Episodes

In this brief holiday wrap-up for the podcast season and the calendar year 2025, you’ll learn some behind the scenes Season 8 highlights, and you’ll get a sneak-peek at some of the provocative guests and valuable topics we’ll cover in season 9! You’ll also learn about our the new premium version of the FTP Pod on Patreon. For $6 a month, you support our production of the show and our advocacy for investment in the nonprofit workforce. Plus you get: ​Extended episodes with audio and video ​Ton...

In this episode, nonprofit finance expert Gretchen Upholt joins Rusty to introduce Nonprofit GPS, BDO’s free new online toolkit for scenario planning, business model resilience, and short-term coaching. Learn how your organization can navigate revenue risk and make informed financial decisions in 2026, as the impact of the Trump Administration's War on Charity continues to roll across the sector. Itching for more Fund the People Podcast? Join the new Premium version of the show on Patreon! Visi...

This episode explores the stages of foundation responses to the Trump Administration’s War on Charities, through the lens of a place-based funder network. Rusty sits down with Megan Thomas, CEO of Catalyst of San Diego and Imperial Counties. This regional funder association has worked with its members and local nonprofit advisors to build several rounds of collaborative funding, including cash flow assistance loans. You’ll hear: The stages of local funder reaction and response to the Trump Adm...

In this episode, you'll get valuable insights from the CEO of one of the few foundations in the US focused on nonprofit people, not nonprofit programs. Our guest is Maria Cabildo, CEO of The Durfee Foundation. Durfee funds “people and possibilities in Los Angeles county.” Maria served as President and CEO of the East LA Community Corporation for 16 years, where she was the recipient of multiple forms of Durfee support. She has also worked in government and other philanthropic organizations. ...

In this powerful episode of Fund the People’s Defend Nonprofits, Defend Democracy series, Rusty sits down with Tonya Allen, President of the McKnight Foundation, to explore how philanthropy can respond to the Trump Administration’s War on Charity, and serve as an active force for transformation. Tonya shares her roots in Detroit activism, lessons from community leaders who shaped her understanding of philanthropy as “an active verb,” and her belief that funders must embrace—not shy away from—pow...

In this brief Bonus Episode, Rusty Stahl introduces the concept of Staff Operating Support (S.O.S.) Grants. It's a new type of grant for the new type of existential crisis we face. Download our new S.O.S. Grants Concept Paper Share this flyer about the S.O.S. Grants Concept Paper An S.O.S. Grant is restricted for investments in a grantee's people and the systems that support their team. Within that restriction area, an S.O.S. Grant is flexible, responsive, and trust-based. Why? Read our c...

Nonprofit burnout is real — and rising. In this episode, Rusty Stahl welcomes back Dr. Elisha Smith Arrillaga, Vice President of Research at the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP). They discuss new data revealing how stress, vacancies, and limited funding flexibility are affecting nonprofit leaders and staff across the country. They dig into CEP’s State of Nonprofits 2025 and Voices That Matter reports, exploring: What’s driving staff burnout and morale loss The disconnect bet...

Advocacy expert Bethany Snyder joins Rusty Stahl to reveal how nonprofit leaders can reclaim their power, speak out boldly, and protect the sector from political attacks. In this powerful episode of Fund the People, host Rusty Stahl sits down with advocacy strategist Bethany Snyder, founder of Snyder Strategies, to explore how nonprofits can — and must — use their voices boldly in today’s political climate. Snyder argues that the nonprofit sector is “on the menu” under the Trump administration’s...

Is your nonprofit stuck in an understaffing cycle, in which you need expertise but can't afford senior-level salaries? Are you overwhelmed by wearing multiple hats as an executive director, lacking specialized skills in fundraising, HR, or communications? What if there was a way to access experienced professionals without the full-time commitment? Through this episode, you’ll learn about working with “fractional executives” – a practice where nonprofits engage a portion of an experienced prof...

Are you feeling drained like we are by all the setbacks facing our work? Struggling to process the cycle of progress and backlash? Would you like to create space for your team to discuss their sadness, anger, and fear, but also maintain (or rebuild) momentum? In this episode of our "Defend Nonprofits, Defend Democracy" series, host Rusty Stahl interviews Meico Marquette Whitlock about the concept of "social impact grief". Whitlock explains how this emotional response to setbacks, policy reversa...

In this episode, you’ll learn how many-year grants can bolster nonprofit people and programmatic impact. Host Rusty Stahl sits down with Betsy Leondar-Wright, Ph.D., the lead researcher at Fund the People, to discuss our brand-new report, Long-Haul Grantmaking. Betsy brings decades of nonprofit leadership, social justice activism, and academic research to the conversation, and she shares how her personal experiences with underfunded, unstable nonprofit jobs shaped her passion for this work...

In the season premiere of Season 8, your host Rusty Stahl (Founder, President & CEO of Fund the People) outlines the season’s focus on strengthening and defending the nonprofit sector. He previews upcoming conversations with influential leaders such as Tonya Allen of McKnight Foundation, Deepak Bhargava of Freedom Together Foundation, and Michael Thatcher of Charity Navigator. Rusty shares a new Fund the People research report and webinar (10/10 at 10am PT) on ‘long-haul grantmaking’ that emphas...