The Nonprofit Syndicate Podcast

Branding is not just your logo, your fonts, or your colors. It is the reputation your organization builds over time. In this episode, the team gets honest about nonprofit branding: what it is, what it is not, and why so many organizations misunderstand the role it plays in fundraising and growth. They debate whether rebrands are worth it, talk through the risks of visual identity changes, and expl...

Why do so many projects go off the rails, even when the team has the right tools? In this episode, the team breaks down the real reasons projects become frustrating, delayed, and messy. They talk about authority, trust, delegation, communication breakdowns, notification fatigue, and why project management software often becomes a substitute for the hard conversations teams actually need to have. T...

Is your nonprofit using the right tech stack… or just the most popular one? In this episode of The Nonprofit Syndicate Podcast, we do something most people won’t: we rank nonprofit technology platforms as either “Solid” or “Trash Panda.” No middle ground. From Salesforce and Virtuous to Classy, Fundraise Up, Bloomerang, GiveButter, and more — we break down what actually works, what’s overpriced, w...

Nonprofits love talking about growth. New donors. Bigger lists. More campaigns. But what if the real problem isn’t acquisition… it’s retention? In this episode of The Nonprofit Syndicate, Matt Lombardi sits down with Jonathan, Ryan, and Schwab to unpack why nonprofits are stuck on the “new donor hamster wheel” — and why chasing acquisition might actually be masking deeper foundational issues. We d...

Are nonprofits really scams—or is culture getting the math wrong? In this episode of The Nonprofit Syndicate, the guys react to viral podcast clips claiming charities waste donor money and expose the biggest lie in fundraising: the “overhead myth.” From startup economics to Dan Pallotta’s famous $1→$4 fundraising paradox, we break down why investing in staff and marketing actually creates more imp...

Welcome to Episode 001 of The Nonprofit Syndicate Podcast This week: the AI hype vs. reality, the GoFundMe scandal, and why most "revolutionary" tech is failing nonprofits. TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 - Intro: Who we are and why this podcast exists 3:41 - AI in nonprofit fundraising: Revolution or overhype? 4:26 - The "great equalizer" debate: Does AI help or hurt top performers? 6:21 - T...

Welcome to Episode 002 of The Nonprofit Syndicate Podcast.  This week: We all bash organic social media for nonprofits, we talk about what is actually appropriate in storytelling for nonprofits, and we breakdown some sacred cow marketing myths. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 – Things got spicy… and they still can’t stop arguing about GoFundMe 01:05 – What “organic growth” actually means for nonprofits (and why...

Welcome to Episode 003 of The Nonprofit Syndicate Podcast.  This week: We take turns talking about how we'd spend $100k in digital acquisition budget, what nonprofits get wrong on acquisition, and how to scale your programs with infrastructure first. 00:00 – Episode kickoff + year-end nonprofit chaos Quick intro and real talk on burnout, calendar-year pressure, and year-end fundraising stress...