Latest Substack Essays

Why the Rockefeller Foundation Hired a YouTuber (& What It Says About Your Org Chart)

Money can buy a lot of things but attention might not be one of them.

We Optimized Everything, And Made It Worse

How easy metrics are stealing magic from America's institutions.

The Nonprofit Legitimacy Crisis and How to Fix It
Chronicle of Philanthropy · Oct 2025

Can We All Become Nonprofit Consultants?
Nonprofit Quarterly · Aug 2025

Why Interdependence is the Future of Nonprofits
Advancing Philanthropy · Jul 2025

The Human Imperative in the Age of AI
Advancing Philanthropy · Apr 2025

Building Community-Centered AI Collaborations
Stanford Social Innovation Review · Feb 2025

External Publications

The Martyrdom Era Is Ending

A sector built to solve problems is finally being forced to confront one of its own.

The Space Between Us: Naming Incongruence in Nonprofit Work
The Nonprofit Hive · Dec 2024

Leveraging the AI Wave for Deeper Connection
The Nonprofit Times · Dec 2023

5 Critical Questions for Disaster Preparedness
OneStar · Sep 2023

Transforming Events: What If We Get This Right?
Blackbaud npEXPERTS® · Nov 2022

The Annual Report That Never Was
Community-Centric Fundraising - The Hub · Nov 2021

External Podcast Interviews

What the Fundraising - The Podcast
People first: rethinking growth & retention · Apr 2025

Donorbox - The Nonprofit Podcast
Future-ready your nonprofit for sustainable funding with
partnerships · Apr 2025

Nonprofit Lowdown
The state of nonprofit staffing · Apr 2025

Good Nonsense
Nonprofit systems … and how we change them · Mar 2025

What the Fundraising - The Podcast
Systemic change in nonprofits · Nov 2024

RKD Group Podcast
Leadership & transforming the nonprofit sector · Oct 2024

The Nonprofit Hive
Creating the future of nonprofit work: the SISR report · Sep 2024

Nonprofit Leadership Podcast
Why staff retention is quickly becoming your top issue to address · Aug 2024

AFP Emerging Leaders Podcast
Who me? Overcoming imposter syndrome in fundraising · Jul 2024

Big Duck
What is the smallest viable audience for nonprofits? · May 2024

We Are For Good
2024 nonprofit trends: retention is an inside job · Jan 2024

We Are For Good
The pathway from Chief Development Officer to CEO · Mar 2023

Michelle’s Nonprofit Futures Show podcast

All podcast episodes