How do we all be okay when so much is not okay in the world?

There's so much bad, scary, overwhelming stuff going on constantly that it’s really hard sometimes to just get out of bed in the morning. Nevermind show up as our best, empowered Nonprofit leader selves, fighting for what's right, fighting for the people we serve, and to protect our communities. 

We can't do that without some help. So the conversation is increasingly turning to a search for information, a search for ideas, as we ask each other: What are you doing to cope? How are you managing? Have you figured something out? Can you share it with me?

I think it's incredibly important that we talk with one another about this on a regular basis, and that we keep our emotional and physical wellbeing at the forefront of our attention in this time. And I know that’s a lot easier said than done, which is why I want us to talk about it.

I don't have THE ANSWER. Nobody does. But I have some thoughts and observations about what I'm finding is working for me, and what I'm hearing from others is working for them. And some patterns, some consistencies I’m seeing that I think are worth calling out and sharing with you.

There are also a couple of cautionary notes for us as nonprofit leaders to flag and be super aware of with our teams, because they're looking to us for help. 

In this episode, we share:

• How stress manifests itself in the body, and how to use that knowledge to reduce those damaging effects
• Three physical stress management techniques that work in under three minutes
• The two aspects of self-awareness that are key to all emotional/ mental/ spiritual self-care
• How to catch signs of martyrdom in yourself and your team, and how to counter that
• How we can both model behavior and create an environment of policy and practice that supports our team in their own self-care work 

 If you found value in this episode, please let others know! I’d be grateful if you would leave a review on iTunes or wherever you listen. Your reviews help other nonprofit leaders find the podcast. Thanks!!

If you're like so many Nonprofit leaders that I work with, you have a big vision, or maybe a big new ambitious goal. And you know it has the potential to make a huge impact. You're inspired and excited about it.

Yet you find that you keep putting off taking the actions that will start moving you toward that big thing. You have lots of good reasons for that. Now's not a good time. Maybe when things calm down a little, we can focus on that, but right now we have too many urgent things to deal with. Or maybe it's, I'm not ready yet. First I need to learn more or plan more, research more, etc.

If that's what's going on, you are not alone. This is a super common problem, and I want to let you in on what's actually going on when that's happening. 

Those all sound like real rational things that are true, right? Things are crazy right now. We have too much going on. We can't possibly be doing the stretch thing right now. I'll do that later. I'll do that soon. 

Here's the thing. What's really going on is that is your subconscious tricking you into staying right where you are. Your subconscious will always tell you that now is not the right time, that you're not ready yet, and so on, and so on.

That's why we so often put off going after that big, scary goal, the big bodacious vision or dream. Because it feels really scary to the subconscious. It does not like change. It regards anything new as a threat, and it will do whatever it takes to stop you from walking into that threat.

But we don't have to let that happen.  We can absolutely hack our subconscious to align with our ambitions, and to do amazing things for us.

In this episode, we share:

• The two types of resistance your subconscious will put up to stop you from pursuing your big thing
• How to calm your subconscious and get it to drop its resistance
• How to recognize tricks of the subconscious that masquerade as rational thought
• The simplest way to harness your subconscious and get it working with you to achieve your big goal
• How to start stepping into the identities that align with your big ambitious goal or vision 
• How to deal with other people’s (board and team) subconscious efforts to derail your ambitions

If you found value in this episode, please share it with other progressive nonprofit leaders.  And I’d be grateful if you would leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts, which will help even more people find out about this podcast.

Thanks!

There is a huge messaging problem that happens all the time with Nonprofit leaders that is virtually invisible to us, and yet can be incredibly costly. And I don't want that to be happening to you. But the truth is, it probably is, at least with some of your decisionmakers. 

Here's how you know that it's happening. If you have any decisionmakers who still aren't getting it about what you really do and the impact of it and its value, there is most definitely a hole in your messaging. 

When they're not getting it, the very first place to look is your messaging around the problem you solve. And here's why. The truth is decisionmakers will not care one bit about your solution if they don't first care about the problem that you solve.

Part of the problem is we tend to think that the problem is obvious, that everybody already gets that. And so we jump right to the solution. We start right in with, "Here's what we do. Here's who we help. Blah, blah, blah." 

But the fact is, most decisionmakers do not go around thinking every day about the problem that you solve, and it’s very unlikely they understand the level of impact of the problem in the way that you do. 

They're not going to be listening to how great your solution is if they don't first think that the problem is important, serious, and urgent to solve. If they don't think those things, then all your cool information about how you solve it and the wonderful results that it produces, just slides off them. Because in their head, they're like, "Yeah, but it's not that big a problem, so whatever." 

And more to the point, if they don’t think the problem you solve is important, serious and urgent, why would they ever invest in your solution?

In this episode, we share:

• The primary causes of decisionmakers not understanding the problem
• The three messaging elements that will get decisionmakers to see the problem you solve as important and urgent
• The vital question you must ask multiple times as you develop your messaging around the problem
• The most common unhelpful belief decisionmakers have that causes them to disregard the problem
• The critical ingredient to add to your messaging to disrupt those unhelpful beliefs 

If you found value in this episode, please share it with other progressive nonprofit leaders.  And I’d be grateful if you would leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts, which will help even more people find out about this podcast.

Thanks!

We've got ourselves a five alarm fire here, and not a lot of time to do something about it. If you currently have or are thinking of applying for any sort of federal grant funding for the work that you do, this is of utmost importance to you. 

The current administration's Office of Management and Budget has proposed a new set of rules around how federal grants will be handled that have the potential to have tremendously negative impact on Nonprofits, and on your ability to access federal grant funds to do the very important work that you do.

There is an opportunity to push back on these horrible proposed rules, and right now they're only proposed. But the deadline for public comments is July 13th. So fire up the laptop and get your comments going.

I'll walk through the basics of what's going on, why it matters and how it would harm Nonprofits and the people we serve. I'll also hook you up with some links that will help you take immediate action on three  fronts. 

If this is not already on your radar, I want to put it at the top of your to-do list for the coming week.

In this episode, we share:

• How the proposed rules could endanger both current and future grants 
• The types of nonprofits that are especially vulnerable under the proposed rules (hint: it’s a lot of them)
• How the new proposed rules around federal grants connect back to the DOGE debacles of a year ago
• Three quick and powerful actions you can take right now to help block the proposed rules

Take action to oppose the proposed changes by July 13, 2026:   

• Sign NCN's national letter  
• Submit a public comment here using NCN's comment guide which includes talking points, instructions, and more information.  
• Email your member of Congress and urge them to help protect nonprofit grantees and the communities they serve. 

If you want to do the deep dive, see NCN’s chart of key provisions or read the proposed changes in its entirety. 

Whether you love it or hate it, negotiating with decisionmakers is part of the job of a nonprofit leader.  You have to negotiate with funders, contracting partners, policymakers, and more.  Like most things, negotiation is a lot more enjoyable when you get good at it.  The secret of those who love negotiating is they’ve learned the keys to success, and developed the skills to use them well.

But there’s another piece. The reason a lot of folks have trouble with negotiation is not that the skills are so hard to learn. It’s that there tends to be a lot of emotional freight around negotiating. To get great at negotiating, we also have to rewire some of the most common beliefs about negotiation that are getting in our way, and to claim our power in the process.

In today’s episode, we’ll tackle all of that, and show you how you can rapidly improve your negotiation skills and success rate starting today.  

In this episode, we share:

• The two most powerful ingredients for a successful negotiation
• The most common mistake that will rob you of your negotiating power
• The three beliefs that will block your success 
• The most important questions to answer before negotiation begins
• How to make a successful counteroffer
• How to know when to say no to a deal

If you found value in this episode, please share it with other progressive nonprofit leaders.  And I’d be grateful if you would leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts, which will help even more people find out about this podcast.

Thanks!

I hear from so many nonprofit leaders that they struggle to figure out how to go after a particular policy goal, even when they're really clear about what they want. The problem is the path from here to there is not at all clear. 

There’s one piece of advice I give to every client who’s feeling frustrated by this problem. There's really one person you need to have that is going to make your life so much easier. And you want to start by finding that one person.

That’s the person who knows how stuff works. You need someone who understands inside and out the process for changing the specific type of policy you want to change. 

And that's the thing. It's not like there's just one way or one method or one process or one strategy. It depends immensely on the policy arena you're operating in. It depends on who the decisionmakers are that are involved, and what their openness to change and different ideas looks like. It depends on lots and lots of things.

But what never changes is that for any given policy change that you want to try to make, you're always going to be operating in some sort of an existing policy landscape, and some sort of an existing decision-making structure. With people in charge of stuff and people who have vested interests in stuff and all of that. And if you don't know that landscape, you're in a real bind.

The one person you need in all of this is a guide. You need the person who knows that landscape like the back of their hand, and that can take you through it to help you find the best pth to the policy results you want.

In this episode, we reveal:

• Where to find a great guide – even one who doesn’t expect you to pay them
• What a paid guide can do for you, and what they can’t
• How to use AI effectively as part of your strategy development
• Why your greatest champion may not be the best choice for a guide
• The three most important pieces of information you need to give your guide up front, to ensure the best results
• The five most powerful questions you should ask your guide 

Help spread the word! If you found value in this episode, I’d be grateful if you would leave a review on iTunes or wherever you listen. Your reviews help other nonprofit leaders find the podcast.  Thanks!!

Nonprofit leaders spend a lot of time selling to one kind of funder or decisionmaker or another just about every day of the week. We spend a lot of time selling, but we don't necessarily talk about it as sales. And I think that's a bit of a mistake.

And here's the thing. When you get into nonprofit leadership, people don't tell you you're going to be a salesperson. They don't tell you that's going to be a big part of the job. Part of what I want to do today is to first of all call out the actual sales work that we are all doing. And then to address what tends to get in the way of a successful sale.

What I've noticed again and again is that there are certain aspects of sales that can be especially problematic and challenging for Nonprofit leaders. We start getting tripped up and finding ourselves in situations with decisionmakers where we are either not getting the sale, or maybe we're getting the sale, but we're not getting the deal we want. They're not investing at the level that we really need them to, and we're settling for something less.

Today I’m uncovering the most common hazards that get in the way of a successful sale.  And to go with them, I’m sharing the four essential sales skills that will let you conquer those hazards. 

In this episode, we share:

• The biggest hazards that can trip you up and tank your sales conversations
• The four essential sales skills that will let you conquer those hazards
• How to make huge asks without fear
• How our money stories are driving our sales conversations, whether we realize it or not
• How to wire in the money stories that will cause sales success
• What to do (and what NOT to do) when a decisionmaker reacts negatively to your price

Help spread the word! If you found value in this episode, I’d be grateful if you would leave a review on iTunes or wherever you listen. Your reviews help other nonprofit leaders find the podcast.  Thanks!!

I hear from so many nonprofit leaders who want to establish themselves as thought leaders in their niche.  But the whole process around how you do that tends to be shrouded in mystery.  It’s time to demystify!  There are 7 basic ingredients, and today we break them down and give you a roadmap to becoming a thought leader.

In this episode, we reveal:

• What thought leadership can do for you
• Individual as thought leader vs organization as thought leader – how and when to choose
• How thought leaders think and operate
• The 7 essential ingredients to becoming a thought leader
• One thing you can do today to move closer to becoming a thought leader  

I would love to hear your story of your journey to thought leadership, and how it's going.

You can connect with me on LinkedIn or send me a message at the podcast website. Both are great ways to reach me, and I would love to hear your thoughts. 

Identity is one of those things that we really tend to take for granted. We often don't recognize just how much of an impact it's having on how we show up in all aspects of life.

When we think to ourselves, “I am…” or “I am a…” Whatever follows, however we finish those sentences, is far more important than we often realize. Because they speak to our identity as we see it. 

And our identity drives our perspective, our priorities, and perhaps most importantly, it drives how we show up. 

We tend to think of identities as fixed. They simply are who we are. But it's not so simple after all. The fact is, we can choose which identities we want to operate from. 

The identities we choose to operate from as Nonprofit leaders has a lot of implications for how we show up, and what kind of impact we have, especially in our advocacy work.

In this episode, we share:

• The four essential identities that make the biggest impact on your advocacy success
• Why those identities can often cause discomfort for many Nonprofit leaders
• Commonly occurring identities that will reduce your advocacy 
• How to identify any identities you’re currently operating from that may not be serving you
• How to begin to operate from the identities that will serve you most effectively as an advocate and as an leader 

Help spread the word! If you found value in this episode, I’d be grateful if you would leave a review on iTunes or wherever you listen. Your reviews help other nonprofit leaders find the podcast.  Thanks!!

There is no question that voting rights are under extraordinary attack right now in this country. And the people being targeted are pretty much one and the same as the people most of us serve.

This is not entirely new, as we know. There have been attempts for years to systematically erode people's voting rights. And there have been multiple attempts at voter suppression in all kinds of ways. We've watched that unfold across the news and in our own lived experience in many of our states.

But all of that voter suppression agenda, and not just voter suppression, but attacks on the very notion of allowing entire groups of people to have any sort of say in who their elected representatives will be. That level of attack has exploded in the wake of the most recent disastrous Supreme Court decision, dismantling key parts of the Voting Rights Act. 

It would be really tempting to just get super demoralized about all of that and say, this is depressing and overwhelming, and I can't deal. There's nothing we can do. We're toast. 

The only way that’s true is if we don't do anything.

The fact is there is quite a bit we can do. And our clients' votes have never been more important for how their future will be written.

In this episode, we share:

• The two main agendas driving voter suppression and attacks on representation
• Why mid-election redistricting may not work out the way its instigators are hoping
• Three things you can do right now to ensure that every client and volunteer will have their vote counted on Election Day
• How to make sure no one gets tripped up by ID requirements when voting
• The best one-stop resource for all the information you need to help your clients make sure their vote is counted
• How to put together a powerful set of voting resources for clients and volunteers, even when your bandwidth is limited

Link:

Your one-stop resource for all the important voting rules in your state:

Vote411.org

Help spread the word! If you found value in this episode, I’d be grateful if you would leave a review on iTunes or wherever you listen. Your reviews help other nonprofit leaders find the podcast.  Thanks!!