
Every week your host Maria Rio, or her guests, will share actionable steps to support you in finding clarity, raising funds, and leading with courage.
Our Latest Episodes

Get Unstuck with Ashley Fontaine
In today’s episode, Ashley Fontaine, founder of Flux AF Consulting shares with us how she is helping nonprofits navigate getting “unstuck” by building skills, improving leadership, and avoiding burnout.

Testing, Testing, 123… with Cherian Koshy
You might have heard about the benefits of testing in your fundraising. Tweaking copy and sending to two different groups to see which performs better. Testing different web pages to see which gets more conversions. Maybe you’ve also tried to survey your donors to see what they like. This can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be! On today’s podcast join Cherian Koshy to deep dive into all things testing in a way that’s accessible to small organizations with limited resources.

Nonprofit Sector Role Models with Jarrett Ransom
Join our conversation with Jarrett Ransom, known as The Nonprofit Nerd. We reflect on the legacy that we would want to leave behind in the nonprofit sector, which led to a discussion of the mindsets we don’t want to pass on, and how we can overcome these.

Fundraising Through An Empathetic Lens with Kyle Empringham
In today’s episode, we have Kyle Empringham from Starfish Canada to discuss building connections and empathy’s power in making small nonprofits stand out in their fundraising.

Broad and Deep Relationships for Fundraising Success with Janaiha Bennett
In today’s episode, we are joined by Janaiha Bennett from Youth Leadership Foundation to teach us how to develop relationships with our donors and how to treat them as humans first than people who would just give you money.

In between asks - with Mike Duerksen
Sometimes fundraising in a small nonprofit can feel start-stop. You put in effort and maybe see results, but then as soon as you slow down, the money stops coming in.
But on today’s podcast, guest Mike Duerksen, Founder and CEO of BuildGood, shares with us his “flywheel” method for creating a fundraising program that operates on momentum, so that the longer you fundraise, the less effort it takes to grow.

Practicing community centric fundraising with Maria Rio
Maria Rio, joins me in this conversation today on The Small Nonprofit Podcast. She has been working in nonprofits for ten years, has personal experience as a service user, and has spent the last year and a half testing out various CCF approaches. Maria is going to talk about how community-centric fundraising works—and how it can enable your fundraising program to raise money AND fulfill your mission at the same time.

Giving Tuesday - Hope or Hype? (Re-release)
Every year before GivingTuesdays, a lot of fundraisers and Executive Directors are scratching their heads and wondering whether they should do something on GivingTuesday, and if do do something, what can make their organization’s messaging stand out? On today’s podcast, Lys Huggesen, the VP of Partnerships at CanadaHelps and one of the pioneers and leaders of GivingTuesday Canada, shares her insights on how charities might best leverage this day of giving and generosity.

The Burnout is Real (Re-release)
These are scary times. The world is in crisis as we work hard to contain the COVID 19 outbreak and minimize its impact. Our organizations are being challenged in ways we could never imagine. For some of us, our clients are at high risk and we are working around the clock to support them. For others, we have been forced to lay off staff because our programs have been cancelled. The emotional toll on each and every one of us is significant, at a time when we are most isolated.

Changing the World through Fundraising (Re-release)
On today’s podcast, David Love, seasoned fundraiser also known as the Godfather of Good, shares with us his take on the role of fundraisers in achieving change in the world. When we centre our work around the mission and the journey that we are on as an organization and how that aligns with the journey our donors are making - we can impact meaningful and lasting change in the world.

A Feminist COVID Recovery (Re-release)
How do we recover from the exhaustion and pain of the pandemic? How do we lead our organizations into the post-pandemic world with responsible leadership in service for our communities? On today’s episode, social impact leader Chi Nguyen gives us the real talk on how to approach our leadership and the way we show up with a feminist and inclusive lens.

Working with Consultants (Re-release)
Working with a consultant can be beneficial for nonprofits. They enable organizations to focus on keeping things running smoothly and efficiently by freeing up time for the bigger picture. But how do you find the right consultant for your organization?

Leading with “nice” (Re-release)
What makes a good leader? If you’re an executive director in a nonprofit, you're probably thinking about how you can be more effective and motivate your team to create a bigger impact. But what are these qualities you should have to inspire others?

Employee volunteering with Heather Nelson
In this episode, I sat down with Heather Nelson of Bridgeraise, and talked about how your nonprofit can benefit from corporate volunteerism and how to get started with building a strong relationship with your corporate partners.

HR Made Simple (Re-release)
In this episode, Kim Dechaine, Founder of Inner Powered Leaders, will discuss how we can change our mindset, and prevent and overcome burnout at work. If you're struggling with burnout, this episode is for you!

Young and Diverse - the New Workforce (Re-release)
Guess what - the next generation of workers are not millennials!
We’re so past the conversation of millennials in the workplace and now is the time to think about how you’re hiring and engaging the next generation. This new generation values diversity and inclusion, as well as the ability to have an impact. This is in great alignment with the nonprofit sector, but the reality is that as many as 30% of employers struggle to fill their entry-level roles.

Your Case for Support from the Ground Up (Re-release)
I know you have a long list of “to-dos” that never seems to end. I can also guess that on that list, somewhere towards the end (and seemingly never moving) is to create a Case for Support for your organization.
Well, today you’re in luck because our podcast guest Leah Eustice is a pro when it comes to writing a Case for Support and she’s going to give you all of her tricks and tips. The best part about it - she shows you how you can write your Case quickly and still make it meaningful.

Raise More Money With This One Simple Trick (Re-release)
Small nonprofit organizations face the same fundraising challenges over and over again. They often believe that one fundraising strategy can solve all of their problems and look to large organizations for inspiration. Better marketing, major gift campaigns, corporate sponsorship- they have so many ideas, but most of the time, those solutions are not aligned with what will raise their organization money today and in the near future and grow it into a sustainable program.

Your Fundraising Mindset with Someone Whose Been There (Re-release)
In this episode, Kim Dechaine, Founder of Inner Powered Leaders, will discuss how we can change our mindset, and prevent and overcome burnout at work. If you're struggling with burnout, this episode is for you!

Equity in data with Meena Das
On today’s episode, I’m joined by Meena Das, Founder & Philanthropy Analytics Consultant at NamasteData, and her focus of work is grounding data and analytics solutions for nonprofits in the ideas of equity and inclusion.