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PODCAST

Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership Strategies, and Community-Centric Solutions

Further Together: Fundraising Strategies for Nonprofit Organizations

Welcome to Small Nonprofit, the podcast designed for leaders, fundraisers, and advocates in the nonprofit sector who want to create real change. We provide small nonprofit organizations with strategies to enhance their fundraising campaigns, improve nonprofit governance, and implement ethical fundraising practices that resonate with today’s values-driven donors.Hosted by an experienced nonprofit consultant, Maria Rio, this show delves into the unique challenges of nonprofit fundraising and

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All Episodes

22:04

Earned Revenue AND Increased Impact? Licensing Your...

Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership... ·

2026/03/03

Send a text What if the program you've spent years perfecting could fund your nonprofit and serve exponentially more people... without you burning out trying to do it all yourself? Most executive directors don't realize that the SOPs, worksheets, and workflows living in their heads are actually valuable intellectual property that other nonprofits would pay to access. On this week's episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, Maria sits down with Rebecca Britt, founder of Stable Moments, a mentors...

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21:33

Executive Director Burnout: Why Finding Your People...

Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership... ·

2026/02/24

Send a text In this raw and hopeful conversation, you'll hear about the physical and emotional toll of nonprofit leadership and the intentional steps one ED took to not just recover, but to build an entire community dedicated to sector wellness. Laura Istead opens up about recognizing her own burnout, advocating for time off, and discovering the ways that she had normalized her own symptoms of stress. But this isn't just a cautionary tale. It's a blueprint for how nonprofit leaders can break ...

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21:05

The Missing Piece in Fundraising: Getting People to...

Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership... ·

2026/02/17

Send a text What if the biggest challenge facing nonprofits isn't moving donors from $100 to $1,000 gifts, but getting people to make their first charitable donation ever? In this episode, we explore a critical gap in the nonprofit sector: getting people to move from non-donors to donors. While fundraisers are experts at cultivating existing donors, very few organizations are focused on helping people become donors in the first place. We dig into why teaching generosity matters, how to lower ...

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20:09

Nonprofit Leaders Building Community and Finding Joy...

Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership... ·

2026/02/10

Send a text Nonprofit leaders are navigating an exceptionally difficult moment. Political uncertainty, financial uncertainty, the weight of leading through crisis, you name it. It's easy to feel isolated, numb, or like you're carrying it all alone. But the path ahead doesn't have to feel lonely. We're talking about finding your people and creating intentional spaces for joy, connection, and authentic dialogue. On this week's episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, Maria sits down with Frank V...

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17:24

Nonprofit Storytelling: Showing Impact When Results...

Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership... ·

2026/02/03

Send us a text Not every nonprofit mission comes with neat, quantifiable results. If your organization works in mental health, activism, research, or addiction recovery, you know that impact isn't always a tidy before-and-after story. But donors still want to understand the difference you're making... So how do you prove your impact when the work is complex, deeply personal, or still unfolding? On this week's episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, hosts Maria Rio and Caitlin McBride tackle...

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27:40

Mission Drift vs. Emergency Supports: The SNAP...

Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership... ·

2026/01/27

Send us a text What do you do when a government shutdown threatens to leave 70% of the families you serve without food? For Growing Up Green Charter Schools in Queens, New York, the answer was clear: respond immediately, mobilize resources fast, and support their community without losing sight of their educational mission. In this episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, Caitlin McBride sits down with Erin Acosta, Director of Family Engagement and Communications at Growing Up Green Charter Sch...

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22:56

How Latino Fundraisers Are Fighting Back: Systemic...

Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership... ·

2026/01/20

Send us a text Armando hears the same heartbreaking story over and over: talented Latinas been doing their white boss's job for years, training replacement after replacement, but they're never considered for the promotion because they "lack training." Meanwhile, mainstream fundraising conferences and training programs are designed for wealthy organizations, ignoring the small and medium-sized Latino nonprofits that desperately need support. The result? A sector where Latino leaders are system...

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24:02

Nonprofit Advocacy: Playing the Long Game

Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership... ·

2026/01/13

Send us a text Feeling overwhelmed by current challenges in the nonprofit sector? In this episode, host Maria Rio sits down with Robyn Schwartz, historian-turned-fundraiser and co-founder of Dumbo Octopus Consulting, to explore how understanding historical patterns can help nonprofit leaders navigate today's uncertainty. Robyn draws striking parallels between our current moment and the 1920s, explaining how cyclical patterns of economic instability, political shifts, and resource scarcity rep...

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24:22

The 8 Reasons People Donate (And Why Your Anniversary...

Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership... ·

2026/01/06

Send us a text Ever wondered why some donors stick around for decades while others disappear after one gift? Join Maria Rio and Caitlin McBride as they break down the eight psychological and social reasons people actually donate to nonprofits. They tackle everything from the power of peer-to-peer fundraising (hint: 80% are brand new donors) to why guilt-based appeals only work once, why your 50th anniversary isn't a fundraising strategy, and how to diagnose exactly where your donor retention ...

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25:53

Never tell another sob story again

Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership... ·

2025/12/30

Send us a text Nonprofits are constantly told to “tell powerful stories” to move donors, but what happens when those stories come at the expense of the people you serve? In this episode, we dive into the messy, important questions behind ethical storytelling: consent, power, and what it really means to honor people’s dignity in your fundraising and communications. Maria and Ceallaigh unpack how photos and personal narratives have historically been used in extractive, colonial ways, and why “w...

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33:35

"Somebody Has to Say It": Standing up for yourself...

Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership... ·

2025/12/23

Send us a text Ever wondered how to critique the nonprofit sector while leading an organization within it? Join Maria Rio for a conversation with Amber Hamilton, President and CEO of the Memphis Music Initiative, who went viral for saying what every nonprofit leader thinks but won't say out loud. Amber shares why humor became her weapon of choice; creating satirical videos that called out philanthropy's racist funding practices, absurd application processes, and performative accou...

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31:46

Writing Emails Donors Actually Want to Read

Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership... ·

2025/12/16

Send us a text Ever wondered why your nonprofit's email list is stuck at 400 contacts after decades of work? Join Maria Rio for a conversation with Jess Campbell, founder of Out in the Boons, who shares an uncomfortable truth: your email list is probably shrinking right now, and it's kneecapping your fundraising. Jess shares why email is 9-10 times more effective than social media, creative list-building tactics beyond event sign-ups, and how to shift from boring organizational updates to tho...

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26:25

How to ACTUALLY change hearts and minds

Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership... ·

2025/12/09

Send us a text What's the one thing you wish the public understood better about the problem you're solving? That gap between what people know and what you wish they knew? That's your narrative change work, and it should be driving every communication decision you make. On this week's episode, we break down how small nonprofits can stop reacting to headlines and start shaping the conversation around the issues they care about most. Maria sits down with Dimitrios Kalantzis, a ...

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30:40

Fundraising for “The Perfect Victim”

Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership... ·

2025/12/02

Send us a text There's a reason some fundraising stories feel easier to tell than others. Stories about animals, "grateful" clients, and non-political solutions raise money quickly because they tap into what donors already believe about who deserves help. But what happens when those easy stories erase the complexity and humanity of the people you actually serve? On this week's episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, host Maria Rio sits down with Esther Lee, a fundraising and equity stra...

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28:51

When Funders Try to Silence Your Advocacy with Maria...

Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership... ·

2025/11/25

Send us a text What happens when the money your organization needs comes with a muzzle attached? In this bold and necessary conversation, Maria and Caitlin tackle one of the most uncomfortable truths in the nonprofit sector: funders using their financial power to silence organizational advocacy and control community narratives. On this week's episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, co-hosts Maria Rio and Caitlin McBride don't hold back as they share real stories of organizations facing ...

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24:32

Leading While Latina: Identity, Power, and the...

Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership... ·

2025/11/18

Send us a text What is it like to lead a nonprofit when you’re constantly being told you’re “too much” of one thing and “not enough” of another? On this week’s episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, Sharonne Navas shares what it’s been like to navigate a predominantly white sector as a first-gen American Latina. With experience spanning organizations like Para Los Niños, Ayuda, NARAL Pro-Choice America, and national justice movements, Sharonne names what it means to do deeply political work ...

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31:46

Nonprofit Leadership and The "PolyCrisis"

Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership... ·

2025/11/11

Send us a text The nonprofit sector is facing a “polycrisis”. In this candid conversation, we unpack how simultaneous shocks (policy shifts, funder chill, shrinking donor pools) are reshaping civil society and what small nonprofits can do to adapt. We talk about building durable strategies instead of episodic crisis responses, and how to make decisions that protect mission over ego. Just as importantly, we get real about leadership wellbeing: navigating fear, staying in productive tension, an...

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19:27

Grant Writing: Getting to YES! with DeaRonda Harrison

Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership... ·

2025/11/04

Send us a text If you’re tired of chasing dead-end applications or hearing “we don’t accept unsolicited proposals,” this episode is for you. We dig into how to build a smarter pipeline by prioritizing funders that welcome new grantees. Then we tackle the myth of “hard-to-fund” programs (arts, advocacy, civic education, etc.) and show you how reframing your work to match donor priorities can unlock dollars without changing your programming. On this week’s episode of The Small Nonprofit P...

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26:59

From Donor-Centric to Community-Centric Fundraising

Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership... ·

2025/10/28

Send us a text From Donor-Centric to Community-Centric: Building Equity Into Fundraising Most “best practices” put donors and boards at the top of the pyramid - and everyone else (staff, volunteers, service users) at the bottom. In this episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, Maria Rio breaks down the shift from donor-centric to community-centric fundraising and why this change is key to building a more equitable nonprofit sector. Maria unpacks how covert white supremacy sh...

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25:30

Grant Writing Strategies That Work

Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership... ·

2025/10/21

Send us a text Grants look easy from the outside: download a form, fill it in, wait for the cheque. In reality? Cold applications rarely convert, and the magic happens off the application portal. On this week’s episode of The Small Nonprofit Podcast, Maria Rio and co-host Caitlin McBride unpack why grants are not the quick win many organizations expect and how a single 15-minute call can completely change your pitch, and your odds. We break down what funders won’t put on their website, why mo...

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321 results

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