In this episode of The Beacon Podcast, Lighthouse Counsel Director of Business Development Ryan Woroniecki talks with David Lawson, the son of fundraising icon Doug Lawson, who passed away in 2020.

In their discussion, David talks about:

• Change management lessons gleaned from Doug’s role in helping to integrate Randolph-Macon College

• Doug’s impact on the modern capital campaign

• How organizations to which Doug left bequests honored his legacy and engaged his family.

In this episode of The Beacon Podcast, Lighthouse Counsel Senior Consultant Dr. Lilya Wagner talks with David Patrick King about the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving at Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and about what faith-based giving looks like now.

David is the Karen Lake Buttrey director of the institute and associate professor of philanthropic studies at the school.

In their conversation, Lilya and David discuss:

• Why a secular, public university would have such a prestigious center for faith and giving 

• A thumbnail sketch of how and why this center was started and by whom

• The tendency of churches to eschew the best practices and formal principles of fundraising because of the tradition of “God will provide.” 

• A summary of how the center can help anyone, but particularly faith-based organizations.

In this episode of The Beacon Podcast, Lighthouse Counsel Content Coordinator Margaret Gardner talks with Willeke van Rijn, CEO of The Resource Alliance, about participative leadership and how it can transform the culture of an organization.

In their discussion, Willeke:

• Explains what participative leadership is

• Offers examples of what it looks like in action

• Talks about the importance of giving voice to team members to keep them feeling passionate and engaged

In this episode of The Beacon Podcast, Jeff Jowdy is joined by John O’Kane for a discussion on nonprofit boards and fundraising. John has been an influence in the nonprofit sector in the US for more than five decades and recently joined Lighthouse Counsel of counsel.

In their conversation, John talks about:

• The stumbling blocks that make board members uncomfortable with fundraising and how to overcome them.

• How an organization can ensure that it’s recruiting the right board member at the right time?

• Keeping board members engaged, interested and eager to do their part in fundraising.

In this episode of The Beacon Podcast, Lighthouse Counsel Director of Business Development Ryan Woroniecki talks with Erik Tomalis, director of business development and chief evangelist at responsive fundraising platform Virtuous.

In their discussion, Erik shares some of the thought-provoking insights and questions from the joint Lighthouse Counsel/Virtuous 2023 Giving USA Briefing, including:

• His favorite panelist comments about the decline in donors and how organizations can effectively combat it

• The best way to build meaningful relationships from these important investors? And, were there any great panel comments on this subject? [Follow up, how can we meaningfully engage these donors when their initiatives would cause mission creep?]

• His top three takeaways from this year’s report and the panel discussion

In this episode of The Beacon Podcast, Lighthouse Counsel President Jeff Jowdy talks with Héctor Colón, president and CEO of Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. Héctor also is a seven-time national boxing champion and the author of “My Journey from Boxing Ring to Boardroom: Five Essential Virtues for Life and Leadership.”

In their discussion about the qualities of impactful leadership that Héctor gleaned from his boxing career, he and Jeff talk about:

• Servant-leadership, what it means and what it looks like in today’s nonprofit world.

• Hector’s five essential virtues for life and leadership.

• Héctor’s experience of transitioning organizations from struggling to successful.

In this episode of The Beacon Podcast, OneCause CEO Steve Johns talks with Lighthouse Counsel Director of Business Development Ryan Woroniecki, about fearless leadership and what that looks like in the nonprofit world.

Steve, author of “Fearless: Leadership Lessons at the Crossroads,” answers questions including:

• What is fearless leadership and what does it look like in the day-to-day operations of a nonprofit?

• How has leadership changed since COVID-19 pushed society into a new normal?

• What are top takeaways for nonprofit executive directors and CEOs?

In this episode of The Beacon Podcast, Lighthouse Counsel Senior Consultant Martha Ross speaks with Mark Stanek, head of school at Shady Hill School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Mark shares his experience in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic as an education leader and addresses topics including:

• The effect the pandemic has had on board and administrative team leadership operations.

• Its impact on programs, services and facilities.

• The Big Takeaway that the head of school learned along with everybody else.

In this episode of The Beacon Podcast, Margaret Gardner talks with fundraising guru and rabble rouser Roger Craver.

Roger is the editor of fundraising and communications blog The Agitator, which has been his main space for rousing rabble for more than a decade. So, it seemed only natural to ask, “What’s agitating you now?”

Roger shares his thoughts on:

• Direct response fundraising now and what the future holds

• The quandary of why nonprofits seem more interested in acquiring new donors than retaining current ones

• A lack of basic courtesy and common sense in the fundraising world

In this episode of The Beacon Podcast, Ryan Woroniecki talks with Nathan Chappell, author of the book, “Generosity Crisis: The case for radical connection to solve humanity’s greatest challenges.” 

In their discussion, Nathan explains what the generosity crisis is and answers questions including:

• What are the implications of the generosity crisis to the nonprofit world and the missions it supports? 

• What is radical connection and why is it more important today than ever?

• What is a high-level definition of artificial intelligence and where does it fit into all of this? 

• What does 2023 hold for donor retention and radical engagement?