Dino Verrelli, founder and CEO of Project Purple, shares how his father’s battle with pancreatic cancer became the catalyst for building an organization dedicated to funding research, supporting patients, and helping families facing one of the most devastating diseases in the world. He talks about turning personal loss into purpose, what it took to grow Project Purple from the ground up, why trust and transparency matter so much in fundraising, and how a disciplined, business-minded approach can help nonprofits build lasting impact.

Candace Jordan, Chief Development Officer at Atlanta Habitat for Humanity, joins me for a conversation on affordable housing, donor stewardship, corporate partnerships, and trust-based fundraising.

We explore what people often misunderstand about Habitat’s model, how Atlanta Habitat combines construction, mortgages, financial education, sweat equity, and home preservation, and what nonprofit leaders can learn about storytelling, trust, and stewardship.

This conversation is also deeply personal for me. My family received a Habitat home after my mom’s divorce, and that experience changed our lives. At the end, I share a short reflection from my mom on what that home made possible for our family.

Giving is growing, but the gap between nonprofits is widening.

Drawing on data from over 7,500 nonprofits in Blackbaud Institute’s 2025 Trends in Giving report, alongside insights from their Risk Readiness research, Lori Poer and Kate Averett Anderson break down what’s actually driving growth across the sector, and why some organizations are pulling ahead while others fall behind, and most importantly, what to do about it.

Doug Paul, Managing Partner at Catapult, shares how nonprofits can turn vision into action through co-created strategy, cultural alignment, and practical experimentation. With insights from supporting over 1,300 organizations, Doug outlines how to move beyond dusty strategic plans to build nimble, people-powered roadmaps that actually drive impact.

Are you growing your nonprofit fundraising, or quietly leaking donors? Salvatore Salpietro, Chief Growth Officer at Dataro and former Chief Community Officer at Fundraise Up, unpacks how digital friction, outdated segmentation, and hidden retention loss are costing nonprofits revenue. Discover how AI-driven predictive modeling and smarter signals can reduce churn, improve targeting, and strengthen fundraising performance. 

Donor value attrition is one of the most overlooked threats to nonprofit sustainability. Jeff Schreifels of Veritus Group breaks down why growth can hide retention problems and how disciplined relationship-building protects long-term impact.

Dr. Maryna Baydyuk from United Help Ukraine shares what it means to lead a humanitarian nonprofit through an active war. From her upbringing in Ukraine to organizing aid under constant uncertainty, she reflects on trust, listening to people on the ground, and making life-and-death decisions when there are no perfect options. This conversation explores leadership under pressure, donor fatigue, and how nonprofits can stay human, credible, and effective when the crisis doesn’t end.

Attention doesn’t always equal impact, especially in nonprofit fundraising. In this episode, Whole Whale founder George Weiner about how nonprofits can turn donor attention into real commitment, why fundraising funnels break down, and what recent platform controversies reveal about power, consent, and trust in nonprofit tech.

LinkedIn is the most overlooked fundraising engine in the sector. Mario Hernandez at Impact Circle returns to share how he raised $1M organically, built a 55,000+ person community, and developed a repeatable system nonprofits can use to build trust, land corporate partners, and grow revenue -- all without ads, gimmicks, or pitch-slaps

Armine Afeyan, CEO of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, to shares how “gratitude in action” can reshape modern humanitarianism. We explore Aurora’s unique approach to uplifting grassroots humanitarians, the power of storytelling to inspire empathy, and how individual acts of courage ripple into global impact. It’s a reminder that generosity is contagious—and that every person has the capacity to change someone’s world.