Shows / The Nonprofit Podcast
The Nonprofit Podcast
The Nonprofit Podcast is your weekly dose of real-talk fundraising, designed for the doers, dreamers, and difference-makers powering today’s nonprofit world.
Hosted by Jena Lynch, Donorbox’s Education & Community Engagement Manager, and fundraising strategist Britt Stockert, CFRE, each episode delivers clear, practical insights you can act on right away, no fluff, no filler.
You’ll also hear from Cara Augspurger, Ed.M., CFRE, ED of Grace Care Center Foundation, sharing field updates and…
Episodes
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 228| 4 Ways to Fix Your Donation Page: The Science of Giving Pt. 2
Send us Fan Mail Your year-end campaign’s biggest barrier might not be the appeal letter. It might be your checkout. Jena Lynch and fundraising coach Britt…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 227| Why Your Sold-Out Event Isn’t Hitting Your Fundraising Goal
Send us Fan Mail A packed room isn't necessarily a fundraising strategy. If you’re already losing sleep over seating charts, guest counts, and selling every…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 226| The Science of Giving: Donor Confidence, Decoded
Send us Fan Mail Why - and when - do donors actually trust your organization? Every gift is a decision, and every decision has mechanics. Donorbox has mapped…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 225| DAF Donors Have Already Said Yes
Send us Fan Mail Happy DAF Day. Here's something to think about. Nearly one in four dollars of individual giving in the US now moves through donor advised…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 224| Last Year's Donors Are This Year's Opportunity
Send us Fan Mail You pulled the report. 1,800 people who gave last year haven't given a cent this year. And it's October. Cue Giving Season panic. Jena Lynch…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 223| Supporters to Fundraisers: Crowdfunding and Peer-to-Peer
Send us Fan Mail How far can one campaign travel this Giving Season? Further than your email list, if you set it up right. Today, Jena Lynch, Head of Community…
The Nonprofit PodcastEpisode 222| The Fundraising Moments Most Nonprofit Events Miss
Send us Fan Mail Most nonprofit events open exactly one path to giving: the ticket. Jena Lynch and Britt Stockert map the fundraising moments most events miss…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 221| How to Turn Your Ask Into a Connection
Send us Fan Mail Heart does that panicked double-thump. Stomach drops. Ohh - there goes gravity! Sound familiar? That's what happens right before most…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 220| Navigating AI search & Google Ad Grants for nonprofits with Jessica King
Send us Fan Mail ChatGPT. Claude. Gemini. Or Google...Search visibility has changed. AI search is changing how donors and volunteers find nonprofits, and most…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 219| Stop guessing: What donors REALLY want before year-end
Send us Fan Mail A simple donor survey is the closest thing you will get to reading your supporters' minds, yet the answers you get are rarely what you expect…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 218| End-of-Year Fundraising: A Giving Season Roadmap for Nonprofits
Send us Fan Mail You can't repair the runway while the plane is taking off. 🛫 That's Darrin Cook's blunt take on why Giving Season prep has to start in August…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 217| Strategic Planning Isn't an Implementation Problem - with Dr. Renee Rubin Ross
Send us Fan Mail A plan built by a few people at the top and handed down is just paperwork. Dr. Renee Rubin Ross argues real ownership comes from who's in the…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 216| How to Write a Nonprofit AI Policy & Close the Donor Trust Gap
Send us Fan Mail Only 26% of nonprofits tell donors when AI helped write to them. 76% of donors say they should be told. That's not small! It's a fifty-point…
The Nonprofit PodcastSummer Rewind| 5 Steps to Building a Nonprofit Strategy That Actually Works
Send us Fan Mail Most nonprofit strategic planning mistakes don't show up until year-end, right when your fundraising push exposes exactly what's missing…
The Nonprofit PodcastSummer Rewind| Why Your Nonprofit's Next Leader Needs More Than Potential - With Chris Wong
Send us Fan Mail Great performers don't always make great leaders. That gap is costing nonprofits people they can't afford to lose. As nonprofits head into the…
The Nonprofit PodcastSummer Rewind| Slow Fundraising: How to Do Less and Raise More with Chad Barger
Send us Fan Mail Summer time and the living...could be easier! Nonprofit teams are gearing up for the second half of the year, and this Summer Rewind brings…
The Nonprofit PodcastSummer Rewind| 3 Reasons Nonprofits are Missing out on Donations in 2026
Send us Fan Mail Summer is a good time to slow down and check the quiet gaps in your fundraising…before Giving Season prep picks up speed. This episode is a…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 215| Giving USA 2026 - The Fundraiser's Breakdown
Send us Fan Mail Giving hit a record high in 2025. What's underneath that number will shape your fundraising strategy for the next decade. Americans gave $617…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 214| Retain Your Top Fundraisers: 5 Simple Strategies That Cost Nothing
Send us Fan Mail Nearly seven in ten nonprofit employees are actively looking for new jobs…and it's not always about the paycheck. Britt Stockert and Cara…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 213| 4 Filters Every Nonprofit Leader Needs for Smarter Fundraising Decisions
Send us Fan Mail Every nonprofit team has one…the decision that keeps getting pushed to next week. The platform that's been under evaluation for three months…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 212| The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle: Why Good Fundraisers Burn Out
Send us Fan Mail The fundraising capacity gap is the distance between what a nonprofit needs to raise money sustainably and what it's actually resourced to do…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 211| The Nonprofit Visibility Gap - and the Funding It's Costing You!
Send us Fan Mail “Doubt kills donations.” Before a donor ever gives, they’ve already formed an opinion of your organization. It takes a minute. Sometimes less…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 210| The Board Blind Spot: Assessment Is the Key to Better Governance - with David Rhode
Send us Fan Mail Nonprofit boards are doing more with less. And when governance isn't working, it's the executive director who absorbs it quietly…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 209| The Real Reason Donors Stop Giving - With Rob Harter
Send us Fan Mail Fundraising is getting harder. But generosity hasn't disappeared. So what's actually changing? Jena Lynch sits down with nonprofit coach…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 208| Why Your Nonprofit's Next Leader Needs More Than Potential - With Chris Wong
Send us Fan Mail Promoting from within is one of the best things a nonprofit can do. Until it isn't. Not because the person wasn't ready. But because nobody…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 207| 5 Steps to building a nonprofit strategy that actually works
Send us Fan Mail The plan is just paper. The value is in using it. When your nonprofit is growing but still feels directionless, that's not a passion…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 206| The Hidden Bottleneck Draining Nonprofit Momentum
Send us Fan Mail Most nonprofit teams don't have a workload problem. They have a systems problem. And spring is the perfect time to fix it. Your tools aren't…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 205| Ethical Persuasion in Fundraising: Inspire Without Pressure
Send us Fan Mail Most fundraising copy is built on urgency and guilt. It gets the gift. But does it keep the donor? Jena and Maria Bryan make the case that…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 204| The real reason boards struggle with fundraising - Adam Morgan
Send us Fan Mail Your board wants to help with fundraising. But nothing’s moving. Without clear roles and next steps, board fundraising stalls…and the work…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 203| The Uncomfortable Reality of Sustainable Fundraising Nobody Mentions
Send us Fan Mail The reality of sustainable fundraising nobody tells you? It starts with you. Not your strategy. Not your donor pipeline. Not your appeal…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 202| Slow Fundraising: How to Do Less and Raise More with Chad Barger
Send us Fan Mail Slow Fundraising: How to Do Less and Raise More with Chad Barger Fundraising feels busy. Packed calendars, constant campaigns, endless asks…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 201| Membership vs. Monthly Giving: Which Actually Builds Loyalty?
Send us Fan Mail You’ve done the hard part. People are giving. They care. They’re showing up. So what’s next? Most nonprofits get to this point… and stop…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 200| Who are the Most Overlooked Nonprofit Donors?
Send us Fan Mail Are you missing one of the biggest growth opportunities in your donor base? Most nonprofit fundraising focuses on two things: bringing in new…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp199| The Lifetime Value Mindset for Fundraisers
Send us Fan Mail Most nonprofits track gift size. The best fundraisers track lifetime value. Join Cara as she unpacks the lifetime value mindset and why…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 198| Community Care Beyond the 9 to 5 - Lessons for Nonprofits
Send us Fan Mail Are we overlooking one of the most powerful forces behind nonprofit work? For many nonprofit professionals, care for community doesn’t switch…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 197| 3 Reasons Nonprofits are Missing out on Donations in 2026
Send us Fan Mail Is your nonprofit overlooking the quiet infrastructure gaps costing you donations? When fundraising feels tighter, it’s rarely because…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 196 | Rethinking Fundraising Success & Mission Impact in 2026 - Bruce Arbit
Send us Fan Mail Uncertainty doesn’t just expose cracks in the system. It exposes who actually holds value. When uncertainty hits the sector, partnership…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 195| How to Build Donor Retention Between Campaigns
Send us Fan Mail Email is where most supporters experience your organization over time – not just during campaigns, but in the quieter moments in between. Jena…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 194| Why Donor Retention Starts After - Not During - the Ask
Send us Fan Mail Where do donor relationships go after the gift? Donor retention is shaped by what carries the relationship forward over time. When that…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 193| The Hidden Cost of Silence: Psychological Safety in Nonprofits
Send us Fan Mail Most teams learn pretty quickly what happens when they give feedback and adjust accordingly. When people feel safer being honest anywhere…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 192| Donor-Advised Funds: What Fundraisers Need to Know Now
Send us Fan Mail DAFs don’t delay generosity - they reveal giving friction. Donor-advised funds are shaping how people give, but many nonprofits aren’t quite…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 191| The One Question That Keeps Fundraising Strategic in 2026
Send us Fan Mail January is framed as a reset in many fields. Nonprofits know it isn’t. Budgets are set, programs are already moving, and fundraising goals…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 190| 2026 Fundraising Trends: What Leaders Are Quietly Changing to Build Stability
Send us Fan Mail Happy New Year! We’re kicking off 2026 with a conversation many nonprofit leaders are already having behind the scenes: What’s actually…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 189| How Evidence-Based Giving Changed Thousands of Lives - with Jessica LaMesa
Send us Fan Mail Final Episode of 2025! Jena sits down with Jessica LaMesa, Co-CEO of The Life You Can Save, for a powerful, action-oriented conversation on…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 188| Boost December Donations After Giving Tuesday (5 Smart Tips)
Send us Fan Mail Giving Tuesday felt quieter than you hoped? Take a breath. Your December is still wide open. In this episode, Jena and Britt break down what a…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 187| December Fundraising Essentials You NEED For Year-End Success
Send us Fan Mail December is where your year-end campaign is won or lost - and today, we’re making sure you stay steady, strategic, and connected all the way…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 186| Gratitude for the Good You Grow
Send us Fan Mail Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at The Nonprofit Podcast. 🦃 Today’s episode is simply a pause - a moment to acknowledge the people who keep…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 185 | Last-Minute Giving Tuesday Success Tips
Send us Fan Mail Giving Tuesday Is Days Away - Here’s Your Game Plan Giving Tuesday is almost here…and yes, you still have time to show up with clarity…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 184| Elevate Your Fundraising Success with These 3 AI Prompts!
Send us Fan Mail Writer’s block for Christmas? You’re not alone. Try these Giving Season AI writing prompts that actually work In this short, informative easy…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 183| 3 November Fundraising Strategies To Maximize Year-End Results
Send us Fan Mail November is Giving Season Go Time It’s here - now is the time to transition your year-end campaigns from planning to performance. Your message…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 182| The truth about nonprofit online presence nobody tells you!
Send us Fan Mail Recent events reminded nonprofits everywhere: if you don’t shape your online presence, someone else might. In this episode, Jena Lynch digs…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 181| 5 Simple Steps to Ease Donor Meeting Stress
Send us Fan Mail Freezing Before Donor Meetings? Let’s Fix That. Why do donor meetings feel so stressful - especially at year-end? Brittan breaks down the real…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 180| Your Year-End Edge: Direct Mail Fundraising That Delivers
Send us Fan Mail Some tools evolve. Others endure. Direct mail does both. Cara Augspurger sits down with Joe Leach, CEO of AppealMaker, to unpack how…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 179| 4 Must-Know Tips for Stronger Year-End Appeals
Send us Fan Mail Year-end appeals are your nonprofit’s biggest fundraising moment - and you only get one shot. Fundraising coach Britt Stockert shares 4 smart…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 178| The 3 Don’ts of October Fundraising (Year-End Roadmap)
Send us Fan Mail Skip the scramble. These 3 October fundraising don’ts turn stress into strategy. October is where the pressure builds, and where many…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 177|From Year-End to Year-Round: 5 Top Recurring Giving Tips
Send us Fan Mail Ready to go from year-end gifts to year-round growth? Year-end giving may steal the spotlight, but what happens after December is what…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 176| From Guest to Donor: Your Nonprofit Event Game Plan with Chad Barger
Send us Fan Mail What if your nonprofit event did more than raise money for a night? What if it sparked long-term donor loyalty? This week, Jena Lynch sits…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 175| 3 Simple Strategies to Grow Donor Relationships
Send us Fan Mail Tiny Touches, Big Impact: Micro-Moments That Drive Donor Loyalty This week, Donorbox Fundraising Coach Britt Stockert shares why “be the most…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 174| September Reset: Simplify Giving Season
Send us Fan Mail September Reset: How to Re-Engage Donors Before Year-End Your donors don’t remember every word from last year, but they do remember how you…
The Nonprofit PodcastEp 173| 3 Donation Form Hacks To Get More Donations
Send us Fan Mail Turn your donation form into a silent fundraising powerhouse this Giving Season. This Giving Season, lighten your load and let your donation…