The Influential Nonprofit

Dance can offer young people a way to express what words can’t—and discover strengths they didn’t know they had. This episode explores how trust, authentic connection, and movement can help youth build confidence and imagine new possibilities.   Key Takeaways: Movement can give people a way to express experiences they may not yet have words for. Trust starts with genuine connection, empathy,...

What if the “seven-touch rule” isn’t a proven formula, but a way to feel more in control of an uncertain process? This episode explores how fundraisers can move from counting contacts to building genuine donor relationships—and honor each donor’s agency along the way.   Key Takeaways: Repeated exposure can build familiarity, but it doesn’t establish a universal number of contacts needed to pr...

When a donor goes quiet, should you follow up—or let go? This episode explores how to tell the difference between trust, control, and avoidance, and how to act without trying to control someone else’s choice.   Key Takeaways: The same action or inaction can come from trust, control, or avoidance; examine what’s driving it. Follow up to offer useful information or an invitation, not just to re...

Burnout isn’t a badge of effective leadership—and rest doesn’t have to mean stepping away for weeks. This conversation explores practical ways to delegate, challenge assumptions, and help teams navigate change with greater care.   Key Takeaways: Burnout can grow when leaders assume they must do everything themselves or always be available. Rest can be built into everyday routines through smal...

Why do people say yes or pull away even when the choice seems logical? Explore how trust, safety, autonomy, and the freedom to say no shape meaningful decisions.   Key Takeaways: Decisions are shaped by trust, safety, desire, fear, and past experience—not logic alone. Uncertainty can feel like danger, but discomfort does not always mean something is unsafe. Clear agreements make expectations...

Running a nonprofit can be lonely, and your board of directors may never think about your growth as a leader. In this episode, Allison Wyatt explains how to build a personal "circle of champions," so you always have someone to call when things get hard.   Key Takeaways: Your board of directors supports the organization, not you. Your growth as a leader is up to you. Each seat on a personal bo...

At 60, Maryanne discovered her hair had been naturally wavy all along — she'd just never created the conditions for it to show. In this solo episode, she turns that surprise into a fundraising lesson: your next donor, partner, and big idea are probably already in your orbit, waiting to be activated.   Key Takeaways: Capacity is usually present; conditions are what's missing. "I need more" oft...

By gathering the right people around a bold vision instead of trying to carry everything alone, nonprofit leaders can completely transform their strategy. In this episode, you’ll hear how shifting paradigms, redesigning meetings, and embracing generative conflict unlock new levels of impact, funding, and sustainability.   Key Takeaways: The way leaders see their role and their ecosystem deter...

Tired of chasing donors and over-following up? Learn how stepping back, releasing control, and trusting the “edge of your agency” can transform your donor relationships.   Key Takeaways: Obsessing over the perfect number of follow-ups misses the real issue: you cannot control another person’s timing, readiness, or decisions. Your responsibility is to communicate clearly, create safety, and ma...

Scarcity-driven fundraising tactics-chasing, over-following up, pushing too soon-might be quietly sabotaging your donor relationships. In this episode, Maryanne Dersch shows you how to shift from pressure to flow. Key Takeaways: Scarcity in fundraising often begins as a nervous system response to uncertainty—like being behind goal or a donor going quiet—and can drive behaviors such as chasing, ove...

Scared of planned giving because it feels too technical, expensive, or “only for big institutions”? In this episode, you’ll learn how even the smallest nonprofit can launch a simple, effective planned giving program in just one week—without a big budget, complex gift vehicles, or a team of experts.   Key Takeaways: Small and mid-sized nonprofits can be highly successful with planned giving by...

What if you didn’t have to choose between trusting an expert and trusting yourself? In this solo episode, Maryanne unpacks how to find the right guide to navigate uncertainty—without ever giving up your agency, autonomy, or judgment.   Key Takeaways: You can lean on someone else’s expertise without giving up your own authority; a good guide supports your decisions rather than replacing them. Endle...

What if your leadership wasn’t defined by urgency and chaos, but by calm, clarity, and presence? In this episode, you’ll learn how to become a regulating presence whose nervous system quietly shapes the entire culture of your organization.   Key Takeaways: You cannot regulate another person’s nervous system, but you can become a regulating presence that others naturally attune to. Your energetic s...

When do you ignore the red flags your body, brain, and intuition are screaming at you—and what does that cost your leadership? In this episode, learn how to stop outsourcing trust and start making calm, confident decisions rooted in your own inner knowing.   Key Takeaways: Self-betrayal rarely comes from a lack of information; it comes from overriding what your body, observations, and intuition ar...

Learn why your nervous system keeps mistaking uncertainty for danger—and how shifting from hypervigilance to trust can transform your leadership, fundraising, and everyday decisions. This episode shows you how regulated leaders create calm, confidence, and influence, even in the middle of crisis.   Key Takeaways: The nervous system’s primary job is safety, not truth, so it often creates stories th...

Discover how to close the gap between who you are on the inside and how you show up on the outside. In this solo episode, you’ll learn a practical, seven-step framework to live fully self-expressed—through your choices, boundaries, presence, and the courage to speak (or stay silent) with intention.   Key Takeaways: Self-expression is much more than “speaking up”; it’s about living in alignment so...

Discover how a longtime educator-turned-nonprofit leader uses governance, compassion, and community empowerment to build organizations that truly last. In this episode, you’ll hear stories from hospices, classrooms, and European projects that reveal what sustainable leadership looks like in the real world.   Key Takeaways: Strong governance and clear structures are critical for nonprofits to compe...

Key Takeaways: Identify and acknowledge your resistance, such as being overly attached to outcomes or trying to fix others. Understand that fear has a role but should not drive your actions. Reframe negative mindsets and stories into more positive, empowering narratives. Make the unconscious conscious to change unhelpful thought patterns. Practice surrender, trust, and gratitude to cultivate a rec...

What happens when you stop people-pleasing, raise your standards, and actually live in alignment with your truth? In this episode, you’ll learn what it really means to be fully self-expressed—and how to practice it every day in your work, relationships, and leadership.   Key Takeaways: Self-expression is less about speaking louder and more about aligning your outer life with your inner truth. The...

Most nonprofits push harder when donors go quiet. In this episode, you’ll learn how to trade pressure for emotional momentum, so stalled donors start moving again—without more follow-up fatigue.   Key Takeaways: Donor silence is usually a signal of an unmet emotional need, not a verdict on your worth or your mission. Interest and readiness are different stages; rushing from enthusiasm to “the ask”...

Discover how karaoke becomes a surprising laboratory for courage, authenticity, and leadership. In this episode, you’ll learn eight powerful lessons from the karaoke stage that can radically shift how you show up as a fundraiser, leader, and human being.   Key Takeaways: Courage comes before confidence; action is what generates the confidence you’re waiting for. Releasing attachment to specific ou...

Learn what it really takes to scale a focused nonprofit, build long-term corporate partnerships, and play the long game in fundraising without losing sight of the people you serve.   Key Takeaways: A narrow, concrete focus, like providing brand-name shoes, can dramatically amplify a nonprofit’s clarity, impact, and support. Strong corporate partnerships grow slowly from shared values, deep listeni...

Key Takeaways: Energy shapes everything. Energy is the foundation of all outcomes—your energy affects your thoughts, words, and ultimately, your results. You broadcast what you carry. As a leader, your thoughts and emotions are felt by others. Your energy influences how people respond to you. Attention creates direction.  Where you focus your attention determines what grows. Choose to notice what...

When your nonprofit outgrows spreadsheets and sticky notes, your impact can stall. In this episode, discover how smart, accessible data systems can free your team from copy‑and‑paste drudgery and unlock real capacity for relationship-building and growth.   Key Takeaways: Resilience in the face of uncertainty can become the catalyst for building an entirely new, impact-driven business. As organizat...

Struggling with a passive or confused board? In this episode, you’ll learn how to transform tension into clarity, turn board members into passionate advocates, and use thoughtful questions to unlock real leadership and fundraising support.   Key Takeaways: Many board-staff problems trace back to a lack of clarity between governance and operations, and defining that line can immediately relieve ten...