Nonprofit Hub Radio

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A nonprofit can do everything right for its community and still get blindsided by one bad email. In this episode, Dan Hernandez, Founder and CEO of PCS Technologies, shares real-world cybersecurity insights to help organizations protect donor data, prevent inbox takeovers, and stop payment fraud. From a jaw-dropping story about a $167,000 loss caused by a poorly written email to simple phone call verification steps that block financial scams, Dan breaks down practical ways busy teams can defend their mission without creating a culture of paranoia.

The conversation also tackles AI risk in plain language, detailing why setting clear AI policies and choosing secure, paid tools is essential for keeping sensitive client and donor data safe. Dan highlights what boards can do to support smart IT budgeting, cloud migration, and incident readiness so organizations stay resilient. Whether managing donor systems or approving vendor payments, listeners will walk away with immediate, actionable steps to safeguard their impact. Press play to protect your organization's reputation and future!

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A nonprofit story can open hearts, change policy, and fund lifesaving work—but it can also leave people dysregulated, ashamed, or shut down if told the way the sector traditionally has. In this episode, Maria Bryan, Partnership Marketing Manager at Donorbox and creator of When Bearing Witness, steps into a crucial conversation on trauma-informed storytelling and why standard “ethical storytelling” isn't enough when narratives land in real bodies with real lived experience.

We get specific about what trauma actually is—a nervous system response to perceived unsafety—and how it surfaces across the entire storytelling ecosystem: for the story owner, the audience, and the nonprofit marketer. Maria breaks down why high-impact formats like emotionally intense gala videos or hospital scenes can trigger viewers and create negative associations. The goal isn't watered-down narratives, but telling the truth safely through renewed consent, content warnings, and donor autonomy. Hit play to learn how humane storytelling practices protect dignity and build lasting donor trust!

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How do you tell deeply human stories without reducing the people you serve to a tragic footnote? In this episode, Matt Kamin (founder of Envision Consulting and host of Nonprofit Happy Hour) joins us to tear down the outdated playbooks of nonprofit marketing and fundraising. We get vulnerable about what true consent-based storytelling looks like, why every client story needs an expiration date, and how staying visible in an AI-driven world requires transparent, outcome-focused truth over polished spin.

Beyond communications, we tackle the tough leadership decisions that make or break organizational survival. We challenge the martyr mindset in the sector and get real about why tax status should never dictate business efficiency. Together, we explore how to structure boards that actually work, why endowments aren't emergency safety nets for poor planning, and how letting go of executive ego can open up transformative mergers and partnerships. Grab your favorite beverage, hit play, and jump into the conversation with us!

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Most capital campaigns don’t struggle because the mission is weak—they struggle because the board is working from myths. In this episode of Nonprofit Hub Radio, Amy Eisenstein and Sarah Plimpton from Capital Campaign Pro join us to unpack what really drives successful major gift fundraising and what board members need to understand before voting to "just go for it."

From demystifying feasibility studies and navigating the crucial quiet phase to right-sizing trustee roles beyond just asking for money, this conversation offers a practical roadmap to keep your fundraising on track. Whether you are preparing to launch a new campaign or trying to re-energize one that has stalled, tune in to discover how disciplined planning and strategic donor engagement can turn boardroom assumptions into transformative results.

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Search traffic to nonprofit websites is down roughly 35%, which means the way donors discover causes is actively changing. If someone wants to include a nonprofit in their will, hunting for basic details like an EIN or address can cause that moment to pass. Lindsay Newman and Brantley Boyett from Giving Docs sit down to discuss how to make legacy giving simple, accessible, and deeply engaging for supporters.

We clear the air on some common misconceptions around planned giving—moving beyond basic bequests to cover beneficiary designations, donor-advised funds, and practical estate planning tools. Lindsay and Brantley explore how to talk about legacy gifts without leading with awkward mortality messaging, why clear gift acceptance policies protect organizations long term, and how making a legacy commitment actually increases a donor's annual giving by 70% for the rest of their life.

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If "capital campaign" brings to mind massive building projects or an overwhelming all-or-nothing effort, this conversation offers a fresh perspective. Daniel Hussey, head coach and lead campaign strategist at HPC, breaks down what capital campaigns actually mean for modern nonprofits and why small to medium-sized organizations are fully capable of executing them.

Rather than an intimidating climb straight to the summit, Daniel outlines a clear six-phase roadmap that breaks the effort into manageable base camps—from internal strategy and feasibility studies to quiet phases and long-term donor stewardship. The conversation explores how grounding campaigns in strategic planning reduces board anxiety and how using an AND-gift approach protects your regular annual giving while securing transformational major gifts.

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We sit down with Derric Bakker, founder and CEO of Dickerson Bakker and author of A Better Way to Fundraise: Treat Every Donor Like a Major Donor, to discuss why modern fundraising feels increasingly transactional, exhausting, and disconnected from its true purpose.

Derric shares the airport story that inspired his philosophy and outlines why every supporter—regardless of gift size—deserves to feel seen, valued, stewarded, and invited into meaningful partnership. The conversation breaks down the seven behaviors of relationship-based fundraising, explains how AI can be leveraged to listen to donors at scale without losing authentic human-to-human connection, and offers a compelling path forward to cure fundraiser burnout.

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Dr. Derria Ford of Seed Fundraisers shares a practical, repeatable framework for collecting and sharing nonprofit stories while keeping dignity, agency, and consent at the center.

Here we explore what ethical storytelling looks like in practice—moving away from single-checkbox release forms, writing alongside clients rather than over them, and avoiding the trap of exploiting hard moments for fundraising gain. We discuss practical consent strategies, navigating modern pressure points like AI-generated imagery, and proving that hope-filled, data-backed narratives can inspire donors just as effectively as traditional appeals.

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If your calendar is packed with galas, auctions, golf outings, and “one more event” that still doesn’t fix your budget, this conversation is for you. We sit down with Sherry Quam Taylor, CEO of Quam Taylor, to talk about the simplest and hardest shift in nonprofit fundraising: getting out from behind the tactics and back into real human donor relationships.

We dig into why so many mid-level and major donors are not giving their best gift each year and how well-meaning fundraising events can quietly cap generosity. Sherry shares a clear principle we can use right away: our job is to lead every donor to their best gift, not just the easiest gift. From there, we unpack how to move from “fun project” storytelling to confident, business-minded conversations about strategic plans, growth, and the true need for general operating support so you can fund salaries, benefits, and infrastructure without feeling awkward.

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In this episode of Nonprofit Hub Radio, leadership coach and author Nick Reich explores why systems and software cannot solve foundational leadership challenges. The discussion delves into the "full circle leader" framework, the critical difference between vision and direction, and how balancing high expectations with deep care—defined as "love with standards"—helps nonprofit teams shift out of burnout and into a sustainable growth zone.

Nick Reich is the CEO of Abundant Empowerment and the author of Every Player Is Bigger Than The Program. With over 25 years of experience spanning school social work, poverty alleviation, global health, and executive coaching, Nick supports nonprofit and corporate leaders in building high-performing teams and human-centered organizational cultures.

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You can run an inspiring nonprofit and still feel lost the moment a P&L hits your inbox. In this episode, Michael Baldree, founder of Crosswind CFO Advisory, breaks down how executive directors who came up through the program side can build a true partnership with finance. We unpack what a healthy relationship with your CFO or finance lead actually looks like: one where finance understands the heart of your mission, respects your vision, and works alongside you to turn ambitious goals into fundable, step-by-step realities without being the "wet blanket."

We also dig into practical strategies for long-term sustainability, clearing up common myths around revenue diversification and earned income. Michael breaks down what nonprofit tax status actually allows, how to choose earned revenue streams that match your core strengths, and the simple monthly report checks and internal controls that protect small teams from fraud. Whether you're looking to transition from backward-looking financial reports to forward-looking cash flow planning or wondering if fractional CFO services fit your budget, this conversation delivers actionable tools to move your mission forward.

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In this episode of the Nonprofit Hub Radio Podcast, Alison Teitelbaum of AST Strategies shares practical insights on how executive directors and boards can protect strategic direction, reduce friction, and keep teams energized through transition and change.

The conversation covers essential techniques for overcoming mission creep, such as "level setting" decisions with clear context, measurable goals, and explicit reopening criteria. Teitelbaum details strategies for transitioning legacy organizations from working boards to strategic boards through training and term limits, while offering startup leaders a lighter cadence for keeping strategic plans active and aligning board vision with daily staff realities.

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In this episode of the Nonprofit Hub Radio Podcast, Allison Wyatt, founder and CEO of Edgility Talent Partners, shares practical strategies for constructing sustainable talent infrastructure around compensation, performance management, and career progression. Together, they unpack how establishing clear compensation philosophies and transparent salary scales can reduce distrust, reduce churn, and protect equity across an entire organization.

The conversation explores practical ways to navigate organizational growth, from using FAST goals as a lightweight starting point for small teams to rebuilding roles from a clean-slate view. Wyatt explains how to avoid the trap of "we’re a family" culture by setting healthy workplace boundaries and applying an 80/20 approach to role clarity. Leaders will also gain actionable advice on approaching performance management through coaching, using the Situation, Behavior, Impact framework for constructive feedback, and utilizing tools to keep both their mission and their people strong.

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In this episode, parliamentary attorney Jim Slaughter discusses why Robert’s Rules of Order remains essential for nonprofits seeking faster, fairer, and clearer board meetings. The conversation explores how to match meeting formality to board size, how chairs can guide balanced debate without turning meetings into courtrooms, and key strategies for navigating virtual governance challenges like Zoom "shadow debate".

Jim Slaughter is a parliamentary attorney, Certified Professional Parliamentarian, Professional Registered Parliamentarian, and author. He serves as a trusted advisor to professional associations, corporations, and nonprofit boards on meeting procedure, bylaws, and parliamentary law. Learn more at https://www.lawfirmcarolinas.com/.

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An organization can run the best mission in town and still get ignored simply because supporters are flooded with digital noise. The host sits down with Bradley Martin, VP of Sales and Marketing at Feathr, to get honest about what nonprofit marketing looks like when the average person is hit with thousands of impressions a day and organic reach keeps shrinking. If the word “marketing” still feels too salesy, this conversation reframes it in plain terms: fundraising, donor engagement, and staying present so people remember a cause when they are ready to act.

The episode digs into why traditional channels like email and direct mail aren’t dead, but face clear operational caps. The shift then moves to the real unlock: earning a donor’s share of mind through smarter cadence and segmentation instead of just increasing volume. Bradley breaks down the high ROI of running retargeting ads for anonymous website visitors who showed initial interest but never converted, navigating privacy parameters cleanly, and pairing digital ads with email workflows to boost response rates during critical seasonal campaigns.

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Nonprofit Hub Radio sits down with James Ryzhkov, Head of Growth at Bezalel Lab, to explore what it really takes to "double" a nonprofit without turning the mission into a spreadsheet goal. The conversation challenges KPI-first thinking, digs into the leadership and clarity problems that block growth, and offers practical ways to build focus, systems, and a message donors can actually repeat.

James Ryzhkov is the Head of Growth at Bezalel Lab, where he pairs a technology background with a strategic outlook on the nonprofit sector. His focus is closing the gap between the meaningful work nonprofits do and the systems they need to grow it sustainably.

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When your work depends on trust and relationships, AI can feel like a threat. In this episode, we sit down with Lizzie Neufeld, CEO and founder of Strat Labs, to unpack the fear surrounding automation and explore how nonprofits can move forward without losing the human touch. The big takeaway: AI works best when it focuses on operations and internal capacity first, allowing fundraisers to spend less time buried in administrative tasks and more face-to-face time with donors.

Instead of searching for flashy new tools, Lizzie argues for a process-driven approach—mapping exactly where your team loses time and momentum each week so you can use systems, like project management platforms, to fix those leaks. Tune in to learn practical guardrails for auditing AI-generated content, how to automate major donor follow-ups while keeping humans in control, and why operations thinking and storytelling are the two skill sets that will matter most moving forward.

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Nonprofit Hub Radio sits down with Meggie Nauman and Rob Northrop, both from Lancaster Bingo Company, to explore why charity gaming can be a repeatable fundraising program rather than a once-a-year event. The conversation breaks down who bingo works best for, how to navigate licensing and compliance, and what it takes to make game night entertaining enough that players keep coming back and bring friends.

Meggie Nauman is the Director of Marketing and Customer Service at Lancaster Bingo Company, where she has spent eight years helping charitable organizations connect with sales support to build successful bingo and pull tab fundraising programs. Rob Northrop is the General Manager at Lancaster Bingo Company, where he focuses on helping nonprofits, veterans groups, and fraternal organizations fundraise more efficiently and grow their community impact through charity gaming.

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One big check shouldn’t be able to rewrite a nonprofit's mission, but that’s exactly how many organizational budgets are built. This episode features Vincent Jones, CEO of Beyond Impact, to challenge the status quo and unpack a blunt claim: philanthropy’s current funding structure is a design failure. The conversation gets specific about how the “low overhead” mindset starves organizations of fundraising capacity, traps teams in constant donor courting, and concentrates power in a handful of decision-makers instead of the communities nonprofits serve.

Jones breaks down the two structural problems he sees most: the pressure to chase a small number of major donors and the sector’s tendency to fund only 501(c)(3) work even when the goal is systems change. Using a clear "ER vs. intersection" analogy, he explains the practical operational differences between a 501(c)(3) and a 501(c)(4) in plain language, detailing why C4 advocacy and lobbying can target root causes while C3 programs often focus on essential short-term relief.

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In the nonprofit world, urgency is constant and that makes operations easy to neglect. Yet operational excellence is often the difference between a mission that scales and a team that burns out. This conversation focuses on nonprofit operations, process improvement, and leadership clarity through a surprising origin story: learning business systems inside McDonald’s. The point is not fast food, it is repeatability. When an organization can explain how work gets done, it can train faster, protect quality, reduce errors, and improve donor and client experience without relying on heroics. That is the hidden engine behind sustainable impact, healthy culture, and staff retention.

This session features insights from Nickie Froiland of MODIS9, exploring the operational habits that make mission-driven teams run smoothly. The conversation connects process discipline to clear priorities, decision authority, and the hard leadership work of letting go so a team can grow. From parsing out key priority rankings to navigating the identity shifts of leadership transitions, this framework brings operational leadership into plain language.

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Get free nonprofit professional development resources, connections to cause work peers, and more at https://nonprofithub.org