Explore every episode of the podcast The Influential Nonprofit

Why do people say yes or pull away even when the choice seems logical? Explore how trust, safety, autonomy, and the freedom to say no shape meaningful decisions.

Key Takeaways:

• Decisions are shaped by trust, safety, desire, fear, and past experience—not logic alone.
• Uncertainty can feel like danger, but discomfort does not always mean something is unsafe.
• Clear agreements make expectations mutual; boundaries clarify what you are and are not available for.
• A meaningful yes requires the genuine freedom to say no.
• Your responsibility is to create the conditions for a choice—not to control someone else’s decision.

“Trust, safety, desire, belonging, fear, uncertainty, our past experiences, our nervous system-all of these things contribute to saying a yes or saying a no.”

“A meaningful yes requires the ability to say no.”

“Your job, remember, isn't to force the yes. Your job is to create the conditions where the right people can genuinely choose it.” 

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Running a nonprofit can be lonely, and your board of directors may never think about your growth as a leader. In this episode, Allison Wyatt explains how to build a personal "circle of champions," so you always have someone to call when things get hard.

Key Takeaways:

• Your board of directors supports the organization, not you. Your growth as a leader is up to you.
• Each seat on a personal board fills a different gap. A sponsor opens doors, a coach keeps you accountable, a mentor saves you from trial and error, and a feedback giver tells you the truth.
• Good leaders go first. When you model growth and talk openly about your mistakes, it's safer for your team to try new things.
• Feedback should work like a pitching coach: small corrections as you go, not a surprise at the end of the season.
• Fill the seats before you need them. Being clear about who you call for what means no one friend gets asked for everything.

“You need somebody you can trust who's willing to be really honest with you and not just affirm you.”

“That's the thing we see in a lot of organizations is that people are really scared to try new things because failure is not safe.”

“We are going to make some mistakes. We are going to learn things. We are going to use that data to do better the next time.” 

- Allison Wyatt

Allison Wyatt is the Founder and CEO of Edgility Talent Partners, where she leads the delivery of equity-focused talent management, executive coaching, and compensation strategy for nonprofit and social sector organizations. A former Vice President of Human Capital Consulting Services at Koya Leadership Partners and Vice President of Human Assets at Education Pioneers, she brings deep expertise in building scalable HR practices, performance management, and pay equity frameworks. Allison holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a BA in East Asian Studies from Wesleyan University.

Reach out to Allison Wyatt at:

Website: https://www.edgilitytalent.com/team/allison-wyatt 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonwyatt/ 

Toolkits: https://www.edgilitytalent.com/building-your-personal-board 

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

At 60, Maryanne discovered her hair had been naturally wavy all along — she'd just never created the conditions for it to show. In this solo episode, she turns that surprise into a fundraising lesson: your next donor, partner, and big idea are probably already in your orbit, waiting to be activated.

Key Takeaways:

• Capacity is usually present; conditions are what's missing.
• "I need more" often means you haven't fully seen or used what you already have.
• Most people give because they were asked — the connection-to-action gap is usually a missing invitation, not a missing audience.
• Your email list and existing relationships outperform purchased lists and cold social media.
• One simple question activates a network: Who do you know that needs this?
• Certainty and control are myths; chasing them manufactures frustration, while experimentation makes room for something new.

“Sometimes we are asked to look outside of ourselves for tools and solutions that may already be in us.”

“There are people who want to act; they just haven't been asked.”

“Influence isn't about forcing movement; it's about creating the conditions in which movement becomes possible.” 

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

By gathering the right people around a bold vision instead of trying to carry everything alone, nonprofit leaders can completely transform their strategy. In this episode, you’ll hear how shifting paradigms, redesigning meetings, and embracing generative conflict unlock new levels of impact, funding, and sustainability.

Key Takeaways:

• The way leaders see their role and their ecosystem determines which strategies they even recognize as possible.
• Vision doesn’t have to mean more weight for one person; it can become lighter when leaders intentionally gather others around the work.
• Treating meetings as spaces for inquiry—not just report-outs—creates more engagement, better problem-solving, and stronger culture.
• Generative conflict requires both attentiveness to others’ needs and the courage to name your own, so solutions can move beyond win/lose thinking.
• Sustainable impact on the outside depends on modeling sustainability, participation, and alignment inside the organization.

“We need to be generative, not just kind.”
 

“Board members are there because they want to serve, they want to contribute, they don't just want the information dump.”

“Am I here to carry this whole thing on my back, or am I here to actually gather the team needed internally and externally?” 

- Jeanine Becker

Jeanine Becker works where personal growth meets strategy. She partners with founders, funders, and executives responsible for moving millions — in grants, revenue, policy, and people — in the shift from carrying to gathering. She taught negotiation and collaboration at Stanford for a decade and founded On Purpose Together. 

Reach out to Jeanine Becker at:

Website: https://www.onpurposetogether.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beckerjeanine/ 

More Information: https://www.onpurposetogether.com/jeanine-becker-lib 

Book your Discovery Call here: https://www.onpurposetogether.com/call 

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Tired of chasing donors and over-following up? Learn how stepping back, releasing control, and trusting the “edge of your agency” can transform your donor relationships.

Key Takeaways:

• Obsessing over the perfect number of follow-ups misses the real issue: you cannot control another person’s timing, readiness, or decisions.
• Your responsibility is to communicate clearly, create safety, and make the next step obvious, not to force movement or manufacture urgency.
• The moment you cross from honoring someone’s agency into trying to control their response, you’ve shifted from influence into pressure and risk pushing them away.
• Acceptance means recognizing there is nothing more for you to do, not that there is nothing you can do; that distinction turns helplessness into freedom.
• Leaving space, doing nothing after you’ve fulfilled your role is part of true influence, because it allows the other person to exercise their own sovereignty.

"When you cross that boundary, when you start to try to affect their agency, that's called pressure, and that's where your influence ends, and pressure begins."

"The more you try to make it happen, the less it's going to happen."

"Sometimes action isn't strategy; sometimes the action is self-soothing, and it may relieve your discomfort in the moment, because you don't have to sit in uncertainty, you don't have to feel rejected, and you don't have to acknowledge that you might not get the outcome that you want."

- Maryanne Dersch

Ask for and receive all you want, need, and deserve without feeling rejected, ineffective, or pushy. Learn to manage your mindset, lead yourself and others more effectively, and have the meaningful conversations that drive your most important work. 

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Scarcity-driven fundraising tactics-chasing, over-following up, pushing too soon-might be quietly sabotaging your donor relationships. In this episode, Maryanne Dersch shows you how to shift from pressure to flow.

Key Takeaways:

• Scarcity in fundraising often begins as a nervous system response to uncertainty—like being behind goal or a donor going quiet—and can drive behaviors such as chasing, over-following up, and pitching too soon, which donors experience as pressure.
• Maryanne’s Donor Flow Framework (Awareness → Interest → Connection → Action) emphasizes moving people at their natural pace; scarcity wants to “skip ahead” to the ask, while flow means meeting donors exactly where they are and offering the next natural invitation.
• Shifting from pushing to curiosity, pitching to connecting, and chasing to inviting creates conditions where donors lean in rather than pull back, because they feel understood, sovereign, and not treated like ATMs.
• Sustainable fundraising grows from confidence, connection, and influence—trusting the value of your work, understanding what matters to donors, and creating conditions for movement—supported by intentional mindset practices like mantras about time and money that keep you out of scarcity loops.

"Not responding is a response."

"Scarcity tries to manufacture movement. Influence creates the conditions for movement, and that is my whole life's work in that sentence: creating conditions for movement."

"Sustainable fundraising doesn't come from pushing harder. It comes from creating the conditions in which donors naturally want to move closer."

- Maryanne Dersch

Reference:

Scarcity Donor Flow - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F1Q-Lbp1BQ5bklAsNqAf92zScepjBBOF/view?usp=sharing

Ask for and receive all you want, need, and deserve without feeling rejected, ineffective, or pushy. Learn to manage your mindset, lead yourself and others more effectively, and have the meaningful conversations that drive your most important work. 

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Scared of planned giving because it feels too technical, expensive, or “only for big institutions”? In this episode, you’ll learn how even the smallest nonprofit can launch a simple, effective planned giving program in just one week—without a big budget, complex gift vehicles, or a team of experts.

Key Takeaways:

• Small and mid-sized nonprofits can be highly successful with planned giving by focusing on simple, practical actions instead of waiting for perfect materials or large teams.
• Launching planned giving is less about a formal campaign and more about starting real conversations with your most loyal donors.
• Framing legacy giving around the long-term life and impact of the mission, rather than death, makes the conversation more natural and values-driven.
• Starting with gifts in wills keeps things simple for both organizations and donors, avoiding technical complexity while still generating meaningful future support.
• Consistent stewardship—personal thanks, insider treatment, and recognition—reinforces a donor’s decision to include an organization in their will and deepens the relationship over time.

“[Planned giving] is a conversation that’s the opposite of death. It's a conversation about life: the life, longevity, and sustainability of your nonprofit in your community.”

“MEAL is an acronym for Meals Expertly Allow Learning.” 

“The most powerful idea in planned giving is also the simplest: start.”

- Tony Martignetti

Tony Martignetti is the evangelist for Planned Giving. In September, he publishes his book, Planned Giving Accelerated, to help small- and mid-size nonprofits launch by making Planned Giving fundraising easy, accessible, and affordable.

All the book info is at PlannedGivingAccelerated.com.

He started as a front-line Planned Giving fundraiser in 1997 and kicked off his consulting in 2003. 

Tony is a lawyer, but he doesn't talk like one. Instead, he weaves in his stand-up comedy and improv past to bring Planned Giving within reach for small- and mid-size nonprofits.

Reach out to Tony Martignetti at:

Website: https://www.plannedgivingaccelerated.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonymartignetti/

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

What if you didn’t have to choose between trusting an expert and trusting yourself? In this solo episode, Maryanne unpacks how to find the right guide to navigate uncertainty—without ever giving up your agency, autonomy, or judgment.

Key Takeaways:

• You can lean on someone else’s expertise without giving up your own authority; a good guide supports your decisions rather than replacing them.
• Endless research often becomes an attempt to eliminate uncertainty, but uncertainty can only be navigated, not removed.
• Many obstacles come not from reality but from the “stories” and assumptions we’ve absorbed, which can be challenged and rewritten.
• True independence is knowing when to ask for help so you can focus your time and energy on your highest-value work.
• The best coaches and experts are not trying to create copies of themselves; they help you make decisions that align with your own values and way of working.

“A poor guide says, Here's what you should do. I want you to do this. A great guide says, Here's what I know.”

“We don't remove the uncertainty; we work to navigate it together.”

“Sometimes the obstacle isn't the situation; it's the story we've attached to the situation.” 

- Maryanne Dersch

Episode Reference:

Grisel Castaneda

• dentaltourismalgodones@gmail.com
• https://www.facebook.com/perlagrisel.castanedavargas
• (602) 399-7769 

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

What if your leadership wasn’t defined by urgency and chaos, but by calm, clarity, and presence? In this episode, you’ll learn how to become a regulating presence whose nervous system quietly shapes the entire culture of your organization.

Key Takeaways:

• You cannot regulate another person’s nervous system, but you can become a regulating presence that others naturally attune to.
• Your energetic state is contagious; how you walk into a room can either escalate panic or invite everyone to breathe and settle.
• Calm becomes accessible when leaders design predictable, consistent, and psychologically safe environments with clear roles and next steps.
• Coaching through curiosity—rather than correcting through criticism—helps dysregulated team members explore what feels urgent and where they need support.
• Many people, especially in nonprofits, unconsciously build their identity around chaos and busyness, and only self-awareness and willingness to do the inner work can shift that pattern.

“You don't make somebody calm; you make calm accessible through productivity, through predictability, through curiosity, consistency, psychological safety, clarity, and simple next steps.” 

“Clarity creates leadership that reassures.”

“If urgency becomes contagious, so can steadiness.”

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

When do you ignore the red flags your body, brain, and intuition are screaming at you—and what does that cost your leadership? In this episode, learn how to stop outsourcing trust and start making calm, confident decisions rooted in your own inner knowing.

Key Takeaways:

• Self-betrayal rarely comes from a lack of information; it comes from overriding what your body, observations, and intuition are already telling you.
• Instinct, intellect, and intuition are three distinct but complementary information systems, and wise leadership means giving each a “seat at the table.”
• External pressures—from family, boards, donors, or cultural conditioning—often masquerade as wisdom but are usually fear dressed up as good advice.
• Many leadership mistakes happen when trust is outsourced to boards, consultants, or “important” stakeholders instead of starting with the question, “What do I know?”
• True freedom is not about avoiding hurt; it’s about becoming someone who no longer abandons themselves in order to avoid discomfort or disappointment.

"You can have every signal, every red flag, every fact, every intuitive knowing, and still betray yourself."

"Our goal is to become people who never have to abandon themselves in order to avoid getting hurt."

"Because when you trust yourself, you don't have to know how the story ends. You simply have to know that you'll stay with yourself through every chapter."

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Learn why your nervous system keeps mistaking uncertainty for danger—and how shifting from hypervigilance to trust can transform your leadership, fundraising, and everyday decisions. This episode shows you how regulated leaders create calm, confidence, and influence, even in the middle of crisis.

Key Takeaways:

• The nervous system’s primary job is safety, not truth, so it often creates stories that feel real but aren’t actually based in facts.
• When uncertainty arises, the brain rushes to “fill in the blanks,” which can trigger anxiety, catastrophizing, and unnecessary conflict in leadership and fundraising.
• Hypervigilance can look like being extra prepared, caring, or productive, but if it is driven by fear and the need for control, it never truly calms the nervous system.
• Trust doesn’t eliminate uncertainty; it increases your capacity to tolerate it and move forward, believing you will handle whatever happens.
• The most influential leaders are the most regulated ones—they set the emotional temperature, create psychological safety, and stop making decisions from a dysregulated state.

“People think trust removes uncertainty. It doesn't. It increases our ability to tolerate uncertainty.”

“As leaders, we communicate more than information. We communicate emotional safety, and your nervous system becomes a part of your leadership.”

“You don't need more confidence. You need a nervous system that no longer mistakes uncertainty for danger.” 

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Discover how to close the gap between who you are on the inside and how you show up on the outside. In this solo episode, you’ll learn a practical, seven-step framework to live fully self-expressed—through your choices, boundaries, presence, and the courage to speak (or stay silent) with intention.

Key Takeaways:

• Self-expression is much more than “speaking up”; it’s about living in alignment so your daily choices, boundaries, and presence reflect who you truly are.
• Continually suppressing your truth widens the gap between who you are and how you show up, leading to resentment, burnout, and feeling like a victim of circumstance.
• Agreements and boundaries are powerful tools of expression that define what you are and are not available for, and they communicate your values more clearly than repeated complaints.
• Curiosity-driven questions like “Help me understand what you mean by that” can defuse conflict, create safety, and often make problems “go away” without an argument.
• Living fully expressed is a daily practice of sovereignty and discernment—choosing what to say, what to ask, when to stay silent, and how to act so your life becomes a more effortless “super highway.”

“Sometimes the most powerful self-expression isn't speaking a truth, it’s refusing to continue betraying one.”

“Full self-expression isn't measured by the number of words you speak. It's measured by how intentionally your life reflects who you truly are.”

“One of the greatest gifts and one of the best skills you can have is we can give the other person the experience of feeling fully heard, and sometimes the most authentic response isn't an answer; it's curiosity.” 

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Discover how a longtime educator-turned-nonprofit leader uses governance, compassion, and community empowerment to build organizations that truly last. In this episode, you’ll hear stories from hospices, classrooms, and European projects that reveal what sustainable leadership looks like in the real world.

Key Takeaways:

• Strong governance and clear structures are critical for nonprofits to compete with larger institutions and remain sustainable over time.
• When leaders actively identify and nurture the potential in others, they can create learning pathways that help people “leap forward” despite limited opportunities.
• Third-sector organizations are still businesses at their core; they require sound leadership, financial sustainability, and strategic planning just like for-profit entities.
• Compassion, kindness, and genuine giving are not “soft extras” but essential qualities of modern leadership, especially for women balancing multiple responsibilities.
• Networking and mentorship—both in person and online—provide vital emotional support and perspective for leaders who often feel they are carrying the weight of an organization alone.

“How do you make it easier for people to leap forward when they haven't had the opportunities?”

“To me, businesses in the third sector are no different to businesses in the first or the second. They still have to be sustainable; they still have to have good governance; they still have to have good leadership.”

“I think all along the line we're giving, we're giving our knowledge, aren't we? We're passing on something that we've learned from somebody else, and if they didn't share their knowledge with us, then we wouldn't have anything to share…” 

- Christine Lester

Christine Miller Lester is an international leadership, Learning & Development, and organizational transformation specialist with more than 40 years of experience helping mission-driven organizations develop leaders, build learning cultures, and create sustainable impact through people-centered leadership and organizational excellence.

Reach out to Christine Lester at:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinelester1/

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Key Takeaways:

• Identify and acknowledge your resistance, such as being overly attached to outcomes or trying to fix others. Understand that fear has a role but should not drive your actions.
• Reframe negative mindsets and stories into more positive, empowering narratives. Make the unconscious conscious to change unhelpful thought patterns.
• Practice surrender, trust, and gratitude to cultivate a receptive state. Engage in joyful, playful activities that activate your whole being.
• Take inspired action aligned with excitement and purpose, rather than obligation. Maintain a sense of sovereignty and commitment to the process over the outcome.

“Fear has a place. It has a role. We're not going to kick it off the bus. It just doesn't get to drive it.”

“The more you focus on what's already good in your life, the more you attract positivity. ”

“Joy puts you in a receptive state, and it makes it easier to attract good things. You get to be joyful. You deserve joy.” 

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

What happens when you stop people-pleasing, raise your standards, and actually live in alignment with your truth? In this episode, you’ll learn what it really means to be fully self-expressed—and how to practice it every day in your work, relationships, and leadership.

Key Takeaways:

• Self-expression is less about speaking louder and more about aligning your outer life with your inner truth.
• The pain of constantly holding back comes from the gap between who you are and how you show up in the world.
• Boundaries and agreements are powerful tools for honoring what you value, need, and are no longer available for.
• Sovereignty means deciding your own worth and standards first; others will either rise to meet them or naturally fall away.
• Fully expressed living is a daily practice—notice where you withhold, ground yourself, choose your timing, seek to understand, and then speak what’s true with courage and wisdom.

“The most authentic person in the room is the most powerful.”

“Every time we consistently suppress our truth, we create distance between who we are and how we show up, and that is the greatest source of pain, the dissonance between who we are and who we're supposed to be.”

“Creativity is expression made visible. It's taking something that's inside you and giving it form.” 

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Most nonprofits push harder when donors go quiet. In this episode, you’ll learn how to trade pressure for emotional momentum, so stalled donors start moving again—without more follow-up fatigue.

Key Takeaways:

• Donor silence is usually a signal of an unmet emotional need, not a verdict on your worth or your mission.
• Interest and readiness are different stages; rushing from enthusiasm to “the ask” often triggers a stall instead of commitment.
• Emotional connection must be nurtured intentionally over time. Information and activity alone cannot sustain donor momentum.
• Clear, simple next steps build confidence and keep donors moving; confusion and ambiguity almost always cause them to pause.
• The most sustainable fundraising comes from authentic, curiosity-driven relationships where trust sets the pace and the money follows.

“Interest and readiness are not the same thing. This is where you get stuck emotionally, because you interpret donor interest as donor readiness... A stalled donor is not a disinterested donor.”

“Sometimes the relationship moved faster than trust, and relationships only move at the speed of trust.”

“Momentum and fundraising is emotional before it's financial.” 

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Discover how karaoke becomes a surprising laboratory for courage, authenticity, and leadership. In this episode, you’ll learn eight powerful lessons from the karaoke stage that can radically shift how you show up as a fundraiser, leader, and human being.

Key Takeaways:

• Courage comes before confidence; action is what generates the confidence you’re waiting for.
• Releasing attachment to specific outcomes creates space for authenticity, deeper relationships, and “magical” results.
• Most people are not judging you nearly as harshly as you judge yourself; they are usually rooting for you to succeed.
• Discomfort is often evidence of growth, and expanding your capacity to be uncomfortable is essential for meaningful leadership and fundraising.
• Authenticity, passion, and alignment are far more compelling than perfection; connection will always beat flawless performance.

“The more tied to a result you are, the less likely you will have that result.”

“Connection beats perfection every time.”

“The magic isn't in hitting every note. The magic is just being willing to sing." 

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Learn what it really takes to scale a focused nonprofit, build long-term corporate partnerships, and play the long game in fundraising without losing sight of the people you serve.

Key Takeaways:

• A narrow, concrete focus, like providing brand-name shoes, can dramatically amplify a nonprofit’s clarity, impact, and support.
• Strong corporate partnerships grow slowly from shared values, deep listening, and customized collaboration, not one-size-fits-all pitches.
• How support is delivered matters as much as what’s delivered; respect and flexibility turn shoes into symbols of dignity and belonging.
• Individual donors and family foundations are the stability engine, while corporate and sports partners mainly boost visibility and reach.
• Shifting from “these kids” to “our kids” reinforces shared responsibility and reminds us that every child is worthy of investment.

"How we give them shoes is as important as the shoes we give."

“Our program is about the kids. I say, you know, we're really not about shoes, we're about the kids.”

“It's not a matter of making donors into heroes. I don't like that language. It's thinking, it's just being grateful for what they've done, and letting them know this is what you've allowed to happen.” - Amy Fass

Amy Fass is the leader behind Shoes That Fit, a national nonprofit that provides new athletic shoes to children experiencing homelessness and low-income circumstances across all 50 states. Under her leadership, the organization has grown from a small operation into a nationwide nonprofit that has delivered more than one million pairs of sneakers to kids in need.

An Amazon best-selling author and advocate for children affected by poverty, Amy speaks on scaling nonprofits, building strong corporate partnerships, and creating sustainable impact. She’s known for bringing a Fortune 500 leadership mindset to the nonprofit world, helping organizations grow, adapt in times of crisis, and give children the confidence and opportunity that can start with something as simple as a new pair of shoes.

Reach out to Amy Fass at:

Website: https://www.shoesthatfit.org/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/shoes-that-fit/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShoesThatFitNonProfit

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Key Takeaways:

• Energy shapes everything. Energy is the foundation of all outcomes—your energy affects your thoughts, words, and ultimately, your results.
• You broadcast what you carry. As a leader, your thoughts and emotions are felt by others. Your energy influences how people respond to you.
• Attention creates direction. 
• Where you focus your attention determines what grows. Choose to notice what works and who shows up.
• Choose alignment over effort. When your internal state aligns with your purpose, you move with clarity and don't need to force outcomes.

“Your thoughts, your emotions, your presence, it's all broadcasting something... people are responding to your frequency.”

“Multiple realities are possible. What becomes real is just what we choose to make real.”

“When you consciously align your internal state, thoughts, emotions, intentions with your vision and values, you don't have to push or hustle.” 

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

When your nonprofit outgrows spreadsheets and sticky notes, your impact can stall. In this episode, discover how smart, accessible data systems can free your team from copy‑and‑paste drudgery and unlock real capacity for relationship-building and growth.

Key Takeaways:

• Resilience in the face of uncertainty can become the catalyst for building an entirely new, impact-driven business.
• As organizations grow, decentralized spreadsheets eventually break; a centralized database becomes essential to scale programs and funding.
• The most effective systems are co-created with the people doing the work, so they’re intuitive, low-friction, and actually get used.
• Thoughtful automation should target repetitive, manual, time-consuming tasks so staff can focus on high-value relationship and strategy work.
• The people who step up to improve operations and systems often position themselves for future leadership opportunities inside their organizations.

"You can think of Airtable like spreadsheets on steroids, or smarter spreadsheets."

“Airtable really comes in at a point where people are really struggling with all of their spreadsheets and their data is in too many places, and that's when you start implementing a database to store and centralize all of that information.”

“The key thing in automation that hasn't changed in the last while is just what sorts of things we want to automate: It's the repetitive work, the manual work, and the time-consuming work.”

- Cherry Yang

Cherry Yang is the founder of Claribase, an award-winning Airtable consultancy and Airtable’s Non-Profit Vertical Partner of the Year. She helps mission-driven organizations streamline operations with custom Airtable databases and automations so teams can save time, reduce chaos, and make better data-driven decisions.

Reach out to Cherry Yang at:

Website: https://claribase.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cherry-yang-12368141/

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Struggling with a passive or confused board? In this episode, you’ll learn how to transform tension into clarity, turn board members into passionate advocates, and use thoughtful questions to unlock real leadership and fundraising support.

Key Takeaways:

• Many board-staff problems trace back to a lack of clarity between governance and operations, and defining that line can immediately relieve tension.
• Framing conversations and changes around what the organization needs, rather than what any one person needs, helps boards step into true leadership.
• When board members are equipped to speak passionately about the mission, their personal connection, and the impact, fundraising becomes a natural next step instead of a scary task.
• Simple tools like annual board self-assessments and clear expectations can dramatically improve accountability and long-term engagement.
• The fastest way to shift board culture is to ask more thoughtful, open-ended questions that invite ownership instead.

“Being able to define and articulate and clarify what the board's role is, and teach that to them, and then have them hold themselves to the expectation, can really lighten up a lot of load on the executive director and staff.”

“When you start with a mission-focused approach, you lead with the mission every time. It’s my golden rule: lead with the mission."

“If you want engaged board members who are going to roll their sleeves up and get to work... then you have to mirror that energy from the beginning."

- Elise Woodworth

Elise Woodworth is a national speaker and board relations coach known for her clarity‑driven approach to strengthening nonprofit boards. A VMI graduate, Air Force Veteran, and MBA, she is the author of Business, Not Battle and creator of The Four Champions model. If you’re looking to grow or develop your board, Elise is the person to call.

Elevator Pitch Exercise

https://www.betterwithwe.com/championselevatorpitch

Reach out to Elise Woodworth at:

Website: https://www.betterwithwe.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisewoodworth/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Elise-Woodworth-Speaker-Author-Consultant/61561521157037/

YouTube: @betterwithwe

Instagram: @businessnotbattle

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

When you finally set a boundary, and everything seems to explode, it doesn’t mean you did it wrong; it may mean it’s finally working. In this episode, you’ll learn how to recognize and ride out the “extinction burst” so your new agreements, standards, and leadership can actually stick.

Key Takeaways:

• Boundaries define what you will no longer tolerate, while agreements define what you are actively choosing and saying yes to; both are essential for healthy leadership.
• When you change a pattern that has benefited others, the first response is usually not compliance, but escalation; more intensity, more emotion, and more testing.
• The “extinction burst” is not proof that your new boundary is failing; it is often the clearest sign that the old pattern is losing power.
• If you give in during the extinction burst, you don’t solve the problem; you teach people exactly how hard they need to push next time to get what they want.
• Real change requires expecting pushback, calmly reinforcing your agreements, and being willing to release relationships or dynamics that no longer serve your mission.

“If you give in during the extinction burst, you don't stop the behavior. You actually train it to keep continuing.”

“Whenever you raise standards, you invite testing.”

“We can't change behavior unless we change the boundaries and agreements that support the behavior.” 

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

In this episode, discover why impatiently “watching” your donors actually blocks generosity—and how to shift into “watering” relationships with trust, patience, and consistent care. Learn the WATER method to move from transactional fundraising to transformational connection.

Key Takeaways:

• Lasting donor relationships are built by tending to them consistently, not by pushing for quick outcomes or instant results.
• Anxiety-driven behaviors—like over-checking email or over-following up—often come from fear and self-doubt, not from what donors actually need.
• Adding value without expecting an immediate gift shifts relationships from transactional to transformational and builds deeper trust.
• Trusting the timing means allowing people to move at their own pace while still using clear systems and follow-ups to keep the relationship moving forward.
• Learning to truly receive and celebrate “blooms”—gifts, compliments, progress—reinforces your sense of worth and keeps you open to unexpected forms of support.

“Consistency builds trust more than intensity.”

“You can't rush readiness. Timing is part of the relationship. It's not a problem to solve.”

“Your job isn't to make it happen faster. Your job is to just keep watering, keep cultivating, instead of checking for results, asking yourself, ‘how am I tending to what matters?’” 

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Dave LeVan is President and CEO of Water for Good. They transform lives by providing access to reliable water, sanitation, and hygiene in needy communities. He recently led a merger with Lifewater International. 

Key Takeaways:

• Successful mergers start as honest conversations about where each organization wants to go and what assets they bring, not as a rushed decision to combine.
• Fear of change is universal, even among leaders who specialize in transformation, so acknowledging loss, grief, and uncertainty is essential.
• Over-communicating the “why” behind big changes, long after leaders are tired of saying it, is what finally helps staff, donors, and partners internalize the vision.
• Honoring history and founders while clearly articulating a new shared identity allows people to see the merger as an evolution, not an erasure.
• When nonprofits collaborate and share proven models instead of staying in silos, they can dramatically increase impact, sometimes doubling the number of people served without doubling revenue.

“People just want to be seen and heard, even more so than they want to be right.”

“We don't have to double our revenue to double our impact.”

“You need to communicate and communicate and communicate and keep sharing that vision.”
- Dave LeVan

Reach out to Dave LeVan at:

Website: https://waterforgood.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/water4good/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/water_for_good

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidlevan/

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Key Takeaways:

• The Donor Flow Framework moves donors through four stages: Aware, Interest,  Connect, and Act. Awareness and interest are often handled well, but true giving comes when people feel personally connected.
• The real gap is in the Connect stage. Without structured opportunities for meaningful interaction, donors may like your work but won’t feel invested enough to take action.
• Small, consistent, and low-risk events like lunches, behind-the-scenes tours, or after-hours experiences turn interest into real relationships. Regular, predictable opportunities make engagement repeatable and sustainable.
• Fundraising is about influence. Meeting people where they are, providing value first, and creating consistent follow-up builds trust and long-term support.

“Systematize to stabilize.”

“Connection… is where people feel important, where people feel loved, and where people see that they just don’t say, ‘I’m interested in you.’ They say, ‘I feel personally connected to what’s happening to your cause.’”

“The biggest shift of all is that fundraising isn’t about tactics. It’s about influence.”

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Sally is the founder and CEO of Commonwell Marketing, a heart-centered marketing and leadership firm that helps nonprofits and rural health organizations stand out. A former brain injury rehabilitation therapist turned marketer, Sally brings a rare blend of art and science to her work—applying the neuroscience of belonging, trust, and human connection to marketing, communications, and leadership strategy.

Key Takeaways:

• Sally’s work sits at the intersection of neuroscience and marketing, showing that effective nonprofit communication isn’t about doing more, but about doing less with intention—simple visuals, few words, and a clear emotional hook consistently outperform dense, information-heavy messaging.
• Emotion is the gateway to attention and memory. According to Sally, nonprofits have 2–8 seconds to spark an emotional response; if they start with data dumps, history lessons, or program lists, the brain simply checks out to conserve energy.
• Instead of trying to make people care, great nonprofit marketing finds and attracts people whose lived experience and “philanthropic heart” are already aligned with the cause—shifting from convincing and chasing to resonating and inviting.
• The “energy” behind communication matters just as much as the words: desperate, scarcity-based, or pushy outreach is neurologically and emotionally repelling, while servant leadership, curiosity, and genuine human connection build trust, oxytocin-driven bonding, and long-term engagement.
• Rural health organizations face unique pressures—funding volatility, hospital closures, staffing shortages—but Sally stresses that no amount of new programs or technology will transform outcomes without strategic, trust-building communication that makes patients feel seen, safe, and confident choosing local care.

“More stuff for the sake of stuff is not what the world needs from marketers.” 

“There has to be something in it that triggers a neural response in our brain of emotion… at roughly two to eight seconds, you've got to capture an emotion enough to get attention, then people's brains start to wander.”

“There is no transformation without engagement and connection, because they don't know that you have a cool new telemedicine, or who it's for, or… why would I want to trust it?” – Sally Mildren

Reach out to Sally Mildren at:

Website: commonwellmarketing.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/71360437/admin/dashboard/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/commonwellmarketing/
 

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

JD Bauman is the executive director of Christians for Impact and co-author of a new book on effective altruism, All the Lives. You can change how you turn good intentions into real impact. It shows how you could move beyond. Feel good philanthropy, I make a maximum Impact on problems that you care about. JD spends most of his time helping analytically minded Christians find careers that have maximum social impact or donate effectively.

Key Takeaways:

• Passion is what brings people into mission-driven work, but it’s not enough to create meaningful change. JD emphasizes that without data and evidence, even well-intentioned efforts can unintentionally cause harm or fall short of their potential. Pairing heart with strategy is what turns care into real-world impact.
• Not all good actions are equally effective, and that distinction matters. JD illustrates how some interventions can be hundreds of times more impactful than others, even when both are “doing good.” Understanding cost-effectiveness allows leaders to multiply the difference they make.
• “Band-aid” solutions are often criticized, but they can still create life-changing outcomes. In a world where immediate suffering exists, practical, scalable interventions such as poverty relief and disease prevention can dramatically improve lives today. Long-term systemic change and short-term relief must coexist.
• The nonprofit sector often lags in innovation due to fear of risk and failure. Unlike startups, many organizations continue programs that don’t work because shutting them down feels unacceptable. JD argues that testing, failing, and iterating are essential to discovering truly impactful solutions.

“In the real world, we don't have an impact just by caring about something.”

“If you want to be someone that has a maximum impact possible, that really wants to make the most of everything you've been given and do the most good possible, then it's going to require a heart and a head as well.”

“If you don't take those risks, you're never going to find what works.”

- JD Bauman

Reach out to JD Bauman at:

Website: https://www.christiansforimpact.org/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/christians-for-impact/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christiansforimpact/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@christiansforimpact/videos

Book: 

https://www.christiansforimpact.org/getbook

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Naomi Hattaway is the founder of Leaving Well, a practice devoted to helping organizations treat leadership transitions not as crises or cleanups—but as acts of cultural maturity. She works with mission-driven teams to address board development, succession planning gaps, and workplace transition support. Through interim executive leadership and advisory services, Naomi's work lives at the intersection of trust-building, systems change, and the radical belief that how we end things matters just as much as how we begin.

Key Takeaways:

• Leadership changes are often treated as crises even though they are normal and predictable. Naomi reframes exits as acts of cultural maturity rather than simple HR events. Thoughtful offboarding helps organizations create healthy closure and continuity.
• Transitions affect not only leaders but also the team that remains. Founder departures can trigger identity questions when organizations are built around one personality. Acknowledging grief and uncertainty helps teams move forward with clarity.
• Succession planning should involve the whole team, not just top leadership. Documentation, relationship handoffs, and knowledge transfer strengthen organizational resilience. Sabbaticals and temporary leaves can help organizations practice navigating absence and return.
• People respond to change in different ways, and each style brings value. Understanding these differences helps teams balance stability with forward movement. Healthy organizations accept that transition is messy but handle it with intention and care.

“We need to normalize the reality that people leave.”

“We put so much effort and beautiful intention into the onboarding, and then the offboarding is not the same level of energy.”

“We have to start somewhere by being a little bit better to each other when it comes to goodbye.”

- Naomi Hattaway

Reach out to Naomi Hattaway at:

Website: https://naomihattaway.com/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/naomihattaway

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/naomihattaway

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Key Takeaways:

• Fundraising rooted in pressure and extraction erodes trust over time. Sustainable support grows from community, shared values, and genuine connection. When relationships lead, generosity follows naturally.
• Over-following up and manufactured urgency often reveal anxiety, not strategy. Constant pressure weakens credibility and exhausts donors. Abundance thinking creates calmer, more effective leadership.
• Caring about a mission is not enough to spark giving. Donors contribute when they feel seen, heard, and connected to something meaningful. Relationship transforms passive belief into active generosity.
• A “no” rarely means disinterest or lack of care. Staying curious and honoring dignity preserves long-term trust. Valuing the person over the transaction builds lasting loyalty.

“Manufactured emergency undermines your credibility. If our relationships are rooted in trust... manufactured urgency breaks that trust, and it is a tool of manipulation.”

“Curiosity keeps relationships alive. Assumptions shut them down.”

“When we stop treating generosity like it's running out, fundraising gets quieter and more effective.” 

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Heidi is a nonprofit communicator passionate about helping civic tech, human services, and food access organizations tell clear, human-centered stories. She believes marketing carries great responsibility and shapes how communities understand and access support. As the founder of Heidi Kerr Strategies, she loves building thoughtful campaigns and social videos that earn trust and inspire action.

Key Takeaways:

• Marketing in nonprofits is not just about fundraising but about shaping how communities understand and access support. When treated as strategy and education, it becomes core to the mission, not an afterthought.
• Short-form, phone-shot videos often outperform highly produced content. Imperfect, human storytelling builds more trust than scripted perfection ever could.
• Pair real stories with data while protecting dignity and consent. The person sharing their experience should be the hero, not a prop for fundraising.
• Strong marketing equips teams with reusable tools, aligned messaging, and clear goals. Capacity-building creates momentum that lasts beyond a single campaign.

“When you ask them to create a short form video… ‘who is the star?’ And my answer to that is the people you serve - the humans in your organization.”

“The data is out there that those little videos - informal, authentic - they outperform anything fully branded or anything fully produced.”

“One thing I just can't talk about is ethical storytelling and trauma-informed storytelling, and the importance of ensuring that you're not having people perform for their poverty.”
- Heidi Kerr

Reach out to Heidi Kerr at:

Website: heidikerr.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidikerr/

Substack: https://substack.com/@heidikerr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heidikerr/

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

As a fundraising consultant and coach, Perry helps nonprofits develop strategies, systems, and relationships to improve their fundraising yield. She believes in creating environments that nurture all gifts - time, talent, treasure, testimony, and ties - honoring how each person is uniquely suited to make a difference within their community.

Key Takeaways:

• Donors are partners who bring time, talent, treasure, testimony, and ties. When relationships are rooted in shared values and trust, financial support follows naturally. Sustainable fundraising honors the whole person rather than treating giving as a transaction.
• Scarcity culture fuels burnout, fear, and reactive decision-making. An abundance mindset focuses on transformation, sustainability, and long-term impact. Organizations that move beyond survival thinking create healthier outcomes for both staff and communities.
• Burnout drains capacity, while moral injury erodes trust and integrity. Misalignment between stated values and lived behavior is a common source of harm. Naming these dynamics is the first step toward healing individuals and institutions.
• True alignment requires that daily actions reflect the organization's declared values. Healthy conflict and psychological safety strengthen culture more than surface-level niceness. Leadership grounded in empathy and the Platinum Rule fosters belonging and lasting engagement.

“People who show up to give, they often don’t just want to write a check. They want to do whatever they can to help a cause that means something to them.”

“Let’s stop flattening people. Let’s treat volunteers and donors with the same level of respect. Let’s not just keep putting money on this pedestal.”

“We want to treat people the way they want to be treated. We want to honor them. We want to acknowledge them. We don’t want to just dismiss them and act like our way is the only way.”

- Perry Radford

Reach out to Perry Radford at:

Website: radphilanthropy.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/perryradford/

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Key Takeaways:

• Chasing a yes often comes from anxiety, not intention, and people can feel that pressure immediately. When you stop needing a specific outcome, your tone relaxes and trust increases naturally. Your role is to help others decide freely, not to manage your own fear through follow-ups.
• Momentum shows up as shared energy, mutual curiosity, and agreed-upon next steps. Chasing looks like one-sided check-ins, escalating urgency, and tension after sending messages. Learning to tell the difference protects your time and preserves relational integrity.
• People avoid giving honest answers when saying no feels costly or awkward. Explicit permission to decline reduces avoidance and leads to faster, cleaner decisions. Trust grows when people feel respected, regardless of what they choose.
• Fantasy relationships rely on polite delays that sound like yes but function as no. Booking the next meeting during the current one turns vague interest into real movement. When someone will not schedule a follow-up, it is often wiser to release than to pursue.

“Pressure is when a donor feels managed. Relationship is when they feel respected.”

“A fantasy relationship just means that you’re not able to be honest. So you’re both pretending… because nobody knows what to say to actually get you out of it.”

“The more permission you give people to say no, the more likely they are to say yes.” 

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Key Takeaways:

• Lasting fundraising growth does not come from better tactics alone but from changing the internal narratives that drive behavior. Coaching addresses fear, money stories, and self-doubt that silently undermine even the best strategies.
• Fundraising leaders often carry invisible baggage that affects how they show up with donors and teams. Coaching builds awareness, emotional neutrality, and sovereignty by separating facts from stories and reducing reactive behavior.
• Effective fundraising leaders coach boards and staff through fear, avoidance, and shame rather than simply training them. Through questions, accountability, and normalized discomfort, coaching creates ownership without blame.
• Over-functioning leaders burn out when they carry all the emotional and relational weight alone. Coaching redistributes responsibility, strengthens collaboration, and removes leaders as the bottleneck in fundraising efforts.

“Strategy is great. Training is great. You need both those things, but mostly they do not shift your mindset. They do not shift your thinking.”

“Sovereignty means you own your own thoughts, choices, and actions. You do not outsource your confidence to outcomes, and you do not let no define your worth or competence.”

“At its heart, fundraising is a team sport. When you coach instead of carry, you stop being the bottleneck.” 

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Key Takeaways:

• Fundraising nos and prolonged indecision often reflect emotional readiness, not the quality of the ask. Letting go of over-attachment to a yes allows fundraisers to listen more clearly.
• The Map of Consciousness offers a practical way to understand donor behavior without ranking people as better or worse. Effective fundraising adapts presence and strategy to a donor’s current emotional state.
• Lower emotional states call for safety and acknowledgment rather than solicitation. Courage is the turning point where donors become open to clear, values-based asks.
• Repeated follow-up does not move donors emotionally; trust and presence do. When a relationship leads, financial support follows.

“The issue isn’t your ask. It isn’t your words. It isn’t your case. It’s that the ask is happening at the wrong level of readiness.”

“You cannot argue your way into a yes.”

“Love doesn’t need a pitch; it needs a pathway.” 

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Key Takeaways:

• Centering fundraising on genuine care, honesty, and alignment creates trust and long-term support rather than transactional gains. Actions from authentic relationships feel meaningful, while actions solely for money feel manipulative.
• Loving donor relationships are honest, authentic, and aligned. They are not transactional or performative, and both the donor and organization benefit from shared values and mutual yeses.
• Applying love languages in fundraising—words of affirmation, quality time, acts of service, meaningful gifts, and shared experiences—builds connection without pressure or manipulation. Each interaction should reflect respect, care, and intention.
• Listening, personalization, and alignment are critical. Engaging only with donors who resonate with the organization’s mission fosters sustainable giving, while letting go of misaligned relationships protects energy, trust, and long-term impact.

“If we are doing things for our donors because we genuinely love and care about them… that’s a loving relationship.”

“Love languages don’t replace integrity. They express integrity.”

“Healthy donor relationships don’t come from saying the right thing. They come from being in the right relationship.”

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Key Takeaways:

• 90 days is long enough to get something done, but short enough that there’s some urgency to it. The 90-day MOST stands for Mission, Objective, Strategy, and Tactics. It accounts for having an overall vision and creating simple strategies to implement each quarter. 
• We need to have a clear vision so that we know what we’re looking for. Before creating a plan, take time to create a vision board. Visualize what you want to create in your life and depict it in your vision board. 
• Once you have a vision, determine an objective. Then, create three strategies that will serve to achieve that objective. Under each strategy, create three simple tactics. Keep it simple. 
   

“90 days has been studied to be very effective. It's long enough to get something done. But it's short enough that you there's some urgency to it.”
 

“We create the vision. And then from that vision, we create the plan. But we don't want to plan while creating the vision, because we wind up talking ourselves out of doing some bold things.”
 

“We're keeping it very, very simple. The more complicated you make this, the less likely it's going to work for you. So you pick what would make this quarter be the win for you.” 

- Maryanne Dersch


 

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Key Takeaways:

• Reframe goals as guides, not judgments. Traditional output-focused goals can create pressure and burnout; goals should inform your direction, not define your worth or success.
• Wrap up the year holistically. Reflect on wins, surprises, and growth beyond numeric targets, release what no longer serves you, and recognize internal and relational progress as real achievements.
• Make goals human-centered, not just metric-centered. Reframing SMART goals to be Supportive, Meaningful, Aligned, Relational, and Tension-free ensures they strengthen trust, connection, and values alongside traditional metrics.
• Measure relationships, not just money. Track trust, reciprocity, affinity, consistency, and advocacy to prioritize connection and mission impact, understanding that financial outcomes naturally follow strong relational foundations.

“Goals aren't good or bad. They are just what they are. They are information.”

“If we're only measuring our worth by input and output, we're really missing a lot on what we're doing and the progress that we're making.”

"Work can be joyful. Grace, ease, joy is sustainable. Hustle and grind is not.”

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Key Takeaways:

• Sustainable change begins by raising standards, not just managing expectations. Standards define the floor you will no longer fall below, while expectations shape the ceiling you desire. Boundaries and agreements act as the walls that uphold both.
• Boundaries focus on what you no longer want to tolerate or experience. Agreements clarify what you do want and how it will work in practice. They turn avoidance into intention and make expectations visible to others.
• Agreements reduce resentment by replacing unspoken rules with shared understanding. They teach others how to relate to you personally, professionally, and in leadership spaces. Strong agreements create safety, predictability, and mutual respect.
• Raising standards often invites testing, especially in the early stages. Holding the agreement while releasing the outcome allows relationships to adjust naturally. Over time, people either rise to meet the standard or drift away.

“We can't change behavior unless we change the boundaries and agreements that uphold and support that behavior.”

“We teach people how to treat us.”

“Your internal agreements will determine your external results.” 

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Key Takeaways:

• Many nonprofit leaders enter the new year already depleted from the holiday rush. Emotional residue from 2025 lingers in the body and shapes early decisions. A reset begins by acknowledging how much energy was carried forward unnoticed.
• Leaders often bring guilt, unfinished conversations, and unresolved pressure into 2026. Closing loops matters more than fixing everything that happened. Release becomes the doorway to entering the new year with clarity and choice.
• Leadership begins with knowing your actual energetic capacity, not the idealized version. From that honesty, you choose what stays, what shifts, and what boundaries support you. Agreements rooted in calm reshape how you lead and how you protect your energy.
• Reclaiming means deciding who you are becoming and leading from that center. Leaders choose identities like calmer, clearer, or more sovereign and act from that energy. This practice restores agency and ensures no circumstance dictates your value.

“If you don't pause or reset, you're going to step into the new year carrying the energy of the old one.”

“Every boundary, every decision, every conversation, every interaction is going to come from that survival mode place - that's the lens through which you're going to view the world.”

“Reclaiming your energy means consciously choosing the leadership identity you want to embody this year.” 

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Key Takeaways:

• Influence is the art of getting people you have no authority over to do what you want them to do, not just because they have to do it, but because they choose to. Your ability to influence others is critical to your success. 
• The first step in mastering the art of influence and showing up as an influential leader is knowing yourself. It’s not about anybody else. Train yourself first before anybody else in the organization, because you are the trailblazer who sets the limit for others. If you raise your game, they will rise with you. 
• Discover and honor the things that make each person in your team unique. Acknowledge those things so that they will light up and they will join you in your vision. 
• Look within yourself for credibility rather than relying on others to recognize your worth. This is the key to becoming a sovereign, influential leader. If you want them to recognize something in you, you have to recognize it in yourself first. 

“An influential leader shifts that narrative from going to somebody who needs other people to feel good. Instead, we know ourselves, and we cultivate our own energy ourselves so that we stay sovereign.”

“If you can feel anything, you can do anything, and influential leaders understand how their thoughts and feelings play into their everyday decision-making, and they know how to navigate in a way that feels really good, really easy, and really aligned. ”

“Showing up as an influential leader means having deep trust in yourself and others, that everything is working out as it should, that there is nothing to fear. ” 

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Key Takeaways:

• Understanding how thoughts and feelings contribute to decision-making is key to influential leadership. Influential leadership creates sustainable workforces with less turnover and more productivity.
• The first step towards becoming an influential leader is to go inward. Be willing to understand how the thoughts, beliefs, and experiences that you had when you were young impact the decisions that you make today.
• Guilt is when we feel bad for what we do, and shame is when we feel bad about who we are. Most things that upset us originate from deeply rooted feelings of guilt and shame. When navigating conflicts of others or your own, pay attention to what’s making you and others feel uncomfortable.
• An influential leader’s job is to create more good leaders. When you practice influential leadership, not only are you creating a more influential and conscious leadership for yourself, but you're also teaching others how their thoughts and feelings contribute to their everyday decision-making, which helps them resolve things internally.

“Every minute we spend in clean-up conversations that could have been avoided with better communication and leadership - we're moving away from the work we were called to do.”

“You have to be willing to go inside, and understand what thoughts and beliefs were implanted in you when you were young, and how those can be affecting the decision-making that you make today.”

“When you find yourself in a conflict or navigating somebody else's conflict, first you have to pay attention to what's happening in your body, what am I feeling? And then seeing other people - there’s something inside of them that’s uncomfortable with this, what can we do?” 

“Good leaders create more good leaders and influential leaders; their job is to create more good leaders.”

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Key Takeaways:

• Supporters engage for a reason, a season, or a lifetime, each bringing unique value. Instead of expecting long-term loyalty from everyone, recognize the natural ebb and flow. Gratitude for every contribution keeps the relationship healthy and grounded.
• Tourists, seasonal residents, and townies each play a meaningful role in the ecosystem. One-time donors bring energy, visibility, and new connections when they matter most. Long-term supporters reveal themselves through aligned values and deeper engagement.
• Lasting relationships grow through purpose, connection, and involvement beyond giving. Inviting donors into stories, conversations, or behind-the-scenes roles builds ownership. When people feel seen and included, loyalty naturally strengthens and expands.
• Not every donor will stay forever, and that is part of a healthy pipeline. Letting go with appreciation frees energy to invest in aligned relationships. Focusing on shared values ensures every interaction remains meaningful and mutual.

“Our job is to give them meaningful experience while they're with us and release them with gratitude when they're ready to go.”

“Every donor plays a role in your ecosystem. You know, tourists bring energy and visibility, townies bring depth and sustainability, and there's space in between them, where just the relationships involved.”

“Relationship first, money will follow that. Build belonging, not just giving.” 

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Key Takeaways:

• Goals are meant to guide, not judge. When they serve as a compass instead of a scorecard, they inspire growth and unity instead of strain or shame. Progress becomes something to celebrate, not a verdict on worth.
• Nonprofit leaders often walk the line between big dreams and achievable results. Rigid focus on financial targets can create tension and burnout, but realistic goals rooted in purpose help teams stay motivated and grounded.
• True success goes beyond numbers. Relationships, learning, and consistent effort shape sustainable impact. By valuing process over perfection, organizations can find meaning in every outcome—good or bad.
• Lasting results come from people, not pressure. Relationship-building should be prioritized over transactions, with gratitude and reflection fueling resilience, renewal, and authentic growth for the long run.

“Rejection isn't the opposite of success. It is part of success.”

“Goals should stretch us, not strain us. They should unite, connect us, not divide us, and they should inspire us to grow, not shame us for being human.”

“Remember: every ‘no’ refines your ‘yes’. You're not rejected, you're redirected. Rejection is protection.”

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Key Takeaways:

• Goals are meant to guide, not judge. When they serve as a compass instead of a scorecard, they inspire growth and unity instead of strain or shame. Progress becomes something to celebrate, not a verdict on worth.
• Nonprofit leaders often walk the line between big dreams and achievable results. Rigid focus on financial targets can create tension and burnout, but realistic goals rooted in purpose help teams stay motivated and grounded.
• True success goes beyond numbers. Relationships, learning, and consistent effort shape sustainable impact. By valuing process over perfection, organizations can find meaning in every outcome—good or bad.
• Lasting results come from people, not pressure. Relationship-building should be prioritized over transactions, with gratitude and reflection fueling resilience, renewal, and authentic growth for the long run.

“Goals should stretch us, not strain us. They should unite, connect us, not divide us, and they should inspire us to grow, not shame us for being human.”

“What if we saw goals as a compass instead of a scorecard? It gives us direction, but it doesn’t judge us.”

“The growth comes from the receptivity of all of it: what worked and what didn’t, because everything was progress, everything was a lesson, everything was information.” 

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Key Takeaways:

• True commitment begins with finding like-minded people, not convincing others to care. Instead of pitching or pushing, nonprofits should focus on shared values and invite donors into a community built on authentic connection.
• Meaningful conversations start with listening, not selling. By asking thoughtful questions and validating donors’ stories, organizations create space for people to feel seen and heard, laying the groundwork for lasting trust.
• Letting go of results transforms how we communicate. When fundraisers detach from fear or pressure, they become more open to honesty, mutual respect, and new possibilities that turn rejection into redirection and growth.
• Donors move naturally toward giving when each step feels like their choice. Using small yeses, open-ended questions, and calm follow-ups helps convert interest into action while maintaining dignity and genuine rapport.

“People buy to the level they feel seen and heard. Your job isn’t to convince—it’s to listen.”

“If you’re making friends with someone because they have money, that’s manipulation. Build relationships first; the money will follow.”

“Authentic, honest, transparent relationships create loyal donors for life.”

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Javan Van Gronigen is the Co-Founder of Donately, a leading fundraising platform that has processed over $180M in donations for 1,400+ nonprofits. With 15+ years in digital marketing and social impact, he helped create accessible, transparent fundraising technology after his work on the global Kony 2012 campaign.

Key Takeaways:

Nonprofits thrive when they align marketing, storytelling, and data into a unified approach that strengthens both mission and message, especially when working with small teams and limited resources.

Tools like Donately, Google Analytics, and AI empower nonprofits to personalize donor experiences, track engagement, and make informed decisions that drive sustainable growth.

Establishing a steady rhythm—such as quarterly roadmaps—helps organizations stay consistent while leaving room to explore new ideas, platforms, and emerging technologies.

Nonprofits that take risks, communicate openly, and lead with authenticity build stronger trust, greater visibility, and lasting donor relationships.

“Act like for-profit businesses, take those risks. You will be rewarded for that if you're more bold and you go after being unique in that space.”

“With AI...you just have the ability to audit and look through mounds of information far better than you used to. Understanding who your audience is, what's working, what's not, that's really critical.”

“If you don't know where your donors are coming from, you don't know where to put your money.”   

- Javan Van Gronigen

Reach out to Javan Van Gronigen at:

Website: http://www.donately.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/javanvangronigen/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wearedonately
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/donately_org/
X: https://x.com/donately

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Key Takeaways:

• True leadership success is measured by alignment with your values and season of life. It is not about busyness but about making intentional, sustainable choices that bring fulfillment.
• Leadership has natural rhythms of growth, energy, refinement, and rest. Recognizing and embracing each season allows leaders to act with clarity and avoid burnout.
• Success is reflected in energized weeks, meaningful relationships, lasting influence, and personal joy. Leadership thrives when others feel better and positive change continues.
• Lead from peace, set boundaries, and focus on depth over breadth. Continuously evolve your definition of success to expand in wisdom and align your leadership with purpose.

“Sometimes you have to stop moving to see where you're really going.”

“Busyness is not being important. It's just filling your life with stuff so you can feel important.”

“Joy is not optional. It's a leadership strategy.”

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

David Blyer is the Co-Founder, CEO, and President of Arreva, a leading provider of fundraising and donor relationship management software for nonprofits. With over three decades in the industry, he’s passionate about helping organizations strengthen donor engagement through technology and innovation.

He previously founded DonorCommunity, the first all-in-one fundraising software for nonprofits, and co-founded Arreva through a merger with Susan Packard Orr’s company, Telosa. Earlier in his career, David led Vento Software, later acquired by SPSS and IBM. He also serves on NonProfit PRO’s Editorial Advisory Board.

Key Takeaways:

• Donor acquisition and retention decline not because people stop caring—but because organizations often fail to acknowledge and engage donors quickly and personally.
• Fragmented systems hurt relationships. When fundraising, events, and CRM data don’t “talk” to each other, nonprofits lose time, insight, and donor trust.
• Integration and automation empower nonprofits to respond faster, personalize communication, and strengthen long-term loyalty.
• Timely gratitude matters: reaching out within 48–72 hours after an event or donation dramatically increases donor satisfaction and retention.
• Peer-to-peer fundraising, when integrated into a nonprofit’s ecosystem (unlike GoFundMe), helps acquire new donors, foster engagement, and turn supporters into ambassadors.
• A donor-centric website and seamless online giving experience—especially mobile-friendly—serve as the foundation of modern fundraising success.

"I can honestly say I'm so proud of the team that I have. I've never had the opportunity to work with a collective team like this and and be so proud of them every single day."

"When you're a nonprofit, I caution you do not use GoFundMe, because I'll tell you why, what you want to have, and I go back to software you want to have a pit. I'll call it, as opposed to a GoFundMe. I look at that as what I will call the peer to peer fundraising."

"But my challenge has always been and now I'm very frustrated that my last tribute gift and I just gave another one, but my last tribute gift, it's been four months. I didn't get any acknowledgement that the person I gave a tribute gift to...was acknowledged."

"61% of donors worldwide prefer giving online. So if you're giving your volunteers, if you're giving your board members, maybe even your active donors, the ability to send something out online, there's a better chance of them raising more money and an easier way of doing this."

- David Blyer

Reach out to David Blyer at:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arreva/

Website (Company): https://www.arreva.com/

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

Key Takeaways:

• True leadership often means loosening your grip. You cannot force outcomes, timelines, or people, but you can release and lead with trust. Surrender opens space for wisdom and growth.
• Surrender is not weakness but strength in disguise. Rest becomes a strategic act when we allow it to restore us. In slowing down, we sharpen clarity and courage.
• Perfection and rigid plans weigh leaders down. Balance is found in the natural rhythm of effort and rest. Honoring both flow and pause leads to sustainable impact.
• Leadership is not a solo journey but a shared one. Trusting your team and support network empowers them to rise higher. In giving space, you multiply strength together.

“Surrender isn't weakness. It's wisdom. Choosing rest is a strategic decision.”

“Let go of perfection and timelines. Whatever you missed happened anyway. It's all okay, nothing's going to pass you by.”

“Balance comes from rhythm, not rigidity. Leadership is expansion and contraction. Go with the flow… honoring the rest as much as the pushes, honoring the ebb and the flow.” 

- Maryanne Dersch

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker

A Canadian direct response strategist, designer, and author with over 25 years of experience. He champions donor-centered approaches that prioritize authenticity and emotional connection. His 2022 book, Creative Deviations, has inspired fundraisers worldwide to embrace creativity in storytelling and communication. John brings warmth, insight, and a human-first philosophy to every stage. Empowering fundraisers to build more meaningful donor relationships.

Key Takeaways:

• Donor relationships thrive when leaders allow open, honest dialogue rooted in empathy. Vulnerability invites trust, making it easier for supporters to share openly and feel truly heard.
• Engagement comes not from polished presentations but from being human. Dropping the “professional bubble wrap” allows values-driven conversations that foster deeper bonds.
• Direct mail and appeals work best when they feel one-to-one, conversational, and emotionally compelling. Donors respond when a message feels like it was written just for them.
• Great fundraising relies on trusting experienced people and never losing vulnerability. Staying passionate and authentic ensures both donors and leaders stay connected to the deeper “why.”

“We’re being emotional. We’re connecting with each other as humans. That’s how we create engagement with donors. … Not by me showing up a suit and tie and in a big desk with gold stuff around me.”

“The more mail looks personal and looks like I sent it to you, the better it performs all the time…”

“We want donors feeling something. It’s the emotions that make us take action. And it can be joy, it can be anger, it can be sadness, whatever it is.” 

- John Lepp

Reach out to John Lepp at:

LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/johnlepp

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnlepp_aog/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AgentsofGood/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/agentsofgood

Let’s Work Together to Amplify Your Leadership + Influence

1. Group Coaching for Nonprofit Leaders

Want to lead with more clarity, confidence, and influence? My group coaching program is designed for nonprofit leaders who are ready to communicate more powerfully, navigate challenges with ease, and move their organizations forward.

2. Team Coaching + Training

I work hands-on with nonprofit teams to strengthen leadership, improve communication, and align around a shared vision. Whether you’re growing fast or feeling stuck, we’ll create more clarity, collaboration, and momentum—together.

3. Board Retreats + Trainings

Your board has big potential. I’ll help you unlock it. My engaging, no-fluff retreats and trainings are built to energize your board, refocus on what matters, and generate real results.

Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com

Connect with Maryanne about her coaching programs:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/connect

Book Maryanne to speak at your conference:

https://www.courageouscommunication.com/nonprofit-keynote-speaker