AI isn’t a “someday” conversation for nonprofits anymore it’s a right-now operational decision with governance, risk, and staff behavior at the center. Joshua Peskay, Co-Founder of Meet the Moment, joined Julia C. Patrick to talk about the practical reality nonprofits are facing: AI adoption is already happening inside your organization whether leadership has planned for it or not.

Joshua frames the moment with a clear warning and a workable path forward. Too many nonprofits, he says, are bumping into “governance immaturity” the missing pieces that turn AI from a productivity boost into a liability. Think policies, staff learning, data classification and handling, and vendor risk review. Instead of debating whether AI is allowed, Joshua urges leaders to start by accepting the current state and then managing it with intention. As he puts it, “Artificial intelligence is happening and it is happening incredibly fast… the water is coming down the mountain.”

The duo reinforce what many executives have observed: when organizations ban AI, staff still use it they just do it quietly, creating silos and exposure. Joshua connects that to a familiar cybersecurity pattern: shadow IT. People work around constraints to get the job done, especially in a sector that’s under-resourced, remote, and mission-urgent.

The forward-looking takeaway is refreshingly actionable: start with the AI tools already inside your protected environment. If your nonprofit runs on Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, use Copilot, Gemini, or NotebookLM as your baseline so staff can work with guardrails. For anything outside that ecosystem, require a business case and a review process. Then, build a learning culture where staff share what’s working, what’s failing, and what’s safe.

Joshua also brings urgency from the risk landscape, noting nonprofits are attractive targets because of sensitive data and typically weaker security.

00:00:00 Welcome and why AI is the topic right now
00:01:26 What Meet the Moment does for nonprofits
00:03:20 The real issue governance maturity and policies
00:05:04 When nonprofits ban AI staff use it anyway
00:06:08 The water down the mountain analogy
00:07:53 Why nonprofit community learning matters
00:11:23 The square wheel paradox and making time to learn
00:13:32 Readiness vs reality and starting from current state
00:15:17 Use the AI already in your protected workspace
00:18:39 Shadow IT and work from home risk
00:21:42 Why nonprofits are attractive cyber targets
00:24:52 Donor spreadsheets and why “hope is not a strategy”

#TheNonprofitShow #NonprofitManagement #AIgovernance

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We visit with Kate Berkey, a StoryBrand guide for nonprofits, to talk about something that affects every organization’s bottom line — whether they realize it or not: clear messaging. Or more specifically… what happens when we don’t have it.

Kate opens with a reality check that’s hard to ignore: many nonprofits are unintentionally leaving money on the table simply because their communication is confusing. Not wrong. Not poorly intentioned. Just unclear. And as she shares a phrase that sticks with you, “If you confuse, you lose.”

Using the StoryBrand framework, Kate explains how humans are wired for story, not information overload. The model is simple and familiar: a character wants something, faces a problem, meets a guide, gets a plan, takes action, and moves toward success while avoiding failure. The big shift for nonprofits? Your organization is not the hero — your donor or the person you serve is. Your role is the guide. When that dynamic clicks, messaging becomes more relatable, more actionable, and far more effective in fundraising.

Kate also shines a light on a common nonprofit habit: using big, feel-good language that sounds meaningful internally but leaves outsiders scratching their heads. Phrases like “empowering human flourishing” may feel inspiring in a strategy session, but they create mental work for donors who are just trying to understand what you actually do and how they can help. Clear messaging makes it easy to say yes.

The impact goes beyond fundraising. When your message is tight and repeatable, staff, volunteers, and board members gain confidence. They stop fumbling when someone asks, “So what does your organization do?” and start becoming natural ambassadors in everyday conversations.

Kate wraps with a real-world story of a volunteer event that had heart, energy, and great intentions — but lost momentum because it delivered too much information and ended with multiple calls to action. The result? Confusion instead of commitment. Her fix is beautifully simple: one clear story and one clear ask.

If your organization has ever struggled to explain what you do in a way that sparks action, this conversation is a must-watch.

#Storytelling #NonprofitMarketing #TheNonprofitShow

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What does it take for a nonprofit to grow from “we’re getting by” to “we’re building a real engine for impact”? In this energizing conversation, Julia Patrick sits down with Sherry Quam Taylor of Quam Taylor to talk about what nonprofit leaders should truly focus on in 2026 if they want sustainable, strategic revenue growth.

Sherry starts with a bold challenge: stop letting scarcity run the organization. Not as a motivational poster idea, but as a practical leadership decision. Her favorite starting place is a deceptively simple exercise: take the strategic plan and price it out honestly. Not the “squeak by” version. The real version. Reserves. Living wage salaries. The marketing role you never replaced. Staff development. The tech you keep postponing. When leaders finally put the full need on paper, something shifts from fear to possibility, because the organization can now align revenue goals to an actual plan.

From there, Sherry calls out one of the biggest growth blockers in the sector: trying random tactics instead of committing to a planned strategy. As she puts it, “If we align our hours to dollars… there’s actually a math equation that gets to that.” That’s the business of nonprofits in one sentence: staffing, activities, and fundraising effort must match the revenue destination.

Then she brings it home with a refreshing reminder that modern fundraising still wins through relationships. Not stiff, over engineered emails and performative professionalism, but real human connection. Sherry has a simple mantra her clients keep on sticky notes: “Talk like a human.” She explains that both funders and nonprofits want the same thing a genuine conversation with the people behind the work. In a world where messages all start to sound the same, authenticity becomes a competitive advantage.

Finally, she makes a case for something too many organizations avoid: asking for help and budgeting for it. Growth requires investment in expertise, capacity, and support systems, and boards should be champions of that, not roadblocks.

If your nonprofit is ready to fund the plan you actually want, not the one you can barely afford, this episode will leave you with momentum and a smarter path forward.

#TheNonprofitShow #NonprofitManagement #FundraisingStrategy

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Nonprofit leaders are staring down a new funding reality and Ben Cooley, CEO of Maxwell and Marie, arrives with the kind of energy that turns anxiety into action. In this conversation, Ben makes the case that “development” is no longer a department it’s a shared posture across the whole organization. When revenue streams shift and donor expectations rise, sustainable growth comes from culture, systems, and a leadership voice that people trust.

Ben draws on his own path scaling a nonprofit from a basement operation to work across 12 countries, with dozens of offices and nearly 1,000 staff. That experience fuels a blunt message for today’s moment: government and institutional funding patterns have changed, high net worth giving is evolving, and donor behavior is more selective than ever. The solution is not panic, it’s diversification and public fundraising strength that can weather storms.

The discussion challenges the way nonprofits talk about donors. Ben and host Julia Patrick point toward a refreshed mindset where supporters increasingly behave like philanthropic investors, expecting clarity, measurable outcomes, and proof of execution. Stories still matter, but numbers and outcomes must become part of everyday language, not just a grant report.

Ben’s rallying call is cultural and operational. “Your resources are in your relationships,” he says, and that means every staff member can contribute to growth. His mantra is simple and powerful: “Everyone needs to be a fundraiser and everyone needs to be a friend raiser.” The conversation also moves into stewardship, where gratitude becomes a strategy, not an afterthought. Ben shares an unforgettable reminder that systems create results, and leadership sets the tone for momentum.

If your organization is wondering how to meet goals in uncertain times, this inspiring convo offers a strong playbook: build rhythms, modernize engagement, prioritize relationship-based growth, and lead with hope that moves people to act.

00:00:00 Welcome and why mindset matters in fundraising
00:02:05 What Maxwell and Marie does and Ben’s scale up experience
00:03:36 Why funding streams are fragile and revenue diversity matters
00:04:50 Government and institutional funding shifts and what it means now
00:06:39 High net worth donor behavior change and impact measurement expectations
00:08:26 Storytelling plus metrics moving from emotion to proof
00:11:09 Development is everyone’s job fundraiser and friend raiser culture
00:15:29 Stewardship after peak giving season keeping donors engaged year round
00:18:16 Donor perspective charity ratings innovation and why donors choose you
00:18:40 Gratitude systems the thank you call that changed giving
00:21:25 Leading in hard times language culture and rallying the team
00:27:20 Time of action get visible practice the ask and adapt fast

#TheNonprofitShow #NonprofitFundraising

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This lively Fundraisers forum delivers real-world guidance on the operational side of fundraising and nonprofit management. Cohosts Julia Patrick and Tony Beall tackle a range of audience-submitted questions that reflect the day-to-day realities facing development professionals and nonprofit leaders.

The conversation opens with a thoughtful discussion about who should pay for professional association memberships, such as AFP. Tony makes a compelling case for organizational investment in staff growth, noting that these memberships provide far more than education. They create peer connection, shared problem-solving, and emotional support in a profession that can often feel isolating. Julia reinforces this with a story from a local chapter event where a fundraiser left feeling renewed and ready to keep going — a reminder that community can directly influence staff retention and performance.

Next, the cohosts address a governance question many nonprofits wrestle with: who sees the strategic plan and fundraising goals? Tony outlines a clear division of roles. Boards and senior leadership help establish the goals, while staff design the strategies to achieve them. Most importantly, these plans should be communicated organization-wide. As Julia puts it, “if people don’t know where the organization is headed, they can’t help move it forward.”

Email communications strategy also gets attention, with insights on sender credibility, leadership visibility, and the technical role email platforms play in engagement rates. Julia shares that American Nonprofit Academy reaches 43,000 subscribers monthly, underscoring how metrics like open rates influence decision-making and timing.

The fast-paced convo also covers the importance of maintaining an up-to-date case statement, describing it as a living fundraising tool that should evolve alongside the strategic plan. Finally, Tony breaks down the distinctions between corporate relations and foundation relations, clarifying differences in funding cycles, expectations, reporting, and relationship management.

#Nonprofitfunding #FundraisingStrategy #TheNonprofitShow

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In this energizing conversation, Ann Fellman, Chief Marketing Officer at Bloomerang, provides a data-forward look at what donors will expect in 2026—and what that means for the business of fundraising. The conversation opens with a “hopeful reframe” rooted in fresh research: Bloomerang conducted a national survey of 1,000 U.S.-based donors in November 2025, and the findings point to a bright, measurable shift—not a collapse—in generosity.

Ann’s central message is numbers-backed and morale-boosting: donor behavior is changing, but people still want to give. As she puts it, “It’s not a decline in generosity. It’s a shift in how generosity shows up.” For nonprofit leaders, that shift demands smarter relationship strategy, not louder volume. Younger donors, especially Gen Z and Millennials, are “more relational,” seeking belonging and alignment. Ann expands the classic “time, talent, treasure” framework with two additional drivers—testimony and ties—because social proof and community can be the catalyst that converts interest into giving.

Several statistics land like actionable business insights. Gen Z respondents were twice as likely as Baby Boomers to give after a positive interaction, and 21% said they were influenced by a celebrity or peer. Millennials showed strong values alignment, with 43% prioritizing shared values. Meanwhile, channel strategy needs a reset: donation sites and nonprofit websites remain leading channels, with 48% of Millennials gravitating toward website giving. Yet the surprise data point for 2026 planning is direct mail: Gen Z reported being twice as likely as older generations to give via direct mail—often because tactile outreach can lead to digital conversion through QR codes.

Trust also emerges as a major retention lever. Ann shares that 70% of Americans have done recurring giving, signaling confidence in mission and stewardship, while Gen Z is the most likely generation to stop giving when trust erodes. The operational mandate is clear: personalized, timely, segmented communication that respects attention. In Ann’s words, “Personalization is not a nice to have… it’s going to be a must to have.”

#TheNonprofitShow #NonprofitFundraising #DonorEngagement

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Every nonprofit says they want board meetings that are strategic, energizing, and worth everyone’s time. And yet… so many board meetings still feel like a quarterly endurance test: long decks, last-minute prep, and a live meeting that turns into a read-aloud.

We visit with Robert Wolfe, CEO and founder of Zeck—to reimagine how boards and leadership teams communicate—because meeting design is not a “nice-to-have.” It’s a capacity issue. When leaders burn 100–150 hours building decks and board members struggle to engage with clunky PDFs, the mission pays the price.

Robert shares the origin story behind Zeck, built from his experience as an operator who lived the board-meeting grind firsthand. He’s refreshingly blunt about the tools we still tolerate: “No one in the world would wake up in the morning and read their news in a PowerPoint slide deck.” And he makes a bold comparison that lands for any executive team trying to modernize: “Zeck is to board meetings as DocuSign is to signing your contracts and agreements.”

The conversation focuses on what matters for nonprofit business operations: saving staff time, boosting board participation, and moving governance work out of the live meeting and into smarter pre-work. Robert walks through practical innovations like pre-voting (so approvals don’t eat the first 45 minutes), analytics that show engagement (and create healthy peer pressure), and AI features that support content creation—without turning every boardroom comment into a permanent artifact.

If your board meetings create dread, drag down morale, or result in rubber-stamp decisions, this episode offers a modern path forward—one that respects time, improves decision-making, and helps leaders stay focused on outcomes, not formatting.

#TheNonprofitShow #Zeck #BoardGovernance

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The Great Wealth Transfer is already in motion, and Gen X is standing in the receiving line! Wendy F. Adams, CFRE, CEO of Cultivate for Good and longtime friend of the show, brings a leader’s lens and a fundraiser’s candor to a question many nonprofits still avoid: Who inherits donor loyalty, and what are we doing to earn it? She shares a personal story that makes the business case impossible to ignore—after her mother passed, Wendy discovered a long list of recurring gifts to multiple organizations. The dollars were real, consistent, and meaningful. The relationship? Nearly invisible.

Wendy introduces a practical concept that flips stewardship into a forward-looking strategy: the “beneficiary checkup.” Instead of waiting until a donor is gone and the organization is forced into an awkward conversation, Wendy challenges nonprofits to invite beneficiaries into the relationship now—while the donor can celebrate impact, and while the next decision-maker can form a real connection.

The episode presses on a tough truth: recurring donors are often treated as “set it and forget it,” and that quiet neglect can become a revenue cliff when a family member inherits the decision. Wendy also speaks directly to Gen X expectations: they want clarity, outcomes, and honesty, not glossy language. As she puts it, “Proof beats poetry.” And when it comes to legacy decisions, she’s blunt: “Give it to us straight and keep us a part of the dialogue.”

For leaders and boards, the call is simple: build confidence around assets, legacy tools, and storytelling that shows what happens because someone invested. The wealth is moving. The question is whether your nonprofit will be part of the next chapter—or quietly left behind.

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