Million Dollar Nonprofit
Welcome to The Million Dollar Nonprofit — the daily podcast for small-but-mighty teams ready to scale their impact without burning out. Hosted by nonprofit growth strategist Tom Kelly, each episode delivers no-fluff strategies to raise more, automate smarter, and finally understand what’s working (and what’s not). Learn how to use AI tools, sharp messaging, and efficient systems to turn clicks into donations, casual supporters into loyal advocates, and your scrappy org into a million-dollar nonprofit. Whether you're solo or leading a small team, this is your playbook for sustainable, scalable fundraising that actually works.
Episodes
Every nonprofit leader knows the struggle: a volunteer shows up excited to help, but within minutes, it’s clear they’re in the wrong role. The shy person stuck at check-in. The outgoing people-person hidden in the back. The volunteer who dreads tech suddenly running your auction software. It’s not just awkward—it’s a recipe for volunteers not coming back.
But what if you could flip that? What if every volunteer was placed in the...
Your top donors don’t just want polished newsletters or glossy gala recaps. They want access—the raw, authentic, behind-the-scenes moments that show the real heartbeat of your mission. And when you give them that insider view, their loyalty skyrockets.
In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly reveals how to set up an automated behind-the-scenes series that makes major donors feel like VIPs—without draining your...
Most nonprofits build their campaigns around their own calendars—fiscal year-end, Giving Tuesday, the spring gala. But donors live in their own rhythms: birthdays, anniversaries, first gifts, retirements, even losses. And when you connect your fundraising to their moments, not just yours, you raise more and build stronger relationships.
In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly shares how to build campaigns arou...
Most nonprofits plan their year with the same old calendar—Giving Tuesday, year-end appeal, a spring gala, maybe a fall walk-a-thon. But here’s the secret: donors don’t give to dates—they give to stories.
In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly shows you how to use AI to craft an annual giving theme that transforms your fundraising into a story donors can follow all year long. Learn how to anchor your theme, a...
What if you could make every donor feel like a VIP—without filming hundreds of individual thank-you videos? In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly shows you how to use AI-powered dynamic video thank-yous to wow donors at scale. Learn how to record one core message, personalize it with donor names, gift amounts, and impact, and automate delivery within minutes.
You’ll discover:
The simple Record → Render → ...
Donors don’t want more emails—they want smarter ones.
In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly shows you how to use conditional logic + AI to send donor emails that feel personal without writing hundreds by hand. Using the Segment. Script. Send. framework, you’ll learn how to:
Build simple donor segments that branch automatically.
Script personalized thank-you and impact emails with AI.
Set CRM rules t...
Not every donor moment should be automated—and not every moment should be personal.
In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly breaks down how to know the difference so you can scale without losing connection. Using the Routine. Relational. Rare. framework, you’ll learn:
- Which touchpoints to automate with AI and CRMs.
- When to slow down and send something personal.
- How to honor rare, transformational gifts wi...
🎬 Why reinvent the wheel when you can replay your greatest hits?
In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly reveals how to build a Fundraising Replay Machine—a system where your best campaigns don’t just run once, they run again and again with small tweaks, AI-powered rewrites, and fresh updates.
You’ll learn the 3-step framework—Re-Run, Re-Write, Re-Raise—and discover how to:
- Pull past campaigns that ...
Your past campaigns aren’t dead—they’re dormant.
In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly shows you how to become an AI Campaign Archivist—the person who recovers your best-performing campaigns, refreshes them with AI, and relaunches them to raise more with less effort.
You’ll learn the 3-step framework—Recover, Refresh, Relaunch—plus practical ChatGPT prompts you can use right now to:
- Pull gold from ...
Most nonprofits run a big event or campaign, celebrate the win, and then shelve it forever. But here’s the truth: if it worked once, it can work again. The key is turning live campaigns into evergreen funnels that generate donations all year long.
In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly walks you through his Repurpose. Repackage. Relaunch. framework:
- Repurpose – Transform past stories, photos, and video...
Most nonprofits don’t have a lead problem—they have a follow-up problem. Too often, someone signs up, downloads a guide, or meets you at an event… and then nothing. Silence. By the time you follow up, they’ve forgotten you.
In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly shows you how to fix it with an AI-powered follow-up system that responds instantly, delivers value, and builds trust without ever sounding robotic.
<...
Most nonprofits blow it with new donors. A receipt. A generic thank you. Then silence. That’s not onboarding—that’s ghosting. In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly shows you how to build the Ultimate New Donor Onboarding Sequence, powered by AI.
You’ll learn the Welcome. Walk. Wow. framework:
- Welcome – Celebrate donors immediately with a warm, personalized thank-you.
- Walk – Guide them through a 4-week ...
The first seven days after a donor signs up or gives for the first time? That’s the most important week of their journey. In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly shows you how to automate the first week of donor love to create superfans who stick, share, and give again.
You’ll learn the Thank. Show. Invite. framework:
- Day 1: Thank – Send a warm, personal thank-you that celebrates their gift.
- Day 3: Show ...
What if every donor action—clicking a link, attending an event, even abandoning a donation form—automatically triggered the perfect next step? That’s the power of a Donation Trigger Tree, a simple automation map that gently guides donors toward giving opportunities without guesswork.
In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly breaks down the Watch, Wire, Win framework for building your own Donation Trigger Tree. ...
What if your nonprofit had a fundraising assistant who never slept, never got tired, and was always ready to thank donors, answer questions, and even close gifts? With AI, you can build that assistant—and train it in a single weekend.
In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly walks you through a simple three-step framework—Teach, Train, Turn On—to create your own 24/7 AI-powered fundraising assistant. You’ll lea...
Most nonprofits lose donors because they go silent after the first gift. A thank-you email, then nothing—until the next big campaign. By then, the donor has forgotten your name.
In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly shows you how to fix that with Automated Donor Journeys in GoHighLevel. You’ll learn a simple three-step framework—Map, Message, Automate—to guide every donor from first gift to loyal advocate wi...
Think about the last time you stayed at a truly great hotel—where someone greeted you by name, remembered your preferences, and made you feel like the most important guest in the room. That’s the concierge experience.
Now imagine giving your donors that same level of care. In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly breaks down how to build what he calls the AI Concierge Experience—a system that makes donors feel ...
What if your nonprofit could capture donations while you sleep? In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly reveals how to build a 24/7 donation bot that assists, answers, and asks—turning late-night interest into real impact. You’ll learn how to script your bot with ChatGPT prompts, remove donor doubts instantly, and close gifts with confidence.
Tom shares a real-world case study of a nonprofit that gained 117 n...
How do you really know how much money your nonprofit will raise next quarter? Guesswork, hope, or last year’s numbers won’t cut it—and leaving it to chance can be stressful for your team and board. In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly shows you how to take the guesswork out of fundraising by using donor data and AI forecasting.
You’ll learn how to collect the right donor data, identify seasonal trends and p...
Most nonprofits are flying blind—juggling spreadsheets, guessing at revenue, and hoping the numbers add up when the board asks for updates. But what if you could see your organization’s health in real time?
In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly shows you how to build a simple nonprofit dashboard using ChatGPT and Google Sheets.
You’ll learn exactly what metrics to track, how to calculate them with AI, a...
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