Successful Nonprofits Podcast

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A staff member knocks on your door and asks you to settle a disagreement with a coworker. Saying yes feels good, and it is one of the few things in your week that ends cleanly. It also teaches your team to bring you every dispute, and it pushes the fundraising, board, and strategy work that only you can do into your nights and weekends.
In this episode I walk through escalate together, a practice I draw from Kim Scott's Radical Candor and use in every interim executive director engagement. Staff make a good faith effort to work it out themselves, and if they are still stuck, they come to me together. I cover how to set up the room, the two questions I ask once everyone sits down, the issues that belong in formal channels instead, and what to do about the frequent flyer who has escalated with eight different colleagues in a year.
You will also hear what happened when I rolled this out on my first day at an organization with a long history of instability, and a team member knocked on my door about 90 minutes later.
This episode answers the following questions:
How do I stop my staff from bringing me every disagreement?
What do I say when an employee complains to me about a coworker?
Is it the executive director's job to mediate conflict between staff?
How do I get my team to resolve conflict without me in the room?
When does a staff complaint go to HR or an attorney instead of to me?
How should a nonprofit CEO handle an employee who has conflict with everyone?
Does any of this work with a fully remote team?
How do I roll out a new management practice to my board chair and my staff?
Links mentioned in this episode:
Radical Candor by Kim Scott: https://www.radicalcandor.com/the-book (also on Bookshop.org)
CEO Excellence by Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra: Bookshop.org
The Netflix culture memo, where the team and not a family framing comes from: https://jobs.netflix.com/culture
Curious about executive coaching, including the coaching library I send new clients? Contact me.
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Looking for more? Check out these other amazing episodes:
Conflict Can Be Good for Your Organization with Nate Regier
The First Four Words: Starting Conversations with Confidence with Tucker Miller
Timeless Tips for Working with Difficult People with Jody Foster

Join the live virtual audience for podcast recordings (and bring your question for the Q&A). Topics, guests, and times are announced in my newsletter, and you can sign up at this link: https://successfulnonprofits.com/newsletter-signup/
Most executive directors put off planned giving because it feels like a time consuming and expensive project that requires a consultant, a gift acceptance policy, board training, a recognition society, and more. And after investing so much into planned giving, you won't receive a gift for years.
Tony Martignetti has spent 29 years proving that belief is just not true.
In this episode he walks us through his three-step, one-week launch; explains why three or four top prospects is a real planned giving program; and dismantles the objections that keep chief executives from closing the simplest gift there is (and the easiest one to ask for).
We also get honest about what stewardship of your planned giving donors actually costs.
If you are the CEO who wears many hats, this is the fundraising conversation that pays off long after your current grant cycle closes.
This episode answers questions like:
How do I start planned giving without a development director?
Do we need a gift acceptance policy before we can ask for bequests?
How many planned giving prospects can an executive director realistically handle?
How do I identify planned giving prospects?
When do I tell my board about a planned giving program?
Is planned giving worth it for a small nonprofit with a tight budget?
What do you say to a board member who is worried about a donor leaving us property we'll never be able to sell (like a toxic waste site)?
How do I steward and cultivate planned giving donors over the long term?
Links mentioned in this episode:
Tony's book, Planned Giving Accelerated, plus a free chapter: https://plannedgivingaccelerated.com/
Planned Giving Accelerator: https://plannedgivingaccelerator.com/
Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio: https://tonymartignetti.com/
The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-millionaire-next-door-the-surprising-secrets-of-americas-wealthy-thomas-j-stanley-ph-d/d2115bc2d7f2d07c?ean=9781589795471
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If you're in the chief executive seat long enough, something will eventually go wrong. A cash-flow crisis, the loss of a key funder, a serious audit finding, critical news coverage, or an on-site disaster can test both your leadership and your relationship with the board.
In this episode, I lay out a practical way to deliver bad news to your board without creating a second crisis. I share who to tell first, the six questions your written board update must answer, and how to structure an emergency meeting so the loudest board member does not control the conversation.
You will also learn when to stop weekly updates to your board and how to conduct a post-mortem after the issue is fully resolved. The central lesson is simple: bad news does not break trust, but surprise, avoidance, or inaction will.

If you are a CEO responsible for moving your mission forward in a polarized environment, this conversation will sharpen how you lead.
Your ability to communicate with people who don't share your or your nonprofit's values and views can determine whether your organization gains traction or stalls out.
In this episode, I speak with consultant and former executive director Chandra Brown about how leaders choose words and framing that build alignment with board members, donors, policymakers, and community stakeholders. You'll hear a real-world example of a messaging misstep that backfired and what it reveals about how different audiences interpret the same issue.
You'll walk away with practical ways to communicate across political divides without compromising your values.
This episode answers the following questions:
How do executive directors communicate with stakeholders who disagree with them?
How can I get board members or donors to support an issue they're skeptical about?
What's the best way to talk about controversial issues without alienating my supporters?
How do I build alignment across my nonprofit's politically divided constituencies?
How do I prepare for conversations with policymakers who oppose my position?
Links mentioned in this episode:
Influence Advocacy (Chandra Brown). Influence Advocacy and Chandra can give your issue a helping hand using data driven strategies that support your issue campaigns.

Can one board retreat turn reluctant board members into fundraising superstars? Anyone promising that is selling something they cannot deliver. But a well-designed retreat can still move board fundraising forward.
In this episode, I explain how to diagnose the real barriers first, then share six practical retreat activities that can help a board align expectations, understand its fundraising options, practice useful skills, map its networks, and make specific commitments. I also outline the post-retreat work that turns your board members' commitments into results.
This episode answers the following questions:
Can a board retreat actually get board members to fundraise?
Why is my nonprofit board not engaged in fundraising?
What fundraising activities can we use at a board retreat?
How do we set and enforce fundraising expectations for board members?
What should staff and board leadership do after a fundraising retreat?
Links mentioned in this episode:
Bring Dolph into your next board retreat. I design and facilitate board retreats that are interactive, practical, and built around the board's real barriers. Retreat topics can include fundraising, governance, board evaluation, planning the board's work, crisis or contingency planning, and strategic planning. To discuss your next retreat, reach out to me at successfulnonprofits.com.