Topic
Nonprofit Answers
[A Plan You Can Defend] Episode 2: The Plan Has to Fit the People
Riverbend's first draft plan looked great on paper. Then Dana counted the hours and put every ask on one calendar.
[A Plan You Can Defend] Episode 1: Start With What Actually Happened
Most fundraising plans are last year's calendar plus hope. In the first episode of A Plan You Can Defend, a three-part series on building next year's fundraising plan, we follow Dana and Joanne at Riverbend Community Food Pantry into their planning day.
[Year-end] Episode 7: Keep the Donors You Just Found
It's the first Monday in January. The pantry is quiet, and Dana is looking at a printout of about two hundred new donors with two feelings at once: gratitude that they showed up, and a little dread, because she knows how often first-time donors never give again.
[Year-end] Episode 6: The Last 72 Hours
It's December 15, a little after four in the afternoon. Dana clicks schedule on the last of her final-week emails and heads out for the holidays.
[Year-end] Episode 5: Giving Tuesday Without the Noise
It's the Monday before Thanksgiving, and Dana has eleven emails in her inbox with Giving Tuesday in the subject line. None of them are from donors.
[Year-end] Episode 4: Your Year-End Email Calendar
Last year, Dana was at her kitchen table at 9:30 on the night of December 18, writing an email that had to go out at eight the next morning. This year she's writing that email in the first week of November, when she's rested and has time to think.
[Year-end] Episode 3: One Person, One Problem, One Gift
Dana's first draft of the year-end letter opened with "Riverbend Community Food Pantry is pleased to share" and a number about pounds of food. It was accurate, and it wasn't going to move anyone sitting at a kitchen table with a stack of mail.
[Year-end] Episode 2: Build an Offer Donors Can Finish
Dana laid last year's year-end letter on Marcus's desk. Across the top it said, "Help us fight hunger in our community." She asked him one question: "If you got this in the mail, how much would you give?" He honestly didn't know.
[Year-end] Episode 1: Start with the Math
It's the first week of October, and Dana at Riverbend Community Food Pantry has last year's $210,000 total on one side of her screen and a blank year-end calendar on the other.
[AI for Nonprofits] Episode 12: Moving Forward Faithfully
This is the last episode of the series, and I didn’t want to end it with another list of tools or twenty predictions about where AI is headed. Half of those predictions would look silly in three years anyway.
[AI for Nonprofits] Episode 11: Creating Your Nonprofit AI Policy
The title of this episode says “policy,” because that’s what most people call it. But I don’t think most nonprofits should start with a policy.
[AI for Nonprofits] Episode 10: Transparency and Disclosure ... What Do You Actually Owe Your Donors?
At some point, a donor is going to ask. Maybe a major donor who has been giving for a decade and noticed something feels different.
[AI for Nonprofits] Episode 9: Whose Values Are You Amplifying?
Every AI tool you use was built by someone. That someone had values, assumptions, and a particular understanding of what makes work good and outcomes worth measuring.
[AI for Nonprofits] Episode 8: What AI Cannot Replace
A lot of the conversation about AI focuses on what it can do, and the list keeps getting longer. This episode is about something different — not what AI does poorly today and might improve at tomorrow, but what is structurally, fundamentally beyond what it can do.
[AI for Nonprofits] Episode 7: The Efficiency Trap ... When Automation Creates Absence
Here's a scenario that plays out more often than anyone talks about. You automate several things, gain back real time, produce more content, hit your deadlines, and by every measurable metric you're more efficient.
[AI for Nonprofits] Episode 6: Content, Communications & Grant Writing
The blank page is one of the most expensive problems in a nonprofit communications shop. Every appeal that goes out late, every grant narrative written in a panic the night before it's due, every newsletter that gets skipped because nobody had time — that's mission capacity sitting on the floor.
[AI for Nonprofits] Episode 5: Where AI Actually Helps
Your donors are already using AI. Seventy-six percent of them, according to a March 2026 study from BBS & Associates.
[AI for Nonprofits] Episode 4: Automating the Obstacles, Not the Ministry
You're busy. The question isn't whether AI can help with that ...
[AI for Nonprofits] Episode 3: When AI Does Your Thinking
There's a risk of AI adoption that doesn't make headlines. It's not a data breach or a generated image with extra fingers.
[AI for Nonprofits] Episode 2: Technology as Stewardship, Not Just a Tool
Most leaders ask the wrong question about AI. "Can I use this?" has a very short conversation these days ...
[AI for Nonprofits] Episode 1: Getting Honest About Where You Are with AI
Most nonprofit leaders are already using AI ... often quietly, without a shared plan, and without a framework for deciding what's okay and what isn't.
[Donor Retention] [START HERE] Episode 1: Why is Donor Retention So Important?
In this episode, we’re diving into why donor retention is the one of the most important factors for nonprofit success. It’s not just about attracting new donors—it’s about keeping the ones you already have engaged and loyal.
[Donor Retention] Episode 2: Quick Tips to Showing Donor Gratitude
Want to know how to keep your donors coming back? In this episode, we’re breaking down the power of genuine donor gratitude and how it can make all the difference in retention.
[Donor Retention] Episode 3: Crafting the Perfect Thank-You: Best Practices for Acknowledging Donors
What separates a simple thank-you from one that truly makes a difference? In this episode, we explore the art of crafting meaningful and timely thank-you messages that leave a lasting impact on your donors.