Nonstop Nonprofit

With over 30 years working in nonprofits, Michael Mantel knows a thing or two about sustaining change over a long period of time. And as the President and CEO of Living Water International, an organization making waves in the WASH space, as well as the author of Thirsting for Living Water , Michael also knows when to shift the way change is made. By using the concept of Appreciative Inquiry, Micha...

Here at Funraise, we've long known that if only nonprofits were able to harness the power of data, they’d have the world changed in no time at all. In fact, nonprofits that embrace data tools like Funraise’s Fundraising Intelligence raise 7x more online annually and grow recurring revenue 1.5x faster on average . Companies like VeraData are taking those results and multiplying them with Donor Scie...

What makes a leader visionary? How is visionary-ness developed and what does it look like in practice? While the concept behind these questions seems nebulous, we’re talking today with someone who has concrete answers based on interactions with dozens of modern visionaries. Taylor Jones, Founder and CEO of Whiteboard.is, has stunningly simple advice on how anyone can develop their capacity for vis...

When it comes to programming, some nonprofits choose a lane a mile wide and an inch deep while others dive a mile deep and an inch wide. The key is to know which lane your nonprofit thrives in. Today’s guest is Phil Olaleye, Georgia State Representative and Executive Director of Next Gen, a nonprofit closing the opportunity gap for Atlanta high school students. Next Gen is expanding imminently, sc...

Money, budgets, funding, accounting—all nonprofits know how important these are to the success of programming and impact. But when you're a smaller nonprofit or just starting out, do you really need a CFO? Today’s guest, Jason Kruger, has experience with a novel arrangement that’s allowing nonprofits to start from the ground up, building an accounting team and processes that fit instead of skippin...

Nonprofiteers have long known that our strengths lie in our passion for enacting change. More often than not, though, we see an issue and reach for it, only to find that we’re blocked by a lack of time, money, and helping hands. Today’s guest, Ben Collier, is an aspiring—and inspiring—visionary whose nonprofit, The Farmlink Project, is poised to simultaneously hit the root of food insecurity and h...

Today, we’re catching up with Francesco Ambrogetti, Principal Adviser of Innovative and Alternative Finance for Children at UNICEF. A champion of innovation in funding and paradigm-shifting change, Francesco has pioneered new funding architectures like bank bonds to support fundraising, parametric insurance to cover children, the first outcome finance structure for polio, and socially-conscious ET...

After an enlightening interview with Olga M. Woltman of LemonSkies ( queue it up next! ) left us pondering the role of storytelling in the nonprofit world, we realized that our focus on advanced fundraising practices parallels the aspirations of ethical storytellers. Namely, ethical storytelling is the future of the nonprofit story (and the heart and soul of nonprofit fundraising). But to fundrais...

Coming from a cathedral of redwoods, from shared moments between a collective of concerned colleagues, this episode of the Nonstop Nonprofit podcast brings together visionary nonprofit leaders Justin Wheeler and Brett Hagler. Justin is the CEO of Funraise and sometimes-host of the Nonstop Nonprofit podcast, and Brett is CEO of New Story, a nonprofit pioneering solutions to end homelessness. Togeth...

The winds of change are blowing, and nonprofits, ahem, the for-good sector, isn’t immune. Today we’re talking to a seasoned nonprofiteer who has experienced his share of change and made it his mission to shepherd for-good organizations through transformational moments. In this conversation with Todd Hiestand, Co-owner of Liminal , a creative branding agency for nonprofits, we touch on the effects...

Today, we’re talking about a serious subject that has inspired a seriously enlightened discussion: Retention in the for-good sector. If you’ve been working in this sector for any length of time, you’re probably aware that keeping mission-oriented staff is harder than ever. But why? If you’re a nonprofit leader seeing your staff burn out and move away from causes that they’re passionate about, what...

Let's start with a phrase that we don’t say often enough: “Get that money, honey!” Today’s guest, nonprofit leadership coach and major gifts consultant, Rhea Wong, comes to the charitable sector with experience as a recipient of nonprofit services, a green-but-hustling ED, a self-taught fundraising expert, and a charitable board whisperer. And as we’ve established, the title of Rhea’s book Get Tha...

It’s that time of year—the time that we’re all focused on new beginnings and upcoming trends, brimming with hope that there’s some groundbreaking tactic, tool, or trick on the horizon. (Unless you’re listening to this in August, of course.) Nicole Nidea, Program Director at SODA, has lots to say about a trend that’s been sweeping 2023 and is poised to change the face of fundraising in 2024: What N...

When Jon DeLange agreed to come on the Nonstop Nonprofit podcast, we planned a conversational angle to keep the discussion from spinning out—if you know podcasters, you know staying on topic can be tough! Jon’s topic was "12 Rules for Fundraising: an antidote to tactical overwhelm during the EOY fundraising season”. As a longtime fundraising consultant and Summit Ministries’ Direct Mail and Digita...

It’s a safe bet that when nonprofiteers talk about their work, the word “passion” will come up pretty quickly. But does passion alone drive impact? Julie Ordoñez says character matters more than passion when it comes to fundraising. From directing philanthropy and being a Major Gift Officer at organizations like New Story, Lift, and United Way of Greater Los Angeles to coaching leaders in raising...

It’s a universal truth that people love to feel special. We all want to feel like we’re an indispensable part of something. It’s also true that each and every one of us has limitations on our time, money, and attention. So with these realities coexisting, how can nonprofits interact with supporters on a personal level while not draining them of resources? Katelyn Baughan, nonprofit email marketing...

Talk about a jam-packed podcast episode—this conversation with Cameron Bartlett has it all: anecdotes, examples, trends, cautionary tales, solutions, trends, strategies… and did we mention cutting-edge trends from the trenches? That’s right; as we talked, Cameron had a story and a trend that related to each and every topic we brought up. And it’s no surprise… Cameron’s a fast-moving, trend-setting...

Let us ask you a question, fundraiser: When it comes to crunch time for your fundraising campaigns, do you feel intense pressure to find a poster child for your nonprofit, capture their iconic story, and optimize it to deliver maximum donations? Look into our eyes, listener, and hear us when we say that’s a daunting task for anyone. It’s no wonder storytelling stresses nonprofits out! But there is...

Today’s guest doesn’t just skim us across the surface of AI in the nonprofit sector; he’s taking us to the forefront of the future of fundraising. David Norris is a leader at three organizations that are making big things for nonprofits so they can make big things happen: Bold Crow, Proofpact, and The Nonprofit Hive all use trending technology to benefit the nonprofitsphere. As soon as we said “tr...

Hi, there Nonstop Nonprofit listeners! Today’s interview offers insight into an unlikely pairing of nonprofit passion and for-profit practice. It’s a method of leading and growing nonprofits that’s largely unused in the nonprofit sector: EOS. Amy Acton, CEO at Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors, implemented this aggressive growth system to expand PBS’ community and visibility to more than one mill...

Is your nonprofit uncomfortable with growth? I mean huge, mission-busting, stuff-of-dreams type growth, otherwise known as exponential growth? Because if your comfy idea of growth is increasing donations and programming and impact by a solid 5% each year, that’s fine. It’s just that… well, with 10-15% inflation hitting everyone, that 5% growth isn’t quite the flex you think it is. (In fact, it may...

"Keep it simple." Could it be that simple? Could changing the world be as simple as… keeping it simple? When Bill Lutz says it, it seems obvious. Bill is the ED of New Path and Coach and President of Pinnacle Strategies—and he’s got an amazingly focused view when it comes to nonprofit leadership and fundraising. But his advice to “keep it simple” isn’t as simple as it sounds. Bill recognizes that...

Many nonprofits struggle to deliver meaningful content in a way that engages their donor base. It tracks; you can have the coolest impact story, but if it’s just sitting on your website waiting for donors to come to it, it’s not truly making the impact it was designed for. If that sounds like something your nonprofit struggles with, this episode is for you! Today, Funraise's Director of Growth Mar...

Nonprofits have to answer so many questions these days: What’s the best way to invest in my nonprofit’s impact? How do I lead my team through today’s societal changes? How do I increase donor retention rates and hit fundraising goals and avoid burnout and stay on mission and still make a grocery run before dinnertime? We’ve got a guest here who’s going to help us answer a few of these and hopefull...

Wow! Today’s episode is so jam-packed, it’s practically bursting. Chive Charities has only been around about a decade, but they’ve got donor retention down like no other organization we’ve seen. We know you’re sitting there thinking, “How great can their retention rate be? 50%? 60?” Well prepare yourself, listener: Chive Charities has a 98% donor retention rate. And today, you get to hear from lon...