Nonprofit Lowdown

#404 - The DAF Money You're Probably Missing

Donor-advised funds are everywhere. But for a lot of nonprofit fundraisers, they’re still a little mysterious. So I invited Liza Carballeira onto the podcast to break th

#403 - DAF Donor Targeting Playbook

Your year-end plan is actively insulting a segment of your donor file. It's September and that plan is nearly locked, so let's fix it before it goes out. When I was a ba

#402 - Your board isn't lazy. They're uninstructed.

I had a board member, let's call her Lena, who told me she'd rather stick hot needles in her eye than ask her friends for money. So I asked if we could count on her for t

#401 - Why AI Cannot Replace Fundraising Strategy

Why AI Cannot Replace Fundraising Strategy I use Claude every day, he's literally my side piece. And I'm telling you to stop buying AI tools. Here's what I'm seeing acr

#400 - 8 Years, 400 Episodes, and the One Thing I Got Wrong About Marketing

When I started this podcast in 2018, I had no strategy. No content calendar. Just a cheap microphone and a genuine desire to connect with busy nonprofit friends who never

#399 -Stop Chasing Newly Liquid Founders

Here's what nobody tells you: when a founder gets $47M in liquidity, they don't call you. They call their advisor. And by the time you find out they exist, the giving dec

#398 - The Old Way Doesn't work

In this episode, I'm calling out the thing nobody says out loud: your major gift program isn't really a program. The gifts come in, but you can't predict them. Your board

#397 - Your Next Million-Dollar Donor Gives $10 a Year

The biggest gift your organization will ever receive might come from a donor who's been quietly giving you $10 a year for two decades. And most of you are ignoring them.

#396 - How a Teacher-Turned-CEO Landed Her First Six-Figure Gift

I love a good transformation story, and Lucy Madden's is one of my favorites. Lucy was a middle school science teacher who ran a snail mail pen pal program in her classr

#395 - Why Your Major Gift Program Can't Wait

This episode is a little different. It's a bit of a public service announcement. I recently read new nonprofit sector data, and honestly, I haven't been able to stop thi

#394- What Pricing Strategy Can Teach Us About Major Gifts with Claire Wang

One of my favorite takeaways from this conversation with Claire Wang is that fundraising and pricing have more in common than you might think. At their core, both are abo

#393- Burnout, Budget Cuts, and the Future of Fundraising with Glennda Testone

I sat down with my friend Glennda Testone, CEO of the Nonprofit Leadership Lab, to talk about what we're both seeing across the sector right now: burnout, funding uncerta

#392- Fundraising Without Fear: Moving from Scarcity to Sustainability with Andrew Murphy

One of my favorite parts of this work is watching nonprofit leaders grow into fundraisers not because they become slick salespeople, but because they discover that fundra

#391- What Happens When You Stop Fundraising on Hope with Amy Lester

Ever feel like your major gifts program is held together by spreadsheets, good intentions, and crossed fingers? This week, I'm joined by my client and friend Amy Lester,

#390- The Fundraising Strategy Too Many Nonprofits Ignore with Tess Conrad

This episode honestly changed the way I think about planned giving. I sat down with Tess Conrad and walked away realizing that planned giving isn’t just for giant instit

#389- The Human Side of AI with Janine Quijije

In this episode of Nonprofit Lowdown, I sat down with Janine Quijije to talk about AI but probably not in the way you’re used to hearing about it. Instead of asking, “Ho

#388- The Development Director Exodus

This episode felt personal for me because I’ve been watching so many development directors quietly disappear from organizations lately. And honestly? It’s not just about

#387- The Real Mental Health Crisis No One Is Talking About

This episode felt personal—because it is. In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, I sat down with Lauren Carson (Black Girls Smile) and April Walker (Philanthropy for

#386- How to Actually Use Wealth Screening (Without Getting Burned) with Tina Duong

We’re diving into a topic I have a serious love-hate relationship with: wealth screening. My guest is Tina Duong, founder of Impact ProTech and a 25+ year fundraising vet

#385- Why Your Boards Won't Fundraise and How to Change That

I hear this all the time: “Why won’t my board fundraise?” And I get it—it’s frustrating. But here’s the truth I’ve learned: it’s usually not because they don’t care. It’s