Nonprofit Lowdown

🎯 Join me for The Donor Reckoning™ live on July 23.You’ll walk away with the full playbook + the tools to implement it: my 24-Touch Revenue Rhythm & the Donor Decoder GPT

There is No replay... Just results.

https://go.rheawong.com/thedonorreckoning

Join me live on July 23 for The Donor Reckoning™.We’re unpacking the Signal-Driven System—and building your exit ramp from the panic loop.

🎟 Reserve your seat now. Only 300 spots, no replay.

https://go.rheawong.com/thedonorreckoning

Join The Donor Reckoning™ on July 23
🎟 No replay. No fluff. Just truth + tactics.
→ Save your seat now (only 300 spots): https://go.rheawong.com/thedonorreckoning

I'm so excited to share this week’s conversation with my guest and friend Yukari Kane, CEO and co-founder of the Prison Journalism Project (@prisonjournalism).

Yukari is a former @WSJ tech reporter who made the leap into nonprofit leadership — and let me tell you, her story is incredible. We talk about what it’s like to run a growing org that operates at the intersection of journalism, education, and criminal justice reform.

Here’s what we dig into:
✍️ How Yukari went from covering Apple to teaching journalism inside San Quentin
📉 The broken media landscape and why storytelling from the inside matters more than ever
💡 What it takes to raise $1.7M from scratch — without a fundraising background
📊 Why building a loyal audience = building your donor pipeline
🧠 Real talk on sustainability, strategy, and how to say no as a leader

One of my favorite quotes from her:
🗣️ “I’m not asking for money. I’m building relationships.”

This is a must-listen for anyone running a small (but mighty!) nonprofit, building community through storytelling, or wondering how to lead through tough times with clarity and purpose.

Important Links:

Connect with Yukari : https://www.linkedin.com/in/yukarikane/ 

Upcoming Events: https://www.rheawong.com/events/ 

My Big Ask Gifts Program: https://go.rheawong.com/big-ask-gifts-program 

My Book, Get That Money Honey: https://go.rheawong.com/get-that-money-honey 

My Newsletter: https://www.rheawong.com/ 

This week’s episode of Nonprofit Lowdown is straight-up magic. 🪄

I sat down with my friend DiCo, Executive Director of the Brooklyn Debate League, and their story is nothing short of jaw-dropping.

One minute, they're a public school teacher running debate club on Fridays. The next? A viral Humans of New York post, a GoFundMe that raises $1.3 million in two days, and suddenly they're leading a movement to bring speech and debate to all kids—especially those from historically excluded communities.

In this episode, we talk about:

💥 The power of speech & debate to literally change lives

💡 What it’s like to scale a nonprofit overnight

🤝 Why asking for help isn’t weakness—it’s strategy

🔥 And how DiCo built a powerhouse network just by being kind (seriously)

I left this convo so inspired, fired up about the future of youth leadership, and ready to help scale this thing to the moon.

Important Links:

Upcoming Events: https://www.rheawong.com/events/ 

My Big Ask Gifts Program: https://go.rheawong.com/big-ask-gifts-program 

My Book, Get That Money Honey: https://go.rheawong.com/get-that-money-honey 

My Newsletter: https://www.rheawong.com/ 

On the latest episode of Nonprofit Lowdown, I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Dr. Dee Frayne (aka Dr. D), a life + business coach and former nonprofit exec who gets it. We went deep on what it means to burn out in a sector that’s often under-resourced, under-supported, and powered by people who care way too much to quit… until we’re forced to.

We talked about:
✨ Why the nonprofit world can feel like a parking lot for potential change-makers
✨ How martyrdom and hustle culture are literally making us sick
✨ What it really looks like to lead with integrity (hint: it includes rest)
✨ Why selflessness is a trap — and how to create space for joy, boundaries, and sustainability

“There’s no medal for suffering.”
If you’ve ever skipped meals, ignored your own needs, or run yourself ragged in the name of “the mission” — please give this episode a listen.

This one is for us. The helpers. The givers. The change-makers who want to do it differently — and better.

Important Links:

Connect with Dr. Dee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deefrayne

Upcoming Events: https://www.rheawong.com/events/ 

My Big Ask Gifts Program: https://go.rheawong.com/big-ask-gifts-program 

My Book, Get That Money Honey: https://go.rheawong.com/get-that-money-honey 

My Newsletter: https://www.rheawong.com/ 

I’m so excited to share this week’s episode of Nonprofit Lowdown with you. I sat down with my friend and former student, Omri Preiss, the Co-Founder & Managing Director of Alliance for Europe — and we had a powerful, eye-opening conversation.

We don’t often feature voices from outside the U.S., so this one is extra special. Omri is on the frontlines of preserving democracy across Europe, and what he shared about disinformation, authoritarian playbooks, and what’s at stake globally is both terrifying and incredibly motivating.

Here’s what we got into:

✔️ The global playbook for undermining democracy — and how it’s playing out right now

✔️ What Alliance for Europe is doing to fight back (including tracking influence ops 👀)

✔️ Why building a strong nonprofit brand isn’t optional anymore

✔️ And how we communicate big, abstract ideas like “democracy” in a way that moves people to act

Honestly, this is one of those conversations that really stayed with me — especially in the current political climate. If you care about the future of democracy, this one’s a must-listen.

Important Links:

Upcoming Events: https://www.rheawong.com/events/ 

My Big Ask Gifts Program: https://go.rheawong.com/big-ask-gifts-program 

My Book, Get That Money Honey: https://go.rheawong.com/get-that-money-honey 

My Newsletter: https://www.rheawong.com/ 

I had the pleasure of sitting down with my friend and former student, Katy Troyer, the Executive Director of the KGSA Foundation — the U.S.-based fundraising arm for the Kibera Girls Soccer Academy in Nairobi, Kenya.

We talked about what it’s really like to raise money for a cause that’s thousands of miles away, how the international development sector is shifting due to major funding cuts, and why community and storytelling are more important than ever.

Katy shares how she's built a passionate donor base across the U.S., the power of immersive donor trips to Kenya (yes, they played soccer and got beat 11–2), and what it takes to keep donors close when you can’t invite them to see the work in person.

If you're leading an international nonprofit or just trying to deepen donor engagement, this is one to listen to. Katy is smart, strategic, and deeply committed to empowering girls through education.

Important Links:

KGSA: https://kgsafoundation.org/ 

Katy’s LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katy-troyer-5a84a810?trk=people-guest_people_search-card  

Upcoming Events: https://www.rheawong.com/events/ 

My Big Ask Gifts Program: https://go.rheawong.com/big-ask-gifts-program 

My Book, Get That Money Honey: https://go.rheawong.com/get-that-money-honey 

My Newsletter: https://www.rheawong.com/ 

This week on Nonprofit Lowdown, I sit down with the phenomenal Dr. Nastassia Harris (@perinatalhealthequity) to talk about her journey from professor and nurse to full-time founder and CEO of the Perinatal Health Equity Initiative.

We talk about:

✅ Making the leap into nonprofit leadership

✅ Facing fears around fundraising & salary

✅ “Burning the ships” and doing it scared

✅ Why YOU are the bottleneck in your org (and how to stop it)

✅ Building a donor base that actually cares

✅ Hiring lessons every founder needs to hear

This is a must-listen for anyone who's ever wondered if they can turn their mission into a sustainable movement. Nastassia did—and she's sharing how. 💜

Important Links:

Nastassia’s LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drnastassiakharris  

Upcoming Events: https://www.rheawong.com/events/ 

My Big Ask Gifts Program: https://go.rheawong.com/big-ask-gifts-program 

My Book, Get That Money Honey: https://go.rheawong.com/get-that-money-honey 

My Newsletter: https://www.rheawong.com

I’m beyond excited to share my latest episode of Nonprofit Lowdown featuring one of my former students and now nonprofit powerhouse, Jehron Petty, founder and CEO of ColorStack.

Y’all—Jehron started ColorStack during the height of the pandemic, fresh out of Cornell, and five years later? He’s leading a national org serving over 15,000 Black and Latino CS students with a $2.4M budget and a full-time team of 8.

In this convo, we dive deep into:
- Why he focused on revenue first (yes, even as a nonprofit)
- The mindset shift from founder to CEO
- Hiring mistakes (we’ve ALL been there)
- Building both earned revenue and philanthropy models
- And why you can’t just “hug the panda bears” — you’ve got to fund the mission too

Jehron is the real deal — smart, humble, and building something truly impactful in tech and education. If you're dreaming about launching or growing a mission-driven org, this is a must-listen. 🙌

Important Links:

ColorStack: https://www.colorstack.org/ 

Jehron’s LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jehron 

Upcoming Events: https://www.rheawong.com/events/ 

My Big Ask Gifts Program: https://go.rheawong.com/big-ask-gifts-program 

My Book, Get That Money Honey: https://go.rheawong.com/get-that-money-honey 

My Newsletter: https://www.rheawong.com/