Stephen Cook is a nonprofit operations leader and the founder of Foundations & Horizons, where he helps nonprofit organizations build practical systems that make their work easier to manage and more sustainable. His experience includes nonprofit operations, volunteer program development, organizational systems, leadership, and program growth. He is also the author of Strong Foundations, Higher Horizons, a practical leadership book for nonprofit leaders who want to build stronger organizations without losing sight of the mission.

Host Steve Boland joins to talk about the operational side of nonprofit work. Stephen notes that in his experience, organizations spend much of their time on program management conversations and far less on operations, even though operations determine how well a nonprofit can manage its work. Stephen and Steve discuss the basics every organization needs, including support for human resources, finances, and similar functions, and Stephen shares the self-assessment tools he has developed to help nonprofits look honestly at where they stand. Those tools are available on his website.

Stephen has begun using more AI tools to help streamline operational processes, and recommends that organizations should still double-check with experts in the field rather than relying on AI alone. Throughout, they return to a central point: gaps in basic operational support affect mission outcomes. Staff transitions and other disruptions often trace back to a lack of coordinated systems.

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(This is an encore episode from last year - please enjoy!)

Allison Wagstrom is the Senior Loan Officer for Propel Nonprofits, whose mission “fuels the impact and effectiveness of nonprofits with guidance, expertise, and capital.”

Allison joins host Steve Boland to talk about the risks nonprofits face, and steps and tools they can use to manage that risk. Allison encourages charities to think in terms of revenue mix, program costs, infrastructure, and capital. She and Steve talk about examples in such areas of the emotional labor of program costs (because that is really people in most cases), the new risks where government funding is no longer as secure as it used to be, and how a cashflow projection may not ameliorate all fears but provides a way to examine fears on paper. Allison discusses the role of the board in these times, and both of them caution that now is still a year to consider building cash reserves, because the future may have even more risk on the horizon. Sunsetting, mergers, and acquisitions may be on the table in order to preserve mission impact. Propel Nonprofits manages a Resource Library for charities to use in learning about their own options.

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Laura Hinrichsen is the Senior Vice President of Integrated Media Solutions at AGP, a full-service agency that works exclusively with nonprofits. Its services include direct mail, web, email, and the paid media work that Laura’s team leads, both online and offline.

Laura joins Steve for a primer on paid advertising for small and mid-sized organizations that may assume it’s only for the big nonprofits. She explains why “we tried Facebook and it didn’t work” usually means an organic post rather than paid social. She also makes the case for keeping fundraising asks off your organic page, since low engagement can shrink who sees your posts. Boosted posts and small paid campaigns are an accessible entry point.

The conversation covers how Google Ad Grants and paid search work together. Grant accounts can now run Performance Max campaigns, and Laura discusses how AI search and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) are changing the picture. Laura also explains why your website and landing pages need to be ready before you spend. The conversation also includes programmatic advertising, which buys audiences and behavior rather than specific websites. They also look at audio, video, and streaming placements, low-production authentic video, and affordable influencer endorsements through Cameo for Business. Laura emphasizes the advantage nonprofits already have: first-party data. Your donor profiles, website visitors, and social followers can feed targeted campaigns and lookalike audiences.

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