Nonprofit Pulse

Michael Medoro says nonprofit coalition building works when partners stay grounded in a shared mission, bring their own strengths to the work, and remain clear about what they can and cannot do. The Chief Operating Officer and Chief of Staff at Childhelp explains that bold advocacy is not about being the loudest voice in the room. It is about being clear, disciplined, and focused on outcomes for the people you serve.Some of the biggest challenges nonprofits address, including child abuse, trauma, and exploitation, cannot be solved by one organization working alone. Michael explains how coalitions can bring nonprofits, government agencies, corporations, and community partners together to reduce duplication, pool scarce resources, and advance systemic change.In this episode:Why coalition building is becoming a more necessary strategy for nonprofits facing systemic challengesHow mission-centered coalition work differs from partisan political advocacyWhy coalitions can help nonprofits create systemic change that would take one organization much longer to achieve aloneHow Childhelp’s Children’s Advocacy Center model brings law enforcement, medical professionals, child welfare agencies, prosecutors, and forensic interviewers together to reduce retraumatization and better support childrenThe common concerns nonprofits and corporate partners have about advocacy, including brand risk, loss of control, and slow decision-makingHow to keep advocacy focused on your mission instead of reacting to trends or the news cycleWhy shared values and clear roles matter more than funding and operational plans aloneHow Childhelp stays focused on its core strengths while connecting people to trusted partners and local resourcesWhy boards, legal teams, communications teams, and corporate partners should be involved early in coalition conversationsThe questions nonprofits should ask about mission alignment, governance, resources, ethics, and brand values before joining a coalitionA practical coalition-building framework: trust first, structure second, results measurement third, and ongoing communication throughoutHow to explain coalition decisions to donors, staff, corporate partners, and communities by starting with the mission-based whyYou will leave with a clearer way to evaluate coalition opportunities, establish boundaries and shared goals, build trust across sectors, and advocate for meaningful change without losing sight of your mission or your partners.Episode highlights: (0:00) Intro (1:18) Why coalition building matters for nonprofits today (3:52) How nonprofit coalition building differs from political advocacy (5:33) Why nonprofits choose coalition advocacy to strengthen mission impact (10:38) Common fears about coalition advocacy and corporate partnerships (11:55) How to keep advocacy focused on your mission (12:52) How shared values and clear roles build stronger coalitions (16:57) How boards and executive teams should approach coalition advocacy (18:26) Questions to ask before joining or launching a coalition (20:17) What effective coalition building looks like in practice (21:41) How to communicate coalition decisions with stakeholders (23:36) The future of coalition building for nonprofit impact (24:43) Closing thoughtsGuest: Michael Medoro, Chief Operating Officer and Chief of Staff, Childhelp ⁠⁠https://childhelp.org/⁠⁠](https://childhelp.org/⁠⁠Full transcript and show notes: https://www.anedot.com/blog/nonprofit-pulse-nonprofit-coalition-buildingMore episodes and the monthly newsletter: https://www.nonprofitpulse.com/⁠If this was useful, follow Nonprofit Pulse wherever you listen.Nonprofit Pulse is a podcast by Anedot that explores trends, insights, and resources that help nonprofits accomplish their mission. Hosted by Josh Breland.

Lindsay Whorton says nonprofit-public partnerships work best when nonprofits support a public system’s goals rather than trying to shape its decisions. As president of The Holdsworth Center, she explains that lasting partnerships require real alignment from the start, respect for the public leader’s chain of accountability, and the willingness to say no when the fit is not right.Public systems often face constrained budgets, limited staff capacity, and urgent needs. That can make any outside resource feel like an opportunity. Lindsay says the better test is whether the nonprofit’s offering supports the system’s actual strategy and priorities, not simply whether it addresses a gap or comes with funding.In this episode:How to tell the difference between a nonprofit partnership that strengthens a public system and one that quietly tries to direct itWhy saying no to an unaligned partnership can protect a district’s limited time, attention, and capacityHow The Holdsworth Center works through superintendents rather than approaching school boards directlyWhat the organization’s five-year partnership with Lockhart ISD shows about shared ownership, redesigned leadership roles, and sustainable resultsWhy the nonprofit takes responsibility for adapting its delivery to each district’s culture while keeping clear values-based boundariesHow funder boundaries protect district confidentiality and keep district selection independent of outside influenceWhy real scale means building a system’s ability to continue the work after the partnership endsThe questions to ask before entering a partnership, including whether the work aligns with the system’s goals and whether leaders have the capacity to benefit from itYou will leave with a way to evaluate nonprofit-public partnerships before they begin, clarify who owns the strategy and accountability, communicate boundaries with funders and stakeholders, and build support that strengthens public institutions without taking them over.Episode highlights: (0:00) Intro (1:26) The growing need for nonprofit partnerships in public education (5:02) What a healthy nonprofit partnership with public schools looks like (7:51) Working inside public school systems without losing your mission (9:41) A public school partnership that strengthened outcomes for students and educators (13:22) The biggest fears about nonprofits working with public systems (14:40) Strategic support versus short-term fixes in public partnerships (17:53) Building trust and shared culture across nonprofit and public school teams (20:39) Getting boards and executive teams aligned around a public partnership (23:32) Questions to ask before entering into a public partnership (25:30) What it takes to build a long-term public school partnership (28:12) Clearly communicating roles in a nonprofit-public partnership (30:41) The future of nonprofit partnerships in public educationGuest: Lindsay Whorton, President, The Holdsworth Center ⁠https://holdsworthcenter.org/⁠Full transcript and show notes: ⁠https://www.anedot.com/nonprofit-pulse⁠More episodes and the monthly newsletter: ⁠https://www.nonprofitpulse.com/⁠If this was useful, follow Nonprofit Pulse wherever you listen.Nonprofit Pulse is a podcast by Anedot that explores trends, insights, and resources that help nonprofits accomplish their mission. Hosted by Josh Breland.

Erica Cox has spent more than 30 years in technology consulting, and she says nonprofit AI adoption is the polar opposite of a large, singular transformation. The Chief Innovation Officer at Provisio Partners recommends small, controlled use cases that let a team fail fast or win fast while building the guardrails it needs.The usual instruction is to clean all of your data first, then modernize systems, then consider AI. Erica says data readiness does not depend on organization size or a sophisticated platform. It depends on the minimum viable data required for a useful job.In this episode:How to find a small AI use case inside a recurring process instead of starting with one large transformation projectThe minimum viable data test, including why asking staff to enter 100 fields can hurt both adoption and AI resultsHow the Higher Learning Commission used runners, walkers, and bystanders to identify early adopters and bring more people inThe guardrail behind Pacific Clinics' agent Hope, which had one identifier and no other information about a personWhy a client kept staff at eight-hour days but helped them see ten kids instead of five and complete three grant applications instead of oneYou will leave with a way to inventory AI already in use, choose a pilot, revisit governance monthly, and explain why responsible adoption can strengthen the human work your team does.Episode highlights: (0:00) Starting with AI without a transformation (1:14) Small pilots beat the big transformation (3:14) The minimum viable data test (7:19) The runners, and permission to fail (10:31) How to inventory scattered data (13:18) What the agent named Hope actually does (15:37) Guardrails before sensitive data (19:19) Why AI is changing work so fast (25:38) Why ignoring AI can be risky (30:00) AI that strengthens human work (33:09) Where to start this weekGuest: Erica Cox, Chief Innovation Officer, Provisio Partners https://provisiopartners.comFull transcript and show notes: https://www.anedot.com/blog/nonprofit-pulse-nonprofit-ai-how-to-start More episodes and the monthly newsletter: https://www.nonprofitpulse.com/If this was useful, follow Nonprofit Pulse wherever you listen.Nonprofit Pulse is a podcast by Anedot that explores trends, insights, and resources that help nonprofits accomplish their mission. Hosted by Josh Breland.

Krissie Kelleher brings more than 25 years of strategic fundraising experience to Team IMPACT, and she says an annual fundraising plan is not a document. It is a decision about what you will do and what you will not do.The answer is not a 40-page plan no one reads. Krissie starts with the few revenue drivers that matter, maps the work across the year, and turns ambitious goals into math the team can manage. Fear is not a strategy, and neither is hope.In this episode:How to identify the 3 to 5 core revenue drivers instead of treating every idea as equally importantWhy 70 to 80% of revenue is often predictable, while the rest can be tested, shrunk, or removedWhat a $3.7 million Team IMPACT gala reveals once $750,000 in event costs are countedHow a 12-month calendar becomes the strategy for campaigns, appeals, events, and stewardshipWhy the top 25 prospects and 30%, 50%, and 75% yield calculations keep a pipeline honestYou will leave with a one-page planning approach, a calendar your team can follow, and a quarterly review rhythm for changing course. Focus on relationships, not activity for activity's sake. Krissie would take a sit-down visit with a major-gift prospect ten times more than an event invitation.Episode highlights: (0:00) What the plan says no to (1:26) What makes a fundraising plan work (4:58) Choose revenue drivers that matter (8:36) A 12-month calendar people use (12:59) Targets ambitious enough to manage (18:25) Planning mistakes to avoid (24:55) When to revise the plan (27:58) Fundraising beyond the development team (34:16) Staying focused amid shiny objects (43:37) Start with the one-page planGuest: Krissie Kelleher, CEO, Team IMPACTFull transcript and show notes: https://www.anedot.com/blog/nonprofit-pulse-annual-nonprofit-fundraising-plan More episodes and the monthly newsletter: https://www.nonprofitpulse.com/If this was useful, follow Nonprofit Pulse wherever you listen.Nonprofit Pulse is a podcast by Anedot that explores trends, insights, and resources that help nonprofits accomplish their mission. Hosted by Josh Breland.

Luke Mickelson helped turn Sleep in Heavenly Peace into a volunteer-powered nonprofit with more than 300 chapters, and he did not want to become the bottleneck. The organization's national ambassador says founders do not always have to step back. They have to step differently, from daily operator to a role that protects the mission while local leaders carry it forward.That transition demands a shared process, not hundreds of separate ways of doing the same work. It also demands an experience that lets volunteers contribute meaningfully, even if they have never touched a tool before.In this episode:How Sleep in Heavenly Peace grew from seven chapters to 125 in less than a year, while its budget rose from $80,000 to $1 million in six monthsWhy every chapter needs at least four core team members, rather than one or two people headed for burnoutWhy a jig that builds beds ten times faster with ten times fewer people can work against a volunteer-powered missionHow public bed builds turn one person's 10 to 30 beds a year into a community effort that can build 300 or 400Why chapter presidents receive a weekly P&L and the organization presents its finances every quarterYou will leave with a framework for deciding what to centralize, choosing coachable chapter leaders, designing a meaningful volunteer experience, and preparing for the moment your organization outgrows you.Episode highlights: (0:00) How to grow past the founder bottleneck (1:41) When founders must step differently (6:40) National standards, local ownership (9:49) A founder's job: vision, not operations (14:06) Keeping quality across 300 chapters (18:19) When growth breaks the system (22:33) Choosing leaders who can be coached (28:26) Volunteers who become long-term champions (35:13) Why radical transparency matters (41:40) Before your idea takes off (45:46) Where founders go from hereGuest: Luke Mickelson, National Ambassador, Sleep in Heavenly PeaceFull transcript and show notes: https://www.anedot.com/blog/nonprofit-pulse-how-to-scale-a-volunteer-powered-nonprofit More episodes and the monthly newsletter: https://www.nonprofitpulse.com/If this was useful, follow Nonprofit Pulse wherever you listen.Nonprofit Pulse is a podcast by Anedot that explores trends, insights, and resources that help nonprofits accomplish their mission. Hosted by Josh Breland.