Episodes

In this second installment of our series, Smashing the Overhead Myth Ones and For All, you’ll get an insider’s view of how things are changing inside the Ford Foundation, one of the largest private funders in the world, as their team seeks to provide more equitable and effective grants to the organizations they support in the U.S. and around the world. Our guests today are the ones making challenging operational decisions, guiding changes to organizational policy, practice and culture, and exec...

In this episode, we examine The Resilience Initiative, a model of foundation-initiated capacity-building work on behalf of grantee organizations that has sought to help progressive nonprofits tackle the mounting political, economic, and health crises that have impacted organizations in recent years. The Resilience Initiative has developed a highly-responsive approach that is increasingly focused on the well-being of nonprofit people and organizations. You’ll hear from the two top-notch consulta...

Welcome to the first installment of our special series, “Smashing the Overhead Myth – Once and For All.” In this episode, we hear the story of Funders for Real Costs, Real Change, a learning collaborative among a dozen funders who sought to better understand how they could do their part to end the nonprofit starvation cycle. These funders examined the realities of overhead and indirect costs in their grants and grantee organizations – and some are making major changes as a result. Our guest is...

In this episode, we speak with Jan Masaoka, CEO of California Association of Nonprofits (CalNonprofits), and one of the most respected and outspoken organizers, advocates, authors, and capacity-builders in the nonprofit sector. Jan recently announced her departure from CalNonprofits, and she shares sage wisdom (and rage!) on a range of issues including advocating for a better relationship between government and nonprofits, addressing the “overhead” myth, funding full costs, dealing with nonprof...

Welcome to the first episode of Season 4 of Fund the People - A Podcast with Rusty Stahl! In this episode, host Rusty Stahl welcomes you back, and sets up the theme for an amazing new season! Each season of this show has a theme, and together they follow the outline of our Funding that Works Framework. Season 1 explored the problem facing the social sector as a deficit of investment in the nonprofit workforce. Season 2 introduced the concept of Talent-Investing, “the intentional deployment o...

Get a sneak peek at our upcoming season 4, where Rusty and guests dive into the Eight Practices of Talent-Investing.

In celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we’re pleased to welcome special guest Michael Smith, the eighth CEO of AmeriCorps, the federal agency for service and volunteering. This special episode explores the role of AmeriCorps as the federal government’s anchor institution, ensuring that MLK National Day of Service is a “day on,” not a “day off.” Our conversation also examines the role of AmeriCorps as a partnership between the federal government and the nonprofit sector for advancing pub...

2022 has come to an end, and we’ve also reached the end of Season 3 of the Fund the People Podcast. So we’ve got a nice finale to wrap things up with a bow for you! In this solo episode, Rusty Stahl recaps the theme of Season 3 – the 8 Principles of Talent-Investing – and summarizes the key ideas covered in his conversations with amazing guests throughout the season. This season finale offers a nice succinct guide to the guests and topics covered this year. We’ll be back in March with a new se...

This episode is end-of-year inspiration – and it offers a bold new model for increasing investments in America’s nonprofit workforce. In this episode, you’ll learn how a group of nonprofits showed elected leaders the essential value of the nonprofit human services workforce, and broke through malaise and noise to secure historic state and local government investments in nonprofit workers! Host Rusty Stahl speaks with Michelle Jackson, Executive Director of Human Services Council of New York to...

From all of us at Fund the People – Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy New Year! You and millions of people in America’s nonprofit workforce are resisting, keeping flames alive, sustaining traditions and values, and rebuilding communities and civic spaces that have been so challenged by the pandemic, political violence, and other crises. And as you do this work, it is critical that you find ways to take care of yourself and your co-workers, and to ensure that your organi...

We are in the nonprofit sector’s season of giving, but we’re going counter-culture. This episode is all about nonprofit saving. Specifically, nonprofit workers saving for retirement. In this episode, you'll learn why it's critical for funders, nonprofits, and nonprofit workers alike to invest in retirement savings. You’ll hear the surprising political history of nonprofit retirement; how retirement policies can bolster racial and class inclusion in nonprofit teams; and the four major gaps facin...

In this episode, you’ll learn about developing a compensation philosophy on which you can build human resources and compensation systems that are in keeping with values of equity and justice. Consultant Mala Nagarajan sits down with host Rusty Stahl to talk about the ideas that undergird equitable salaries and benefits in social justice and social change workplaces. Mala brings deep experience in nonprofit human resources through her work with Vega Mala Consulting and RoadMap Consulting. She is...

With every election cycle and issue campaign, we are reminded of the critical role that community organizers play in supporting the civic participation of all Americans. In this episode, you'll learn from new research on the working conditions of community organizers in social justice nonprofits. You’ll hear how organizers, executive directors, and funders view the issue. You’ll get recommendations for change, and next steps the All Due Respect is pursuing to ensure that all due respect is given...

Burnout is a chronic condition in nonprofits. Right now, it’s at an acute level after the years of trauma we’ve been experiencing. And burnout has a compounding impact on people who are dealing with marginalization. Yet burnout is often something we suffer in isolation, in silence, and in an individual fashion – as if it's not an organizational or collective concern. In this episode, you'll gain a first-hand perspective on burnout from Dany Sigwalt, the outgoing nonprofit executive director of ...

Nonprofit people create and sustain the organizational capacity of nonprofits. So there’s a natural connection between organizational “capacity-building” and what Fund the People calls “talent-investing” (intentionally deploying capital to support and develop nonprofit workers). In our continuous effort to capture the value that talent-investing offers to nonprofits and their funders, in this episode you'll hear the perspective of a funder who actualized this deep connection between a foundation...

Is student debt haunting your nonprofit career? Is the specter of student loans looming over people in your organization, or your colleagues elsewhere? Are you an HR person helping nonprofit workers navigate the harrowing nature of debt? Luckily, you don’t need an exorcist to get rid of that debt! It can be wiped away through the federal government's Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Progam. Now through Halloween (October 31, 2022), they’re making the process (and likelihood of forgivene...

Learn why it's critical to invest in the diverse emerging workforce inside foundations, and how such investment helps organized philanthropy be responsive to nonprofits and those who are on the front lines doing the work. Rusty sits down for a chat with Storme Gray, the inspiring Executive Director of Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP), the national network of emerging foundation leaders who are elevating philanthropic practice in order to build a more just, equitable and sustainable...

In this episode, you'll learn about some easy actions you can take to help researchers address the lack of philanthropic investment in the nonprofit workforce, and the burnout that results from that deficit of investment. Host Rusty Stahl sits down with Betsy Leondar-Wright, Project Director of Staffing the Mission. Launched in 2019, Staffing the Mission works to make life better for diverse nonprofit employees, and is a program of Class Action, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit that “inspires act...

In this episode, you'll get a rare glimpse into the inside story of two people who have, together, gone through the unique crucible that is an executive transition. Jane McDonnell is the former Executive Director of the Online News Association and is now an independent consultant. Irving Washington is the current Executive Director of the Online News Association, and a longtime association professional in the journalism field. Jane and Irving went through an executive transition in a thoughtful...

In this episode, you'll gain valuable insights from a major funding institution about why they believe it’s important to invest in the nonprofit workforce by supporting new executive directors. We speak with Joey Lee and Bipasha Ray of Open Society Foundations (OSF). You'll hear about important research on the value of investing in new executives from a new OSF report that draws upon the experiences and voices of hundreds of new E.D.s. This is a resource that you can use with your funders, your ...

This episode kicks off the fabulous third season of Fund the People - A Podcast with Rusty Stahl. To get the season started, Rusty establishes the theme: the 8 Principles of Talent-Investing. He shares guiding principles from “Funding that Works,” the exciting new framework for talent-investing that Fund the People will roll-out in 2023 through our new online Academy. The principles offer the intellectual groundwork upon which effective talent-investing practices can be built.

It's been a long, hot summer, and we've been cooking up a delicious menu of alternatives to the nonprofit starvation cycle. We are back with a phenomenal Season 3, serving up episodes based on the 8 Principles of Talent-Investing. Grab your fork, dig in, and enjoy interviews with folks from foundations, nonprofits and intermediaries. Tune in for Season 3 of the Fund the People podcast on Wednesday, Sept. 7, and remember to keep your tank full, take care of yourself, and take care of one another.

Announcing a special new program: the Funding That Works Academy! Learn about our talent investing framework via an online course with versions available for all types of nonprofit professionals.

During this long dark winter, we have a bright conversation with a colleague who is managing the operations of a national social justice organization, and who can offer us some rays of hope. Our guest is Andrea Frye. Andrea is the Operations Director of Peoples’ Action, a national network of state & local grassroots power-building organizations united in fighting for justice. This episode gives you a concrete example of the value created for an organization and its staff when they use capacity...