where their money goes")
Call you an expert to the board, then don't respect your expertise ("They're setting you up to be responsible for failure")
But Katy also learned to recognize coachable moments. When clients resist investing in foundational work—the unglamorous systems and operations that actually fuel success—that's often just ignorance, not malice.
"They don't know. So you know, and it's not, the outputs are difficult to measure."
The Transformation Tool
Katy's secret weapon for difficult conversations? A phrase borrowed from a social worker colleague: "I want to name something."
"If we don't name it, then we can't do anything with it," Katy explains. "Usually privately, usually in a conversation, not over email, not over text. Never try to solve something over text or email."
This approach has allowed her to coach clients through challenges instead of just enduring them or walking away.
The Current Reality
Today, Katy runs what she calls "a classical fractional" practice—three long-term clients, most relationships lasting 2-3 years. She's found her sweet spot working with organizations in that "gray zone between we're small and we're building and we're who we were meant to be."
"Two of them I'm entering my third year. And one of them I'm entering my second year. And in some ways I feel like we're just starting to find our feet together."
That's the sound of someone who's moved beyond survival mode into strategic relationship building.
The Healing Element
Beyond the business success, Katy found something unexpected: healing from the trauma that our sector creates.
"Some of the things that I've discovered through my fractional practice has helped me to heal some of the things that happen and the sort of... things that we just accept when you're in-house," she reflects.
Her routines became "little off roads" like those mountain safety ramps—places to slow down, stop, and ask: "Is this about something in my past or is this about what's happening right now?"
The Bottom Line
Katy's journey isn't just about building a successful consulting practice. It's about learning that you don't have to accept toxic work relationships just because they're paying you.
She went from someone who would endure anything for a paycheck to someone who can have difficult conversations that actually improve relationships. From someone fleeing the sector to someone who's helping transform how it operates.
Most importantly, she learned the difference between empathy and being a pushover—a distinction that's critical for anyone working in a sector that systematically trains people to accept burnout as normal.
The Metrics:
Client retention: 2-3 years average (compared to industry standard of 6-12 months)
Business model: Classical fractional with 3 concurrent clients
Success rate: Transformed difficult clients into long-term partnerships
Personal outcome: Healed from sector trauma while staying in the work she loves
Professional development: Became expert in boundaries and difficult conversations