We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits

Stability isn’t something you earn once you’re “big enough” or “finally staffed up.” It’s something you design on purpose—or you pay for it later in burnout, panic fundraising, and house-of-cards vibes.In this episode, Brooke Richie-Babbage is back to flip the script on what capacity really means. Capacity is about changing the conditions under which your work happens, so the how of the work gets easier, less fragile + way more sustainable.We’re talking broken mugs, creaky floors, cash cliffs, “build years” vs. “growth years,” and why “stability is a leadership choice” might be the most freeing (and challenging) mindset shift you make in 2026. If you’ve ever thought, “We’ll feel stable when we finally _______,” this episode’s your loving interruption.You’ll walk away with clarity + next steps to build real capacity, including how to:Redefine capacity + stability as design problems, not personal failures → Shift from “I just need the right people / next grant / better tool” to “Where is our organization fragile, and how do we strengthen the container—systems, rhythms, decision-making—so the work doesn’t require heroics?”Narrow priorities + clean up decision-making so everything stops bottlenecking at the leader → Get practical about choosing fewer, deeper priorities; naming what you’re not doing this year; and mapping who actually owns which decisions—so your ED (or you) isn’t secretly holding six out of ten critical calls.Build stability through simple financial + operational rhythms (not just more hires) → Learn how to read your own “financial weather patterns,” plan for cash cliffs before they hit, decouple capacity from FTEs, and tap tools, fractional support, your board + community as legitimate capacity—not just “nice to haves.”Episode Highlights:Understanding Capacity and Its Importance (02:59)Defining Capacity: Reducing Fragility (05:43)Designing for Stability in Organizations (08:24)Shifting Mindsets: From Growth to Depth (11:28)The Role of Community in Capacity Building (14:28)Practical Steps to Build Capacity (17:02)Real-Life Examples of Capacity Building (19:Join us at the We Are For Good Summit on February 12!If you’re looking to build capacity, clarity, and momentum in the new year, we hope you’ll join us at our first-ever We Are For Good Summit, Powered by Givebutter on February 12. Expect workshops, roundtable conversations, and a playbook to get you activated this year. Register for free today! Thank you to our partners 🩵Big gratitude to Givebutter, RKD Group, Whiteboard, and Sowen for their partnership in growing the Impact Uprising. If you’re searching for a new CRM, tech tool, brand partner, direct mail partner, or impact strategist— we’d love for you to start with our trusted recs. We’ve vetted them so you don’t have to. Head to weareforgood.com/recs to learn more.//Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free.Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com Say hi 👋LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter

People Leave™ — and in 2026, the pace and intensity of transition is accelerating. In this episode, Naomi Hattaway, interim leader and organizational health builder, shares what it actually takes to build nonprofit health through uncertainty before someone resigns. We talk about the hidden fragility that uncertainty exposes (founder dependency, undocumented roles, disengaged boards), and the practical foundations that help teams stay aligned when everything feels on fire.You’ll walk away with concrete tools for transition readiness, including how to:Treat turnover as normal — not a crisis — so you plan for departures instead of getting blindsidedBuild real financial resilience with reserves and budgets that account for searches, interims, and transition supportCreate simple documentation so critical knowledge isn’t trapped in one person’s headGrow “endings literacy” by talking openly about departures, loss, and what it means to leave wellCenter humanity in hard moments with grief-aware practices, dignified layoffs, and stay interviews Because healthy systems don’t stop people from leaving — they make it possible for people to leave well.Episode HighlightsUnderstanding Uncertainty in 2026 (02:06)Proactive vs Reactive Approaches (05:39)The Importance of Infrastructure (07:54)Endings Literacy: Navigating Transitions (13:30)Creating a Culture of Grief and Loss (22:00)Leaving Well: The Art of Transition (28:26)Human-Centered Change in High-Stress Environments (31:25)Naomi’s One Good Thing (35:07)Dive Deeper:Naomi's WebsiteTransition Archetype QuizEpisode Shownotes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/673Join us at the We Are For Good Summit on February 12!If you’re looking to build capacity, clarity, and momentum in the new year, we hope you’ll join us at our first-ever We Are For Good Summit, Powered by Givebutter on February 12. Expect workshops, roundtable conversations, and a playbook to get you activated this year. Register for free today! Thank you to our partners 🩵Big gratitude to Givebutter, RKD Group, Whiteboard, and Sowen for their partnership in growing the Impact Uprising. If you’re searching for a new CRM, tech tool, brand partner, direct mail partner, or impact strategist— we’d love for you to start with our trusted recs. We’ve vetted them so you don’t have to. Head to weareforgood.com/recs to learn more.//Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free.Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com Say hi 👋LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter

In this engaging discussion, Susan McPherson, founder of McPherson Strategies and author of The Lost Art of Connecting, dives into the essential shift from mere communication to genuine connection, particularly for nonprofits. She shares alarming statistics about loneliness and emphasizes how nonprofits can lead the charge in rebuilding social ties. Susan critiques the limitations of chatbots in fostering real relationships, advocates for vulnerable leadership, and offers practical steps like local gatherings and skills-based volunteering to enhance community bonds.

Ori Carmel, Founder and CEO of Soin, dives deep into the challenges nonprofits face with data overload and performative metrics. He advocates for shifting focus from excess data to meaningful outcomes that drive mission impact. Ori shares his insights on asking better questions, stakeholder mapping, and triangulating qualitative and quantitative data. His practical frameworks aim to help organizations clarify their mission and strengths, ensuring that their metrics truly reflect their goals—making data both actionable and human-centered.

Join nonprofit leader Lindsey Fuller, founder of The Teaching Well, as she shares her insights on healing-centered leadership and burnout recovery. The conversation dives into the challenges of navigating noise and the importance of community. Lindsey emphasizes practical self-care strategies that transcend traditional methods and highlights the messy yet essential nature of healing. They discuss setting New Year intentions through self-syncs and the ripple effects of vulnerable leadership, inspiring listeners to embrace clarity and connection as they approach 2026.

Trust isn’t built in boardrooms, it’s built in community.  In this episode, Gloria Dixon (Director of Philanthropy + Executive Director, BECU Foundation) joins us for a real talk on what it takes to share power and reimagine funding through a trust-based lens. From her journey in Milwaukee to leading community-centered giving in the Pacific Northwest, Gloria opens up about what’s shifting in philanthropy and what still needs to.  Together, they dig into why multi-year, unrestricted support matters, how authentic relationships drive impact, and what it means to show up with empathy (not just reports and metrics). It’s hopeful, heart-forward, and packed with practical wisdom for anyone navigating the changing landscape of nonprofit funding.Episode Highlights: Sector Challenges and Funding Changes (00:51)Gloria's Background and Upbringing (03:18)Disconnects Between Funders and Nonprofits (05:57)BECU’s Community-Focused Funding Approach (08:09)Multi-Year Funding Importance (10:32)Funding Friction and Reporting Challenges (14:17) Trust-Based Partnership Practices (17:58)Employee Engagement and Community Impact (20:53) Advice for Nonprofits: Building Trust (23:11) Gloria’s Personal Story of Philanthropy (25:38)Gloria’s One Good Thing (29:07) Episode Shownotes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/669Join us at the We Are For Good Summit on February 12!If you’re looking to build capacity, clarity, and momentum in the new year, we hope you’ll join us at our first-ever We Are For Good Summit, Powered by Givebutter on February 12. Expect workshops, roundtable conversations, and a playbook to get you activated this year. Register for free today! Thank you to our partners 🩵Big gratitude to Givebutter, RKD Group, Whiteboard, and Sowen for their partnership in growing the Impact Uprising. If you’re searching for a new CRM, tech tool, brand partner, direct mail partner, or impact strategist— we’d love for you to start with our trusted recs. We’ve vetted them so you don’t have to. Head to weareforgood.com/recs to learn more.//Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free.Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com Say hi 👋LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter

Sunsetting isn’t failure—it’s leadership.In this episode, Becky sits down with Desiree Lyons, CEO of Namaste Direct, and Kate Flatley, Executive Director of the Women’s Justice Initiative, for an honest conversation about what it really looks like to put community at the center—even when it means changing or ending your own model. Together, they share how Namaste Direct made the difficult decision to sunset with integrity and why transitioning its economic empowerment program to WJI became a powerful unlock for greater, more sustainable impact for women in Guatemala.This conversation challenges the idea that success in the nonprofit sector is always about scale and growth—and offers a practical look at how merging, evolving, and ending well can be an act of responsibility, courage, and mission-first leadership.Episode Highlights:  Kate’s Path to Guatemala and Law (02:04)Women’s Justice Initiative Mission and Impact (03:06)Namaste Direct’s Mission and Challenges (05:29)Turning Point: Rethinking Microfinance and Debt (09:36)Sunsetting and Succession: Strategic Decisions at Namaste (15:21)Reaching Out: Collaboration and Merger with WJI (20:55)Advice for Nonprofits: Mergers, Sunsets, and Impact (26:16)One Good Thing: Final Thoughts and Reflections (31:58)How to Connect and Closing Remarks (33:19)www.weareforgood.com/episode/668Join us at the We Are For Good Summit on February 12!If you’re looking to build capacity, clarity, and momentum in the new year, we hope you’ll join us at our first-ever We Are For Good Summit, Powered by Givebutter on February 12. Expect workshops, roundtable conversations, and a playbook to get you activated this year. Register for free today! Thank you to our partners 🩵Big gratitude to Givebutter, RKD Group, Whiteboard, and Sowen for their partnership in growing the Impact Uprising. If you’re searching for a new CRM, tech tool, brand partner, direct mail partner, or impact strategist— we’d love for you to start with our trusted recs. We’ve vetted them so you don’t have to. Head to weareforgood.com/recs to learn more.//Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free.Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com Say hi 👋LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter

In this rapid-fire Working Session, Jon and Becky break down storytelling as a core nonprofit skill — not a marketing tactic — and share simple, practical frameworks you can use immediately. From clarifying your values and audience to collecting and activating stories more intentionally, you’ll learn how to move supporters from empathy → connection → action and build a storytelling system that drives trust, belonging, and long-term engagement.Top 3 Takeaways:Story Drives Action — Not Tactics: People don’t act until they feel something, and they don’t stay until they feel like they belong. Learn how to anchor your storytelling in empathy, identity, and shared humanity so your calls to action actually land.Build a Simple Storytelling System: From collecting stories at the end of emails and donation forms to syndicating one story across multiple channels, you’ll learn how to turn storytelling into a repeatable workflow — not a one-off creative lift.Tell Stories With Dignity and Trust: Ethical storytelling isn’t about rules — it’s about relationships. Centering dignity, consent, and agency protects the people behind the stories, strengthens credibility, and builds the kind of trust that fuels long-term community and generosity.This episode is packed with practical, low-lift storytelling moves you can implement today — whether you’re writing an email, planning content, onboarding new supporters, or stewarding long-term relationships.Welcome back to Working Sessions: hands-on, clarity-filled conversations designed to help you move real work forward inside your organization.Let’s get to work.Episode Highlights: Story as Meaning, Not Marketing (01:24)Preparing for Storytelling: Values, Audiences, and Action (03:07)Building a Culture of Storytelling (04:26)Ethical Storytelling Principles (06:10)Introducing the Impact Arc Framework (08:05)Practical Working Session Activities (11:42)Community as the Accelerant for Storytelling (15:04) Episode Shownotes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/666Join us at the We Are For Good Summit on February 12!If you’re looking to build capacity, clarity, and momentum in the new year, we hope you’ll join us at our first-ever We Are For Good Summit, Powered by Givebutter on February 12. Expect workshops, roundtable conversations, and a playbook to get you activated this year. Register for free today!//Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free.Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com Say hi 👋LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter

If year-end fundraising feels like an all-gas-no-brakes sprint, this Working Session is your moment to regroup, refocus, and rally your strongest allies. We brought in fundraising expert and author Rhea Wong for a rapid-fire strategy session on two mission-critical moves: activating your board before December 31 and turning year-end gifts, signals, and conversations into a predictable 2026 pipeline — in under 30 minutes.Rhea walks us through her signature approach to board engagement and donor outreach: one rooted in clarity, specificity, and creating micro-yes moments that move relationships forward. You’ll learn how to give board members turnkey actions they’ll actually complete, how to structure two-call closes for warm prospects, and how to use January to set up a smarter, stronger pipeline for the entire year.Top 3 Takeaways:Your Board Is Your Force Multiplier: Stop sending blanket emails. Start giving individuals clear, specific, low-friction tasks — from making their own gift to nudging warm contacts to posting on LinkedIn. Activated intentionally, your board becomes your most powerful surface-area expander.December Is for Decisions: Rhea breaks down her two-step outreach process — the R for R.O. (Reason for Reaching Out), the alignment call, the opportunity call, and the art of making a clear ask and then staying quiet. January Is Your Pipeline Launchpad: Retention workflows, short donor surveys, micro-engagement signals, and a simple “schedule time with me” link in your email signature can dramatically increase donor conversations. Plus her favorite January homework: donor interviews that build your 2026 avatar and deepen relationships with zero solicitation pressure.This episode is packed with low-lift, high-impact tactics to help you close strong this year — and build a donor pipeline that carries you confidently into the next.Welcome back to Working Sessions: hands-on, clarity-filled conversations designed to help you move real work forward inside your organization.Let’s get to work.Episode Highlights: Four Quick Board Actions for Year-End Fundraising (00:58)Getting Your Nonprofit and Board Members on LinkedIn (03:39)Making Board Engagement Fun & Effective (04:01)Removing Friction: Scripts, Emails & Turnkey Tasks (05:08)How to Move Unengaged Board Members to Action (05:39)December is for Decisions: Triage Your Donor List (08:08) The Two-Call Strategy for Major Gift Closes (09:10)0:12:06 – Handling Objections & Building Consent at Every StepWhat to Do in January: Retention & Stewardship (14:25)Using SurveJoin us at the We Are For Good Summit on February 12!If you’re looking to build capacity, clarity, and momentum in the new year, we hope you’ll join us at our first-ever We Are For Good Summit, Powered by Givebutter on February 12. Expect workshops, roundtable conversations, and a playbook to get you activated this year. Register for free today!//Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free.Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com Say hi 👋LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter

If creating content feels like a treadmill you can’t quite step off, this Working Session is your reset button. We brought in nonprofit marketing expert and author Julia Campbell to teach you how to build a simple, sustainable content calendar for your next two weeks — in under an hour.Julia walks us through her signature approach to content planning: one rooted in clarity, consistency, and choosing the platforms that actually support your goals. You’ll learn how to identify your core content buckets, repurpose stories across channels, and build a weekly rhythm that doesn’t burn you out.Top 3 Takeaways:Build Around Four Buckets: Impact, Engagement, Authority, and Human-Centered content give you a reliable weekly structure. When your buckets are clear, your content becomes far easier to plan.Work With Your Capacity, Not Against It: If you can’t build your content calendar in an hour, you're probably on too many platforms. Julia breaks down how to evaluate where your audience truly is, what each channel does best, and how to double down without overwhelm.Stories Are Your Anchor: One strong story each week — with a hook, emotional resonance, and mission clarity — can power multiple posts across multiple channels. Storytelling is the breadcrumb trail that leads supporters toward deeper understanding (and engagement).This episode is packed with low-lift, high-clarity tactics to help you show up consistently — without reinventing your content strategy every week.Welcome back to Working Sessions: hands-on, clarity-filled conversations designed to help you move real work forward inside your organization.Let’s get to work.Join us at the We Are For Good Summit on February 12!If you’re looking to build capacity, clarity, and momentum in the new year, we hope you’ll join us at our first-ever We Are For Good Summit, Powered by Givebutter on February 12. Expect workshops, roundtable conversations, and a playbook to get you activated this year. Register for free today! Thank you to our partners 🩵Big gratitude to Givebutter, RKD Group, Whiteboard, and Sowen for their partnership in growing the Impact Uprising. If you’re searching for a new CRM, tech tool, brand partner, direct mail partner, or impact strategist— we’d love for you to start with our trusted recs. We’ve vetted them so you don’t have to. Head to weareforgood.com/recs to learn more.//Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free.Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com Say hi 👋LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter