Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty Stahl

In this episode, you'll get a free-wheeling, big picture view of how organized philanthropy does and does not address issues impacting the nonprofit workforce. Inside Philanthropy journalist Dawn Wolfe writes about how funding for living wages and other fundamental matters related to nonprofit staffing.

Why should we all be 'following the money'? Why should the hiring crisis not have come as a surprise to anybody? How are the sector's funding practices actually hurting the groups they are trying to help? Why do funders have incredible influence that they're not using right now? What can you do if you want to be a 'worker-friendly' funder? If a nonprofit speaks up about their challenges with grants, do they get labelled as problematic? We discuss these questions and more.

Links to these and more resources are found on our podcast's show notes page.

As the nonprofit workforce crisis evolves into 2025, how funders respond to nonprofit burnout, compensation, recruitment, and retention challenges will be more important than ever.

After a summer and fall hiatus, we’re back with a brand-new season of Fund the People’s Podcast, featuring insightful guests and valuable resources to help you invest in the nonprofit workforce! 

Even though we haven’t been publishing, we've been busy behind the scenes! At the start of this episode, you’ll get a sneak-peek into some of the things we’ve been working on.

Then we dive into new research from the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) with major takeaways and commentary on the state of the nonprofit workforce. Our guest is Elisha Smith Arrillaga, Ph.D., Vice President of Research at CEP. She shares her journey into social change work, and offers valuable insights on the research findings. We explore two important studies:

Fund the People was honored to be part of the research rollout in Summer 2024. We were featured as a resource in one of the CEP reports. Rusty was interviewed for an article about the research. And we contributed a guest post on the CEP blog. In 2023, we hosted a session at CEP’s conference to share examples of how funders can respond to nonprofit burnout, and invited the foundation CEOs who were our panelists - Jamie Allison, Desiree Flores, and Jennifer Roller - to share their work on a special podcast mini-series. Links to these and more resources are found on our podcast's show notes page at https://fundthepeople.org/funders-understand/.

We're launching Season 7 of Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty Stahl tomorrow, Wednesday, Nov. 13! Tune in for interviews with knowledgeable guests as we explore nonprofit workforce funding challenges and success stories.

In our Season 6 finale episode, we mark Fund the People's 10th anniversary by launching our new initiative: the Funding that Works Academy. This new professional development platform equips funders, nonprofits, and intermediaries with the ideas and tools needed to provide effective funding solutions that advance good nonprofit jobs, and the wellbeing and sustainability of those working in nonprofits.

The Academy was designed to help grant makers and fundraisers move philanthropic money in a way that supports and develops nonprofit leaders and workers. With the Funding that Works Academy courses, you'll learn about the challenges facing our sector in a new way so that you can craft interventions that will address the real problem. Dive into the theory and practice of talent-investing, ensuring that grantmaking and fundraising efforts prioritize people and their pivotal role within the social sector.

Our inaugural course is designed for foundation professionals and other types of grantmakers. Future offerings will be tailored to foundation trustees, nonprofit professionals, board members, and individuals in intermediary roles like consultancies, higher education, and associations.

To learn about the Academy, visit fundingthatworks.org. To view current and future courses, and sign up to be notified when new courses are available, visit our Shop: bit.ly/fundingthatworksshop. You can also find our Academy, podcast, blog, toolkit, Staffing the Mission, and other resources on our website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. 

Season 6 was sponsored by Loftis Partners⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Thank you for your listenership and interest in Fund the People and the Funding that Works Academy. We will talk to you again in Season 7 starting in September 2024.

In this brief episode, Rusty offers our loyal listeners a special sneak-peek into a new program offering being announced shortly from Fund the People! Don’t miss the inside scoop!

Rusty also wraps-up Season 6 by comparing and contrasting stories from some of our amazing guests this season, and offers two key “Aha! moments:”

First: when funders invest in the grantee workforce, it can be extremely big, complicated and costly, or it can be small, simple, and take modest dollars. Or something in between.

Second: If nonprofits have the political will and savvy to invest in their workers, they don’t have to wait for funders for other outside forces to give them permission or incentives.

Go to our website for a transcript of the episode and links to the resources discussed in the episode. While you’re there, browse our library of amazing guests and conversations from Fund the People - A Podcast with Rusty Stahl at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org/ftp_podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can find the podcast, our blog, free tools, and other resources on our website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Season 6 is sponsored by⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Loftis Partners⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. They've launched the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pay Equity Collective⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, a supportive community for nonprofits seeking pathways to pay equity. Visit⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠payequitycollective.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more! Loftis Partners – Empowering organizations and advancing equity, one collective step at a time!

This episode makes clear the need for and value of talent-investing for community foundations and other place-focused funders. Our guest, Elizabeth Kidd of the Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area, demonstrates how even the most modest dollar amounts used in strategic, responsive talent-investing at key inflection points in the lifecycle of leaders and their institutions, can have exponentially positive impact for nonprofit executives, workers, organizations, and communities.

Listen to gain an understanding of…

Go to our website for a transcript of the episode and links to the resources discussed in the episode. While you’re there, browse our library of amazing guests and conversations from Fund the People - A Podcast with Rusty Stahl at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org/ftp_podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can find the podcast, our blog, free tools, and other resources on our website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Season 6 is sponsored by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Loftis Partners⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. They've launched the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pay Equity Collective⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, a supportive community for nonprofits seeking pathways to pay equity. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠payequitycollective.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more! Loftis Partners – Empowering organizations and advancing equity, one collective step at a time!

In this episode, you’ll gain important insights into current issues in the nonprofit workforce, and how professional development is evolving in our sector, particularly but not exclusively as it relates to leaders and workers of color. Our guest is Yolanda Coentro of the Institute for Nonprofit Practice, one of the fastest-growing and most exciting professional development providers for nonprofits. Founded in 2007, the Institute now offers a portfolio of programs that serve nonprofit leaders from early-career all the way through the executive level.

Go to our website for a transcript of the episode and links to the resources discussed in the episode. While you’re there, browse our library of amazing guests and conversations from Fund the People - A Podcast with Rusty Stahl at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org/ftp_podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can find the podcast, our blog, free tools, and other resources on our website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Season 6 is sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Loftis Partners⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. They've launched the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pay Equity Collective⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, a supportive community for nonprofits seeking pathways to pay equity. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠payequitycollective.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more! Loftis Partners – Empowering organizations and advancing equity, one collective step at a time!

In today's episode, you'll learn strategies and practical tips for creating happy, healthy, nonprofit workers and workplaces. Our guest Beth Kanter is a leading expert on nonprofit technology and she is co-author of the book Happy, Healthy Nonprofit: Strategies for Impact Without Burnout. You'll learn about tangible tools for preventing burnout at the individual and organizational levels, and learn what is available in her book. We discuss why she wrote the book, how nonprofit wellbeing has changed over the six years since it was published, and what she would write differently if she were writing the book today. We discuss the question: Can better salaries make us less burnout? Beth offers her advice for how artificial intelligence can become part of wellness in nonprofits. And much more!

Go to our website for a transcript of the episode and links to the resources discussed in the episode. While you’re there, browse our library of amazing guests and conversations from Fund the People - A Podcast with Rusty Stahl at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org/ftp_podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can find the podcast, our blog, free tools, and other resources on our website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Season 6 is sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Loftis Partners⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. They've launched the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pay Equity Collective⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, a supportive community for nonprofits seeking pathways to pay equity. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠payequitycollective.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more! Loftis Partners – Empowering organizations and advancing equity, one collective step at a time!

Dr. Akilah Watkins is President and CEO of Independent Sector, one of the national organizations that pulls together our sector and represents it in Washington. Dr. Watkins has been on a national listening tour of the nonprofit sector since she took on this leadership role in January 2023. In this episode, she shares what she’s heard about the challenges facing the nonprofit workforce. She also shares how Independent Sector is working to improve the policy environment for nonprofits as employers.

Go to our website for a transcript of the episode and links to the resources discussed in the episode. While you’re there, browse our library of amazing guests and conversations from Fund the People - A Podcast with Rusty Stahl at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org/ftp_podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can find the podcast, our blog, free tools, and other resources on our website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Season 6 is sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Loftis Partners⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. They've launched the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pay Equity Collective⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, a supportive community for nonprofits seeking pathways to pay equity. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠payequitycollective.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more! Loftis Partners – Empowering organizations and advancing equity, one collective step at a time!

Have you ever thought that funder-sponsored organizational ‘capacity building’ may be detrimental to nonprofit workers and their communities? Today we talk about concrete ways we could improve the framing and practice of capacity building to better support the brilliance and resilience of diverse nonprofit workers and organizations.

Today's guests are Melissa DeShields and Marcus Littles from Frontline Solutions, a Black-owned and -led social change consulting firm. We discuss our guests recent Nonprofit Quarterly articles about why the term “capacity building” should be retired, and ways to improve the practice itself under whatever title it goes by.

How can funders think and act differently regarding grantee capacity?And how can nonprofit leaders respond to funders, and/or proactively design their own efforts? Learn more about these questions and more on today’s episode.

Go to our website for a transcript of the episode and links to the resources discussed in the episode. While you’re there, browse our library of amazing guests and conversations from Fund the People - A Podcast with Rusty Stahl at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org/ftp_podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can find the podcast, our blog, free tools, and other resources on our website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Season 6 is sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Loftis Partners⁠⁠⁠⁠. They've launched the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pay Equity Collective⁠⁠⁠⁠, a supportive community for nonprofits seeking pathways to pay equity. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠payequitycollective.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more! Loftis Partners – Empowering organizations and advancing equity, one collective step at a time!