257: From Scarcity to Strategy: Building Financial Resilience in Nonprofits with Karen Houghton

Sep 9, 2025

Karen Houghton, CEO of Infinite Giving, dives into transforming nonprofit financial practices. She highlights the dangers of a scarcity mindset and the power of a strategy mindset that fosters growth and stability. Karen emphasizes the importance of building financial reserves, enhancing donor engagement through education on non-cash gifts, and forming strategic partnerships. With her unique insights from the intersection of nonprofit needs and financial tools, she advocates for better financial conversations and structures within the nonprofit sector to drive sustainable impact.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Finance Systems Often Exclude Nonprofits

Nonprofits face structural access barriers in finance like long brokerage onboarding and worse rates.
Serving only tax-exempt entities lets firms create transparency and close that gap.

ADVICE

Start A Conservative Reserve Fund

Build an operational reserve by saving a little regularly and keep it separate from checking in a conservative vehicle.
Use that reserve when emergencies hit and then rebuild it to protect program continuity.

INSIGHT

Infrastructure Determines Gift Size

Small nonprofits often miss major gifts because they lack infrastructure to accept non-cash assets.
This perpetuates imbalance where large organizations keep growing and small ones stay small.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Did you know a scarcity mindset can drain energy and limit your impact, but a strategy mindset builds stability, confidence, and growth?

In this episode, Mallory and Karen from Infinity Giving explore how nonprofits can break free from a scarcity mindset and embrace a strategy mindset that prioritizes financial stability. They focus not only on the importance of challenging assumptions, normalizing money conversations, and meeting donors where their wealth truly lies, but also on the importance of building reserves, creating infrastructure for non-cash gifts, and hinting at the readiness of the right partnerships to donors, which are essential steps to a long-term sustainability.

Karen Houghton is the CEO of Infinite Giving, a leading nonprofit technology and investment advisory firm that helps nonprofits raise, invest, and steward their money. Through her firm, she provides nonprofits across the nation with tools, strategies, and the confidence needed to build financial sustainability. Karen and her team believe that the more sustainable nonprofits there are, the better our communities and the world will be. With a lifelong connection to nonprofits and a career crossover into technology and venture capital, she brings a unique perspective on bridging the gap between nonprofit needs and financial tools.

In this episode, you will be able to:

Learn how to shift from a scarcity mindset to a strategy mindset in nonprofit finance.
Discover why building and protecting reserves is essential for long-term stability.
Discover practical ways to prepare for and accept non-cash gifts like stock, crypto, and donor-advised funds.
Learn strategies to signal readiness and build donor confidence.

Get all the resources from today’s episode here.

Support for this show is brought to you by Practivated. Practivated delivers AI-powered donor conversation simulations that let fundraisers practice in a private, judgment‑free space—building confidence, refining messaging, and improving outcomes before the real conversation even begins. Developed by fundraising experts with real‑time coaching at its core, it’s the smart way to walk into every donor interaction calm, prepared, and ready to connect. Learn more at practivated.com

Connect with me:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_malloryerickson/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatthefundraising

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@malloryerickson7946

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/mallory-erickson-bressler/

Website: malloryerickson.com/podcast

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-the-fundraising/id1575421652

If you haven’t already, please visit our new What the Fundraising community forum. Check it out and join the conversation at this link.

If you’re looking to raise more from the right funders, then you’ll want to check out my Power Partners Formula, a step-by-step approach to identifying the optimal partners for your organization. This free masterclass offers a great starting point.