Nonprofit Power Podcast

One of my New Year's resolutions for 2026 is to make more mistakes. And I gotta tell you, it's been very interesting to see the reaction it gets when I tell people that.    A few people get it and cheer me on. But a lot of folks look at me kind of funny and ask, why on earth would you wanna do that?   That got me thinking about how much energy people put into trying to avoid mistakes and...

As Nonprofit leaders, we all have a relationship with power. But it's not something that we tend to take a look at much. And I think perhaps the reason for that is what a lot of Nonprofit leaders tell me – that they're not super comfortable with the concept of power.   Today I want to really dig into some questions that will help us all understand our relationship with power a little bit...

As we're coming right up on the close of 2025, I think it's always important to do a review and take stock of the year that's just gone by. And it might be more important than ever in this particular year, given what a wild ride it's been.   There's a lot of different ways you can come at a year-end review, and you probably already have a process in place in your organizat...

Why is there so much dumb public policy and what can we do about it? There's government money to address a service need in just about every arena, which is great. But the flip side of that is the rules that are attached to that money. The rules about who can be served, how they can be served, under what circumstances, how money can be spent. All those rules, more often than not, get in the wa...

I see three major mistakes that get made all the time among Nonprofit leaders when they're engaging decisionmakers. These mistakes will invariably cost you influence and results, especially funding results.   Now more than ever, especially in this environment, you need both your existing funders and potential funders to be investing in your work at the highest level. But lately, when you go t...

What I suspect is true for you is what I'm hearing from a lot of my clients – there's just too much noise in the world. And more and more, we want to be able to focus on the essentials of what's going to work.   When we're talking advocacy, there are two essential ingredients. If you don't have those two fully dialed in, your results are going to be disappointing. You&apos...

At the beginning of this Thanksgiving week. I wanted to take just a few minutes to share with you my five greatest sources of gratitude right now, and a little bit about why they’re so significant.   We're living in a time when it feels really hard to operate from a place of gratitude. There's a lot going on that is just not good for humans. And it's hard. Nonprofit leaders in parti...

I want to tackle a thing that we all come in contact with on a regular basis. My clients tell me it's one of the most unsettling things that can happen in a meeting with a decisionmaker.   And that's when they throw you some kind of curve ball. Maybe it's a question. Maybe it's a totally out there statement and you don't know what to do with it. It's happened to all o...

I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling a lot more optimistic than I was a week ago. In spite of daily news that can feel pretty daunting, I think we just got a lot of new information out of this past week's elections that give us a ton of reasons for optimism. And I want to share those with you. A number of my clients have said to me in the last few days, give us a reason for optimism. How a...

There is nothing more exciting than talking with a money or policy decisionmaker who's all in on the conversation. They're leaning in, they're asking good questions. Their gears are turning as they think about how you can work together. That's awesome when that happens. And then, there are the times where you've got the opposite. They're not engaged. Their body langua...

It is no secret that engagement is the key to influence. It’s one of the biggest themes of my work with my clients. We also focus on how and why information and data are not engaging on their own.   We know great messaging is essential, but there's another piece. The biggest secret to engagement –  and therefore the secret to having your message land with impact – is you.    You can have fant...

I'm super energized to have this conversation on the heels of the massive No Kings protests of October 18th. The greatest mass mobilization to date against authoritarianism in this country. At the same time, I also understand that it’s really easy to feel overwhelmed with all of the bad things coming at us out of this administration. And how easy it is to feel like the actions of one person c...

There's a huge problem happening all over the Nonprofit universe and beyond right now, and that's fundamentally the problem of fear. In fairness, it's a pretty scary time. And fear is not unfounded for sure.  There are genuine threats facing Nonprofits individually and the sector more broadly. And there are a lot of decisionmakers in all different roles who are also feeling under th...

One of the sources of constant frustration that I hear from Nonprofit leaders is about not having the advocacy results they want. If that's you, you're in good company. A lot of Nonprofit leaders experience this problem. The other reality is that Nonprofit leaders are really busy. Too busy to spend your time on anything that isn't going to produce a clear, tangible result. So what w...

I want to share with you a story of something that happened to me that I think carries some powerful lessons for how we approach not just advocacy, but pretty much everything. But those lessons are only part of point. When you listen to this story, you’ll discover how storytelling can be one of the most effective tools for engaging others. But that engagement is not a given.  There’s a way to tell...

On a scale of 1 to 10, how comfortable are you in saying out loud that your organization's work and the results that you get are the best? The best. If you said 10, congratulations. You are in great shape on that front. But if your response was an 8 or below. Or if you didn't even answer, but instead said, well, “best” compared to what, or to whom? Or some other equivocation, then there...

Here's something I think we probably all would agree is true: Nonprofit leaders are great at saying yes. We say yes to opportunities. We say yes to those who need our help. It's kind of in our DNA.  I know many Nonprofit leaders who see their readiness to say yes as a virtue. But what if some of the things we're saying yes to are not really serving us? What if they're actually...

There is a thing going on out there that we have to talk about. It's making me crazy. I'm pretty sure it's making you crazy too.   And that's this business of all these money decisionmakers, whether they're foundations or elected officials or government agencies, you name it. They're all singing the same song. “There's no money right now. There's not enough...

I hear from Nonprofit leaders all the time about how frustrating it is that they've explained their work to decisionmakers a million times and they still don't get it. And you respond by going out and gathering even more convincing data and information, thinking surely this will make them see the light. And then they still don't get it. I've been guilty of this myself. Of think...

Just about everywhere I go, folks are having some version of the conversation about how we're all responding to the crazy (stuff) that is going on in our world. How we’re responding both as citizens of this country and as Nonprofit leaders in particular. And the impact that's having on us personally, on our ability to cope and respond in a way that is productive and doesn't make us...

We are in a time where more and more, for a lot of decisionmakers, pressure is a necessary component to our advocacy. At the same time, we're operating in an environment where some decisionmakers, including some very high-profile ones, are engaging in retaliatory behavior against people who would oppose them or challenge them in any way. So I can understand if you might feel a little concerne...

Have you ever been frustrated by a decisionmaker who doesn't acknowledge your expertise and therefore doesn't take your advice? Or have you ever hesitated to brand yourself as an expert? These may seem like two separate problems, but they're actually related. And if you've ever experienced either one, this episode is for you.  I know so many nonprofit leaders who are otherwise...

It's time to talk about a hidden flaw in one of the most common messaging strategies that we're all using. And that, if we're not aware of it, can really come back and bite us.   Here's how that winds up happening. You've worked hard on tailoring your messaging. You've done your research, and taken a lot of good notes when you've been in conversation with a parti...

Members of Congress are on their way home as we speak, for basically a month long recess, which is known in Congressional speak as a district work period. I want to make sure you have everything you need to take full advantage of this significant opportunity, while you have them right there, easily accessible to you home in the district.    And I know. I hear you. You could be forgiven for thinkin...

The stakes are really high with advocacy messaging these days, especially for nonprofits. Effective messaging is so critical to every aspect of engaging decisionmakers. At any point in the process, no matter where you are in your relationship with them, your messaging has to work. But we face a big problem. There's so much noise, there's so many reasons for decisionmakers not to pay atte...