Nonprofits Are Messy: Lessons in Leadership | Fundraising | Board Development | Communications

Who holds the powerful accountable when a good law isn’t enough? Glennda Testone makes the case for the role of nonprofits with one small watchdog and 170,000 pages of records a city fought for years to keep hidden.

Most of us read conflict on a team as a sign something has gone wrong. Priya Parker thinks we have it backwards, and she has spent twenty years watching what happens to the groups that get this right and the ones that don't.

Some weeks the news takes something out of you and doesn't put it back. Author Sam Horn has spent a year with people who kept going anyway, and she draws a line between three kinds of people that will make you check which one you've been.

Glennda Testone, CEO of Nonprofit Leadership Lab, did not grow up on Dolly Parton. A year and a half of full immersion later, she came away with three lessons about Dolly Parton philanthropy that every nonprofit leader should hear.

What if greater nonprofit impact isn’t about doing more? Glennda Testone talks with Better Good author Scott M. Curran about focusing on what works and using what you already have more intentionally.

For many nonprofit leaders, unionization can feel deeply personal. Explore the questions, challenges, and realities of nonprofit unionization, and how leaders, staff, and boards can navigate the process while preserving trust, culture, and their org’s values.

What if the goal isn’t simply to avoid burnout, but to learn how to burn on? Jim Collins joins Joan Garry to explore why some leaders stay energized for decades, what it means to stay “in frame,” and how to build a life around what matters most.

Most nonprofits know how to get people to pay attention. Fewer know how to turn that attention into lasting change. In this conversation, Rashad Robinson shares what makes the difference.

Some sponsorship conversations turn into long-term partnerships. Others quietly disappear after the first meeting. What's the difference?

Managing a team that spans five generations isn't a Gen Z problem. It's a leadership challenge. In this episode, I sit down with Jason Burlingame to talk about the workplace tensions that seem to resurface with every generation and what it takes to lead through them.

I sat down with Dr. Kiki Ramsey, positive psychologist and CEO of the Positive Psychology Coaching and Diversity Institute, to have an honest conversation about DEI that nonprofit leaders need to hear right now. We’re covering what’s changing and how nonprofits can keep building belonging even in a hostile climate.

For a long time, Glennda Testone’s people-pleasing nature shaped – and sometimes complicated – her leadership. In this honest, personal solo episode, she shares her journey from people pleaser to recovering people pleaser. Plus, five practical strategies for leading well when you’re wired to make everyone happy.

Think of finding the right CRM like matchmaking – it takes time, self-awareness, and knowing what you actually need versus what just looks good on paper. Glennda Testone sits down with Julia Gachenbach of DonorPerfect to walk through the do’s and don’ts of the matchmaking process to help your organization find the right fit.

What if the rules we’ve built our sector around are actually holding us back? I sat down with author, blogger, and nonprofit rabble-rouser Vu Le to dig into the uncomfortable truths behind his new book, Reimagining Nonprofits and Philanthropy, and why the sector’s greatest threat may be its own suppressed imagination.

When crisis hit Minneapolis, nonprofit leaders and neighbors didn’t wait for rescue. In this episode, Emilia Gonzalez Avalos of Unidos Minnesota shares what it took to build a rapid-response infrastructure, protect communities, and turn terror into collective action.

In a nonprofit, revenue often feels uncertain. But here’s the secret: financial resilience isn’t luck – it’s strategy. In this episode, Glennda Testone and Bethany Maki of Progressive Multipliers explore how nonprofits can build independent revenue, diversify funding, and strengthen long-term sustainability.

Strategic planning doesn’t have to be expensive, exhausting, or end up on a shelf. In this episode, Glennda Testone talks with Sophia Shaw and Adam Wolford of PlanPerfect about a smarter, more accessible approach to nonprofit strategic planning – especially for small to mid-sized organizations.

In this episode, I’m joined by my wife Eileen Opatut, a volunteer fundraiser who landed a yes on her first major ask! Together, we break down what actually works and walk through the real mechanics of successful fundraising.

Nonprofit leaders aren’t burning out because they’re incapable. They’re burning out because we’re not setting them up for success. In this episode, I make the case for why leadership development is not optional – and why investing in leaders is one of the most powerful retention strategies our sector has.

In this episode, Glennda and I reflect on what last year revealed about leadership–and what must change going forward. From adaptive leadership to intentional planning to shared power and long-term thinking, this conversation explores how nonprofit leaders can move beyond reaction and lead with clarity, resilience, and purpose in the year ahead.