The Nonprofit Lab

Community-Centric Fundraising is challenging some of the nonprofit sector’s most deeply held assumptions about donors, power, and who fundraising should ultimately serve. Marcus Cunningham joins The Nonprofit Lab to explore what CCF looks like in practice, where donor-centric fundraising can cause harm, and whether a more community-centered approach can survive the financial realities nonprofits face today.

Creative technologist, artist, and archivist Adrian Jones joins The Nonprofit Lab to explore how technology can help communities preserve history, reclaim overlooked stories, and see the places around them differently. From tracing his own ancestry to building Looking Glass with augmented reality, Adrian shares lessons on memory, tinkering, persistence, radical giving, and why nonprofit leaders need to protect human judgment in the age of AI.

Nonprofit leaders are surrounded by more tools, technology, and advice than ever, but are we skipping the fundamentals? Meghan Speer, Executive Director of Nonprofit Hub, joins The Nonprofit Lab to explore what nonprofit leaders actually need to build stronger, more sustainable organizations, from fundraising and storytelling to leadership, community, and the foundational skills that keep good going.

What if fundraising was less about individual transactions and more about belonging? Grapevine founder and CEO Emily Rasmussen joins to explore the power of giving circles and what nonprofits can learn from collective giving. She breaks down how community, collaboration, and donor agency can deepen relationships, strengthen retention, and turn generosity into something people experience together.

What makes nonprofit leaders think differently?We sit down with Cherian Koshy, author of NeuroGiving⁠, to explore the neuroscience behind nonprofit leadership, fundraising, and generosity.They unpack how the brain responds to giving, why nonprofit leaders are wired to navigate unique pressures, and how understanding human behavior can help organizations become more effective fundraisers and leaders.If you work in nonprofit leadership, fundraising, or philanthropy, this conversation offers a science-backed look at what drives people to give, and how to put those insights into practice.