Erin Tepper is the Nonprofit Channel Partnerships Manager at The Giving Block, the go-to solution for nonprofits seeking to accept cryptocurrency donations. She brings seven years of professional experience in the nonprofit fundraising technology industry. Erin’s primary functions have been in sales and partnerships, but she has also assisted in donor relationship management and building strategic fundraising appeals. She currently oversees nonprofit technology integrations where she aligns nonprofit clients’ needs of integrating with other nonprofit technology solutions by creating a go-to-market strategy with The Giving Block. She also manages the agency partnership referral program at The Giving Block. Erin Co-Chairs the Emerging Leaders Committee of The Association of Fundraising Professionals in New York City. Additionally, Erin is a volunteer fellow at 17 Asset Management where she is helping the team build a nonprofit called Reparations Finance Lab. 

Erin is a passionate people leader adept at empowering others and building relationships with individuals across diverse backgrounds. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Iowa State University with a major in Apparel Design and minors in Entrepreneurship and Event Management. 

I spent my summers in college interning at fashion houses working in design. I spent countless hours staring at a computer screen creating and editing fabric patterns and sometimes I would only interact with humans once a day. There was a lot of waste in all the environments I was in, whether a waste of fabric, a waste of shipping resources, or a waste of products. It became apparent that I wanted to not only make a better impact on the world, but I wanted to engage with people more frequently. That is when I decided to work with nonprofits and, seven years later, I have stayed committed to doing so. Switching gears from the fashion industry to working in a career with a social impact has been extremely rewarding.

I started my career servicing the nonprofit industry at Sophist Text-to-Pledge®, where my mentor and supervisor at the time introduced me to former WID President, Susan Ulin, who I had the opportunity to meet at my first WID Luncheon in spring 2016. Susan graciously welcomed me and introduced me to other members. WID was the first professional organization I joined, which in turn taught me how important networking is.

While I have always worked at for-profit companies, every single client of mine has been a nonprofit. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to bring fresh ideas for fundraising into each of my past client’s strategic planning. I have put just a small dot on the map in terms of impact for these nonprofits compared to what each of them has accomplished. My clients are all truly changing the world with their efforts, and this is what keeps my commitment to the nonprofit sector going.

The lack of mission and the common wastefulness I saw in the apparel industry is what originated my passion for social impact. While there have been plenty of changemakers in the apparel industry since I made the switch, I currently remain committed to servicing the nonprofit industry by educating nonprofits on fundraising technology. The people I have met through serving on committees, attending events, and participating in brainstorming sessions through the WID network, have made a lasting impact on me and my career. I encourage anyone in the nonprofit space to look to Women in Development as a great resource to navigate working in the nonprofit industry.