What would your nonprofit do if your largest funding source vanished overnight?

Too many organizations stretch every dollar until it breaks, leaving development teams burnt out and vulnerable to sudden economic downturns, unexpected budget cuts, or sudden donor loss.

In this Podcast episode, we sit down with Susan Madon—CEO of Minerva Nonprofit Management, Columbia MBA, CFRE, and author of The Disappearing Donor—to explore the transformative Madden Model for organizational resilience.

Discover how adopting modern fundraising tools and automating high-value workflows like matching gift outreach rescues development teams from administrative fatigue, empowering them to focus on high-impact major gifts, personalized donor stewardship, and long-term donor retention.

What You Will Learn

1. Revenue Stress-Testing: How to audit funding streams and engage your board in critical scenario planning.

2. Operational Slack: Strategies for building budget buffers to protect staff capacity and prevent operational burnout.

3. Corporate Support & Automation: How to capture unclaimed workplace funds using automated fundraising tools without taxing staff bandwidth.

4. Donor Retention & Pipeline: Actionable steps to evaluate donor lifespans, re-engage key supporters, and build long-term sustainability.

Also available on Youtube.

Are rising donor acquisition costs draining your nonprofit's fundraising efficiency?

Many development teams focus heavily on acquiring new supporters while overlooking the active and lapsed donors already sitting in their database.

In this episode, we sit down with Chad Engelgau, CEO of Market Holdings and Innovairre, to unpack how mission-driven organizations can shift from transactional campaign asks to an ongoing donor lifecycle model.

By understanding donor intent and connecting individual supporters to corporate matching gift programs and workplace giving opportunities, teams can boost retention and unlock corporate funding without asking supporters for an extra dollar out of pocket.

What You Will Learn

1. Donor Lifecycle Strategy: Shift from campaign-to-campaign asks to long-term stewardship that strengthens donor retention.

2. Intent-Based Segmentation: Apply nonprofit data collection strategies to deliver tailored experiences.

3. Corporate Philanthropy: Turn individual givers into advocates for matching gifts and corporate volunteer grants.

4. Key Growth Metrics: Track second action rate and multi-channel engagement to measure true donor loyalty.

5. Lapsed Donor Reactivation: Unlock cost-effective revenue by re-engaging past supporters already aligned with your mission.

Also available on Youtube.

Are your fundraising campaigns losing supporters because cash asks feel disconnected from real-world impact?

When nonprofits treat contributions purely as financial transactions, they miss out on modern generosity and risk donor churn.

On this episode, we are joined by Givelink Co-founders Panos Kokmotos and Antonis Politis to discuss how integrating physical gifts into your strategy transforms givers into lifelong advocates.

Learn how transparent item wishlists elevate your donor retention strategies to drive repeat giving.

Panos and Antonis share practical ways for lean teams to secure corporate in-kind donations alongside automated workplace giving—such as matching gift software and volunteer grant programs—boosting total revenue without overworking staff.

What You Will Learn

1. The Tangibility Advantage: How specific item wishlists provide photo-verified transparency that yields 61%+ donor retention rates.

2. Smarter Fundraising Mixes: How lean teams use supply drives to convert initial in-kind donors into long-term financial givers.

3. Experiential Stewardship: Why swapping static annual reports for real-time impact updates turns transactions into lasting human relationships.

4. Automated Corporate Growth: How using workplace fundraising software captures matching gifts and volunteer time off (VTO) with minimal manual work.

Also available on Youtube.

Are rigid fundraising checklists causing your organization to stall when major donors hesitate or economic shifts strike?

Relying on an unbending script leads to lost revenue, missed milestones, and frustrated board members.

On this episode of The Nonprofit Boost, Michelle Buchanan of Dini Spheris breaks down how to build an adaptable campaign strategy.

Michelle shares real-world insights on using a scale of gifts as a living roadmap, navigating donor delays, and leveraging corporate philanthropy to sustain momentum.

Learn how to combine discipline and flexibility to secure transformational major gifts without sacrificing your long-term goal.

What You Will Learn

1. Capital Campaign Agility: Optimize your capital campaign strategy to adjust messaging and timing when donor decisions lag.

2. Major Gifts Pipeline: Address pipeline gaps early using a scale of gifts to protect revenue during campaign lulls.

3. Corporate Giving Catalysts: Discover how corporate matching gift programs generate high-impact funding without high-pressure donor asks.

4. Board Coaching Techniques: Coach leadership teams to stay resolute on goals while embracing tactical pivots.

Also available on Youtube.

Does launching your organization's first major campaign feel like jumping off a cliff?

Transitioning beyond standard annual giving to plan a multi-year effort can feel as terrifying as it is exciting.

When internal operational gaps are left unaddressed, embarking on a high-stakes fundraising drive will only amplify those weaknesses rather than solve them.

To help nonprofits navigate this transformational milestone, we speak with Kevin Allan, CEO at Changing Our World.

In this video, Kevin breaks down how to evaluate readiness, establish realistic targets, and keep supporters engaged over multi-year pledge cycles.

Discover how to deploy capital campaigns to secure major gifts, boost long-term donor retention, and align your vision with corporate giving programs and employee matching gifts to elevate your mission.

What You Will Learn

1. Campaign Readiness: Identify core internal indicators, donor engagement signals, and prospect capacity before launching your campaign.

2. Goal Setting & Feasibility: Leverage feasibility studies and targeted prospect research to establish realistic, data-backed financial targets.

3. Sustaining Momentum: Combat donor drop-off during the "messy middle" phase using proactive, multi-year donor stewardship.

4. Corporate Integration: Connect individual campaign goals with workplace giving and employer gift matching to double mid-level impact.

5. Long-Term Scaling: Structure your campaign objectives to leave your development program stronger and permanently elevated post-campaign.

Also available on Youtube.

Are stretched-thin development teams rushing into AI automation at the cost of donor trust and data privacy?

While generative tools offer relief for overworked staff, unvetted workflows risk exposing sensitive profiles and damaging supporter relationships.

Katrina Seidel, Chief Growth Officer at Vera Solutions, joins The Nonprofit Boost to share actionable frameworks for responsible AI adoption.

Katrina explains how nonprofits can streamline donor reporting while keeping a "human in the loop" co-pilot strategy.

Discover how combining strict governance, smart prospect research tools, and authentic donor stewardship allows teams to scale impact, protect privacy, and capture more revenue through automated matching gifts.

What You Will Learn

1. Practical AI Automation: Learn how Model Context Protocols (MCPs) automate complex donor reporting while preserving human oversight.

2. Data Privacy & Governance: Protect proprietary donor data by establishing enterprise agreements and an internal AI Center of Excellence.

3. Co-Pilot Workflows: Master a human-in-the-loop approach to draft corporate pitches faster without sacrificing personal connections.

4. Ethical AI Disclosure: Maintain radical transparency with supporters to improve long-term donor retention.

Also available on Youtube.

Are your fundraisers searching for new donors while ignoring opportunities inside your database?

Nonprofits often struggle to scale revenue because they mistake a list of wealthy names for an actionable strategy. True pipeline growth isn't about chasing outside prospects—it's about transforming existing supporters into high-value partners.

In this episode, we sit down with Lee Ernst, CEO and Senior Consultant at Johnson Grossnickle and Associates (JGA), to reveal how organizations can spot powerful engagement signals in their existing donor data.

By combining behavioral evidence with predictive analytics, your team can build a strategy for major gifts, improve donor retention, and transform outreach into meaningful donor stewardship.

Also available on Youtube.

Staring at a massive funding gap and wondering how other nonprofits seamlessly land major corporate deals?

Sending out cold pitches that only get swallowed by gatekeepers is frustrating, exhausting, and leaves serious revenue on the table. But securing reliable funding doesn't have to feel like shouting into the void.

In this episode of The Nonprofit Boost, we are joined by Grant Jones, Head of Philanthropy for USA Water Polo, to uncover the competitive playbook behind landing high-level corporate partnerships. Grant brings an "athlete's mindset" to fundraising, sharing exactly how to build a robust strategy grounded in intention, timeliness, and deep respect for the donor journey.

Learn how prioritizing personalized donor stewardship and employee engagement can transform a one-off transactional sponsor into a long-term champion.

What You Will Learn

1. Gatekeeper Strategies: Actionable plays to get past initial roadblocks, utilize warm introductions, and secure meetings with key decision-makers.

2. Pivoting the "No": How to turn a lack of immediate budget into valuable alternative support like volunteer engagements or corporate in-kind donations.

3. Data Reporting: The customized approach to asking "what does success look like to you" and sharing impact data that guarantees your corporate partners see their true ROI.

4. Long-Term Renewals: Why immediate donor stewardship and bold, multi-year asks are crucial for locking in sustainable revenue.

Also Available on Youtube.

Is your organization's major fundraising initiative stuck in an elongated pause? When large-scale capital campaigns stall, it is rarely due to a lack of passion—it is almost always driven by a phenomenon called "role blur." A lack of clarity surrounding ownership can completely demotivate your internal staff and board of directors, stalling momentum when you need it most.

On this episode of The Nonprofit Boost, host Immaculate sits down with Gina Vaughn, Vice President of Client Service at Gail Perry Group, to dissect how to build a highly aligned campaign team.

Gina shares expert insights on navigating the critical partnership between an Executive Director and a Director of Development, explaining how to manage up and effectively divide and conquer donor outreach. We dive deep into actionable methods to get board members off the sidelines by defining clear tactical roles—such as networkers and ambassadors—without overwhelming them.

What You Will Learn

1. Overcoming Role Blur: Discover how undefined responsibilities demotivate teams and how to re-establish strong campaign momentum.

2. The ED and DOD Partnership: Learn why this specific leadership dynamic acts as a success predictor and how to share prospect research and talking points seamlessly.

3. Activating Board Members: Practical strategies to transition your board from passive oversight to active networkers who help uncover corporate giving opportunities.

4. Data-Driven Campaign Goals: How to look into your donor pool to reveal hidden capacity, identify matching gift eligibility, and establish secure internal goals before going public.

Video Episode also available on Youtube.

Are you tired of leaving money on the table because your team rushes the ask?

Many nonprofits struggle to secure major gifts simply because they move straight to solicitation without laying the groundwork. When you fail to build a relationship, donors walk away, leaving your organization with a major funding gap and plummeting donor retention rates.

On this episode of The Nonprofit Boost, we sit down with Bridget Murphy, Principal of Graham-Pelton, to break down the exact mechanics of modern donor stewardship and cultivation. Bridget shares expert insights on how to leverage fundraising intelligence to understand what makes your top-tier supporters tick.

What You Will Learn

1. Donor Stewardship: Discover how to clearly communicate the tangible impact of a gift to keep your supporters engaged for the long haul.

2. Major Gifts Cultivation: Bridget shares her blueprint for the multi-step relationship-building process before you ever make a formal ask.

3. Fundraising Intelligence: Learn how to benchmark your nonprofit against peer organizations to copy successful strategies and avoid common pitfalls.

4. Capital Campaigns Preparation: Implement systematic touchpoints using modern fundraising software to prepare your donor pipeline for large-scale funding initiatives.