Nonprofit SnapCast

Erin Davison explains why the best grant funding comes from alignment, relationships, and thoughtful research, not sending more applications.

In this episode of Nonprofit SnapCast, Mickey Desai welcomes veteran grant researcher and writer Erin Davison for a candid conversation about the realities of today's grant funding landscape.

With more than 30 years of experience helping nonprofits secure funding, Erin shares why successful g...

In this episode of Nonprofit SnapCast, Mickey Desai sits down with Dr. Dan Freeman, founder of Executive Thought Partner, to explore a challenge that many nonprofit leaders experience but rarely discuss openly: leadership loneliness.

Dan shares his emerging theory of "reactive leadership," arguing that isolation at the top often leads to urgency-driven decision-making, organizational stress, and chronic operational problems. Drawin...

Can a capital campaign succeed if an organization is already exhausted?

n this episode of OFS Insights, Mickey Desai is joined by Dave Paule and Ailena Parramore of Our Fundraising Search to discuss a critical but often overlooked fundraising risk: burnout.

While nonprofits routinely evaluate donor readiness, financial capacity, and campaign goals, they frequently fail to assess whether their leadershi...

This episode of OFS Insights explores the often-misunderstood relationship between nonprofit boards and CEOs. Mickey welcomes Dave, Ailena (of Our Fundraising Search) and former nonprofit executive and board chair Zachary Brown, for a candid discussion about governance, authority, fundraising, and the hidden ways power operates inside organizations.

At the center of the conversation is a simple but powerful idea: whoever controls &...

In this episode of OFS Insights, Mickey Desai talks with Dave Paule, and Ailena Parramore to explore a provocative idea: hiring is not just a process—it’s a mirror. Rather than focusing on how candidates can become more appealing to organizations, the conversation flips the lens, challenging organizations to consider how their hiring practices reflect their own values, fears, and assumptions.

The three unpack the subtl...

Mickey Desai interviews Sherry Heyl about her book Learn to Love the Roller Coaster: Stories of Change, Resilience, and the Future to Come. They discuss how nonprofits can navigate rapid technological and social change by adopting a "creator mindset" rather than a "poverty mindset" or "survivor mindset." Sherry emphasizes that change is constant and accelerating (driven by AI, quantum computing, and CRISPR) but organizations c...

Host Mickey Desai sits down with Jonathan Fitzgerald, the managing partner of GDS Technologies, a technology partner for businesses and nonprofits. They dive deep into the critical cybersecurity challenges facing nonprofits of all sizes, from ransomware and phishing to the importance of multi-factor authentication and tested backups. Jonathan provides practical, cost-effective advice on how nonprofits can improve their security pos...

Mickey interviews Kayla Meyers, founder of Bridgepoint Evaluation, about how nonprofits can embrace evaluation as a strategic tool rather than something to fear. Kayla shares practical advice on creating an "evaluation culture" within an organization, using data to drive decision-making, and shifting from reactive to proactive evaluation practices. She emphasizes the importance of qualitative data alongside quantitative metrics, an...

The Our Fundraising Search team discusses how professionals can effectively navigate major career pivots, especially from the corporate world into the nonprofit sector. Key takeaways include:

• Don't let your job title define you - focus on transferring your core skills and problem-solving abilities to a new context.
• Be proactive in managing your professional identity and "begin as you mean to go" in a new role.
• Translate your b...

host Mickey Desai interviews Mark T. Holcombe, author of the book "Critical Moral Reasoning: An Applied Empirical Ethics Approach." They discuss the importance of moral reasoning skills for nonprofit organizations and leaders. Key topics include:

• The differences between legality and morality, and how morality is innate to humans rather than dependent on religion.
• How moral reasoning skills can help nonprofits navigate complex ...

Mickey Desai and guest Rita Sever discuss the importance of feedback in nonprofit organizations. They cover topics such as the science behind why people often react negatively to feedback, a formula (JOIN) for delivering feedback effectively, and strategies for normalizing feedback as a regular part of organizational culture. Rita shares her expertise on helping nonprofits have constructive feedback conversations that support their...

In this episode, Sondra Dellaripa, a nonprofit executive with over 40 years of experience, shares her insights on the responsible use of AI in the nonprofit sector. She discusses the importance of developing clear AI policies, training staff, and maintaining transparency with the community. Sondra also covers strategies for integrating AI into fundraising, communications, and other nonprofit operations without compromising trust an...

Mickey interviews Karen Boyd, an economist and AI expert, about the opportunities and challenges of using AI in the nonprofit sector. They discuss how nonprofits can identify low-risk, high-gain tasks for AI augmentation, the environmental impact of AI, and strategies for maintaining transparency and authenticity when using AI-generated content. Karen shares insights on customizing AI language models to better match an organization...

In this episode, host Mickey Desai speaks with Steve Dubb, the senior editor of economic justice for Nonprofit Quarterly. They discuss the concept of civil society, its historical origins, and the unique role that nonprofits play in fostering civic engagement and community-driven problem-solving.

Key topics covered include:

• Alexis de Tocqueville's observations on the vibrant civil society in early America compared to more stat...

In this episode, host Mickey Desai speaks with Frances Roen, CEO and Lead Strategist of Fundraising Sol, about best practices for preparing and executing a successful nonprofit capital campaign. They discuss the importance of pre-planning, assessing organizational capacity and donor pipelines, aligning committees, and leveraging technology and data. Frances emphasizes the need for nonprofits to take a thoughtful, deliberate approac...

Steve Dubb is the senior editor of Economic Justice at Nonprofit Quarterly. He writes about solutions-oriented topics like the solidarity economy, cooperatives, community land trusts, and public banks. His writing has an activist focus, aiming to make economics more accessible and understandable.

The discussion covered how structural racism has been used to depress wages and weaken labor unions, especially in the American South. Wh...

Our second episode with Erin Straza turns to the practical mechanics of donor management—highlighting the importance of clean CRM data, consistent tagging, and documenting every donor interaction to track passion, advocacy, and giving habits over time. She rejects binder-thick academic segmentation models in favor of practical, usable systems that a nonprofit staff can realistically maintain.

Key takeaways include:

• Yo...

In this conversation, Community Cats Podcast host Stacy LeBaron unpacks her decades of nonprofit leadership, using the lens of animal welfare to illustrate how organizations evolve from scrappy, all-hands-on-deck startups into strategically focused, governance-driven institutions. Drawing on her experience mentoring 80+ organizations and running a successful feline rescue nonprofit, Stacy explains the realities of cat overpopulatio...

Erin Straza explains the difference between basic fundraising tactics and a true donor-engagement strategy, emphasizing that nonprofits often exhaust themselves with endless low-ROI tasks—especially social media—without first defining their “why” or mapping donor journeys. She stresses that strategic messaging, clarity of purpose, and relationship-building yield far stronger returns than disconnected tactica...