Nonprofit CEO SPARK

Send us Fan Mail Most leadership stories begin with a crisis and end with a comeback. But what about everything in between? In this episode, we're talking about the messy middle, that season where funding is uncertain, difficult decisions have to be made, your team is looking to you for answers, and you have no idea how the story will end. My guest, Annie Bacci, CEO of TGTHR on a mission to e...

Send us Fan Mail As nonprofit leaders, many of us assume we need to excel at everything. Vision. Strategy. Fundraising. Culture. Operations. Communication. Systems. Execution. But what if one of the biggest reasons leaders feel overwhelmed isn't because they're doing too little—it's because they're trying to do too much? In this episode of Nonprofit CEO SPARK, Marcia shares a l...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Nonprofit CEO SPARK, Marcia Beckner talks with Dr. Patton McDowell about one of the biggest challenges nonprofit leaders face today: how to lead with confidence when everyone has an opinion, meetings take over the calendar, and decision-making starts to stall. With more than 35 years of nonprofit leadership experience, Patton shares practical strategies for redu...

Send us Fan Mail What does it take to lead with confidence when the world feels increasingly uncertain? In this episode of Nonprofit CEO SPARK, Marcia Beckner shares key insights from the 2026 AFP ICON Conference in San Diego, where she attended as press and interviewed more than two dozen nonprofit leaders, fundraisers, speakers, exhibitors, and technology partners. From AI and donor behavior to...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Nonprofit CEO SPARK, Marcia Beckner sits down with a true industry culture leader, Lorii Rabinowitz, to discuss how nonprofit CEOs can successfully navigate growth without sacrificing team well-being, culture, or mission alignment. Under Lorii’s leadership, the Denver Scholarship Foundation has grown from 32 to more than 90 team members while maintaining an extr...

Send us Fan Mail Leading with Confidence Series #4 of 12 It starts to feel like every decision needs everyone’s input… And instead of moving forward, your team slows down, circles the same conversations, or quietly stalls when there’s disagreement. On the surface, it looks like collaboration.  But underneath, something else is happening. In this episode, we unpack a pattern many nonprofit CEOs and...

Send us Fan Mail Leading with Confidence Series #3 of 12 You walk into a board meeting with a major strategic recommendation that could change the future of your organization…only to be met with hesitation, questions, or direct push-back. And suddenly, it’s not just about the recommendation anymore. It’s about relationships. Funding. Trust. Authority. In this episode, we unpack what actually happe...

Send us Fan Mail Leading with Confidence Series #2 What happens when your desire to be a kind, supportive leader starts costing your team more than it helps? In this episode, we unpack a pattern many executive directors quietly fall into…holding onto the wrong person for too long in the name of being fair, loyal, or “nice.” What starts as good intention can slowly erode trust, morale, and performa...

Send us Fan Mail Leading with Confidence Series #1 of 12 Welcome to the Leading with Confidence series where we will dive into the various challenges and opportunities to lead your team with more conviction and clarity. We will talk about executive presence and how to build confidence while navigating your organization each day. In this first episode, you'll learn the 5 C's framework. Ev...

Send us Fan Mail What if the thing that broke you became the thing that built everything else? Before Marcia Beckner was a nonprofit culture strategist, she was a nonprofit CEO navigating cancer, divorce, and the crushing weight of leadership with no roadmap and no one to call. She built the framework she wished she'd had. Now she's handing it to you. In this first episode Marcia shares...

Send us Fan Mail You didn't become a nonprofit leader to spend your days managing conflict, navigating HR investigations, and losing sleep over staff dynamics. But here you are. If the culture inside your organization feels like it's running you instead of the other way around, this episode is the one you've been waiting for. Marcia Beckner breaks down why even the most mission-driv...

Send us Fan Mail Proof beats promises every time. Here it is. Colorado College's Advancement team was coming out of a pandemic, shrinking staff, leadership transitions, and a culture that had quietly drifted from healthy to unstable. Sound familiar? They didn't ignore it. They decided to fix it by design, not by default. In this episode Marcia sits down with Kimberly Elahab, Director of...

Send us Fan Mail This is a timely conversation for nonprofit CEOs and executive directors who are thinking about how to strengthen fundraising, lead with more confidence, and position their organizations for sustainable growth. In this episode, Marcia sits down with Art Taylor, President and CEO of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, to explore what’s actually working across the sector r...

Send us Fan Mail When leadership starts to feel unstable, many executive directors quietly wonder if they’re the problem. In this episode, we unpack why that thought shows up—and why it’s often not true. Through Mary’s story, you’ll hear what happens when a leader becomes the system holding everything together, and why that approach eventually breaks down. This conversation reframes the real issue...

Send us Fan Mail What if the biggest lever for your organization’s growth isn’t your next fundraising strategy, hire, or strategic plan, but your board? In this episode, Marcia sits down with philanthropy expert Melanie Ulle to unpack what most nonprofit leaders are getting wrong about board development and engagement, and how to fix it in a way that actually works. If you’ve ever felt frustrated...

Send us Fan Mail If you’ve ever felt like your nonprofit organization is posting consistently, but still not seeing meaningful engagement, it may not be a content problem. In this episode, I sit down with digital marketing expert and Nonprofit Nation Podcast host Julia Campbell to unpack what’s actually driving connection, trust, and donor engagement online right now. Because social media is not a...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Marcia Beckner sits down with grant writing expert, author, and Grant Writing & Funding podcast host Holly Rustick for a candid conversation about what nonprofit leaders need to know before hiring fundraising support. They explore a question many Executive Directors and nonprofit CEOs are quietly asking right now: is it smarter to hire an in-house grant writer...

Send us Fan Mail If fundraising feels unpredictable, overwhelming, or too dependent on luck, this episode is for you.  Marcia talks with major gifts expert and former Executive Director Rhea Wong about how nonprofit leaders can stop relying on vague donor lists and start building a real major gifts system that creates more clarity and more predictable revenue. In this episode, you’ll hear: Why a d...

Send us Fan Mail In Part 2 of this candid two-part series, we take burnout head-on, not as a personal failure, but as a predictable outcome of leading inside systems that haven’t kept pace with growth. After interviewing nonprofit CEOs and Executive Directors across the sector, one theme was impossible to ignore: leaders are exhausted, carrying responsibility that keeps expanding without enough st...

Send us Fan Mail In this first episode of a two-part series, we name what many nonprofit CEOs and Executive Directors are carrying privately. After personally interviewing leaders across missions, budgets, and growth stages, one pattern became clear: the challenges aren’t isolated. They’re sector-wide. Board misalignment. Staff exhausted from constant pivots. Key leaders leaving with no bench in p...

Send us Fan Mail Many nonprofit leaders struggle to navigate the new workforce, where five generations are working side by side. In this episode , Marcia Beckner shares practical strategies for engaging Gen Z, setting clear expectations, and building a culture that supports everyone.  Through the episode, Marcia addresses common challenges, including misunderstandings, generational tension, and th...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Nonprofit CEO Spark , Marcia Beckner welcomes Kelly Dunkin, President and CEO of the Colorado Gives Foundation. Kelly leads a team of nearly 30 people and drives record-breaking fundraising outcomes, even through challenging years.  Kelly shares practical strategies for building a high-performing culture without burning out, including how to stop taking things p...

Send us Fan Mail Before her nonprofit career, Marcia Beckner worked as a flight attendant after college. While she didn’t realize it at the time, this role unexpectedly prepared her for leadership in ways no classroom or certification ever could. In this episode, Marcia shares how calm, trust, and effective systems are far more powerful than heroics or title-based authority. Marcia reflects on a l...

Send us Fan Mail In tough times, abundance isn’t necessarily about having more, it’s about protecting what matters most. In this episode, Marcia Beckner explores how nonprofit leaders can navigate financial and operational constraints with clarity, courage, and creativity. Using the “defensible core” strategy, leaders can focus on mission-critical work, make smart decisions under pressure, and mai...

Send us Fan Mail Navigating hybrid work policies in nonprofits can feel like walking a tightrope, somehow trying to balance fairness, mission delivery, and staff morale. In this episode of Nonprofit CEO Spark , Marcia Beckner shares actionable strategies to turn hybrid work from a source of tension into a tool for trust and connection. She covers how to design hybrid policies that feel fair across...