The Nonprofit Power Podcast

The Nonprofit Power Podcast

The podcast for progressive nonprofit leaders who want to build powerful influence with the money and policy decisionmakers in their world.


Recent Episodes

154
July 17, 2026

The Big Hole in Your Messaging that You Can't See and that's Costing You Money

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'r
153
July 8, 2026

A Fresh Danger to Nonprofits’ Federal Funding that Needs Your Action NOW

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 ...
152
July 3, 2026

How to Negotiate Successfully with Any Decisionmaker

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 ar
151
June 26, 2026

The One Person You Absolutely Need When You Want to Change a Piece of Public Policy

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 st
150
June 19, 2026

The Four Essential Sales Skills Every Nonprofit Leader Needs

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 actua
149
June 11, 2026

How to Establish Yourself as a Thought Leader

I hear from so many nonprofit leaders who want to establish themselves as thought leaders in their niche. But the whole process around how you do that tends to be shrouded in mystery. It’s time to demystify! There are 7 basic ingredients, and today we break them down and give you a roadmap to becoming a thought leader. In this episode, we reveal: What thought leadership can do for you Individual as thought leader vs organization as thought leader – how and when to choose How thought leaders