The Business of Giving

Welcome to The Business of Giving. I’m Denver Frederick, and today we’re joined by Ryan Dewey Smith, founder and leader of Inperium, one of the most expansive nonprofit networks in the country. Operating across 20 states, Inperium has pioneered a revolutionary affiliation model that’s transforming how nonprofits achieve sustainability and scale. Ryan started Inperium nearly a decade ago when he recognized that traditional nonprofit structures were failing organizations serving our most vulnerable populations. Through innovative sole-member affiliations, tax-exempt municipal bond financing, and even nonprofit employee stock ownership programs, Inperium is rewriting the playbook for nonprofit collaboration. This is a conversation about the future of sustainability in the social sector.

What if the key to solving urban poverty isn’t creating new programs, but matching proven solutions with communities that need them most? Ali Knight, CEO of GreenLight Fund, joins us to discuss a revolutionary approach that’s quietly transformed cities across America for two decades. From his journey as a “latchkey kid” in New York City to leading a national organization that’s invested over $40 million in community solutions, Ali reveals how patience and discipline created lasting change.  That ambitious vision is attracting mayors, nonprofit leaders, and funders nationwide who are hungry for solutions that actually work—and it’s reshaping how philanthropy approaches urban poverty one city at a time. It’s Ali Knight of the GreenLight Fund on The Business of Giving.

Welcome to The Business of Giving. Today, we’re examining America’s animal welfare crisis with someone who’s been fighting it for over a decade.Cathy Bissell founded the BISSELL Pet Foundation in 2011, evolving from local shelter fundraising into a national force. Their programs have found homes for 17,000 pets in a single event and performed over 120,000 spay and neuter procedures this year alone.But behind these numbers is a deeper crisis—rising costs and housing restrictions leaving shelters overcrowded and families heartbroken.Today, Cathy will share how systematic thinking can solve seemingly impossible problems—and why she believes the time to help animals is right now.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

What happens when you inherit billions to give away, but the weight of that responsibility threatens to define you more than your own dreams? And how do you honor a grandfather who was simultaneously the “father of fracking” and one of America’s most passionate environmentalists?Welcome to The Business of Giving. I’m your host, Denver Frederick. Today we examine next-generation philanthropy with Katherine Lorenz, Executive Director of the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation and co-founder of the Giving Pledge Next Gen initiative.Katherine’s family preserved decades of intimate conversations with her grandparents—a treasure trove of philanthropic wisdom. But her path wasn’t predetermined. Working with indigenous farming communities in the mountains of Oaxaca, she experienced a revelation that would reshape everything.This is a conversation about wrestling with paradox, building authentic peer networks, and discovering that sometimes the most powerful philanthropy comes from embracing life’s contradictions.

A child is drowning in a pond. You’re wearing an expensive suit. Do you jump in and save them? Of course you do. But philosopher Peter Singer asks the uncomfortable follow-up: If you’ll ruin a $300 suit to save that child, why won’t you donate that same $300 to save a child dying from malaria in Africa?Welcome to The Business of Giving. I’m Denver Frederick. Today we’re exploring one of the most challenging moral arguments of our time with Peter Singer, whose simple thought experiment has fundamentally changed how we think about our obligations to strangers.Singer’s philosophy forces us to confront an uncomfortable truth: if helping distant strangers is moral obligation, not charity, then most of us might be living fundamentally unethical lives.Peter reveals the Oxford moment that transformed him from graduate student to moral revolutionary, explains how effective altruism survived its biggest scandal, and shares why he believes thinking people can literally change the world.Get ready for a conversation that might just change how you see your own moral choices. This is Peter Singer on The Business of Giving.

Today we’re joined by David Coman-Hidy, who leads The Navigation Fund, a $100 million philanthropic organization tackling some of the world’s most pressing challenges. From his punk rock roots to running a major foundation, David brings a unique do-it-yourself mentality to philanthropy that’s shaking up how we think about creating change.David will share how The Navigation Fund is moving faster than traditional foundations, why they’re funding everything from AI consciousness research to youth justice reform, and what the future of philanthropy might look like when the next generation takes the reins. Let’s get started.

Today I’m thrilled to have Bertina Ceccarelli, CEO of NPower, joining us from their headquarters in Brooklyn, New York. What happens when you combine military-trained problem solvers with cutting-edge cybersecurity skills? Magic. Under Bertina’s leadership since 2016, NPower has scaled from $6 million to $35 million while achieving something remarkable: many of their veteran graduates are earning three to four times their military salaries within months of completing the program. But here’s what makes Bertina’s approach revolutionary - she sees barriers as badges of resilience. Today, we’ll discover how NPower is creating AI-resilient workforces, why their corporate partnerships go far beyond traditional funding, and what happens when you treat students as whole people rather than just future employees. This is a conversation about the future of economic mobility in America. So let’s get started.

What if the secret to fixing America’s democracy isn’t in Washington, but in neighborhood meetings and local organizing? Emma Bloomberg believes that’s exactly where our civic future lies.After seven years at Robin Hood Foundation, Emma saw a critical gap: while philanthropy addressed today’s crises, it couldn’t prevent tomorrow’s. The community organizations working to create systemic change were stuck with yellow legal pads, lacking the data tools they needed.So she founded Murmuration – named after flocks of starlings that move as one while staying individual. Her nonprofit provides cutting-edge civic engagement tools to grassroots organizations across the country, helping neighbors drive change at the block level.Today we’ll explore why Emma believes real systemic change happens between elections, how she’s reimagining philanthropy, and why local conversations might be our path through national polarization.This is democracy from the ground up. Stay with us.

Welcome to The Business of Giving! Today, we’re thrilled to have Dr. Russell James, a trailblazing professor at Texas Tech University, renowned for his groundbreaking work in charitable giving and planned giving. With a Ph.D. in consumer economics, experience as a tax attorney, and a passion for neuroimaging, Russell blends hard data with the art of storytelling to uncover what drives generosity. In this episode, we dive into how stories, not just numbers, ignite major gifts and how fundraisers can tap into donors’ life narratives to inspire impactful philanthropy.Stay tuned for a fascinating conversation that will reshape how you think about giving!

Most nonprofit boards treat technology as an operational afterthought—a cost center to manage rather than a strategic lever for mission achievement. But with AI reshaping everything, that approach isn’t just outdated, it could be existential.My guest today is Alethea Hannemann, Co-founder and CEO of Board.Dev. Working alongside Aaron Hurst, she’s helping nonprofit boards become more tech-fluent and values-aligned by placing senior technology leaders in governance roles and upleveling entire boards around strategic technology decision-making.In our conversation, we explore their Tech 28 framework for sparking the right conversations, how the pandemic exposed technology gaps that AI is now amplifying, and why technology choices are fundamentally about values—not just operations.Alethea also shares practical advice for nonprofit CEOs, tech executives, and funders on what each needs to do differently to build digitally fluent organizations.