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Thirty years of results, told from the stage
Duncan Schieb speaks from two lifetimes of experience. One is professional: three decades and four continents of fundraising, 15,000+ auctions, and more than $200 million raised for causes worldwide. The other is deeply personal: a journey through profound loss and the long, deliberate work of rebuilding — a story he now shares to help others find their way through. His keynotes carry both: the hard-won hope of lived experience, and the practical craft of someone who has moved rooms to action for thirty years. Available for conferences, corporate events, schools, community organisations and non-profit gatherings, in Australia and internationally.
Signature keynotes
You Don't Have to Hold It All Together: A Story of Grief, Giving and Growth — Grief touches 1.6 million Australians every year, and its ripples reach every family, school and community. In this deeply personal keynote, Duncan draws on his own experience of rebuilding after loss: why giving ourselves permission to grieve is often the first step towards healing, how channelling pain into purpose became a powerful form of repair for his family, and why honest vulnerability beats trying to be perfect. Audiences walk away with hope, connection, and the understanding that they don't have to have it all together.
Different, Not Destroyed: A Dad's Guide to Rebuilding After Loss — In Japanese philosophy, Kintsugi is the art of repairing broken pottery with gold — transforming something shattered into something new, different and beautiful. Duncan uses this metaphor to share his family's journey through loss and the deliberate work of putting the pieces back together. In a world that urges us to move on quickly or throw away what's broken, this talk honours the cracks, makes the case for asking for help, and shows that what emerges can be stronger than what came before.
Why Are You Here? A Challenge to Nonprofit Board Members — Too many non-profit boards are financially managing their organisations when they should be leading them. In this provocative keynote, Duncan draws on years of global fundraising experience — and his own board tenure — to make the case that boards which actively give, connect and lead build organisations that are financially strong. And he asks the uncomfortable question: if you're on a board and not delivering impact, why are you there? Part keynote, part call to action.
From One-Night Stand to Long-Term Relationship: Turning Gala Donors into Lifelong Supporters — Most event fundraising runs on a transactional cycle: donate, thank you, see you next year — and it leaves money on the table. Duncan shows how to apply the relationship-driven mindset of major-gift fundraising to gala events: building a pipeline of pre-commitments, nurturing donors year-round, and creating momentum that compounds — so the pressure to fundraise on the night goes down while results go up.
Who books Duncan
Conferences and corporate events building resilience, wellbeing and leadership programs. Schools and community organisations navigating loss and change. Non-profit boards and fundraising conferences lifting their governance and donor strategy. And organisers who simply need a speaker with the presence to hold a room — the craft 15,000 auctions builds.
"When you choose growth, you don't just change your life — you illuminate the path for others to rise with you."
Dunan Schieb