Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty Stahl Fund the People

In our Season 6 finale episode, we mark Fund the People's 10th anniversary by launching our new initiative: the Funding that Works Academy. This new professional development platform equips funders, nonprofits, and intermediaries with the ideas and tools needed to provide effective funding solutions that advance good nonprofit jobs, and the wellbeing and sustainability of those working in nonprofits.

The Academy was designed to help grant makers and fundraisers move philanthropic money in a way that supports and develops nonprofit leaders and workers. With the Funding that Works Academy courses, you'll learn about the challenges facing our sector in a new way so that you can craft interventions that will address the real problem. Dive into the theory and practice of talent-investing, ensuring that grantmaking and fundraising efforts prioritize people and their pivotal role within the social sector.

Our inaugural course is designed for foundation professionals and other types of grantmakers. Future offerings will be tailored to foundation trustees, nonprofit professionals, board members, and individuals in intermediary roles like consultancies, higher education, and associations.

To learn about the Academy, visit fundingthatworks.org. To view current and future courses, and sign up to be notified when new courses are available, visit our Shop: bit.ly/fundingthatworksshop. You can also find our Academy, podcast, blog, toolkit, Staffing the Mission, and other resources on our website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. 

Season 6 was sponsored by Loftis Partners⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Thank you for your listenership and interest in Fund the People and the Funding that Works Academy. We will talk to you again in Season 7 starting in September 2024.

In this brief episode, Rusty offers our loyal listeners a special sneak-peek into a new program offering being announced shortly from Fund the People! Don’t miss the inside scoop!

Rusty also wraps-up Season 6 by comparing and contrasting stories from some of our amazing guests this season, and offers two key “Aha! moments:”

First: when funders invest in the grantee workforce, it can be extremely big, complicated and costly, or it can be small, simple, and take modest dollars. Or something in between.

Second: If nonprofits have the political will and savvy to invest in their workers, they don’t have to wait for funders for other outside forces to give them permission or incentives.

Go to our website for a transcript of the episode and links to the resources discussed in the episode. While you’re there, browse our library of amazing guests and conversations from Fund the People - A Podcast with Rusty Stahl at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org/ftp_podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can find the podcast, our blog, free tools, and other resources on our website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Season 6 is sponsored by⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Loftis Partners⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. They've launched the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pay Equity Collective⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, a supportive community for nonprofits seeking pathways to pay equity. Visit⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠payequitycollective.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more! Loftis Partners – Empowering organizations and advancing equity, one collective step at a time!

This episode makes clear the need for and value of talent-investing for community foundations and other place-focused funders. Our guest, Elizabeth Kidd of the Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area, demonstrates how even the most modest dollar amounts used in strategic, responsive talent-investing at key inflection points in the lifecycle of leaders and their institutions, can have exponentially positive impact for nonprofit executives, workers, organizations, and communities.

Listen to gain an understanding of…


Why and how talent-investing has become valuable to the board and staff of the Community Foundation.


How the Community Foundation has created and sustained value for grantees and the community through its grantmaking to strengthen the local nonprofit sector.


Why it’s important to invest in the nonprofit workforce at key moments of organizational change and across the life-cycle stages of individuals and organizations.



Go to our website for a transcript of the episode and links to the resources discussed in the episode. While you’re there, browse our library of amazing guests and conversations from Fund the People - A Podcast with Rusty Stahl at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org/ftp_podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can find the podcast, our blog, free tools, and other resources on our website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Season 6 is sponsored by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Loftis Partners⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. They've launched the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pay Equity Collective⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, a supportive community for nonprofits seeking pathways to pay equity. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠payequitycollective.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more! Loftis Partners – Empowering organizations and advancing equity, one collective step at a time!

In this episode, you’ll gain important insights into current issues in the nonprofit workforce, and how professional development is evolving in our sector, particularly but not exclusively as it relates to leaders and workers of color. Our guest is Yolanda Coentro of the Institute for Nonprofit Practice, one of the fastest-growing and most exciting professional development providers for nonprofits. Founded in 2007, the Institute now offers a portfolio of programs that serve nonprofit leaders from early-career all the way through the executive level.

Go to our website for a transcript of the episode and links to the resources discussed in the episode. While you’re there, browse our library of amazing guests and conversations from Fund the People - A Podcast with Rusty Stahl at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org/ftp_podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can find the podcast, our blog, free tools, and other resources on our website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Season 6 is sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Loftis Partners⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. They've launched the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pay Equity Collective⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, a supportive community for nonprofits seeking pathways to pay equity. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠payequitycollective.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more! Loftis Partners – Empowering organizations and advancing equity, one collective step at a time!

In today's episode, you'll learn strategies and practical tips for creating happy, healthy, nonprofit workers and workplaces. Our guest Beth Kanter is a leading expert on nonprofit technology and she is co-author of the book Happy, Healthy Nonprofit: Strategies for Impact Without Burnout. You'll learn about tangible tools for preventing burnout at the individual and organizational levels, and learn what is available in her book. We discuss why she wrote the book, how nonprofit wellbeing has changed over the six years since it was published, and what she would write differently if she were writing the book today. We discuss the question: Can better salaries make us less burnout? Beth offers her advice for how artificial intelligence can become part of wellness in nonprofits. And much more!

Go to our website for a transcript of the episode and links to the resources discussed in the episode. While you’re there, browse our library of amazing guests and conversations from Fund the People - A Podcast with Rusty Stahl at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org/ftp_podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can find the podcast, our blog, free tools, and other resources on our website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Season 6 is sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Loftis Partners⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. They've launched the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pay Equity Collective⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, a supportive community for nonprofits seeking pathways to pay equity. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠payequitycollective.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more! Loftis Partners – Empowering organizations and advancing equity, one collective step at a time!

Dr. Akilah Watkins is President and CEO of Independent Sector, one of the national organizations that pulls together our sector and represents it in Washington. Dr. Watkins has been on a national listening tour of the nonprofit sector since she took on this leadership role in January 2023. In this episode, she shares what she’s heard about the challenges facing the nonprofit workforce. She also shares how Independent Sector is working to improve the policy environment for nonprofits as employers.

Go to our website for a transcript of the episode and links to the resources discussed in the episode. While you’re there, browse our library of amazing guests and conversations from Fund the People - A Podcast with Rusty Stahl at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org/ftp_podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can find the podcast, our blog, free tools, and other resources on our website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Season 6 is sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Loftis Partners⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. They've launched the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pay Equity Collective⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, a supportive community for nonprofits seeking pathways to pay equity. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠payequitycollective.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more! Loftis Partners – Empowering organizations and advancing equity, one collective step at a time!