Future Nonprofit

Historic Agency

Explore all things innovation to amplify the future of nonprofit impact. Discover best practices from top nonprofits and social-impact businesses. Learn new strategies and explore daring ways to think about and solve your organization's big problems. Ted Vaughn, award-winning author and social entrepreneur, invites guests to share their personal narratives, experiences, and hot takes on what is needed to create an innovative organization. Ted illustrates how they can be put into practice on a journey to discover the future of nonprofits. Watch full raw interviews on the Future Nonprofit Youtube channel.

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Top 10 Future Nonprofit Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Future Nonprofit episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Future Nonprofit for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Future Nonprofit episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Oxfam: Laté Lawson-Lartego - Embracing Failure

Future Nonprofit

09/12/23 • 29 min

“You also want to avoid this culture of ‘innovation is this shiny magic bullet’. No. That's also a culture that we want to demystify. Innovation is ways of thinking, ways of doing, and of course ways of achieving concrete, tangible results (and) outcomes –impact at scale.”

Adaptation is essential to innovation. Growing up in Togo, West Africa, Laté Lawson-Lartego worked a summer job as a community volunteer, exposing him early on to the disparities happening in his backyard. As more of the industry opened up to him, he began to realize the systematic problems stifling the field’s progress. Inspired to expand his knowledge, Laté continued to travel and grow his educational portfolio, but rising political unrest in Togo unexpectedly forced him to flee his home country.

The sudden departure caused Laté to develop a new, invaluable skill: the ability to adapt and progress amid risk and uncertainty. From there, hard work, combined with his wealth of knowledge, led him to his position as Chief Innovation Officer at Oxfam, where he develops leadership strategies to best build and support innovation within the organization.

In this episode, Laté tells us more about how his work and personal experiences allowed him to find the balance between taking leaps of faith and being overly strategic in order to cultivate and grow innovation.

Contents

1 - Discovering divides

2 - Laté’s first innovations

3 - Building Room For Innovation at large organizations

4 - Embracing failure

5 - Balancing controlled failure and pushing the boundaries

Links

Mentioned in this episode:

Presented by Classy

Are you a nonprofit feeling the pressure of constant change and evolving supporter expectations? Are you searching for new ways to engage your community in this new era of fundraising? At Future Nonprofit we seek out the top technology helping propel our sector forward, which is why Classy by GoFundMe is a trusted partner of ours. Classy's online fundraising platform empowers organizations to connect, engage, and grow. With Classy's latest innovation, Classy Studio, you can create personalized fundraising experiences that truly resonate. Build connections, unleash creativity, and raise more... faster! And now, with new features like Intelligent Ask Amounts, which provide personalized donation amounts for each supporter who lands on your page, and improved embedded donation forms, which lead a donor through an optimized checkout flow without leaving your website, Classy's full suite of tools is further engineered for conversion while also allowing you to create lasting relationships. The only question left is... what will YOU build? The future of fundraising is now with Classy. For more information, visit classy.org.

The Bible Project: Michael McDonald - Setting The Table

Future Nonprofit

08/15/23 • 31 min

"Whenever we're trying a new thing, if we're going into a new product, if we're going into a new marketplace, –whatever it is, we are running it through that grid; How are we being generous in this space? How are we being humble in this space? How are we being unifying?" - Michael McDonald

Truly satisfying work requires self-fulfillment. During a successful career in the hospitality industry, Michael McDonald was confronted with a welcomed opportunity to extend and challenge his work, but after a series of unplanned hurdles in his personal life, he stepped back to reevaluate what he wanted to gain from the future of his career.

Reconnecting with his past, Michael ventured into the nonprofit space to create something relatable and helpful for those with similar experiences. This endeavor would turn into The Bible Project, a digital platform that produces educational animations of Bible stories.

In this episode, Michael tells his story, and shares the ways in which the core values he established in the hospitality industry carry over into the nonprofit space, and how they continue to influence the culture, growth, and success at The Bible Project.

Contents

1 - International Restaurateur (1:21)

2 - Crowdsourcing at The Bible Project (4:49)

3 - Building partnerships (14:37)

4 - Building a strong internal culture (18:57)

5 - Cultivating innovation (21:26)

Links

Mentioned in this episode:

Presented by Classy

Brave New Work: Rodney Evans - A Culture for Innovation

Future Nonprofit

08/02/23 • 28 min

"Where things fall apart is in the system design. It's in the how. It's not that the people are lazy. It's not that they're stupid, it's not that they're not trained well. It's not that the plan is flawed, –it's that we are working in complexity and there is no attention paid to how we are actually going to work differently." - Rodney Evans

Innovation comes from boldness. Too often, companies and organizations seek out innovative solutions without building the groundwork to make those ideas possible. Building that groundwork starts with workplace structure and culture.

Rodney Evans, co-host of Brave New Work, grew frustrated with corporate culture stifling success in the workplace, so she quit and started coaching businesses on how to do better.

In this episode, she shares her story, and gives us her best tips on how to create a thriving and sustainable culture of innovation in any workplace.

Contents

Chapter 1 - Quitting (1:57)

Chapter 2 - Symptoms and Solutions (10:38)

Chapter 3 - Innovation and Adaptation (13:29)

Chapter 4 - Overcoming Hesitancy to Experiment (21:01)

Chapter 5 - Budgeting Innovation (22:26)

Chapter 6 - Maintaining the Innovation Mindset (24:47)

Links

Mentioned in this episode:

Presented by Classy

[Trends] 5 Things Leading to Nonprofit Innovation - Mark Miller

Future Nonprofit

10/24/23 • 24 min

“Your leadership might be a burn victim of failed innovation, which is: we want to say that we're for innovation, but we want 99 percent of all of the things that we try to work at 10, 000%. And that's just not how it works.” - Mark Miller

Innovation is a big buzzword in the nonprofit space right now. But it doesn’t have just to be a buzzword. While the word feels new and trendy, the act of innovation has always been what drives the industry forward. And any organization can be at the forefront of that drive into the future if they’re intentional about it.

Over the past seven episodes of Future Nonprofit, we have brought you various stories of innovative nonprofits and organizations and learned from their paths, but in this episode, we’re going to slow things down and go right to the basics.

Mark Miller, producer and co-founder of Historic joins host Ted Vaughn to break down five of the biggest trends in the nonprofit space and gives you practical tips on how to move with those trends.

Trends

1 - Taking Bigger Risks Through Structured Testing (1:29)

2 - Branded Monthly Giving Programs (6:02)

3 - Taking Gen Z Seriously (10:03)

4 - Leveraging Your Brand to Diversify Revenue (13:25)

5 - Workers Leaving the Nonprofit Sector (17:31)

Links

Mentioned in this episode:

Presented by Classy

New Story: Brett Hagler - Bold and Balanced New Solutions to Old Issues

Future Nonprofit

11/07/23 • 28 min

"There is a decent chance that this works, and then if it works, and that if it can be what the vision and the promise is, then for our mission, which is to pioneer solutions to end global homelessness, it's actually irresponsible for us not to try it.” - Brett Hagler

When age-old problems aren’t being solved by current practices or aren’t keeping up with the rate at which they are growing, new solutions are needed. But new solutions require innovative ideas and a perfect balance between boldness and being calculated to pull them off.

Brett Hagler and his team at New Story think they have struck that balance. Their mission is to end global homelessness. To achieve this, they've conducted a rigorous analysis of what works and what doesn't within this space currently and developed a short list of things to be reimagined through New Story. Among the innovations to come from that approach has been their groundbreaking 100% funding model.

In this episode, we're joined by Brett Hagler, the CEO and Co-Founder of New Story, as he shares insights into his "just go do it" mindset, offers advice on embracing "unreasonable" endeavors, and unveils the model that New Story has built to usher innovation into a pressing and rapidly escalating world issue.

Contents

1 - Brett’s “just go do it” origin (1:47)

2 - How New Story started (7:52)

3 - Developing New Story’s key goals (12:53)

4 - The 100% model (15:14)

5 - Listening to feedback from his team (19:01)

Links

Mentioned in this episode:

Presented by Classy

Homeboy: Tom Vozzo - Creating Space for Everyone to Thrive

Future Nonprofit

11/21/23 • 33 min

"Society throws up a lot of hurdles to people really trying to do it the right way, right? We, and the rest of society, should knock down those hurdles, but also give space so that people can thrive.” - Tom Vozzo

Success has everything to do with circumstance. Tom Vozzo believes that with the right support and opportunity, everyone has the ability to do good in them. His commitment to wanting to do good for others is what drove him to the nonprofit space after a nearly three-decade career in the for-profit world.

As the CEO of Homeboy Industries, Tom and his dedicated team focus on the rehabilitation and re-entry of gang members through transformative programs. Through firsthand experience, he has witnessed the profound effect of offering empathy and fresh opportunities to individuals facing challenges. This empathetic approach stands as a foundational pillar in Homeboy's remarkable success as an organization.

In this episode, Tom delves into the fusion of his corporate expertise with his unwavering commitment to investing in people. He shares insights on overcoming the scarcity mindset and imparts valuable advice for leaders in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors.

Contents

1 - Tom’s corporate experience

2 - Joining Homeboy

3 - Overcoming the scarcity mindset

4 - Building a supportive culture

5 - Balancing business and compassion

6 - Advice to leaders

Links

Mentioned in this episode:

Presented by Classy

[BONUS] 9 Nonprofit Trends to Watch for in 2024

Future Nonprofit

01/16/24 • 32 min

“There's a younger generation of donors who really don't see themselves as much a donor as they do generous and wanting to stand for certain values. And so their contribution... is an expression of the injustice that they want to fight and their perception of themselves of being that: the fighter for justice and equality in the world.” – Mark Miller

Nonprofit leaders share a collective sigh of relief when the clock hits midnight on December 31. The year-end push is over, and you’re ready for a fresh start.

But how can you make sure this year is different—even better—than the last? How do you prepare for a pace of change that is guaranteed to speed up, faster than ever? You can set your team up for your best year yet by studying up on emerging nonprofit trends and making a plan to stay ahead of the curve.

In this special Trends episode, Future Nonprofit producer and Historic cofounder and partner Mark Miller offers a primer on 9 emerging trends to keep watch for in 2024. From changes in donor giving patterns to making your message stand out in a noisy election year, discover how you can gear up for the year ahead.

Trend 1: Focus on Service Design

Trend 2: Nonprofits Investing in Brand Marketing

Trend 3: Disruptive Messaging

Trend 4: Trained AI Models

Trend 5: Investment in Employee Experiences

Trend 6: Donor Personalization and Customization

Trend 7: Casual and Social Giving

Trend 8: Speed of Decision-Making

Trend 9: Going Beyond Impact Stories

Mentioned in this episode:

Presented by Classy

Introducing Future Nonprofit

Future Nonprofit

05/29/23 • 1 min

Today's nonprofits require innovation, boldness, and reinvention to keep up with our rapidly changing world.

Join host Ted Vaughn, Partner at Historic and author of "Culture Built My Brand," as he interviews industry giants, visionary disruptors, and nonprofit-adjacent experts who are reshaping the nonprofit landscape.

Gain valuable insights, be inspired by real stories of transformation, and discover actionable takeaways to build the nonprofit of the future.

Introducing... Future Nonprofit.

[BONUS] 2024 Nonprofit Leaders Reading Guide

Future Nonprofit

01/30/24 • 23 min

The organizations that we work with are structured and operating for where they used to be, not where they are today, much less where we're heading. And in today's pace of change, we as leaders have to be operating and structuring our organizations... for where we're going—not just for where we are today, much less for where we used to be. – Ted Vaughn

Producer and Historic co-founder Mark Miller is back with host Ted Vaughn to offer their top 10 books every nonprofit leader should read.

Pulling titles written by leaders in nonprofit, business, and brain science, Mark and Ted share stories, anecdotes, and top tips from books on psychology, behavior design, human-centered design thinking, and more.

Discover how to design experiences that turn one-time donors into repeat givers, use storytelling to improve staff operations, and help your nonprofit leverage technology and constant change to create the change that the world needs.

Mentioned in this episode:

Presented by Classy

Dollar For: Jared Walker - The Solutions Right In Front of Us

Future Nonprofit

09/26/23 • 32 min

"I looked into it and couldn't believe it, like I felt like a freaking chump because I had been paying medical bills for all of these people that would've been eligible for free or reduced care if I would've known about these programs." - Jared Walker

So many organizations get caught with their heads down, hyper-focused on what they’re doing, that they don’t realize there is often a better way. Sometimes being innovative just means taking a step back and putting yourself in spaces to find the answers that already exist. That’s exactly how Jared Walker took Dollar For from small community fundraising to a national medical debt-killing organization.

Jared’s journey relied on educating himself, actively engaging in learning environments, and, most importantly, placing trust in others. These strategies led to multiple crucial and pivotal decisions that radically changed the company, and in one instance, catapulted the organization from a local to national scale literally overnight.

In this episode, Jared will recount the pivotal moment in his life that ignited his passion for the cause. He will also share how he embraced education and sought assistance from those around him, resulting in an exponential increase in Dollar For's reach. We'll also explore how embracing learning experiences and expertise from others is vital in setting organizations up on a path to success via adaptation and trust.

Contents

1 - Starting an educational journey (1:38)

2 - Dollar For 1.0: Crowdfunding (3:37)

3 - Discovering Charity Care (9:31)

4 - The TikTok video (11:17)

5 - Scaling up and trusting others (15:19)

6 - Community and the future of Dollar For (24:34)

Links

Mentioned in this episode:

Presented by Classy

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FAQ

How many episodes does Future Nonprofit have?

Future Nonprofit currently has 29 episodes available.

What topics does Future Nonprofit cover?

The podcast is about Non-Profit, Management, Podcasts and Business.

What is the most popular episode on Future Nonprofit?

The episode title 'Liquid Death: Lance Blair - Authentic Culture and Brand' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Future Nonprofit?

The average episode length on Future Nonprofit is 29 minutes.

How often are episodes of Future Nonprofit released?

Episodes of Future Nonprofit are typically released every 14 days.

When was the first episode of Future Nonprofit?

The first episode of Future Nonprofit was released on May 29, 2023.

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Comments

Hannah Southern

@hannahsouthern

Nov 12

Jared Walker's episode is a MUST LISTEN especially if you are an American listener. Great pod for learning about the innovative ways nonprofit leaders of today are making a real impact.