Claim OwnershipThe Nonprofit Show
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© 2026 American Nonprofit Academy
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The Nonprofit Show is the nation’s daily broadcast for the business side of nonprofits — bringing you practical insights, expert interviews, and real-world strategies to help your organization run smarter, lead stronger, and fund better.
Each weekday, our co-hosts and guests break down the most current topics in fundraising, board governance, leadership, staffing, technology, communications, and financial strategy — giving nonprofit professionals the tools they need to build sustainable, high-performing organizations.
With more than 1,400 episodes and growing, our on-demand library is a trusted resource for executive directors, team members, fundraisers, board members, and sector leaders who are ready to move beyond inspiration and into implementation.
🎥 Watch the daily show on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3A0Dqlw
942 Episodes
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We visit with Kate Berkey, a StoryBrand guide for nonprofits, to talk about something that affects every organization’s bottom line — whether they realize it or not: clear messaging. Or more specifically… what happens when we don’t have it. Kate opens with a reality check that’s hard to ignore: many nonprofits are unintentionally leaving money on the table simply because their communication is confusing. Not wrong. Not poorly intentioned. Just unclear. And as she shares a phrase that sticks w...
What does it take for a nonprofit to grow from “we’re getting by” to “we’re building a real engine for impact”? In this energizing conversation, Julia Patrick sits down with Sherry Quam Taylor of Quam Taylor to talk about what nonprofit leaders should truly focus on in 2026 if they want sustainable, strategic revenue growth. Sherry starts with a bold challenge: stop letting scarcity run the organization. Not as a motivational poster idea, but as a practical leadership decision. Her favorite s...
Nonprofit leaders are staring down a new funding reality and Ben Cooley, CEO of Maxwell and Marie, arrives with the kind of energy that turns anxiety into action. In this conversation, Ben makes the case that “development” is no longer a department it’s a shared posture across the whole organization. When revenue streams shift and donor expectations rise, sustainable growth comes from culture, systems, and a leadership voice that people trust. Ben draws on his own path scaling a nonprofit fro...
This lively Fundraisers forum delivers real-world guidance on the operational side of fundraising and nonprofit management. Cohosts Julia Patrick and Tony Beall tackle a range of audience-submitted questions that reflect the day-to-day realities facing development professionals and nonprofit leaders. The conversation opens with a thoughtful discussion about who should pay for professional association memberships, such as AFP. Tony makes a compelling case for organizational investment in staff...
In this energizing conversation, Ann Fellman, Chief Marketing Officer at Bloomerang, provides a data-forward look at what donors will expect in 2026—and what that means for the business of fundraising. The conversation opens with a “hopeful reframe” rooted in fresh research: Bloomerang conducted a national survey of 1,000 U.S.-based donors in November 2025, and the findings point to a bright, measurable shift—not a collapse—in generosity. Ann’s central message is numbers-backed and morale-boo...
Every nonprofit says they want board meetings that are strategic, energizing, and worth everyone’s time. And yet… so many board meetings still feel like a quarterly endurance test: long decks, last-minute prep, and a live meeting that turns into a read-aloud. We visit with Robert Wolfe, CEO and founder of Zeck—to reimagine how boards and leadership teams communicate—because meeting design is not a “nice-to-have.” It’s a capacity issue. When leaders burn 100–150 hours building decks and board ...
The Great Wealth Transfer is already in motion, and Gen X is standing in the receiving line! Wendy F. Adams, CFRE, CEO of Cultivate for Good and longtime friend of the show, brings a leader’s lens and a fundraiser’s candor to a question many nonprofits still avoid: Who inherits donor loyalty, and what are we doing to earn it? She shares a personal story that makes the business case impossible to ignore—after her mother passed, Wendy discovered a long list of recurring gifts to multiple organi...
Nonprofit financial leaders are being asked to do more with less, manage rising risk, and still advance mission with confidence. Dr. Stephanie Rose-Belcher, COO of JMT Consulting, provides a forward-looking conversation on FinTech forecasts and what nonprofit executives must be preparing for now. Dr. Rose-Belcher reframes finance as the operational backbone of nonprofit leadership, not a barrier. She opens by addressing cybersecurity, urging leaders to view it as a governance, compliance, and...
We sit down with Keith Mestrich, Senior Advisor of Nonprofit and Foundation Partnerships at Crescent Cares, for a great nonprofit business conversation. As nonprofit leaders step into a new year filled with uncertainty and rapid change, Keith offers a clear message: finance isn’t a back-office function to tolerate—it’s one of the strongest tools a nonprofit has to stay steady, make smarter decisions, and keep programs moving when conditions shift. Keith shares that early in his nonprofit...
In the nonprofit world, “funding” is often treated like a finish line. But in this conversation, Gloria Dixon—Executive Director and Director of Philanthropy at the BECU Foundation—frames it as something more useful: a long-term business relationship built on trust, clarity, and shared accountability. Gloria begins with BECU’s origin story, rooted in cooperative problem-solving: in 1935, Boeing employees pooled money in a tin box so colleagues could buy the tools they needed to work. That sam...
The Great Wealth Transfer is no longer a future talking point—it is unfolding right now, and nonprofit organizations that are not prepared risk watching history pass them by. Cohosts Julia C. Patrick and Tony Beall confront what may be the most consequential financial shift the nonprofit sector will ever face: an estimated $90–$100 trillion moving between generations, with $12–$18 trillion potentially directed toward charitable causes. The urgency is unmistakable. While awareness of the wealt...
With the kind of energy that makes you sit up straighter: Tim Sarrantonio, now Chair of the Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP), leads a boardroom-level conversation about one of the biggest business threats to nonprofits today: misinformation. Tim pulls back the curtain on what FEP actually is—an ambitious collaboration where major CRM and data partners contribute anonymized giving data that is organized into a secure warehouse overseen by GivingTuesday and the AFP Foundation. The result...
In 2026, nonprofit finance isn’t just about reporting what happened — it’s about shaping what happens next. Ellie Hume (Regional Director, at Your Part-Time Controller) leasds a forward-facing conversation on financial leadership that starts with one powerful idea: your organization’s strongest advantage is what you choose to control. If your nonprofit is ready to “spiral up,” this episode offers a finance-and-management playbook that turns mindset into momentum—so you can stay steady, stay s...
Why don’t nonprofit boards do their work — and what can executive leaders actually do about it? In this episode we welcome back executive coach, author, and speaker Hardy Smith, creator of the Amazon bestseller Stop the Nonprofit Board Blame Game. Hardy tackles the question nonprofit leaders lose sleep over: when boards underperform, is the problem really “the board”… or the way we build the board? Hardy makes a bold case that disengagement often starts long before the first meeting — in recr...
Organizational assessments can sound intimidating—like a test, a grade, or a “gotcha.” We sit down with Joan Brown, Chief Operations Officer at Third Sector Company, to reframe assessments as one of the smartest business moves a nonprofit can make—especially during leadership transition. Joan explains that a strong organizational assessment is not about blame. It’s a systematic look at operations, performance, systems, and culture to answer one question: Are we operating in the best possible ...
2026 is already rewriting the fundraising playbook—and your nonprofit can’t afford to run last year’s plays. In this Fundraisers Friday conversation, Julia C. Patrick and Tony Beall lay out the business realities that will separate thriving organizations from the ones that stall out: AI adoption, the Great Wealth Transfer, next-gen talent shifts, and smart technology investment. First, they make it plain: AI has moved from optional to operational. As Julia says, “AI now is not a nice to have....
Nonprofit work is purpose-driven, but the business reality is relentless: tight budgets, heavy caseloads, public scrutiny, and a pace that rarely fits inside “normal hours.” In this episode we welcome Rahul K. Maharaj, known as “Mr. Trauma Talks,” for a timely conversation about stress, trauma, and what leaders must do to protect the people who power the mission. Rahul opens by reframing the myth of the “fresh start.” Many professionals don’t begin January renewed they begin January carrying ...
What if the biggest thing holding your nonprofit back isn’t budget, bandwidth, or the board… but the size of the goal itself? In this energizing conversation, Julia C. Patrick turns the spotlight inward for a rare public coaching session with Keith Ellis, “The Impossible Success Coach.” Together they tackle a leadership problem every nonprofit executive and development team knows too well: the endless list of “important” goals that leaves you busy, stressed, and still frustrated come October....
We welcome Katie Warnock, CEO and Founder of Staffing Boutique, for a “New Year Trend Forecasting” conversation—focused squarely on what nonprofit leaders must do to operate smarter, steadier, and more sustainably. Katie opens with a morale boost that’s grounded in real numbers: philanthropy is getting culturally “cool,” even as many executive directors and development leaders report that fundraising has felt exhausting and uphill. She points to GivingTuesday results and rising volunteer part...
If your nonprofit is staring at a funding gap in 2026: your money problem may actually be a structure problem. Host Julia C. Patrick welcomes Dr. Sharon Elefant of The Nonprofit Plug to talk about why grants and big gifts don’t “save” organizations when the foundation underneath is shaky—things like weak financial controls, unclear governance, founder-centric operations, burnout, and stalled growth. Dr. Elefant frames it in plain language: when infrastructure is messy, even good funding becom...
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