A Modern Nonprofit Podcast

Your nonprofit built its reserves. Now what?

Tosha Anderson and Aaron Sheklin of Farther talk through how a nonprofit decides how much cash to keep liquid, how much to invest, and how the board sets guardrails before a single dollar moves. Aaron shares what he's learned from both sides of the table, as an advisor and as a board member.

A practical listen for executive directors, finance leaders, and board members responsible for nonprofit financial management.

farther.com/institutions | thecharitycfo.com

Growth is supposed to be good news. But for many nonprofits, a big grant or new program quietly exposes every weak spot in the back office.

In this episode, Tosha Anderson, founder and CEO of The Charity CFO, shares the four-part growth readiness test we use with nonprofit clients: reserves, compliance, administrative capacity, and staff capacity. She covers reserve benchmarks, the hidden costs grant budgets rarely cover, why burnout is a growth risk, and how to decide between building infrastructure in-house or outsourcing it.

You’ll leave with four steps to take this Monday and one question worth sitting with: if your organization grew 50% tomorrow, what would break first?

Thanks to our sponsor, ActuallyFi. ActuallyFi connects to QuickBooks Online so nonprofit teams can manage grant budgets in real time, model spending scenarios, and stay on top of funder obligations. They’re onboarding early access customers now. Book a time at actuallyfi.com

When a nonprofit grows faster than its structure, things start to break. Decisions slow down, roles blur, and good people get worn out. Most leaders assume it's a people problem. It usually isn't.

Tosha Anderson talks with Dee Benno, VP of People and Operations at the Air Conditioning Contractors of America, about leading through the messy middle of nonprofit growth. Dee explains the early signs of an organization outgrowing its systems and walks through her five-part approach to restoring clarity. She also shares simple ways nonprofit leaders can reduce overwhelm, clarify decision ownership, and communicate better during change.

Practical nonprofit leadership and operations advice for CEOs, executive directors, and anyone who has ever said, "We're working hard, but we're not moving forward."

Connect with Dee Benno on LinkedIn for insights on nonprofit leadership, organizational structure, and people strategy. 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dee-benno-esq/Follow Us Online 🌐 Website: ⁠⁠www.thecharitycfo.com⁠⁠ 📸 Instagram: @thecharitycfo 📘 Facebook:⁠⁠ /thecharitycfo⁠⁠ 💼 LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠ / the-charity-cfo⁠⁠ ⁠ 🎵 TikTok: @thecharitycfoJoin our newsletter: https://go.thecharitycfo.com/l/995872/2025-02-24/6ldn1Download The Charity CFO Financial Blueprint: https://go.thecharitycfo.com/financial-blueprint

Your Donors Can Tell: The Right and Wrong Ways to Use AI in Fundraising

Your donors can tell when an email was written by AI. Cherian Koshy, VP at Kindsight and author of Neurogiving, returns to the show to talk about the right and wrong ways nonprofits are using AI in fundraising. Cherian shares data from his two year study of more than a thousand donors, why "human in the loop" has become a meaningless policy line, and what nonprofit leaders should actually do Monday morning if their team is already using AI without any rules in place. A practical, honest look at donor trust, nonprofit technology, and where the line should be.

Cherian also shares his new Fundraising Judgment Benchmark study.

Take it here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8ZNJMMW

Connect with Cherian Koshy🌐 https://kindsight.io/💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/cheriankoshy/📘 https://www.amazon.com/Neurogiving-Science-Decision-Making-Cherian-Koshy/dp/1394370458/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0Follow Us Online 🌐 Website: ⁠⁠www.thecharitycfo.com⁠⁠ 📸 Instagram: @thecharitycfo 📘 Facebook:⁠⁠ /thecharitycfo⁠⁠ 💼 LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠ / the-charity-cfo⁠⁠ ⁠ 🎵 TikTok: @thecharitycfoJoin our newsletter: https://go.thecharitycfo.com/l/995872/2025-02-24/6ldn1Download The Charity CFO Financial Blueprint: https://go.thecharitycfo.com/financial-blueprint#nonprofitleadership #donorengagement #nonprofitstrategy #thecharitycfo

🔁 Encore episode — bringing back one of our most relevant conversations, because we keep hearing the same struggle from clients heading into budget season.

Most nonprofits think they need to soften the story to keep donors close — don't share the crisis, don't reach out too often. Erin Straza, CEO and Chief Donor Engagement Strategist, says that's exactly backwards, and it's quietly costing orgs their donor relationships.

In this episode, Tosha and Erin discuss:— Why a "safe," generic mission statement is invisible to donors— The two biggest fundraising myths killing donor trust— Why hiding your org's struggles makes donors more hesitant, not less— How to get your whole team aligned on your mission message

🔗 Connect with Erin:

https://erinstraza.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinstraza/

📺 Watch next:

Episode 154: Why Donors Don't Give Again: https://youtu.be/uEYFL-mPXLk

Episode 110: Engaging Donors Through Impact: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJKxlKAAQoM

📚 New on our website: AI Isn’t Replacing Your Nonprofit CFO. It’s Redefining the Job. — https://thecharitycfo.com/ai-nonprofit-cfo-role-change/

🌐 www.thecharitycfo.com

📸 Instagram: @thecharitycfo

📘 Facebook: facebook.com/thecharitycfo

💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/the-charity-cfo-llc

🎵 TikTok: @thecharitycfoNeed help with your nonprofit's accounting?

Book a free consultation: https://thecharitycfo.com/contact/#NonprofitFundraising

#DonorEngagement #NonprofitLeadershipJoin our newsletter: https://go.thecharitycfo.com/l/995872/2025-02-24/6ldn1Download The Charity CFO Financial Blueprint: https://go.thecharitycfo.com/financial-blueprint

95% of nonprofit leaders say they are burned out. Not tired. Not stretched thin. Burned out. And one in three is actively thinking about leaving the sector for good.

In this episode of A Modern Nonprofit Podcast, host Tosha Anderson sits down with nonprofit executive and governance expert Annette Eros, founder of EROSolutions, to challenge the usual advice. More rest. Better boundaries. A calendar reset. Annette makes the case that nonprofit burnout is not a wellness problem. It is a structural one.Annette has raised more than $250 million for mission driven organizations, led a $47 million capital campaign, and managed budgets exceeding $60 million.

In this conversation, she and Tosha unpack:

-Why the overhead myth quietly punishes the exact systems and infrastructure that prevent burnout

-How "strain masked by competence" hides organizational problems until they become a crisis

-What actually separates a fractional leader from a traditional consultant -Why nonprofit capacity building often means funding real help, not more training

-Annette's proprietary ANCHOR Method for moving from survival mode to sustainable leadershipIf you are a nonprofit CEO, executive director, or finance leader who feels like you are wearing five jobs at once, this episode will change how you think about burnout, staffing, and what real support actually looks like.

Full blog recap here: https://thecharitycfo.com/nonprofit-leader-burnout-structural-problem/

#nonprofitleadership, #nonprofitburnout, #fractionalleadership, #nonprofitstrategy, #nonprofitoperations, #nonprofitboardgovernance, #nonprofitfinancialmanagement

Connect with Annette Ero

🌐 Website: erosolutions.co

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annette-r-eros/

Follow Us Online 🌐 Website: ⁠⁠www.thecharitycfo.com⁠⁠ 📸 Instagram: @thecharitycfo 📘 Facebook:⁠⁠ /thecharitycfo⁠⁠ 💼 LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠ / the-charity-cfo⁠⁠ ⁠ 🎵 TikTok: @thecharitycfoJoin our newsletter: https://go.thecharitycfo.com/l/995872/2025-02-24/6ldn1Download The Charity CFO Financial Blueprint: https://go.thecharitycfo.com/financial-blueprint

Tosha lays out rule number one for nonprofit financial health: monthly reports, on a fixed schedule, every single time. At The Charity CFO, that means a strict 15-day reporting cycle — even when data is missing from a client's team, the report still goes out, flagging what's incomplete and what it could mean financially.

Tosha shares a real example: an organization spent three to seven years' worth of planned capital improvements in just two years — the kind of overspend a proper budget-to-actual analysis would have caught early, before it became a crisis.

#NonprofitFinance #BudgetToActual #FinancialReporting #NonprofitLeadership #CapitalPlanning

Follow Us Online 🌐 Website: ⁠⁠www.thecharitycfo.com⁠⁠ 📸 Instagram: @thecharitycfo 📘 Facebook:⁠⁠ /thecharitycfo⁠⁠ 💼 LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠ / the-charity-cfo⁠⁠ ⁠ 🎵 TikTok: @thecharitycfoJoin our newsletter: https://go.thecharitycfo.com/l/995872/2025-02-24/6ldn1Download The Charity CFO Financial Blueprint: https://go.thecharitycfo.com/financial-blueprint

A local utility company just posted a 15.6 million dollar deficit. Tosha Anderson breaks down what really happened at Kirkwood Electric and why she does not think fraud is the answer, even though everyone assumes it is. She unpacks the three real explanations behind a finance team gone quiet, the reports every nonprofit board should demand every month, and how to tell the difference between a capacity problem and a skill problem before it costs you millions.
Follow Us Online 🌐 Website: ⁠⁠www.thecharitycfo.com⁠⁠ 📸 Instagram: @thecharitycfo 📘 Facebook:⁠⁠ /thecharitycfo⁠⁠ 💼 LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠ / the-charity-cfo⁠⁠ ⁠ 🎵 TikTok: @thecharitycfoJoin our newsletter: https://go.thecharitycfo.com/l/995872/2025-02-24/6ldn1Download The Charity CFO Financial Blueprint: https://go.thecharitycfo.com/financial-blueprint

Brandon Peacock survived a drive by shooting, was told he'd never walk again, and went on to run an Ironman. But this episode isn't about his comeback. It's about what he learned after: that being the face, the fundraiser, and the operator of his own nonprofit was quietly burning him out.

Tosha Anderson and Brandon talk honestly about nonprofit founder burnout, the guilt of stepping back, and why building a nonprofit that can survive without you is one of the most important things a founder can do. They also cover nonprofit marketing in 2026, including which platforms are actually working right now.

A must listen for nonprofit leaders thinking about sustainability, delegation, and what comes next.

Connect With Brandon Peacock

🌐 Website: https://www.htgrcharity.com/⁠⁠

💼 LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-peacock/

Follow Us Online 🌐 Website: ⁠⁠www.thecharitycfo.com⁠⁠ 📸 Instagram: @thecharitycfo 📘 Facebook:⁠⁠ /thecharitycfo⁠⁠ 💼 LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠ / the-charity-cfo⁠⁠ ⁠ 🎵 TikTok: @thecharitycfoJoin our newsletter: https://go.thecharitycfo.com/l/995872/2025-02-24/6ldn1Download The Charity CFO Financial Blueprint: https://go.thecharitycfo.com/financial-blueprint

What if your team's performance problems are actually a leadership problem?

Tiffany Slater, founder and CEO of HR TailorMade, joins Tosha Anderson for a frank conversation on why teams underperform and what nonprofit leaders are missing. They dig into onboarding, unclear expectations, accountability systems, and the hard question of when to coach versus when to move on.

Tiffany and Tosha also share how TCCFO uses success profiles and monthly one-on-ones to build high-performing teams, and close with the one question every leader should ask before blaming their people.

Practical, honest, and a little uncomfortable in the best way.

Connect with Tiffany Slater

🌐 Website: https://www.hrtailormade.com

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffany-e-slater/

Follow Us Online 🌐 Website: ⁠⁠www.thecharitycfo.com⁠⁠ 📸 Instagram: @thecharitycfo 📘 Facebook:⁠⁠ /thecharitycfo⁠⁠ 💼 LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠ / the-charity-cfo⁠⁠ ⁠ 🎵 TikTok: @thecharitycfoJoin our newsletter: https://go.thecharitycfo.com/l/995872/2025-02-24/6ldn1Download The Charity CFO Financial Blueprint: https://go.thecharitycfo.com/financial-blueprint

And if this episode resonated, leave a review or share it with a fellow nonprofit leader who needs to hear it.