If you’re like many Nonprofit leaders, you already have a big vision that you want to make happen. 

Taking that big, amazing vision and bringing it into being requires being able to bring along the influential and powerful decisionmakers who can help you make it happen.

Even the most amazing visionaries don't bring their vision into reality in the world without involving other people. And for those of us in the Nonprofit universe, some of the people that we absolutely need to have bought into our vision are those decisionmakers that are investors, that can bring resources, influence, reach, and the ability to help make things happen. We’ve got to have them on board.

Unfortunately, as you probably have already experienced, having an amazing vision does not  automatically translate to having those decisionmakers jump on board, and be enthusiastic in helping to bring that about and make it happen with you as a partner. That's what we want. But getting that is often a struggle, quite honestly.

Today I want to break down what's in the way that sometimes causes it to be a struggle. And what we can do to clear that out of the way and get on the path to getting those decisionmakers fully on board with the vision and diving in with both hands. 

In this episode, we share:

• The four ingredients of a compelling vision
• The unconscious ways we often undermine our efforts to get decisionmakers excited about our vision
• The biggest common mistake leaders make when sharing their vision with decisionmakers
• How to create the emotional power that will connect with the decisionmaker’s subconscious and engage their imagination
• The three key elements of a winning engagement strategy around your vision

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!

It's time we looked at a piece of your messaging that I haven't talked about enough. Our voice is our most powerful tool, quite honestly. If we are able to use it to its maximum effect. This is the completely secret ingredient that is not getting enough attention.

But too often what's going on is that we're not using our voice to maximum effect. 

You know I am all about great messaging. Great messaging is essential to your advocacy success. But what happens a lot of the time, and particularly in three specific scenarios, is that our voice doesn't match our messaging. And that's where we get into real trouble, because that mismatch can torpedo even the very best messaging. 

I don't want that to happen to you.

Here’s what’s going on and why it matters. What we humans do when someone else is talking to us, is our subconscious is processing the sound of the voice and drawing all sorts of conclusions. And making all sorts of decisions about that person before the conscious thinking brain ever gets involved.

If a decisionmaker’s subconscious is processing the sound of your voice as, " yeah, no, that's not for me." That will cost you the investment. That will cost you the thing you came there for. Because their subconscious has already decided that it's a no. 

The conscious brain will sit there and listen politely, and it might even smile and nod and ask a couple questions, but it won't engage. Because the subconscious already told it, "Nope. We're not doing this. This isn't for us." That's where it becomes incredibly costly. And we can't afford that.

In this episode, we share:

• What the decisionmaker’s subconscious needs to hear in your voice in order to get to “yes”
• What a decisionmaker’s subconscious hears when your voice is not aligned with your message
• How total alignment between message and voice led to a $15 million investment for one Nonprofit leader
• The three most common scenarios where there’s a high risk of your voice being out of alignment with your message
• The most dangerous wrong conclusion Nonprofit leaders often draw when a decisionmaker disengages 
• One action you can take today to improve alignment of your voice with your message

I’ll be bringing this powerful voice coaching tool into my work. If you found this episode intriguing, message me and let me know if you’d like to learn more, or if you’d like to find out how to work with me to increase the power of your voice. 

Message me through the podcast website or on LinkedIn.

Whether you’re focused on it or not, the 2026 elections are just around the corner. This is a moment of golden opportunity to help make sure that every one of our clients who's eligible to vote is registered and has the opportunity to have their vote counted.

There's a lot of moving parts to that, and a lot of opportunities for us as Nonprofit leaders to help our clients make sure their vote is counted. But today I'm focusing on one very critical technical detail, which is registration.

The good news is there is a ton of voter enthusiasm this year. We're seeing it everywhere. There's been a whole series of special elections leading up to now. A lot of states have already held their primaries. And the turnout for all of those elections has been off the charts.

That's really exciting news because it means that people do want to participate. They do want to make their voice heard. And they are really clear that the ballot box is one of the most critical places they can do that. Which is awesome because it means we don't have to spend a ton of time helping people understand why it's important to vote.

They already know that. And what they want is to be able to vote and not have it be a hassle, to have it be safe, and to make sure that when they do vote, their vote is counted. 

But the bottom line is you can't vote if you're not registered. And registration deadlines are coming up. We still have plenty of time, but quite a number of states have registration rules that say you have to have your registration submitted and approved at least a month before the election.

We want to be able to support clients in ways that are easy for us - and for them - to make sure they are registered and that their registration is fully in order.

In this episode, we share:

• A quick breakdown of which states allow online registration and which do not
• The two key requirements for online registration that you and our clients need to know about
• The best one-click resource for the online registration rules for your state
• The best one-stop, state-specific resource to help you with paper registration for those who can’t register online
• Four key actions to take between now and Sept 1 to prepare to help clients with their registration

Links:

Episode 147 – Why Your Clients are Most Likely to be Harmed by Attacks on Voting Rights and What to Do About It

The best quick access resource for the online voter registration website for your state is https://www.rockthevote.org/online/  This page gives you a direct link to online voter registration in your state.

The best source for info on how to get trained on how to help with paper registration, as well as all the info you need on the registration rules, etc. for your state, is https://www.nonprofitvote.org/voting-in-your-state/

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!

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!!