Inspired Nonprofit Leadership

Sarah Olivieri
  • 4.9 (99)
  • Non-Profit
  • Updated Weekly

This podcast is a place for nonprofit leaders to gain insights, tips, inspiration, and encouragement to unleash their potential.

  1. 3d ago

    What to Ask Before AI Touches Your Data with Sam Fankuchen

    Show Notes Reaching out to potential major donors can feel premature when you haven't figured out how you will follow up. A written contact list and a plan for the next interaction give you a simple place to start, without mapping out a year of conversations. Sarah shares this approach using questions from nonprofit leaders starting major gifts programs in the Inspired Philanthropy Circle. She shares her own struggle with following up, the scheduling habit that helps her stay connected, and ways to give people something to look forward to together. In This Episode, You'll Learn What to record in a contact list so relationships don't depend on memory. How to arrange the next interaction before the current conversation ends. What to say when scheduling ahead feels uncomfortable or too pushy. How recurring tours, dinners, or informal gatherings give you something to invite people to. Why building a community of supporters can bring an emotional return alongside funding. Who This Episode Is For Nonprofit leaders who want to start donor conversations without waiting for a complete annual plan. Fundraisers looking for a simple way to keep track of relationships. Leaders who want to stay in touch with supporters without feeling pushy. Links from this episode Inspired Nonprofit Leadership Newsletter: weekly tips, resources, and updates on training opportunities. Inspired Philanthropy Circle Sarah Olivieri's website Sarah Olivieri's Substack publication Thank you to Donorbox Thank you to Donorbox for sponsoring Inspired Nonprofit Leadership and supporting these conversations. In this episode, Maria and Sarah discuss giving donors control over their recurring gifts. Follow Donorbox on YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

    What to Ask Before AI Touches Your Data with Sam Fankuchen

  2. 6d ago

    A Simple Follow-Up Process for Major Gifts with Sarah Olivieri

    Episode Description Reaching out to potential major donors can feel premature when you haven't figured out how you will follow up. A written contact list and a plan for the next interaction give you a simple place to start, without mapping out a year of conversations. Sarah walks through this approach using questions from nonprofit leaders starting major gifts programs in the Inspired Philanthropy Circle. She shares her own struggle with following up, the scheduling habit that helps her stay connected, and ways to give people something to look forward to together. In This Episode, You'll Learn What to record in a contact list so relationships don't depend on memory. How to arrange the next interaction before the current conversation ends. What to say when scheduling ahead feels uncomfortable or too pushy. How recurring tours, dinners, or informal gatherings give you something to invite people to. Why building a community of supporters can bring an emotional return alongside funding. Who This Episode Is For Nonprofit leaders who want to start donor conversations without waiting for a complete annual plan. Fundraisers looking for a simple way to keep track of relationships. Leaders who want to stay in touch with supporters without feeling pushy. Links from this episode Links Website: saraholivieri.com Substack: Sarah Olivieri's Substack publication Inspired Nonprofit Leadership Newsletter: weekly tips, resources, and updates on training opportunities. Inspired Philanthropy Circle Thank you to Donorbox Thank you to our sponsor, Donorbox, for supporting Inspired Nonprofit Leadership. We appreciate your support for the show and the nonprofit leaders who listen.

    A Simple Follow-Up Process for Major Gifts with Sarah Olivieri

  3. Sep 24

    Why Ethical Storytelling Raises More Money with Maria A. Bryan

    A fundraising story asks people to care and act. How you gather and share that story matters to the person who lived it, the audience hearing it, and the donor relationships you hope to build. Sarah invited Maria A Bryan, a trauma-informed storytelling trainer who helps nonprofits tell difficult stories while protecting the people involved, to unpack how consent, safety, and choice belong in fundraising. They discuss asking for stories without pressure, preparing audiences for difficult content, and building donor relationships around shared impact rather than guilt. Who it's for You want to share compelling stories while protecting the people in them. You want donors to feel connected to your mission without using guilt or pressure. You want a clearer process for consent and responding when a story causes harm. What you will hear Why someone receiving help may feel unable to say no to sharing their story. How content warnings give audiences a choice about hearing difficult stories. Why Sarah argues that relationships built on shared impact can support long-term giving. What Maria's experience of trying to pause a monthly gift reveals about donor choice. Why your storytelling process needs a plan for repairing harm. Links from this episode Inspired Nonprofit Leadership Newsletter: weekly tips for leading your nonprofit Maria A Bryan's website Connect with Maria A Bryan on LinkedIn When Bearing Witness: trauma-informed storytelling certification Emotional Intelligence Is Nonprofit Retention Infrastructure with Brittan Stockert More of Maria's expert insight Ethical Persuasion in Fundraising: Inspire Without Pressure, The Nonprofit Podcast A Guide to Ethical Storytelling, What the Fundraising Podcast The Problem with Nonprofit Storytelling, Nonprofit Nation An Inclusionary Wakeup Call for Public Interest Copywriters, Journal of Public Interest Communications Trauma-Informed Storytelling with Maria Bryan, A Trauma-Informed Future Podcast Connect with Sarah Sarah Olivieri's website Sarah Olivieri on Substack Thank you to Donorbox Thank you to Donorbox for sponsoring Inspired Nonprofit Leadership and supporting these conversations. In this episode, Maria and Sarah discuss giving donors control over their recurring gifts. Follow Donorbox on YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

    Why Ethical Storytelling Raises More Money with Maria A. Bryan

  4. Sep 21

    When Preparing for a Meeting is NOT Helpful with Sarah Olivieri

    Show Notes Arriving at a team meeting with a solution already worked out can feel like you're helping everyone get ahead. When the work needs several people's perspectives, leaving the solution open gives the team a chance to develop something together that none of them could have created alone. Sarah discusses when preparing a solution before a meeting can get in the way of collaboration, drawing on her experience helping teams create something new together. In This Episode, You'll Learn What to consider before working out a solution ahead of a meeting Why doing extra work can feel like the right thing to do What your approach to meeting preparation might be teaching your team How to make more room for leadership across your organization What Sarah's one-sentence definition of leadership asks us to reconsider Who This Episode Is For • Nonprofit leaders who want more people on their team taking initiative. • Teams who want meetings that draw on everyone's ideas and experience. • Executive directors who want to share the responsibility for moving their organization forward. • Leadership teams who want to develop solutions they couldn't create on their own. About Your Host, Sarah Olivieri Bold, strategic, and refreshingly human… Sarah Olivieri is the go-to expert for conversations on aligned leadership, outcome delegation, and sustainable growth. She brings wit, warmth, and real-world wisdom to mission-driven founders, visionary CEOs, and change-makers who want more clarity, more joy, and more results. Most leaders hit a wall when success depends on them holding it all together. Sarah helps them change that by redefining leadership around outcomes instead of activity, empowering teams to own results that scale and freeing leaders to focus on the vision that drives them. A former director of three nonprofits and founder of five businesses, she has a rare ability to spot opportunity where others see chaos, shift stuck patterns, and build organizations that support both legacy and life. Sarah leads with the same mindset that made her an award-winning sailor: iterate on what works, stay focused in the storm, and never forget the joy of the journey. Links Join the Inspired Nonprofit Leadership Newsletter for weekly tips and inspiration for leading your nonprofit. Resources mentioned: • Apply to talk with Sarah about working together • Explore ways to work with Sarah • Email Sarah about your experience Connect with Sarah: • Sarah Olivieri's website • Sarah Olivieri on LinkedIn Thank you to our sponsor Donorbox. More than a suite of helpful fundraising tools, Donorbox is a partner that helps you raise more money and supports you in retaining your donors.

    When Preparing for a Meeting is NOT Helpful with Sarah Olivieri

  5. Sep 17

    Make Trust Tangible with Kim Bohr

    Episode Description Trust can be measured. It grows through honest communication and fair treatment, and it can break when leaders mishandle change. Sarah invited Kim Bohr, President and CEO of SparkEffect, whose annual research tracks organizational trust across the US, to discuss what builds trust, what breaks it, and how leaders can protect it through disruption. In This Episode, You'll Learn Why 85 percent of people faced major disruption in two years What Kim's research says builds trust Why hard conversations should get to the point How job loss creates shame and blocks support How Sarah uses AI to reshape only her own words Who This Episode Is For • Executive directors leading teams exhausted by constant change • Leaders bringing in AI while staff fear for their jobs • Anyone avoiding a hard conversation with a wrong-fit staff or board member • CEOs hearing "we have a communication problem" without finding the cause About the Guest Kim Bohr is the President and Chief Executive Officer of SparkEffect, where she helps executive teams navigate change while building trust and strong organizational performance. With more than 25 years of leadership experience, she's a board advisor, speaker, podcast host, and author who specializes in helping leaders build resilient organizations during times of disruption. Join the Inspired Nonprofit Leadership Newsletter for weekly tips and inspiration for leading your nonprofit: https://www.inspirednonprofitleadership.com/signup Connect with Kim: Website: https://sparkeffect.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimbohr/ Email: kim.bohr@sparkeffect.com Text: (206) 552-4452 Blog: https://sparkeffect.com/blog Podcast: Courage to Advance with Kim Bohr Instagram: @SparkEffect Threads: @SparkEffect Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SparkEffect YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SparkEffect-US Resources mentioned: The 2026 State of Organizational Trust research and the guide on stigma after job loss: https://sparkeffect.com/inspired Sarah Olivieri: Website: saraholivieri.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sarah-olivieri Thank you to our sponsor, Donorbox. More than a suite of helpful fundraising tools, Donorbox is a partner that helps you raise more money and supports you in retaining your donors.

    Make Trust Tangible with Kim Bohr

  6. Sep 9

    Planned Giving Made Simple with Tony Martignetti

    Show Notes Planned giving often lands on the someday list right beside the wealth screen a nonprofit can't yet afford. Tony Martignetti says you can launch it this week with one honest conversation about a gift in a will. No campaign, no brochure, no page. Sarah sat with Tony Martignetti, a front-line planned giving fundraiser since 1997 and author of the new book Planned Giving Accelerated, to discuss how a small or mid-size nonprofit launches planned giving in a single week, without a wealth screen or a legal background. In This Episode, You'll Learn How Tony's three steps get planned giving, and launched inside a single week Why your best prospects are your most loyal donors, not your wealthiest ones What to say when you ask a donor to consider a gift in their will How to respond when a donor says no, yes, or let me think about it Why lifetime giving tells you almost nothing about the size of a planned gift Who This Episode Is For • Executive directors who have been told that planned giving belongs to hospitals and universities • Fundraisers who want major gifts but have no budget to build a whole program first • Anyone who keeps putting off the will conversation because it feels awkward to raise About the Guest Tony Martignetti is the evangelist for Planned Giving. In September, he publishes his book, Planned Giving Accelerated, to help small- and mid-size nonprofits launch by making Planned Giving fundraising easy, accessible and affordable.  Pre-orders are at PlannedGivingAccelerated.com. He started as a front-line Planned Giving fundraiser in 1997 and kicked off his consulting in 2003. He's active on LinkedIn and would be honored to connect. Tony is a lawyer, but he doesn't talk like one. Instead, he weaves in his stand-up comedy and improv past to bring Planned Giving within reach for small- and mid-size nonprofits. About the book Tony's new book, Planned Giving Accelerated, is a practical guide for small- and mid-sized nonprofits that want to start a planned giving program without making it complicated. Drawing on nearly 30 years of experience, Tony shows how organizations can launch in just one week, starting with bequests. The book covers how to identify your best prospects, build donor relationships, overcome common planned giving myths, and create a sustainable program without a huge budget or specialized legal expertise. Connect with Tony: LinkedIn: LinkedIn  Website:  tonymartignetti.com Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio: Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio  Email: tony@tonymartignetti.com Resources mentioned Get Tony's book, Planned Giving Accelerated, here: plannedgivingaccelerated.com The LinkedIn episode Sarah mentioned is "Show Up Stand Out with Bafda M. Imam," and you can find it at inspirednonprofitleadership.com. Sarah Olivieri: Website: saraholivieri.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sarah-olivieri Thank you to our sponsor, Donorbox. More than a suite of helpful fundraising tools, Donorbox is a partner that helps you raise more money and supports you in retaining your donors.

    Planned Giving Made Simple with Tony Martignetti

  7. Sep 7

    Are You Playing Leadership Whack-A-Mole with Sarah Olivieriieri

    Episode Description Many nonprofit leaders treat strategy, operations, and team as three separate pillars in their organization, but in fact, they are part of one integrated system. In this episode, Sarah goes into strategy, operations, and team as the who, what, where, when, and how of running a great nonprofit. She shares how these are built into her Impact Method®, which she developed back in 2017. In This Episode, You'll Learn Why strategy, operations, and the team have to work as one system How the who, what, where, when, and how fit together Why a team problem may actually start with strategy or operations How the Impact Method® keeps strategy current every two months Why distributed leadership removes decision bottlenecks Who This Episode Is For • Executive directors whose weeks feel like one long game of Whack-A-Mole • Leadership teams working on strategy, operations, and people separately • Leaders who fix one problem only to watch another one pop up • Anyone whose strategy looks good on paper but stalls in practice About Your Host, Sarah Olivieri Join the Inspired Nonprofit Leadership Newsletter for weekly tips and inspiration for leading your nonprofit: https://www.inspirednonprofitleadership.com/ Resources mentioned: Work with Sarah (short application, for teams of three or more leaders): saraholivieri.com/application Sarah Olivieri: Links Website: saraholivieri.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sarah-olivieri Thank you to our sponsor, Donorbox. More than a suite of helpful fundraising tools, Donorbox is a partner that helps you raise more money and supports you in retaining your donors.

    Are You Playing Leadership Whack-A-Mole with Sarah Olivieriieri

  8. Sep 3

    452: Why Your Former Employees Still Matter with Steve Cadigan

    Episode Description Many nonprofit leaders treat turnover as a problem to solve after someone resigns. The organizations that handle it well plan for it before the hire, in how the job itself is designed. Sarah invited Steve Cadigan, LinkedIn's first Chief Human Resources Officer and the person who grew the company from 400 people to 4,000 while the median tenure on his own staff was nine months, to talk about how to build an organization that works when people come and go, and how to stay connected to the good ones after they leave. In This Episode, You'll Learn Why Steve says no job should take more than six months to learn How to design a role around a hire who will stay three years What to do with a good employee after they leave, and why it pays off Why Steve hires for how fast someone learns, not what they already know How to make a major donor relationship belong to the organization, not one person Who This Episode Is For • Executive directors who just lost someone they were counting on • Leaders whose roles take eighteen months to ramp when staff stay three years • Anyone about to have a hard conversation with an employee who has outgrown the job • CEOs who have decided the sector cannot attract talent, and built accordingly About the Guest Steve Cadigan is  a globally recognized talent strategist, culture architect, and author with over 30 years of experience helping organizations navigate growth and transformation. As LinkedIn's first Chief Human Resources Officer, Steve helped scale the company from 400 to 4,000 employees, building a culture that set the standard for tech companies worldwide. Today, through his firm Cadigan Talent Ventures, he advises high-growth companies, venture firms, and global leaders on how to win the talent war, design future-ready workplaces, and use culture as a competitive edge. He's a sought-after keynote speaker and the author of Workquake, a #1 Amazon bestseller that reimagines how we work in a post-pandemic world. Steve's insights have been featured in outlets like Forbes, CNBC, and Bloomberg, and his work has been the focus of business school case studies Connect with Steve: Official website: https://stevecadigan.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cadigan  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevecad/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thestevecadigan/ Be sure to subscribe to Inspired Nonprofit Leadership so that you don't miss a single episode, and while you're at it, won't you take a moment to write a short review and rate our show? It would be greatly appreciated! Let us know the topics or questions you would like to hear about in a future episode. You can do that and follow us on LinkedIn.

    452: Why Your Former Employees Still Matter with Steve Cadigan
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4.9
out of 5
99 Ratings

About

This podcast is a place for nonprofit leaders to gain insights, tips, inspiration, and encouragement to unleash their potential.

Information

  • Creator
    Sarah Olivieri
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    455
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 Olivieri's Inc.
  • Show Website
    Inspired Nonprofit Leadership

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