Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership Strategies, and Community-Centric Solutions for Canadian and American Nonprofit

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A potential donor scrolling LinkedIn gives your post about three seconds. If they have to reread a sentence, you’ve lost them.

In this episode, we talk about why nonprofit jargon pushes away the people you most want to reach. You’ll learn which words turn donors off, and how even familiar terms like “food insecurity” may mean different things to different people. We also cover how a clear mission helps you write stronger grant applications and turn down funding that pulls you off course. Plus, you’ll get a simple test to see how well your own team can explain what you do.

On this week’s episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, Maria sits down with Maura Fitzpatrick. Maura is a senior strategist at PushTen, a creative agency that does branding, web design, and strategy for mission-driven organizations and nonprofits. She also worked as a communications manager at a legal aid nonprofit.

Maura shares:

• The 3-second LinkedIn rule
• Smart people skim too.
• Jargon hides in familiar words.
• A clear mission makes fundraising easier.
• Clear words help a sector that’s underfunded.

If your nonprofit needs more hands on deck to get more dollars and donors, book a call with the Further Together team and we can see if we can help: https://www.gofurthertogether.ca/discoverycall

Maria shares more cool and innovative fundraising tips on LinkedIn. If you want to connect with us, send her a message here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-rio-ethical-fundraising/

• Connect with Maura on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maurafitzpatrick/
• Email Maura at maura@push10.com (mention this podcast for a free 30-minute consult)
• Visit their website: https://www.push10.com/

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Most of us walk into a networking event or donor meeting and lead with our job title. It’s safe. It’s also forgettable.

In this episode, you’ll learn a different way in: start with questions. You’ll hear how one simple opener gets people talking about who they are, beyond what they do. You’ll learn how to choose which parts of your story to share, based on who’s in front of you. And you’ll hear what it sounds like to talk with donors as a peer, instead of inspiring their pity.

ABOUT THE GUEST

Frank Velasquez Jr. is the founder of 4 Da Hood, where he helps organizations and leaders reclaim their stories. His goal is to help people lead with more authenticity, courage, and joy. Frank has spent about nine years in fundraising. He’s also a speaker who calls himself an “extroverted introvert.” He runs Ascending Leaders in Color, a cohort program for leaders of color. Each group has no more than 10 people, so leaders can be real, reconnect with each other, and reclaim every part of their story.

Frank shares:

• The difference between who you are vs. what you do
• The extroverted introvert’s secret
• How to decide what to share by listening first
• How to shorten the Community-Centric Fundraising principles learning curve

Listen to Frank's previous episode: https://www.buzzsprout.com/208666/episodes/18654392
Connect with Frank on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fvelasquezjr/
Connect with Frank: frank@4dahood.com
Visit 4 Da Hood: www.4dahood.com

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ABOUT THE HOST

Maria Rio is the founder and CEO of Further Together, a fractional fundraising firm that specializes in Community-Centric Fundraising. She arrived in Canada as a refugee when she was young, and her early experience with charitable services is what drew her to nonprofit work. She started fundraising in 2011 as a face-to-face fundraiser, then led development and communications at small and mid-sized nonprofits.

Maria has spoken at AFP ICON, AFP Congress, APRA, Xlerate, and Imagine Canada, appeared on TVO's The Agenda and CityNews, and spoken at the Ontario Parliament. Her writing has appeared in The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, and the book Against the People: How Ford Nation is Dismantling Ontario. She was a finalist for the 2022 Charity Village Best Individual Fundraiser Award, received the 2025 Young Alumni Impact Award from St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto, and was one of ten Canadian entrepreneurs selected for the ELLA Accelerator Altitude program at York University's YSpace.

Maria pushes the sector to stop fundraising in a way that caters to donors instead of community, and start sharing power with those that our nonprofits exist to serve.

Connect with Maria on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-rio-ethical-fundraising/

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The Small Nonprofit Podcast is produced by Further Together, a Toronto-based fractional fundraising firm serving social justice nonprofits across Canada and the United States. Every engagement is built entirely on a Community-Centric Fundraising methodology.

Further Together is dedicated to driving systemic change, both inside and outside the nonprofit sector.

Fundraising has the power to do more than keep the lights on. Done well, and done ethically, it can shift power. Build movements. Change who gets a seat at the table.

That's our north star: creating real change inside the sector and beyond it.

Book a no-pressure chat with us: https://www.gofurthertogether.ca/discoverycall

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If you've ever put months of work into a gala, only to have most of the guests disappear until next year's event, this episode is for you. On this week's episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, Maria Rio talks with Amy Milne, CEO and founder of Beyond Fundraising Inc. Amy has spent her career helping nonprofits raise more money through events: runs, walks, rides, you name it. Amy explains why your event should be part of a year-round relationship with your supporters and how staying in touch between events can turn guests and volunteers into committee members, sponsors, and even major donors. You'll also hear how a kids' cancer charity replaced its tired gala with an adult pajama party, complete with chicken and waffles and a Twister dance floor.

• Visit their website: https://www.startingbeyond.com/
• Connect with Amy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyrmilne
• Connect with Amy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedownthereaffair/
• Connect with Amy on thedownaffair Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedownthereaffair/
• Listen to her podcast, Real Talk for the Non-Profit Event Pro: https://realtalkforthenonprofiteventpro.buzzsprout.com/

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Most stewardship advice assumes you have a team, a budget, and time to hand-deliver flowers to every donor. This episode is for fundraisers who have none of those. You'll learn five stewardship strategies that work for small teams and hear how a $100 donor became a $10,000 donor after receiving a short impact email every other month.

On this week's episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, Caitlin McBride, a Certified Fundraising Executive, used these strategies as a one-person fundraising department to nearly double her individual giving campaign in two years. If stewardship keeps sliding to the bottom of your list, start here.

• Connect with Caitlin on LinkedIn
• Download our donor stewardship email templates

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What does your annual report say about your volunteers? If it's a headcount, a total of hours, and a dollar figure for how much they "saved" you, Jessica Pang-Parks has some thoughts. Most EDs don't set out to treat volunteers as free labour. The systems we've inherited make it easy, especially when funding won't cover the staff you actually need. This week, Maria is joined by Jessica. They talk about where volunteer engagement goes wrong, and what it looks like when it's done right.

Jessica Pang-Parks helps nonprofits create impact and inspire belonging through ethical volunteer engagement frameworks. Her work is grounded in Community-Centric Fundraising, and it starts from one idea: volunteers are whole people. If your organization works with volunteers and you suspect they deserve better stewardship than they're getting, this one's for you.

Visit Jessica's website: https://www.learnwithjpp.com/

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Perfectionism doesn't feel like fear. It feels like caring. But underneath the reviewed-a-hundred-times email is usually one thing: fear. In this episode, Maria talks with leadership coach Tessa Bridge about why leaders mistake control for competence and what it actually takes to lead from a grounded place instead of a scared one. Tessa Bridge is the founder of Tessa Bridge Coaching and author of Do Your Part: Bold, Sustainable Leadership for Social Impact Leaders in a Time of Crisis.

• Connect with Tessa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessabridgecoaching/
• Visit her website: https://www.tessabridgecoaching.com/

Tessa is running a live book club on October 28, November 4, November 18, and December 2, based on her book, Do Your Part, with four sessions of peer discussion and group coaching. This offering is for high-achieving, deeply committed leaders looking for a way to lead that is both bold and sustainable.

Register for the book club, and use code MARIA150:

• In-person event - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/do-your-part-book-club-in-person-tickets-1999790009752?aff=oddtdtcreator
• Virtual event - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/do-your-part-book-club-online-tickets-1999791915452?aff=oddtdtcreator

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Most nonprofits lose more than half their donors after that very first gift, and it's rarely because those donors stopped caring. In this episode, Maria breaks down a simple, repeatable framework for keeping donors engaged long after they hit "donate." She walks through the five stages every donor moves through, why skipping even one of them kills retention, and how to weave stats and stories together so your messaging actually sticks. Then she digs into the psychology behind giving decisions, from anchoring to loss aversion to social proof, including the real story behind a $400,000 donor who ended up giving a million.

This is Part 2 of Maria Rio's workshop, "How to Get More Donors, Retain Your Base, and Deepen Their Connection."

• Connect with Maria on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/maria-rio-ethical-fundraising
• Listen to Part One: https://www.buzzsprout.com/208666/episodes/19724266

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Nearly half of nonprofit Executive Directors are reporting burnout as a serious concern, and that number is climbing fast. In this episode, we dig into the Center for Effective Philanthropy's 2026 report and unpack what's actually driving the crisis: rising service demand, shrinking budgets, and boards and staff who often can't be the safe space EDs need.

On this week's episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, Maria is joined by Caitlin McBride, a Certified Fundraising Executive with close to 15 years in the sector, to talk honestly about burnout and what small nonprofit leaders can actually do about it, starting today.

• Connect with Caitlin on LinkedIn
• Read the Center for Effective Philanthropy, 2026 report

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Most nonprofits ask foundations for what they think a funder is comfortable giving, not what the mission actually needs to succeed. That gap is costing the sector real impact. This episode pulls back the curtain on how private philanthropy really operates: why 95% of foundation assets sit invested with zero connection to mission, why "private" family foundations are actually funded with public money, and why the polite, small ask has become the norm even when it guarantees failure.

On this week's episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, Maria sits down with Glenn Galaich, CEO of the Stupski Foundation and author of Control: Why Big Giving Falls Short, to talk about what happens when a foundation commits to spending down its entire endowment instead of sitting on it.

• Connect with Glenn on LinkedIn
• Visit their website

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Throwing spaghetti at the wall can't fix broken fundraising systems. On this week's episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, Maria Rio, a fundraising expert with over 15 years of experience, shares what it actually takes to turn acquisition and retention into a repeatable system instead of a scramble. You'll learn how to move donors through each stage of the funnel, from total stranger to lifelong supporter, and why retention deserves more of your attention.

This episode is Part 1 of Maria's live workshop, "How to Get More Donors, Retain Your Base, and Deepen Their Connection," recorded for a cohort of nonprofit leaders.

• Connect with Maria on LinkedIn
• Watch The Golden Circle by Simon Sinek (TED Talk)

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Small nonprofits are constantly told to do more with less. More fundraising, more reporting, more services, same tiny team. This episode flips that pressure on its head. Instead of asking "how do we do more ourselves," our guest makes the case for asking "who could we build this with together?" You'll hear real examples of what collaboration actually looks like on the ground, from a food bank that partnered with mental health organizations to a youth coalition that hit real growing pains. We break down why duplicated efforts hold small nonprofits back and how the right partnerships create capacity instead of just more work.

On this week's episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, Maria sits down with Daniel Francavilla, a marketing strategist and capacity-building consultant who works with nonprofits through The Good Growth Company, Daniel Does, and Clarity Content. Daniel has spent years helping nonprofits and social purpose organizations tell their stories and build the kind of partnerships that expand reach. Nonprofit leaders will walk away with a clearer sense of what collaboration can look like beyond the usual program partnership and why capacity-sharing might be the missing piece in their strategy.

• Visit Daniel's website: https://www.thegoodgrowth.company/
• Learn more about the Together for Impact Summit, coming this November 5th: https://www.thegoodgrowth.company/summit

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Most leaders don't talk about what actually happens the day you walk into an ED role. They talk about the vision and the strategy, not the fact that your admin manager just quit, the reserves are empty, and you're going to have to let people go before you've even found the bathroom. This episode is about that first year as an ED, unfiltered. On this week's episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, I sit down with Lenny Sweeney, Executive Director at SHORE Centre and a fundraiser of nearly 20 years across community services, gender-based violence, disability, and reproductive justice work. If you're a first-time ED, considering becoming one, or currently in the middle of a challenge, this episode will make you feel a lot less alone.

• Connect with Lenny Sweeny on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lenny-sweeney-cfre-a8309b11/
• Learn more about SHORE Centre (Sexual Health Options, Resources and Education): https://www.shorecentre.ca/

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Search engines were never built with equity in mind. The organizations that show up first are the ones with money for ads, not necessarily the ones doing the most impactful work. For small and grassroots nonprofits, that means decades of good work can go unseen by the donors, program officers, and advisors who'd want to support it if they only knew it existed. It's clear the playing field was uneven long before AI entered the picture. But AI is also changing who gets found, and not always in the direction people assume.

On this week's episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, host Maria Rio sits down with Brandolon Barnett, Chief Innovation and Philanthropy Officer at Giving Compass, to unpack why small nonprofits struggle to be discovered and what it actually takes for donors to find you in a AI-first digital landscape. Nonprofit leaders will walk away understanding why "just post more on social media" isn't the fix it used to be and what steps they can take instead without needing a tech team or a big budget.

• Connect with Brandolon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandolon/
• Visit their website: https://givingcompass.org/ or https://gg.givingcompass.org/
• Learn more about how donors and funders find you in the age of AI: Free self-paced course here

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Ever felt pressure to chase every funding opportunity that crosses your desk just because the deadline lines up and the dollar amount looks good? This episode is your permission to slow down. You'll learn why "does this person have money" is the wrong first question, and what to actually look for before you sink hours into an application or a pitch. You'll hear the real cost of chasing misaligned funders (hint: it's not just your time), and get a practical framework for spotting values alignment before you're locked into a partnership.

On this week's episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, host Maria Rio is joined by Caitlin McBride, a certified fundraising executive with close to 15 years of experience helping small nonprofit leaders make fundraising feel easy, ethical, and less chaotic. Together, they unpack how experienced fundraisers actually assess whether a funding opportunity is worth pursuing, and nonprofit leaders will walk away with a clear-eyed way to evaluate funders before committing time, energy, or their organization's reputation.

Connect with Caitlin on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/caitlinmcbride-ethical-fundraising/

The Unbearable Hypocrisy: Fundraising in a World of Compromised Integrity: Read here

CHAPTERS

00:00 Why Not Every Funder Is Worth Chasing
01:43 Meet Caitlin McBride: Making Fundraising Ethical and Less Chaotic
02:35 The "Looks Good on Paper" Trap — Money, Deadlines and Program Fit
03:41 Not All Money Is Good Money: Hidden Time and Reputational Costs
05:58 How to Check a Funder's Real Giving History (CRA Website Tip)
07:27 Values Alignment: Vision, Tactics, and How Donors Treat Your Staff
09:11 Closed-Door Funders: Why "They Won't Talk to You" Is the Answer
12:14 Scarcity Mindset vs. Being Strategically Picky About Funders
13:21 The "Ends Justify the Means" Debate in Nonprofit Fundraising
14:49 Funding Should Follow Mission, Not the Other Way Around
15:27 Assessing the Grant Application: Is It Worth Your Time?
16:23 Sneaky Recognition Requirements (Christmas Gifts, Logo Wars, and More)
18:41 Sponsorship vs. Donation: Know What You're Actually Signing
20:00 Why Being Picky Is the Strategic Move

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Most nonprofits pour everything into the people and causes they serve, and forget the staff doing that work every single day. This episode flips the script. We're talking about what it actually looks like to take care of the caretakers, especially when your team is dealing with trauma, grief, or emotional burnout as part of the job. You'll hear how one nonprofit built a staff wellness program from the ground up, fueled almost entirely through community donations, not big budget line items. We also get into what happens when a founder hits her own breaking point, and what she changed because of it.

On this week's episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, Maria sits down with Laurie Hood, founder and CEO of Alaqua Animal Refuge, a 20-year-old organization that rescues and rehabilitates animals from cruelty and neglect cases. Nonprofit leaders will walk away with a real framework for supporting staff wellbeing without needing a bigger budget, and a reminder that modeling rest starts at the top.

Visit their website: https://alaqua.org/

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Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) are the fastest-growing way to give in Canada, the US, and the UK, and most nonprofits still don't have the words "donor-advised fund" anywhere on their website. This episode isn't a case for DAFs. It's a case for having a strategy for them anyway, so that money moves toward community instead of sitting in an advisor's spreadsheet.

In this episode, Mike Todd (Transform Philanthropy) breaks down what's actually happening when a DAF gift lands in your mailbox, why "anonymous" almost never means what you think it means, and how to stop losing gifts you didn't even know you were being considered for.

• Connect with Mike: mike@transformphilanthropy.ca
• Connect with Mike on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miketodd/
• Visit their website: https://www.transformphilanthropy.ca/

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Posting on social media and hoping donations follow? You might be setting yourself up for disappointment. In this episode, we get into why social media is often a top-of-funnel tool, not a direct-response one, and why that's not a bad thing once you understand how to use it right. We talk about the algorithm problem nobody wants to admit: that even your own followers might never see your posts. We also dig into what actually makes content land, from ditching jargon to using strength-based framing that invites people in instead of guilt-tripping them.

On this week's episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, Maria sits down with Farra Trompeter, co-director and worker-owner at Big Duck, who has spent over 30 years helping nonprofits use communications to build brands, run campaigns, and grow sustainably. If you've ever wondered whether your org "should" be on every platform, or worried your content isn't landing the way you hoped, this conversation gives you a clearer way to think about both.

• Connect with Farra: farra@bigduck.com
• Connect with Farra on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/farra/
• Visit their website: https://bigduck.com/

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If your fundraising calendar is back-to-back grant deadlines and event planning, you might be stuck on a treadmill that's working against you. Grants and events share something that doesn't get talked about enough: they're two of the highest time investment portfolios in the fundraising world. The good news? If you're good at grants, you're already sitting on a foundation of skills that translate directly into individual giving, corporate, and social enterprise.

On this week's episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, Maria Rio is joined by Caitlin McBride, CFRE, a Certified Fundraising Executive with over a decade of experience who is on a mission to make fundraising feel less chaotic and more doable for small nonprofits.

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Your fundraiser just handed in their notice. Now what? Before you dust off that three-year-old job description and blast it out, there are a few things you need to know. Fundraiser turnover is one of the most disruptive events a small nonprofit can face. Donor relationships go quiet, grant deadlines get missed, and someone who already has a full plate suddenly inherits a whole new set of responsibilities. If the hiring process that follows is reactive rather than intentional, you risk losing good candidates, burning out your team further, and making an expensive hire that doesn't stick.

On this week's episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, Maria sits down with Brittny Wilson, CEO and founder of Rooted Hire, an executive search firm built specifically for nonprofits. With over 20 years of in-house fundraising experience and six years running her own search and interim services firm, Brittny knows this terrain from every angle. In this episode, she walks Executive Directors through the real cost of skipping the assessment stage, why the "starry-eyed" hire from a big shop usually doesn't work out, and what you can do differently starting today.

• Visit Brittny's website: https://www.rootedhire.com/
• Connect with Brittny:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittnywilson/
• https://www.instagram.com/rootedhire

• Hiring Process Audit: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q7ax3DqErnzNmepydJEx5ncjuCJHoKh4/view
• 10 Pitfalls of Nonprofit Hiring: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dBnxhytGuSyAB55G7e21YYq4iVtRqIas/view

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A burnt-out Executive Director doesn't just affect themselves. The team feels it. The culture shifts. The bold, brave decisions that your community depends on? They stop happening. And yet, so many EDs stay well past their limit because the tools, staffing, or board support to do anything differently simply don't exist. If you're an ED who's been running on fumes, or a board member wondering why your leader seems like a different person than the one you hired, this conversation is for you.

On this week's episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, Maria sits down with Jocelyn Helland, a nonprofit leadership consultant with over 20 years of Executive Director experience. Jocelyn now works with small and medium-sized organizations through coaching, fractional fundraising, and interim ED leadership helping them solve the sticky problems that keep great leaders stuck.

• Visit Jocelyn's website: https://www.jocelynhelland.ca/
• Connect with Jocelyn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jocelynhelland/

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