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Nonprofit budgeting beyond the annual budget starts with a surprising shift: stop treating the numbers as a deadline and start using them to guide decisions! Peyton Burch of Martus Solutions and John Tiso of JMT Consulting explore how shared ownership, stronger revenue assumptions, and ongoing forecasting can turn budget season into a leadership advantage.

“We don’t have the budget!!!.” Conversation over. Idea shelved. Everyone back to their spreadsheets.

But what if that familiar response is hiding the problem your nonprofit actually needs to solve?

Peyton and John challenge the annual scramble to produce a budget, secure approval, and move on. Their conversation connects nonprofit financial planning to the decisions leaders make every day: hiring staff, funding programs, responding to revenue changes, and keeping the board informed.

As John puts it, “The budget is a mirror of the organization and the team and the processes and the systems.” When the numbers stop working, the underlying issue may be communication, data quality, or assumptions that nobody has revisited.

The duo explain why revenue forecasting deserves closer attention, how financial literacy strengthens department-level participation, and why reforecasting should become a normal response to changing conditions. They also explore the cultural shift that happens when program managers understand how their decisions contribute to organization-wide financial goals.

Peyton offers a memorable priority: “So the time needs to be spent in conversations and being strategic, not in building a budget spreadsheet.”

There’s a milestone, too! Peyton announces that Martus has reached 1,000 customers using Sage accounting platforms, including 600 added over the previous three years, with JMT closing the 1,000th deal.

Watch the full discussion for a fresh perspective on collaborative nonprofit budgeting, and bring this conversation to the people who build, approve, and work within your financial plan.

Key Takeaways:

- Test revenue assumptions; accurate expense estimates cannot compensate for unreliable income projections.

- Make budget ownership a leadership responsibility shared across finance and program teams.

- Build financial literacy so department managers understand the consequences of their assumptions.

- Communicate funding and expense changes immediately, then reforecast as needed.

- Reduce spreadsheet maintenance to create more time for analysis, collaboration, and mission decisions.

00:00:00 Stop Blaming the Nonprofit Budget
00:01:47 Budgeting, Reporting, and Financial Planning
00:04:16 Martus Announces 1,000 Sage Customers
00:07:26 Turn Financial Technology Changes Into Growth
00:11:24 Why Budgets Fail: Revenue Assumptions and Ownership
00:14:16 Move Beyond the Once-a-Year Budget
00:15:48 Financial Literacy and Department Participation
00:17:06 Build a Culture of Collaborative Budgeting
00:19:39 Structure the Budget Process Into Manageable Steps
00:22:10 Connect Leadership, Finance, and Program Goals
00:24:02 Shared Assumptions, Trust, and Strategic Conversations
00:26:55 Communicate Changes and Reforecast Promptly

#TheNonprofitShow #NonprofitBudgeting

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Our national co-hosts and amazing guests discuss management, money and missions of nonprofits!
12:30pm ET 11:30am CT 10:30am MT 9:30am PT

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A donor offers land. Wonderful! Then comes a condition: your nonprofit must farm it for the next 50 years! Suddenly, “thank you” needs a little company . . .

Planned giving legal support for nonprofits can help turn complex donations into gifts your team is prepared to accept. Jamie Holzer White joined us to explore noncash gifts, donor confidence, and why bringing an attorney in early can keep generosity moving.

Jamie, J.D., LL.M., Vice President of Legal Services at Crescendo Interactive, explains how legal expertise can help fundraising teams identify obligations, shape realistic expectations, and protect relationships before a promising gift gets tangled in surprises. When should counsel join the conversation? “And my answer is always early.”

The opportunity extends well beyond cash. Jamie estimates that probably 90% of the gifts she encounters are noncash, with examples ranging from publicly traded securities and business interests to cryptocurrency and farming equipment. She also references Dr. Russell James’s research linking consistent securities giving with roughly six times the contribution growth of cash-only fundraising.

But opportunity needs an operating system. Gift acceptance policies should help staff understand which assets the organization accepts, who approves them, what due diligence is required, and how receipt and liquidation work. Jamie recommends reviewing policies at least annually, with more frequent reviews where changing assets warrant attention.

The conversation also explores independent donor counsel, concerns about paying donors’ legal fees, and ways local planned giving councils may connect nonprofits with legal expertise. Separate attorneys can support a shared goal: “They complement each other, but there are different interests that are being represented on both sides of the table.”

Watch to discover how stronger preparation can help your team welcome generosity with confidence, and give the “Department of No” a more productive assignment.

Key Takeaways:

- Involve qualified counsel before donor expectations harden.

- Define approvals, due diligence, and handling procedures for noncash gifts.

- Preserve separate representation for donor and nonprofit interests.

- Review gift acceptance policies annually; update sooner when needed.

- Train staff and board members to communicate the gift process confidently.

- Explore planned giving councils for legal connections and possible pro bono support.

00:00:00 Planned Giving: Who Belongs on Your Team?
00:02:19 Legal and Tax Expertise in Gift Planning
00:04:00 How Legal Support Helps Shape Complex Gifts
00:05:25 Major Gifts Beyond Cash
00:07:03 Noncash Gifts and Fundraising Growth
00:08:55 When to Bring an Attorney into the Conversation
00:11:49 Legal Costs, Donor Capacity, and Unhappy Heirs
00:13:24 Who Pays for the Donor’s Attorney?
00:16:33 Gift Acceptance Policies That Build Confidence
00:19:44 Policy Reviews and Team Training
00:22:21 Separate Attorneys, Shared Giving Goals
00:23:12 Finding Legal Support and Building Capacity

#TheNonprofitShow #PlannedGiving #NonprofitFundraising

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Our national co-hosts and amazing guests discuss management, money and missions of nonprofits!
12:30pm ET 11:30am CT 10:30am MT 9:30am PT

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Managing multigenerational nonprofit teams takes more than a shared mission. Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z bring different experiences to nonprofit leadership, fundraising, and daily operations. But assuming someone’s age tells you how they communicate (or whether they embrace technology) can send your management strategy sideways before the meeting even starts!

Our Co-hosts, Tim Sarrantonio and Julia Patrick, explore how communication standards, clear decision ownership, and better feedback help four generations work together without turning every difference into a workplace showdown.

The conversation gets wonderfully specific with a fish tank. Tim explains RACI—Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed—through his family’s fish-feeding responsibilities. Multiple people can perform tasks, but one person remains accountable for the outcome. Translate that to a campaign, board meeting, or finance deliverable, and suddenly “I thought somebody else had it” becomes much harder to hide behind.

As Tim puts it: “And then once people understand the rules of communication, I think a lot of the friction goes away.”

Julia shares a leadership approach that gives employees room to think: bring two or three possible solutions, then work through them together if support is needed. Tim also challenges overreliance on feedback scores and makes the case for listening long enough to hear what people actually mean.

Their discussion connects staff retention, leadership access, and hybrid work to a fundamental human need. Tim points to the most important question: “I've worked for people younger than me, older than me, and really it comes down to, do you see me?”

Key Takeaways:

- Define communication channels before preferences become organizational friction.

- Use RACI to distinguish task responsibility from final accountability.

- Help employees make decisions by requesting two or three proposed solutions.

- Combine feedback measures with conversation, observation, and patient listening.

- Make leadership accessible while keeping decision authority clear.

- Approach hybrid work through team needs and individual circumstances.

00:00:00 Four Generations, One Nonprofit Mission
00:01:29 Learning Across Generations Through Play
00:02:27 Generational Labels and Shared Experiences
00:04:44 Why Workplace Stereotypes Get in the Way
00:09:25 Set Communication Standards Before Friction Builds
00:12:34 RACI: Who Does the Work, Who Owns the Outcome?
00:15:50 Finding the Right Balance of Team Feedback
00:17:47 Beyond Feedback Scores: Listen and Observe
00:19:41 Help Employees Feel Safe Making Decisions
00:23:20 Give Teams a Place to Practice and Experiment
00:24:21 Staff Retention, Leadership Access, and Authority
00:26:12 Hybrid Work: Balancing Flexibility and Connection

#TheNonprofitShow #NonprofitLeadership #NonprofitTeamManagement

Find us Live daily on YouTube!

Find us Live daily on LinkedIn!

Find us Live daily on X: @Nonprofit_Show

Our national co-hosts and amazing guests discuss management, money and missions of nonprofits!
12:30pm ET 11:30am CT 10:30am MT 9:30am PT

Send us your ideas for Show Guests or Topics: HelpDesk@AmericanNonprofitAcademy.com
Visit us on the web:The Nonprofit Show