Work & Career Transitions

For those seeking new roles, refining applications, and/or entering the nonprofit sector altogether

👤 Bonnie Dilber
Bonnie is an advocate for job seekers who cuts through the noise. Her advice on resumes, interviews, and organizational behavior is sharp, accessible, often hilarious, and full of integrity. Her LinkedIn posts and overall content are pure gold for anyone on the job hunt—inside or outside of the social sector.

👤 Christina Martin Kenny
A thoughtful, honest voice on working parenthood, leadership, and the nonprofit sector's structural challenges. Christina’s writing and posts are a fresh look at how we can create a sector that truly works for families, caregivers, and truly everyone.

🔧 Confessions With Jess and Cindy 💲
I’m admittedly not a huge fan of the Nonprofit Industrial Consultant Complex. However, this podcast from Jess Campbell and Cindy Wagman pulls back the curtain on “the business.” It’s honest, funny, and full of tips for people thinking about moving into nonprofit consulting or coaching. The podcast is free and Jess offers a paid Slack community for consultants.

🔧 Idealist.org
I’ve heard Idealist referred to as "a really good nonprofit job board," but it’s so much more! Led by Ami Dar for over 30 years, it's connected idealists (what I might call nonprofiteers) with opportunities for jobs, volunteering, events, and community. It also offers a salary explorer and practical advice for job seekers.

🔧 Social Impact Staff Retention Project
Co-created by Michelle Flores Vryn (read more about Michelle, below) and myself, this project collects real-time data about why nonprofit employees stay or leave. It offers clear insight into sector-wide job satisfaction, making it a powerful tool for both job seekers and employers.

🔧 Values in Action
In 10 minutes, VIA’s Character Strength assessment will provide a deeper understanding of your core values… or an initial understanding, if this type of work is new to you! Knowing yourself better, like this, can help you make better decisions when considering a new/next role, team, or organization.

Fundraising & Philanthropy

For practitioners and leaders seeking smarter, more values-aligned fundraising

🔧 Build Good
A tactical podcast for fundraisers hosted by Mike Duerksen. Episodes feature a "five-minute fundraising fix," which are fabulous, bite-sized insights you can use right away. The podcast is part of a larger fundraising agency with a smart, values-driven ethos.

🔧 Community-Centric Fundraising
A movement rooted in equity and collective responsibility, CCF offers a blog (The Hub) and robust community conversation spaces. It challenges traditional donor-centric models and makes it possible for fundraisers to share, question, and reimagine the work.

🔧 Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy
Led by experts in donor psychology, this UK-based institute shares research that helps fundraisers better understand donor identity and motivation. Its evidence-based approach is a refreshing and practical resource for deepening donor relationships.

👤 Mitch Stein
With an estimated $250 billion (!) currently sitting in donor-advised funds, Mitch is helping the social sector learn how to “finally incorporate DAF gifts into all their fundraising flows,” in his good words!

🔧 Nonprofit Lowdown
Hosted by Rhea Wong (“Ree-yah”), this podcast features honest conversations about what works in fundraising and leadership. Rhea’s general wisdom and book (Get That Money, Honey!) offer practical, no-nonsense tools to level up your skills.

📚 The Nonprofiteer’s Fundraising Field Guide 💲
Full disclosure, this is my book! It explores fundraising through the lens of servant-leadership. With real stories and 30 (technically 33) actionable behaviors, it offers practical ways to reimagine fundraising through listening, empathy, trust, and other behaviors from Robert Greenleaf’s 1970s philosophy. Thanks to Candid, you can borrow an e-copy of the book, here!

🔧 What the Fundraising 💲
Hosted by Mallory Erickson, this podcast delivers candid chats about fundraising, AI, navigating donor relationships, team dynamics, and more. The podcast is free and Mallory also created a paid utility, Practivated—a judgment-free, AI-guided platform that lets fundraisers practice donor conversations.

Leadership & Growth

For those developing as leaders or needing growth they’re not getting elsewhere

🔧 Center for Creative Leadership 💲
One of the most trusted names in leadership development, CCL offers research-backed resources, assessments, and tools that help individuals and teams grow. Their tagline, "Together, we’ll lift the leaders who lift the world,” says it all. CCL offers a few services-for-a-fee, while most of their content is freely available to the public.

👤 Kishshana Palmer
A keynote speaker, executive coach, and all-around talent shaker, Kishshana brings energy, truth-telling, and joy to the sometimes-dreary world of nonprofit leadership development. A must-follow for inspiration… and realness.

👤 Kit Campoy
Like Bonnie Dilber (above), Kit isn’t a nonprofiteer. However, her leadership lessons from decades in senior retail roles translate beautifully for the social sector. Her Substack and book offer practical, clear, and jovial takes on team-building, trust, and growth.

📚 One Bold Move a Day 💲
Written by fundraiser Shanna Hocking, this book is a guide to daily courage. It recognizes boldness can be quiet or loud, and offers actionable steps for building confidence and purpose in your career.

👤 Veronica LaFemina
A strategic planning powerhouse, Veronica takes what often feels like a painful, jargon-heavy process and makes it digestible, useful, and even energizing. Her work helps leaders build plans people actually want to use. Her occasional newsletter is pretty fabulous, too.

🔧 We Are For Good 💲
More than a podcast—although there are over 600 (!) episodes to enjoy—WAFG is a thriving community for nonprofit newbies and pros alike. Becky Endicott and Jon McCoy bring heart, smarts, and tons of inspiration… oh, and pretty cool swag, too. (*Not me with a house full of posters, coffee mugs, and t-shirts*) WAFG’s Impact Uprising membership has a fee and scholarships are available—contact hello@weareforgood.com!

Organizational Health & Culture

For people-centered practitioners focused on wellness, culture, and sustainability

👤 Megan Whitney
The mindfulness whisperer (that’s what I call her) and nonprofit pro, Megan brings deep care, calm, and clarity to conversations about burnout and sustainability. Her writing and presence offer a gentle-but-firm call to take care of ourselves.

📚 Radical Candor 💲
Kim Scott’s book is an essential for organizational communication. It teaches how to give and get feedback with clarity and care. Every nonprofit manager (and teammate) should read it; I’ve gifted more copies to colleagues than I can count.

🔧 Rest of our Lives
A lab for rest and rejuvenation. R&R helps organizations (and their people) explore new ways of working that don’t lead to burnout. Their BREAKWEEK initiative shows teams (whole teams!) how to actually pause work together for a whole week—for real.

📚 Rituals Roadmap 💲
This book by organizationist Erica Keswin explores how small rituals create meaning and belonging in the workplace. It includes some nonprofit examples and is full of ideas for strengthening team culture.

🔧 The Nonprofit Hive
The brainchild of Tasha Van Vlack, these weekly (currently Thursday), virtual gatherings match you with another nonprofiteer from around the world for a one-to-one chat. It's simple, powerful, and a space to swap stories, challenges, and good practices. Hive articles and webinars are also full of gems.

📚 The Servant as Leader 💲
Originally written by Robert Greenleaf in 1970, this short essay launched the servant-leadership movement. It outlines a leadership philosophy based on listening, empathy, healing, building community, and much more—all behaviors that resonate deeply with the social sector. While not a tactical manual, it’s a transformative piece that invites reflection on what kind of leader (and colleague) you want to be.

Strategy, Systems & Innovation

For thinkers, builders, and operators designing a smarter nonprofit ecosystem

🔧 Candid 💲
The combined home of GuideStar, Foundation Directory, and Philanthropy News Digest, Candid offers data tools, RFP listings, and sector-wide trends. A must-have for data lovers everywhere, especially grantseekers and anyone doing landscape analyses. Much on Candid is free, while GuideStar and Foundation Directory have some subscription costs.

🔧 Good Nonsense
This is a new passion project from Tasha Van Vlack (from The Nonprofit Hive, above) and myself. It’s a usually hilarious podcast that keeps it real about nonprofit work, featuring voices you probably don’t know very well—if at all. Think therapy session phone calls-meet-nonprofit staff meeting.

👤 Leah Kral
A strategist who brings entrepreneurial spirit and innovation to the sector. After years as a practitioner, Leah now helps organizations unlock creative thinking and collaborative solutions. Her book on nonprofit innovation is also fabulous.

👤 Meena Das
You might know of/about Meena if you’re into big data. (The concept, not the band.) The founder of NamasteData and Data Is For Everyone, Meena helps nonprofiteers use data in ethical, inclusive, and human-centered ways. Her work focuses on equity-focused surveys, analytics, and trainings like moving toward human-centered AI.

👤 Michelle Flores Vryn
Generous and insightful, Michelle’s presence (on LinkedIn and elsewhere) is a wellspring of advice on fundraising, equity, strategy, and career. From fundraising to communications to talent management and beyond, she embodies the kind of future thinking this sector needs.

🔧 NonprofitAF
Vu Le’s blog is required reading for anyone who loves this sector enough to criticize it. It’s chock full of humor, realness, and sharp analysis on equity, funding, and leadership.

🔧 Stanford Social Innovation Review
One of the most comprehensive sources for social sector research and writing—also one of the more academic resources on the tether. From equity to evaluation to entrepreneurship, SSIR offers deep thinking on almost every topic about which nonprofiteers care.

📚 The Generosity Crisis 💲
A timely book by Nathan Chappell and Brian Crimmins that diagnoses the disconnect between philanthropy and community. It argues for a return to radical connection and trust, with real ideas for change.

👤 Tim Lockie
Founder of The Human Stack and a rare voice making nonprofit tech feel human, Tim’s work focuses on system design that centers relationships, not just tools.