Nonprofit Build Up – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode of Non Profit Build Up Podcast, we dive into the key components of creating an innovative grant-making fund with our Vice President of Strategic Impact and Principal, Hayley Smith. Hayley joins our Founder, CEO, and Managing Attorney, Nic Campbell to explore strategies for overcoming limited resource allocation, including the importance of getting your internal infrastructure in order before experimenting with new grant-making methods. We also discuss how to promote innovation funds, attract high-quality proposals, and foster critical partnerships with those most impacted by grant funding—like potential grantees, community members, and partner organizations. 

Join us as we examine how to define priority funding areas, evaluate project success, and ensure an innovation fund remains effective and relevant over time. Whether you're a funder, nonprofit leader, or simply interested in reshaping resource allocation for greater impact, this conversation is for you! 

In this special episode of the Build Up podcast, we’re celebrating five years of growth, evolution, and impact at the Build Up Companies with Katy Thompson, the very first employee and now the Director of Global Operations and Culture. Katy joins our Founder, CEO, and Managing Attorney of The Build Up Companies, Nic Campbell, to reflect on the journey of BUC, from its early days to the global presence it holds today. 

Katy shares her unique perspective, having started as the Executive Assistant, and now leading operations and culture across the organization. Together, Nic and Katy discuss the challenges and triumphs of growing a small, dynamic team, maintaining strong relational connections, and embodying the core values of being brave, ever-learning, relational, and striving for excellence. 

The conversation dives into pivotal moments that shaped BUC’s path, including how brave innovation and a commitment to excellence have driven their success. They explore how these values will guide BUC’s next five years and beyond. 

This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in leadership, organizational growth, and the intricacies of building a value-driven and people-centered company culture. Tune in to hear insights from Katy and Nic on how to create lasting impact in a constantly evolving sector.  

In this week’s episode of Nonprofit Build Up, we share part one of a two part episode, “Build Up, Inc.’s Black-led Fiscal Sponsorship” where Nic speaks with Amanda Nasinyama, Director of Strategic Initiatives, and Ajani Husbands, Vice President of Strategic Planning and Senior Counsel, of Build Up Companies, working with Build Up, Inc. a member organization that is a public charity and operates as a fiscal sponsor and capacity builder.

In this episode, Nic, Amanda, and Ajani discuss Build Up, Inc.’s work, the impetus for the organization's creation, and the fiscally sponsored projects it serves. They also explore what sets BUI's mission apart, as they focus on providing capacity building support to brave women and Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC)-led organizations, networks, and collectives. 

This week on the Nonprofit Build Up, we’re talking with Ricardo Castro, the Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary of the International Rescue Committee. This conversation was recorded last year in 2020 when we were at the height of an international health crisis...that we’re still finding our way through. Ricardo is captivating in how he speaks about IRC’s work and how IRC is responding to yet another crisis and helping countries around the world. He also talks about how essential it is for nonprofits to share their stories and to consider and illustrate the impact of their interventions. He also points out how funders need to be more flexible and adaptable in what they require of grantees in moments of crisis and how the sector should focus less on process and more on support. 

Ricardo also discusses the importance of funding infrastructure development to ensure that all organizations, including grassroots organizations, can share the important stories of marginalized communities. This conversation encourages us all to reflect on how we can adapt to the needs of the moment and how we can thoughtfully build more resilient organizations. 

Angelyn Frazer-Giles is honest and compelling in how she speaks about the work of NNJ and how they’re staying true to their mission. She talks about how to support grassroots organizations, leanly-staffed organizations, and organizations engaged in direct services work in the criminal justice space. 

In this episode, Angelyn shares her advice for nonprofits to remain true to their mission and goals to continue to show up for the communities they’re serving instead of pivoting for short-term returns. And she discusses the role of philanthropy in increasing access for grassroots organizations that have been traditionally excluded from conversations. This conversation encourages us all to reimagine what the sector and society could become if we placed big-bets on grassroots organizations.

Dorian Burton’s passion for shifting the conversation in the sector from a deficit-based framework to an asset-rich framework comes through so clearly during our conversation. He shares practical advice for nonprofits and funders on how to begin the shift from charity to justice.

In this episode, Dorian focuses on how funders can and should listen to, work alongside, and partner with communities they’re serving in order to problem solve and also about how to ensure that those communities can create ways to be self-sustaining. This conversation inspires us to reflect on sustainability models, how we can create them on our own, and community partnership in order to change the way we address the root causes of inequity.

The idea of a free press and protection of investigative journalism is so critical, and Kay Murray’s role ensures that much-needed information is shared within society. 

In this episode, Kay talks about the role that journalism plays in ensuring that marginalized voices are heard. She shares her perspective on what’s currently happening in journalism, the impact on small nonprofit news organizations, and changes on the horizon within the sector. She gives advice to nonprofits and funders on how to navigate the uncertainty and unrest that was at play last summer, and, in many ways, is still at issue now.

During our conversation, you’ll hear Kay say that, “There is still room for innovation.” And that is why this conversation is so powerful. It encourages all of us to keep experimenting, to keep building, and to keep supporting nonprofit growth, particularly the growth of news organizations, to become sustainable.

This week's guest on the Nonprofit Build Up is Dr. Randal Pinkett. Randal is an entrepreneur, speaker, author, and scholar, and a leading voice in business, technology, diversity and inclusion. He is the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of his fifth venture, BCT Partners, a multimillion-dollar research, training, consulting, technology, and data analytics firm headquartered in Newark, NJ.  

Randal really highlights the role of for-profit companies that are focused on social impact and the role that the for-profit sector can play in building and supporting equity. He offers advice to nonprofits and funders on the role of infrastructure and how to leverage big data to better understand and support stakeholders in determining community needs.

Susan Burton’s life story is incredibly powerful. She is a leader in the criminal justice reform movement, the founder of A New Way of Life Reentry Project, and an outspoken voice to end mass incarceration. And in this episode, she shares why she founded A New Way of Life, shines a light on the policies and practices that encourage mass incarceration, and offers advice for leaders and organizations for building infrastructure and investing in their communities. 

Susan’s advice is so incredibly transparent, honest, and powerful. It encourages us to rethink what it means to have vision, how to invest in marginalized communities, and how to build sustainably. We encourage you to listen and absorb all of the information Susan shares about how we can each write and appreciate a new narrative. 

In this episode, Melanie Brown offers advice to nonprofits and funders on how they can address racial injustice and inequity, within their organizations, the sector, and society. You’ll hear Melanie share her thoughts about Black women being the vanguard of philanthropy and the need to center Black women in philanthropy’s response to the moment.  

Melanie shares so many insights for nonprofit leaders who are ready to listen, have honest conversations, and are ready to do the work. We encourage you to not only listen carefully to Melanie’s advice and insights, but to also ACT on that advice and her insights. They will change the way you show up in the sector.