Future Nonprofit

“We have agency in this. AI is a mirror to humanity. And I think that becomes a moral imperative to push our way to the front of that mirror.” – Nathan ChappellHave you been avoiding addressing AI in your nonprofit out of fear, uncertainty, or lack of expertise?Nathan Chappell would say you’re not alone. But he does have good news:Nathan is the Chief AI Officer at Virtuous, and he studies how we can use AI to advance mission-driven organizations. Recently, he determined that nonprofits hold a unique advantage in shaping the future of AI, and can uniquely benefit from it.(No AI experience required.)After this episode, you’ll walk away with a new perspective on the opportunities available to your organization in this moment.Find links to resources mentioned and key takeaways in the show notes for this episode: https://www.futurenonprofit.com/nathan-chappell

“You should ask yourself first, what truly, like in your bones, do you actually value and what do you really wanna get done in the world?” –Jessica JackleyJessica Jackley’s answer to this question has always been the same: To help people. But she never guessed she’d do it as an entrepreneur.Jessica once believed that business was nothing but greed and manipulation. But then something funny happened: Entrepreneurs kept proving that capital could be used for good. So she listened—to talks from Dr. Muhammad Yunus, to the early pioneers at the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford, and to her friends in East Africa with brilliant plans to better their communities with just a hundred dollars.That listening led Jessica to start Kiva, now one of the world’s largest crowdfunding platforms for social good. Today, she’s leading the world in social entrepreneurism: proving that when we listen, connect, and design solutions around real human stories, the paths to helping people are infinite.In our conversation, Jessica shares her unexpected path to social entrepreneurism, how Kiva scaled, and her approach to designing an impact-driven career without sacrificing time with family.Find links to resources mentioned and key takeaways in the show notes for this episode: https://www.futurenonprofit.com/jessica-jackley

“When you make the transition from operator to leader, you have to be intentional about how you’re defining success.”—Melissa RussellWhat does it actually take to scale a nonprofit without losing culture or clarity along the way?There’s no one better to show us the way than Melissa Russell. Melissa carries a wealth of nonprofit leadership experience as the current President of charity: water and former President of International Justice Mission (IJM), where she’s strengthened clarity and culture through seasons of growth and created environments where both results and people matter.Charity: water is an incredible organization. Not only have they funded over 186,000 water projects in 29 countries, but their innovation to engage donors in seeing exactly where their donation goes is second to none.In this conversation, you’ll hear how Melissa found her way into nonprofit leadership (or rather, how it found her), along with what she’s learned in such high-level roles about leadership, vision-casting, culture, and innovation.Listen in!Find links to resources mentioned and key takeaways in the show notes for this episode: https://www.futurenonprofit.com/melissa-russell

“Much of what I've encountered throughout my career is people building a campaign to keep the organization happy versus meeting a clear, objective goal.” –Ben Webb(Did you miss Part 1? You can find it here.)Which department is accountable for a nonprofit’s revenue?If you said fundraising, you’d be with the majority. But according to Ben Webb, CMO of International Justice Mission (IJM), you’d only be partly right.Ben believes that when we view marketing as a revenue partner, marketing becomes a powerful culture builder—capable of amassing valuable insights, building trust between teams, upholding organizational excellence, and transforming the hearts of donors.And in this conversation, he shares the exact process they use to accomplish that at IJM.After this special marketing-focused episode, you’ll walk away with a reframe on storytelling in nonprofit marketing, an understanding of how to combat the “nothing’s working” challenge of nonprofit marketing today, and why accountability to results is such an opportunity on nonprofit teams today.Find links to resources mentioned and key takeaways in the show notes for this episode: https://www.futurenonprofit.com/ben-webb-part-2/