FUNdraising Friday: What fundraisers can learn from Nancy Botwin and Weeds

​If I ever saw Mary Louise Parker in an airport, I would probably run to her screaming, “Oh my Gosh! Nancy Botwin!” and hug her. After security pulls me away from her, I would consider a peak experience of my life.

Weeds is one of my shows. I haven’t just seen the entire series. I’ve seen the entire series (all 8 seasons) multiple times. I love the quirkiness, the drama, the humor of it all. If you have never seen it, it begins as a show about a suburban housewife in California who sells marijuana to make ends meet after her husband dies of a sudden heart attack. It starts there but the twists and turns the series takes is absolutely addictive.

So, for a show with arguably shaky moral grounding, what can non-profit fundraisers learn from this show, particularly from Nancy Botwin?

• She’s interminably resourceful
  

Nancy finds a way to make things happen. She is Scarlett O’Hara and Macgyver all in one. When a Mexican gangster kidnaps her middle son and demands she brings her baby in exchange, she wraps up a crossbow like a baby bundle and shoots him in the leg to free her children. Work with what you have, be clever and always keep your goal top of mind.

• She’s a re-branding expert

When Nancy finds that there is a market for “artisanal” weed, she re-brands her product as something worth much more money. She has it delivered by classy models in limousines and packaged in silk-lined boxes. When her house in suburban California burns down, she starts over in a beachside village. She’s not afraid to scrap an idea that isn’t working and start over.

• She’s fiercely loyal

Nancy goes to jail for a murder her middle son commits. It doesn’t get more loyal than that.  Everything she does is to keep her family together and safe. In the final episode, you see that she has spent all these years taking care of everyone and now that they are finally all right, she doesn’t quite know what to do with herself.
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You really can take inspiration from anywhere. Even a fictional drug dealer can be a source of motivation. If Nancy Botwin can survive and thrive, you can too.

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