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As the year comes to a close, I’m pressing pause on our regular programming to reflect — and to say thank you.

In this brief holiday message, I share what this past year has revealed about the power of storytelling, the strength of our nonprofit community, and the quiet, human work that truly builds impact. The stories we’ve had the privilege to hear — and help be heard — remind me that community isn’t built by headlines, hashtags, or algorithms. It’s built by people. By commitment. By heart.

I also extend deep gratitude to our founding and sustaining partners — CAPTRUST, Western Health Advantage, CxORE Fractional Leadership, and our newest partner heading into 2026, Five Star Bank — whose support allows hundreds of nonprofits each year to share their mission with clarity and dignity.

You’ll also hear a little holiday fun — because even meaningful work should leave room for play.

From all of us at the Nonprofit Podcast Network, thank you for listening, supporting, sharing, and believing in the power of community storytelling.

Wishing you peace, warmth, rest, and renewed purpose this holiday season — and a hopeful year ahead.

Thank you so much for listening to this nonprofit story! We appreciate you. Please visit the website to sign up for our email updates and newsletter. https://www.nonprofpod.com/ And if you like, leave me a voicemail to comment on the program, leave a question for us to ask in the future or a message for me, Jeff Holden. I may even use your voice mail message in a future episode of one of our incredible local nonprofit organizations. https://www.nonprofpod.com/voicemail. Thanks again for your support in listening, commenting and sharing the great work our local nonprofits are accomplishing.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this episode. Please send me a text...

This episode, I sit down with Cherian Koshy, author of Neurogiving: The Science of Donor Decision-Making — a book that achieved something almost unheard of in the nonprofit sector by landing on the USA Today Bestseller List just one day after release.

But this conversation isn’t about accolades. It’s about understanding what’s really happening in a donor’s brain — and why so many “best practices” in fundraising work sometimes… and fail other times.

Cherian draws on nearly three decades of fundraising experience and more than 220 peer-reviewed research studies to explain how generosity actually works at a neurological level. We explore why storytelling creates real biological responses, how trust is formed and sustained over time, and why attention — not money — may be the most valuable currency nonprofits are competing for today.

We also tackle some of the hardest realities nonprofit leaders are facing right now: crisis fundraising, donor fatigue, digital overload, and the ethical responsibility fundraisers carry when applying behavioral science. Throughout the conversation, Cherian is clear — this isn’t about manipulating donors. It’s about becoming more human-centered, more intentional, and more effective in how we invite people into generosity.

If you lead a nonprofit, sit on a board, work in development or marketing, or care deeply about the future of giving, this episode will challenge how you think about fundraising — and equip you with language, insight, and research to do it better. For me, the book is fast becoming a tutorial in contemporary ways to address fundraising and donors with great intentionality and understanding.

You can find the book on Amazon with this link: Neurogiving.

Episode Chapters

00:00 – Welcome & a rare nonprofit milestone
Why Neurogiving hitting the USA Today Bestseller List matters for the sector.

06:00 – What “Neuro Giving” really means
Why this book isn’t about manipulation — and what it actually reveals about donor behavior.

14:00 – Storytelling, brains, and emotional connection
What neuroscience shows us about why stories move people more than data.

26:00 – Trust, identity, and long-term giving
How generosity becomes part of who a donor is, not just something they do.

38:00 – Crisis fundraising and donor overload
Why constant urgency backfires — and how to pair urgency with hope.

50:00 – Digital giving, ethics, and the future of fundraising
Attention, technology, AI, and why humans still matter most.

Thank you so much for listening to this nonprofit story! We appreciate you. Please visit the website to sign up for our email updates and newsletter. https://www.nonprofpod.com/ And if you like, leave me a voicemail to comment on the program, leave a question for us to ask in the future or a message for me, Jeff Holden. I may even use your voice mail message in a future episode of one of our incredible local nonprofit organizations. https://www.nonprofpod.com/voicemail. Thanks again for your support in listening, commenting and sharing the great work our local nonprofits are accomplishing.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this episode. Please send me a text...

What does it really take to move a region forward—without picking a side, without chasing headlines, and without sacrificing equity or the environment for “growth”?

I had the privilege of sitting down with Evan Schmidt, CEO of Valley Vision, to unpack the organization’s unique role in the Sacramento region: a values-driven convener that brings people together, turns research into action, and helps align partners around the issues that shape quality of life.

Evan walks me through Valley Vision’s origin story (born out of the region’s response to base closures), their triple bottom line framework—environmental sustainability, social equity, and economic prosperity—and why collaboration is both essential…and often unglamorous. We also talk about how they measure impact across long time horizons, their Livability Summit and Livability Poll, and what the data is telling us right now about the biggest pressures facing our communities.

What we cover

• Why Valley Vision exists—and how it’s different from other regional civic organizations
• The “triple bottom line” lens and what it means in real-world decision-making
• Collaboration as a discipline: networks, coalitions, alignment, and shared accountability
• The tension between urgency and trust-building in regional problem solving
• Livability Poll takeaways: what residents say are the biggest issues right now
• Funding, capacity, and what it would take to scale collective impact

Chapters & Time Stamps

00:00 – Welcome + “alphabet soup” of regional orgs
01:00 – Valley Vision’s origin story and purpose: leadership roundtable + regional stewardship
03:10 – Triple bottom line values: sustainability, equity, and prosperity—without tradeoffs
04:05 – Facilitator and values-driven: why Valley Vision isn’t a neutral “yes to everything” org
07:20 – Where projects come from: contract work, mission alignment, and long-running initiatives
08:45 – What collaboration really looks like (and why it’s not flashy)
12:20 – Impact example: Cleaner Air Partnership and long-term systems change
16:20 – Livability Summit: building a regional collaboration conference + shared data
17:40 – Livability Poll: top issues residents name (housing, wages, healthcare access)
19:35 – Housing questions that split the region 50/50—and what that tells us
22:05 – Funding model: grants, contracts, and the challenge of funding “systems-level” work
24:40 – The coming nonprofit shakeout: why deeper collaboration will matter even more
25:10 – Scale + pass-through dollars: bringing investment in and distributing it for regional impact
31:30 – The biggest need: capacity and investment to stay proactive (not only contract-driven)
34:00 –

Thank you so much for listening to this nonprofit story! We appreciate you. Please visit the website to sign up for our email updates and newsletter. https://www.nonprofpod.com/ And if you like, leave me a voicemail to comment on the program, leave a question for us to ask in the future or a message for me, Jeff Holden. I may even use your voice mail message in a future episode of one of our incredible local nonprofit organizations. https://www.nonprofpod.com/voicemail. Thanks again for your support in listening, commenting and sharing the great work our local nonprofits are accomplishing.