Shows
Designing Tomorrow: Creative Strategies for Social ImpactWho Should Fund The People?If solving the world's hardest problems requires the world's best people, why do we pay social impact professionals like they should be grateful just to have a job? The sector still treats its workforce as a cost to be minimized rather than the most important element to its success. So what would it look like to invest in people with the same urgency we bring to our missions?Rusty Stahl is the founder of Fund the People and a former Ford Foundation program associate. He's spent over a decade pushing back against the structural barriers that keep...
2026-02-1024 min
The PlayFull Podcast with Kristine Michie: Bringing Fun to the Serious Work of Changing the WorldRusty Stahl: Defending Civil Society in a Time of Political ThreatsIn this continuing installment of the Brave Voices, Kristine Michie welcomes Rusty Stahl of Fund the People for a conversation that meets the moment. With the nonprofit sector facing historic pressure, Rusty brings both urgency and grounded hope as he unpacks what it takes to protect civil society and the people who hold it together. This episode offers clarity, action, and inspiration—a reminder that courage and community go hand in hand.Key Takeaways:Rusty Stahl calls for SOS (Staff Operating Support) grants that prioritize nonprofit operating expenses, particularly workforce support.The inclusion of...
2025-07-3143 min
Frontlines of Social Good Podcast3/4/25: Foundations On The HillMarch 4, 2025: After the news, Rusty Stahl, President & CEO of Fund the People, provides insights from Foundations on the Hill, highlighting key policy discussions shaping the future of philanthropy. Then, Erica Waasdorp, author of Monthly Giving Made Easy, shares expert strategies for building sustainable fundraising through recurring donor programs. Closing out the program, and in recognition of the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, we revisit conversations with David Szakonyi on the Russian oligarch influence through philanthropy and the work of Tabletochki with its founder, Olya Kudinenko.
2025-03-141h 07
Embodying change: Transforming power, culture and well-being for people in aid45. Investing in the nonprofit workforce with Rusty StahlWhy is burnout so prevalent in the nonprofit sector? How can funders better support the people who deliver?In today’s episode of Embodying Change, host Melissa Pitotti welcomes Rusty Stahl, founder of Fund the People. Rusty shares his journey into philanthropy, the systemic issues leading to chronic underinvestment in nonprofit staff, and the innovative solutions Fund the People advocates for. You’ll learn about the harmful myths surrounding nonprofit overhead, the importance of treating nonprofit staff as essential assets, and practical steps to foster a healthier, more sustainable nonprofit sector.If you're passionate about crea...
2024-07-271h 02
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlSeason 6 Take-Aways PLUS a Special Announcement!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...
2024-04-2420 min
Both Sides NowFamily Ties and Childhood Tales: A Heartwarming Chat with "Susy from the Y"In this episode of Both Sides Now, the hosts engage in a lively and touching conversation with Susy Yerger, affectionately known as Susy from the Y - and Ross' mom! The discussion offers a deep dive into Susy's experiences raising three sons, each with their own unique paths and personalities. She shares memorable stories from their childhood, including a poignant tale about her son's early health scare and his surprising ability to speak at a young age. The conversation also explores Susy's various community roles, her activities since retiring, and her enduring connection with her children. This episode is...
2024-04-2346 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlPlace-Based Talent-Investing: Small Scale, Big ValueThis 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 Fo...
2024-04-171h 02
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlLeadership Development and Racial Equity in NonprofitsIn 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 re...
2024-04-1152 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlHappy, Healthy Nonprofit PeopleIn 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...
2024-04-0357 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlListening to the Nonprofit WorkforceDr. 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...
2024-03-2745 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlShould We Cancel Capacity-Building?Have you ever thought that funder-sponsored organizational ‘capacity building’ may be detrimental to nonprofit workers and their communities? Today we talk about concrete ways we could improve the framing and practice of capacity building to better support the brilliance and resilience of diverse nonprofit workers and organizations.
Today's guests are Melissa DeShields and Marcus Littles from Frontline Solutions, a Black-owned and -led social change consulting firm. We discuss our guests recent Nonprofit Quarterly articles about why the term “capacity building” should be retired, and ways to improve the practice itself under whatever title it goes by.
How ca...
2024-03-2041 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlGetting Retirement Right – Tips for Nonprofit EmployersIn this episode, you'll get concrete tips for ensuring that nonprofit workers have access to retirement savings from returning guest Chitra Aiyar of Just Futures. Chitra first joined us in Season 3 Episode 10 in December of 2022, when we discussed what's wrong with nonprofit retirement. Today we'll discuss what's right with retirement.
This episode is focused on practical approaches for nonprofit employers to establish or enhance retirement savings for their staff team. We also talk about some of the challenges of implementing retirement savings in nonprofits.
Go to our website for a transcript of this episode and links...
2024-03-0656 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlTalent-Investing from Scratch in a 60-Year-Old NonprofitIn this episode, you’ll hear how a new nonprofit executive can start-up innovative investments in employees from scratch, even in a 60-year-old organization with 200 staff.
Shaheer Mustafa tells his story about his work at HopeWell, a major foster care nonprofit in Massachusetts. When he took management of the $25 million budget with hundreds of staff, there was no internal capacity that you would expect from an HR team. Since then, he has leveraged government and philanthropic investments to build-out a sophisticated set of investments in staff, and focused on increasing representation, leadership, and voice of people with liv...
2024-02-2841 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlHow Funders Can Support Nonprofit Workers in the Age of Burnout, Part 3This episode spotlights how one foundation has made an ongoing commitment to supporting “healing justice” as part of its grantmaking. We're pleased to speak with Desiree Flores, Executive Director of the General Service Foundation.
As they say on the Foundation's website, "Social justice work can be affirming, invigorating, and nourishing. But for leaders in the struggle, the work can also be rife with conflict, overwork, isolation, trauma, and oppression...we have heard movement leaders struggling increasingly with burnout and exhaustion. At GSF, we’ve been exploring how we, as funders, can support movements in creating space to cultiva...
2024-02-2152 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlHow Funders Can Support Nonprofit Workers in the Age of Burnout, Part 2Today's episode offers a view into how foundation executives can integrate talent-investing deeply into their philanthropic approach and how they can work with grantees in a practical fashion to ensure that they are motivated, incentivized and have the funding they need to pay appropriate thriving wages. This is the second in our special three-part series based on Fund the People's presentation at the Center for Effective Philanthropy Conference in Fall of 2023. Our session focused on how funders can support nonprofit workers in the age of burnout.
Today, we're talking with Jennifer Roller of The Raymond John Wean F...
2024-02-1457 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlHow Funders Can Support Nonprofit Workers in the Age of Burnout, Part 1We’re kicking-off Season 6 with a new 3-part special series, “How Funders Can Support Nonprofit Workers in the Age of Burnout.” It features speakers and topics from a panel discussion hosted by Fund the People at the Center for Effective Philanthropy conference in fall 2023.
In this first episode of the series, you'll learn from a foundation executive director who's leading an important new experiment in how funders invest in the workforce of grantee organizations. The Executive Director is Jamie Allison. The foundation is the Walter & Elise Haas Fund. And the experiment is the Endeavor Fund, which is a prog...
2024-02-0748 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlForging a Multigenerational, Multiracial Nonprofit WorkforceWe don’t need Baby Boomers to get out of the way faster.
We don’t need Millennials or Generation Z to slow down their ambition for leadership.
And we certainly don't need to continually ignore Generation X.
Instead, we need to intentionally create a multi-generational, multiracial nonprofit workforce.
The more we push long-serving leaders to get out, the more resistance we get. The more we push emerging leaders to stay put, the less likely they'll be to stay in their organizations and in the sector. We need new ways to be t...
2024-01-3110 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlIt’s not an Either/Or – General Support, Project Support, and Talent-InvestingThis episode discusses key trends and emerging practices that are sweeping across the funding community. It highlights the glaring gap in these important ideas and practices, and how talent-investing could add value to these ideas.
Go to the episode page on our podcast page fundthepeople.org/ftp_podcast to listen and get a transcript of this episode.
We invite you to learn from all the amazing past guests and episodes of Fund the People - A Podcast with Rusty Stahl at fundthepeople.org/ftp_podcast.
You can also fund our blog, toolkit, sign up for our mailin...
2024-01-2409 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlThe Nonprofit Nutrition CycleIn this episode, I'm offering up another one of my Rants and Reflections. Today's topic: The Nonprofit Nutrition Cycle.
Let’s face it: many foundation grants are frozen solid. They are restricted by purpose, program, time, even by line items in the budget. To borrow language from George Overholser’s great article on buying, not building, frozen funds are great for “buying” programs, but are terrible for “building” the very organizations that run the programs.
In a just and effective system, every funder would, at minimum, contribute flexible funding and, at best, intentionally deploy resources to build str...
2024-01-1712 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlThe Great Double Standard: What Counts as Program Expenses in NonprofitsThis episode exposes the insane double standard between how staff costs are treated in private foundation budgets, and how staff costs are treated in nonprofit budgets and the grants that support them.
If you want to understand why private foundations are expected to pay great salaries and benefits, while public charities are expected to compensate with poverty wages, this episode succinctly explains the legal underpinnings of this difference.
The double standard must be at the center of our conversations about “full costs,” the “overhead” myth, and “direct” versus “indirect” costs.
To start that conversation, I off...
2024-01-1007 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlBridging the Gap: How a Major Consulting Firm (Unintentionally) Misled the Nonprofit SectorIn this episode, we offer a critique of a big idea that has led philanthropy and the nonprofit sector astray since 2006, and has negatively impacted our workforce. And I’m going to tell you how Fund the People has been challenging this idea and reframing the issue.
The Bridgespan Group is a major consulting firm serving foundations and nonprofits that was co-founded in 2000 by two Bain and Company executives. In the early days of 2006, Bridgespan caused a huge stir in the sector when they declared that there is a “deficit of leadership in the nonprofit sector.”
Their...
2024-01-0413 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlNo More Mini-Grants for Well-BeingWe appreciate that numerous funders have been trying to support the personal well-being of nonprofit workers during recent years. However, in this episode you’ll hear Rusty’s reflection on why “mini-grants” for wellness is in no way an adequate response to the challenges confronted by the nonprofit workforce. And you’ll learn the concept of turning the funding formula upside down, so staffing issues are treated with the level of attention that they need and deserve.
Resources:
Flip the Funding Formula blog post
State of Nonprofits 2023: What Funders Need to Know by Center for Effective Philanthro...
2023-12-2009 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlFunding Beyond Fear - How Doubt on Both Sides Freezes Talent-InvestingIn this episode, Rusty discusses how fear freezes talent-investing, and how fear is a factor for both leaders in both nonprofits and foundations. For example, many nonprofits fear losing funding if they expose the challenges they face in supporting their staff. And many funders fear that their grantees may become too reliant on them for staffing costs. If and when we can alleviate these fears, we can unlock new momentum for talent-investing and talent justice.
This episode is part of our Rusty's Rants and Reflections series. The series offers Rusty's provocative reflections and ideas about investing in...
2023-12-1310 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlThe Value of Talent-Investing Can be Evaluated (Part 2)As discussed in the previous episode, our sector has inherited myths that keep funders from investing in the nonprofit workforce. One of these, which we refer to as the Soft Stuff Myth, maintains the idea that it is impossible to prove that investing in nonprofit workers can improve programs and their impact. In this episode...
You'll hear a compelling argument based on new data about the state of the nonprofit workforce.
We share data about the link between people and impact from the for-profit sphere.
Then we turn to evidence produced by prominent funders who have invested in...
2023-12-0630 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlWhy Don’t Funders Invest in Nonprofit Staff? Pushing Back on 4 Myths (Part 1)In this episode, you’ll learn about four myths that shape attitudes and behaviors which keep funders from investing in nonprofit workers.
This episode, which is based on the Soft Stuff Doesn’t Have to be Hard article, is part of our Rusty's Rants and Reflections series. The series offers Rusty's provocative reflections and ideas about investing in the nonprofit workforce.
Go to our website for a transcript of this episode and links to the resources discussed in the episode. You can find all the episodes of this podcast plus our blog, toolkit and other reso...
2023-11-2918 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlFunders, Listen Up! It’s Time to Invest in Nonprofit WorkersListen up, funders: it’s time to invest in nonprofit workers. It’s not just word of mouth anymore. In this episode, you’ll learn about new research reports from the Center for Effective Philanthropy and the National Council of Nonprofits that show that investing in staff is the #1 need among nonprofits. And it’s not just this year; we discuss research going back a decade that shows the disconnect between funder and nonprofit perspectives on this issue.
This episode, which is based on a blog post written in response to the research, is part of our Rusty's...
2023-11-1513 min
Both Sides NowNon-Toxic Positivity & 51-51
In this episode, Jane and "Rusty" continue their examination of Toxic Positivity with actual positivity. We talk about the Wyomissing Area School District and their partnership with the Wyomissing Public Library for a project that spread positive messages throughout the borough.
How this is toxic, YERGZ will never know! (Couldn't resist the name switch!) Then one of our regulars, Craig Bennett, was Inspired (yes, capitalized. Our regulars know why!) to write his own contribution about positivity and how he sees the world.
For a copy of Craig's manuscript, stay tuned. Yergz edits our show notes. He's obtaining permission from...
2023-10-2833 min
Behind The LensBEHIND THE LENS #401: Featuring Jon Lindstrom and Benjamin PollackA fantastic episode of BEHIND THE LENS that's jam-packed with two talented filmmakers, MICHAEL OBLOWITZ and BENJAMIN POLLACK – both who have a music video background – and actor JON LINDSTROM who many of the "General Hospital" fans out there will recognize, as we talk about CONFIDENTIAL INFORMANT and WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO JONNY FAITH.
Right out of the gate, writer/director MICHAEL OBLOWITZ and actor JON LINDSTROM join us discussing their new film CONFIDENTIAL INFORMANT. A well-paced slow-burn noir police thriller with a twist, CONFIDENTIAL INFORMANT boasts an exceptional cast (along with Lindstrom, there's Mel Gibson, Nick Stahl, Dominic Purcell, and Kate...
2023-07-101h 11
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlMacArthur Foundation Makes Changes to End Nonprofit Starvation Cycle - with Kenneth Jones, MacArthur FoundationWelcome to a very special final episode of Season Four!
In this episode, you’ll learn how one foundation built the internal political will to make internal reforms so they can provide grants that better serve their grantees and their communities. Host Rusty Stahl sits down with Kenneth Jones, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Equity Officer of one of America’s major foundations, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. They discuss why and how MacArthur Foundation has increased the amount of money in their grants for “indirect costs” from 15% to 29%, nearly double and one of the highe...
2023-05-241h 01
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlThe Annie E. Casey Foundation Makes Changes to End Nonprofit Starvation Cycle - with Katie Tetrault, The Annie E. Casey FoundationIn this episode, you’ll get an insider’s view of The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s journey to contribute to the full costs of grantees in an adequate and equitable fashion. Our guest is Katie Tetrault, the Foundation’s Vice President of Finance and Grants Management. Tetrault manages all of the Foundation’s budgeting, accounting, financial, and grantmaking policies and operations. Katie shares how and why the Foundation’s recently changed from paying only 10% toward “indirect costs” on project and program grants, and why they created a three-tiered policy that now pays up to 25%.
This is the third instal...
2023-05-1736 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlStarting a Revolution in Nonprofit Hiring – with Alfonso Wenker and Trina Olson, Team DynamicsIn this episode, you’ll gain an understanding of how bias commonly plays out in the hiring process, and how organizations can better recruit and retain a powerful, diverse workforce that expands opportunity across lines of race and gender.
Our guests are Trina C. Olson and Alfonso T. Wenker, co-leaders of the consultancy Team Dynamics and co-authors of Hiring Revolution: A Guide to Disrupt Racism and Sexism in Hiring. In this conversation, they share powerful, practical approaches to the hiring process – from preparation through salary negotiation. They also share a plethora of resources that they make available at n...
2023-05-031h 07
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlFord Foundation Makes Changes to End Nonprofit Starvation Cycle - with Tiffanie De Gannes and Jim Gallagher, Ford Foundation; Part II of “Smashing the Overhead Myth Once and for All” SeriesIn this second installment of our series, Smashing the Overhead Myth Ones and For All, you’ll get an insider’s view of how things are changing inside the Ford Foundation, one of the largest private funders in the world, as their team seeks to provide more equitable and effective grants to the organizations they support in the U.S. and around the world.
Our guests today are the ones making challenging operational decisions, guiding changes to organizational policy, practice and culture, and executing important internal change management at the Ford Foundation.
Tiffanie De Gannes is S...
2023-04-0546 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlFunders Confront Reality & Myth of Nonprofit Overhead - with Rodney Christopher, BDO; Part I of “Smashing the Overhead Myth Once and for All” SeriesWelcome to the first installment of our special series, “Smashing the Overhead Myth – Once and For All.”
In this episode, we hear the story of Funders for Real Costs, Real Change, a learning collaborative among a dozen funders who sought to better understand how they could do their part to end the nonprofit starvation cycle. These funders examined the realities of overhead and indirect costs in their grants and grantee organizations – and some are making major changes as a result.
Our guest is Rodney Christopher from BDO. With 30 years of consulting and grantmaking experience in the nonpr...
2023-03-151h 05
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlWhere Government and Nonprofits Interact - with Jan Masaoka, CalNonprofitsIn this episode, we speak with Jan Masaoka, CEO of California Association of Nonprofits (CalNonprofits), and one of the most respected and outspoken organizers, advocates, authors, and capacity-builders in the nonprofit sector.
Jan recently announced her departure from CalNonprofits, and she shares sage wisdom (and rage!) on a range of issues including advocating for a better relationship between government and nonprofits, addressing the “overhead” myth, funding full costs, dealing with nonprofit student debt, the impact of government contracting on nonprofit compensation, and more.
The conversation touches on multiple practices of talent-investing, including:
Practice 1: Lead with...
2023-03-0845 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlThe 8 Practices of Talent-Investing - with host Rusty StahlWelcome to the first episode of Season 4 of Fund the People - A Podcast with Rusty Stahl!
In this episode, host Rusty Stahl welcomes you back, and sets up the theme for an amazing new season!
Each season of this show has a theme, and together they follow the outline of our Funding that Works Framework.
Season 1 explored the problem facing the social sector as a deficit of investment in the nonprofit workforce.
Season 2 introduced the concept of Talent-Investing, “the intentional deployment of capital to support and develop nonprofit leaders and workers.”
Season 3 explored the...
2023-03-0111 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlSeason 3 Finale: Staying Principled - with Host Rusty Stahl2022 has come to an end, and we’ve also reached the end of Season 3 of the Fund the People Podcast. So we’ve got a nice finale to wrap things up with a bow for you!
In this solo episode, Rusty Stahl recaps the theme of Season 3 – the 8 Principles of Talent-Investing – and summarizes the key ideas covered in his conversations with amazing guests throughout the season. This season finale offers a nice succinct guide to the guests and topics covered this year.
We’ll be back in March with a new season, and we’ll offer even m...
2023-01-0416 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlHow NYC Human Service Workers Won #JustPay - with Michelle Jackson, Human Services CouncilThis episode is end-of-year inspiration – and it offers a bold new model for increasing investments in America’s nonprofit workforce.
In this episode, you’ll learn how a group of nonprofits showed elected leaders the essential value of the nonprofit human services workforce, and broke through malaise and noise to secure historic state and local government investments in nonprofit workers!
Host Rusty Stahl speaks with Michelle Jackson, Executive Director of Human Services Council of New York to get the story, the struggles, and important lessons-learned for funders, nonprofits, and associations.
We’ll hear the stor...
2022-12-2848 min
The Smart Communications PodcastEpisode 126: How can you make the case with funders to invest in staff?Farra Trompeter, co-director, talks with Rusty Stahl, founder, president, and CEO of Fund the People, about how you can communicate the value of your organization, including the value of your staff, and how to get your funders to invest in the people who make your organization work.
2022-12-1420 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlWhat’s Wrong with Retirement? - with Chitra Aiyar, Just FuturesWe are in the nonprofit sector’s season of giving, but we’re going counter-culture. This episode is all about nonprofit saving. Specifically, nonprofit workers saving for retirement.
In this episode, you'll learn why it's critical for funders, nonprofits, and nonprofit workers alike to invest in retirement savings. You’ll hear the surprising political history of nonprofit retirement; how retirement policies can bolster racial and class inclusion in nonprofit teams; and the four major gaps facing nonprofit retirement.
Rusty speaks with Chitra Aiyar, nonprofit tax expert, consultant, and author of a new report on nonprofit retire...
2022-12-0757 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlCompensation Philosophy for Your Nonprofit - with Mala Nagarajan, Vega Mala ConsultingIn this episode, you’ll learn about developing a compensation philosophy on which you can build human resources and compensation systems that are in keeping with values of equity and justice. Consultant Mala Nagarajan sits down with host Rusty Stahl to talk about the ideas that undergird equitable salaries and benefits in social justice and social change workplaces.
Mala brings deep experience in nonprofit human resources through her work with Vega Mala Consulting and RoadMap Consulting. She is now developing resources specifically to help nonprofits establish compensation practices grounded in racial equity.
This is Season 3, Ep...
2022-11-1640 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlFair Labor Standards for Community Organizers - with Kinzie Mabon and Kevin Simowitz, All Due RespectWith every election cycle and issue campaign, we are reminded of the critical role that community organizers play in supporting the civic participation of all Americans. In this episode, you'll learn from new research on the working conditions of community organizers in social justice nonprofits. You’ll hear how organizers, executive directors, and funders view the issue. You’ll get recommendations for change, and next steps the All Due Respect is pursuing to ensure that all due respect is given to organizers!
We speak with Kinzie Mabon and Kevin Simowitz from All Due Respect, an exciting project that...
2022-11-0946 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlFunding Black Leaders to Prevent Burnout - with Dany Sigwalt, Power Shift NetworkBurnout is a chronic condition in nonprofits. Right now, it’s at an acute level after the years of trauma we’ve been experiencing. And burnout has a compounding impact on people who are dealing with marginalization. Yet burnout is often something we suffer in isolation, in silence, and in an individual fashion – as if it's not an organizational or collective concern.
In this episode, you'll gain a first-hand perspective on burnout from Dany Sigwalt, the outgoing nonprofit executive director of Power Shift Network, and you’ll get tangible ideas for how to address the burnout crisis in our se...
2022-11-0258 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlTalent-Investing is the Best Capacity-Building - with Tom Fuechtmann, Community Memorial FoundationNonprofit people create and sustain the organizational capacity of nonprofits. So there’s a natural connection between organizational “capacity-building” and what Fund the People calls “talent-investing” (intentionally deploying capital to support and develop nonprofit workers). In our continuous effort to capture the value that talent-investing offers to nonprofits and their funders, in this episode you'll hear the perspective of a funder who actualized this deep connection between a foundation’s capacity-building efforts and talent-investing.
Rusty sat down with Tom Fuechtmann, Senior Program Officer at Community Memorial Foundation, a health-focused regional funder in the western suburbs of Chicago. Fund the Peo...
2022-10-1924 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlInvesting in Talent Inside Foundations - with Storme Gray, Emerging Practitioners in PhilanthropyLearn why it's critical to invest in the diverse emerging workforce inside foundations, and how such investment helps organized philanthropy be responsive to nonprofits and those who are on the front lines doing the work.
Rusty sits down for a chat with Storme Gray, the inspiring Executive Director of Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP), the national network of emerging foundation leaders who are elevating philanthropic practice in order to build a more just, equitable and sustainable world.
Storme discusses the challenges that face young people of color and others in the foundation field, and shares...
2022-10-1242 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlGot a Burnout Story? Let's Hear It! - with Betsy Leondar-Wright, Staffing the MissionIn this episode, you'll learn about some easy actions you can take to help researchers address the lack of philanthropic investment in the nonprofit workforce, and the burnout that results from that deficit of investment. Host Rusty Stahl sits down with Betsy Leondar-Wright, Project Director of Staffing the Mission. Launched in 2019, Staffing the Mission works to make life better for diverse nonprofit employees, and is a program of Class Action, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit that “inspires action to end classism and extreme inequality.” Staffing the Mission partners with Fund the People as we both seek to address poor working conditions in t...
2022-10-0520 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlInvesting in New Executive Directors, Part 2 - with Jane McDonnell and Irving Washington, Online News AssociationIn this episode, you'll get a rare glimpse into the inside story of two people who have, together, gone through the unique crucible that is an executive transition.
Jane McDonnell is the former Executive Director of the Online News Association and is now an independent consultant. Irving Washington is the current Executive Director of the Online News Association, and a longtime association professional in the journalism field. Jane and Irving went through an executive transition in a thoughtful, proactive, ethical, and effective fashion, with respect for one another, for their colleagues, for their funders, and their organization...
2022-09-211h 01
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlInvesting in New Executive Directors, Part I - with Joey Lee and Bipasha Ray of Open Society FoundationsIn this episode, you'll gain valuable insights from a major funding institution about why they believe it’s important to invest in the nonprofit workforce by supporting new executive directors. We speak with Joey Lee and Bipasha Ray of Open Society Foundations (OSF). You'll hear about important research on the value of investing in new executives from a new OSF report that draws upon the experiences and voices of hundreds of new E.D.s. This is a resource that you can use with your funders, your board, and others.
The issue of healthy executive transitions was im...
2022-09-141h 15
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlThe 8 Principles of Talent-Investing with host Rusty StahlThis episode kicks off the fabulous third season of Fund the People - A Podcast with Rusty Stahl.
To get the season started, Rusty establishes the theme: the 8 Principles of Talent-Investing. He shares guiding principles from “Funding that Works,” the exciting new framework for talent-investing that Fund the People will roll-out in 2023 through our new online Academy. The principles offer the intellectual groundwork upon which effective talent-investing practices can be built.
2022-09-0710 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlSeason 2 Finale! Top Takeaways on Talent-Investing - with host Rusty Stahl and Monisha Kapila, ProInspireIt’s the season finale and the end of 2021! To wrap up our season 2 exploration of talent-investing, Rusty shares his top three takeaways from these 16 episodes. He also shares a cool new feature of our show: Podcast Collections. And we welcome back friend-of-the-show Monisha Kapila for some holiday schmoozing and reflection on the Talent Matters Remix, the special three-part series that was a prominent part of this season.
The Fund the People podcast will return in Spring 2022. We wish you all happy holidays and a safe, healthy, and joyous new year!
2021-12-2239 min
simply: health coachingS3 E2 | Reinventing Social Change with Nell EdgingtonHow is the social change sector rooted in inequality, and how has that informed the current state of it? And how are the 2016 and 2020 elections, The Great Reset, The Great Resignation, and the pandemic all creating new opportunities to reinvent it? Listen in on my conversation with Nell Edgington, president of Social Velocity and author of Reinventing Social Change: Embrace Abundance to Create a Healthier and More Equitable World. We cover these questions and dive deep into abundance vs. lack mentality, the power of yet, and how they can all affect burnout in the nonprofit world.
bio
2021-09-1437 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlTalent Matters Remix, Part III: Culture of Care - with Michele Booth ColeThis is the third and final episode of Talent Matters Remix, our special summer series in partnership with ProInspire, co-hosted by Monisha Kapila and Rusty Stahl.
In this episode, Monisha and Rusty talk with Michele Booth Cole, Executive Director of Safe Shores - The DC Children’s Advocacy Center, about why and how to build a nonprofit organizational culture that supports and develops employees. Michele reflects on her article, “A Culture of Care, Without Compromise,” in the Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR) Talent Matters blog series. She discusses how her experience and thinking has evolved since the piece...
2021-07-2849 min
Nonprofit SnapCastPossibility Project - Talent JusticeHow is it that the social sector, which prides itself on its mission to ensure that all communities have access to health, safety, and prosperity, can underpay, overwork, and endanger the very people who carry out the work? We all have either experienced or heard stories of beloved colleagues who are burned out or have left the sector because we can’t find a way that makes sense to stay, financially or spiritually.
Join another set of fantastic speakers who will talk about:
Who can afford to work in the sector?
Where accountability lies for equitable st...
2021-07-241h 14Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlTalent Matters Remix, Part II: Building a New Generation of Values-Driven Leaders in the Nonprofit Sector - with Stephen BauerThis is the second episode of Talent Matters Remix, our three-episode series in partnership with ProInspire, co-hosted by Monisha Kapila and Rusty Stahl.
In this episode, Monisha and Rusty talk with Stephen Bauer about supporting a diverse and inclusive next generation for the nonprofit workforce. Steve reflects on the article he wrote about developing leaders who are both value-based and results-driven, which was part of the Talent Matters series on the Stanford Social Innovation Review blog. He discusses how his experience and thinking has evolved in the seven years since the piece was published in summer 2014.
2021-07-2139 minFund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlTalent Matters Remix, Part I: Network-Weaving, Nonprofit Workers, & Social Justice - with Trish TchumeThis is the first episode of Talent Matters Remix, our three-episode series in partnership with ProInspire, co-hosted by Monisha Kapila and Rusty Stahl.
In this episode, Monisha and Rusty talk with Trish Tchume about the tensions between developing individual leaders, and developing networks or communities of leaders. Trish reflects on the article she wrote about network-weaving for the Talent Matters blog series in Stanford Social Innovation Review. She discusses how her experience and thinking has evolved since the piece was published seven years ago in July 2014.
We also discuss Trish’s extensive journey through the no...
2021-07-1440 min
Inclusion CatalystTalent JusticeHow is it that the social sector, which prides itself on its mission to ensure that all communities have access to health, safety, and prosperity, can underpay, overwork, and endanger the very people who carry out the work? We all have either experienced or heard stories of beloved colleagues who are burned out or have left the sector because we can’t find a way that makes sense to stay, financially or spiritually.
Join another set of fantastic speakers who will talk about:
Who can afford to work in the sector?
Where accountability lies for equitable st...
2021-07-1300 minFund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlSpecial Announcement & Mid-Season Review - with host Rusty StahlIn this episode, Rusty shares exciting news about a podcasting partnership series with ProInspire and their Co-CEO Monisha Kapila (our guest on Season 1 Episode 9 of this show), which will be rolled-out during July.
In addition, in this episode your host…
Reflects on and summarizes the themes of the first six episodes of Season 2, which is focused on the principles and practices of talent investing;
Shares more about the work of Fund the People beyond the podcast; and
Invites you to utilize our online resources, join our mailing list, and offer your input on what you want or...
2021-07-0825 min
Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlTalent-Investing: A Proposal For Change - with Host Rusty StahlTo set the context for Season 2, your host Rusty Stahl briefly recaps Season 1 and establishes the theme for this new season.
Season 1 focused on The Problem Facing the Nonprofit Workforce, and Rusty defines the problem succinctly as a cyclical deficit of investment in nonprofit leaders and workers. The theme for Season 2 is A Proposal for Change. Rusty shares Fund the People’s concepts of talent-investing and talent justice. He defines the talent-investing cycle as a healthier alternative to the status quo that could advance equity and effectiveness in the nonprofit workforce.
2021-05-1018 min
simply: health coachingS2 E15 | Rusty Stahl: Let's fund the peopleAaAaAhHH! (That's the sound of me fangirling!) I discovered Rusty Stahl and Fund the People when I was doing research on funding health coaching programs for women burning out in mission-driven work, and I am so excited that he agreed to come onto the podcast and discuss his work in promoting "talent investment" rather than "program investment." Rusty walks us through the nonprofit starvation cycle, the myth of overhead, and the zero-sum challenge—and then talks about what funders and grantees can do to set up a zone of trust and communicate on a completely new level.
If...
2021-03-0940 minFund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlInauguration Day Bonus Episode! Special Guest: Dan Cardinali, Independent SectorRusty Stahl, President and CEO of Fund the People and host of the podcast, offers an urgent call and a vision for a federal government that works well with the nonprofit workforce. Then Rusty sits down with Dan Cardinali, President and CEO of Independent Sector, one of the influential groups that represent the nonprofit sector in Washington. Independent Sector has been in conversation interests with the Biden-Harris Transition about what the nonprofit sector needs from the White House, and Dan shares an overview of the substance of this dialogue.
Listen to get insights on these topics:
...
2021-01-2047 min
Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership64: How Can We Address Compensation Gaps in the Nonprofit Sector? (Sally Loftis)64: How Can We Address Compensation Gaps in the Nonprofit Sector? (Sally Loftis)SUMMARYIt’s a cliché to say no one gets into nonprofit work to get rich. However, if leaders in our sector do not take steps to address the compensation gaps that exist, all of the important work being done will be further diminished by turnover and burnout. In episode #64 of the Path Podcast, Sally Loftis brings a researcher’s eye and HR expertise to this strategic challenge for nonprofit leaders, and provides a wealth of resources and ideas to hel...
2020-10-1553 minFund the People: A Podcast with Rusty StahlBackstory of Fund the People (Org & Podcast)Do you love nonprofit work, but find yourself frustrated by the starvation cycle, the overhead myth, the racial and economic inequity, and the toxic burnout culture that dampens our effectiveness? Do you want to see change, but you’re now sure how to address these harmful outdated mental models and practices? Or what to replace them with?
Then this is the podcast for you. Every episode, I sit down with fascinating thought-leaders from across our sector to gather stories, research, and practical resources that you can use to ensure that nonprofit people are at the center of pe...
2020-09-1527 min
News Archives - Throwin' Wrenches Automotive PodcastEpisode 27 – Lawyers, LED’s and Bunnies (Autoshow 2020)http://throwinwrenches.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/TW27-Final.mp3
Welcome to 2020 and thanks for tuning in for our first show of the year! We will admit to being a little rusty after nearly a month off, but hang in there with us! Are we the auto podcast with 20/20 vision? (Aren’t you already sick of that?) Probably not, but we will keep working on the catchphrase!
We hope you had an amazing holiday season. Did you get that thing you wanted for your car? The racing thing? Did it get you a 100 more horsepower?
If...
2020-01-191h 32
Nonprofit Vision With Gregory NielsenEpisode 22: Rusty Stahl: Fund the PeopleNonprofit professionals address complex community challenges each day in an effort to create communities in which everyone can thrive and have their needs met. However, the profession currently faces a significant deficit of investment in the development of these critical leaders. As funding challenges grow, leadership investment frequently suffers. In this episode, Rusty Stahl -- President and CEO of Fund the People -- joins Greg to discuss the importance of leadership investment, tips to engage in this critical dialogue with funders and Board members, and a new Talent Justice Initiative.
2019-06-2139 min
The Social Change DiariesRusty Stahl's Radical Vision for a Transformed Nonprofit WorkforceThe typical nonprofit playbook includes a scenario where an organization has constrained resources and overworked staff, with limited access to professional development opportunities. Rusty Stahl, CEO and Founder of Fund the People, is advocating for something radically different. In this episode of Social Change Diaries, Rusty makes the case for an industry wide overhaul of how we invest in the nonprofit workforce.
2018-11-0846 min