Make Nonprofits Profitable™ | For Nonprofit Leaders Who Want to Diversify Revenue, Build Capacity & Scale to Sustain Impact

Make Nonprofits Profitable™ challenges the conventional thinking holding nonprofits back from achieving their full impact. Each episode leaves you with a new perspective, an idea or tool you can actually apply to diversify funding, strengthen operations, and advance your mission. Build the organization your impact demands. By being the business you are.

Make Nonprofits Profitable™ | For Nonprofit Leaders Who Want to Diversify Revenue, Build Capacity & Scale to Sustain Impact is a business podcast hosted by Tanja Horan, with 25 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Tanja Horan hosts Make Nonprofits Profitable™ | For Nonprofit Leaders Who Want to Diversify Revenue, Build Capacity & Scale to Sustain Impact, a business show with 25 episodes published.

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  Make Nonprofits Profitable™ | For Nonprofit Leaders Who Want to Diversify Revenue, Build Capacity & Scale to Sustain Impact

  EP 24 [BONUS] Nonprofit Storytelling That Sparks Action: Tell the Human Story Behind Your Impact Numbers, with Ashley Cadis, Nathan Cadis Media

  Oct 2, 202633 min

  How can transforming story from a gala line item into a strategic asset ignite true momentum for your nonprofit? Ashley Cadis is a nonprofit veteran, Emmy-winning storyteller, and co-founder of Nathan Cadis Media. With nearly 20 years of experience in poverty reduction, foundation work, and community impact, Ashley helps mission-driven organizations uncover, shape, and share stories that matter. Her strategic approach to story leads nonprofits to elevate their missions, connect deeply, and build sustainable impact well beyond gala night. In our conversation, Ashley shares Why story is a strategic asset that reveals the human truth behind an organization's mission, not just a fundraising tool. How building a story strategy, beyond gala videos creates consistent, dignity-centered impact across every touchpoint. What nonprofits risk missing when they let messaging override the human element or try to tell every story instead of focusing on less for more movement. If you're struggling to clearly communicate your nonprofit's value, stuck in repetitive messaging, or unsure how to elevate your mission through storytelling, this episode is packed with actionable insights to reimagine your approach. Build the organization your impact demands. By being the business you are. KEY TOPICS The difference between messaging and true, human-centered storytelling for nonprofits [00:07:48] Why film is "downstream" of a much deeper process of uncovering and shaping impact stories [00:11:23] How story strategy becomes a core organizational asset, not just a gala budget line item [00:16:06] The hidden cost of leaving out the human element: how momentum is lost when story = stats [00:23:24] "Less is more": why focusing on fewer, well-told stories creates bigger movement and connection [00:27:06] About Ashley Cadis Ashley Cadis is co-founder of Nathan Cadis Media, a global storyteller who helps mission-driven organizations connect human stories to the strategy moving their organizations forward. She leads a documentary team with more than 25 years of combined film and production experience. With nearly 20 years in the nonprofit sector and a master's degree in International Development, Ashley has worked from the grassroots and program level through serving as a Director of Development leading fundraising efforts, a member of senior leadership teams, a board member, and a strategic advisor. Her experience spans inner-city and rural communities, under-resourced communities in the U.S. and abroad, small businesses, grassroots organizations, and large nonprofits. Over time, that work has expanded into a global storytelling focus, with projects across South America, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. She brings those perspectives together through a dignity-centered approach to story that holds heart, mission, and strategy together, helping leaders uncover the human truths and stories that can move people toward meaningful action. She believes people are often one story away from their next meaningful movement—giving, volunteering, advocating, participating, or seeing an issue differently—and that story is one of humanity's oldest tools for helping people understand what matters. Ashley LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleymcadis/ About Nathan Cadis Media Nathan Cadis Media is a story-first strategy and production company that helps mission-driven organizations uncover, shape, and share the stories that make their work matter. We work with nonprofits, ministries, and social-impact organizations to translate complex missions into clear, human stories that build trust, deepen connection, and create momentum. Rather than treating storytelling as simply marketing or content creation, we help organizations see it as a strategic asset—one that can strengthen fundraising, clarify value, engage partners and customers, and support long-term growth. Through narrative strategy, documentary filmmaking, and ongoing story development, we help organizations communicate not only what they do, but why it matters and why people should want to participate in it. Company website: www.nathancadis.com About Elevate for Sustainability Elevate for Sustainability is for nonprofit leaders and change agents who can see what is possible, know there is more within reach, and want greater clarity around the next move that can help get them there. A one-day, interactive, insight-driven workshop for senior nonprofit leaders, board directors, and key members of their teams ready to step outside the day-to-day, gain fresh perspective, and get clearer on what their organization needs next across four expert lenses: Earned Revenue, Board Governance, Executive Capacity, Story Strategy. Learn More at www.elevateforsustainability.com . Houston, Nov 11, 2026. Connect with Ashley Cadis LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleymcadis/ Website: https://www.nathancadismedia.com/ Websites and Social Company Website: tacosa360.com Impact Catapult: www.impactcatapult.com YouTube: youtube.com/@Tacosa360 Connect with Tanja LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tanjahoran Topics nonprofit storytelling strategy, uncovering human-centered stories, dignity in nonprofit messaging, ROI of story in film, building sustainable impact, nonprofit story infrastructure, elevating impact through story, narrative consistency across organizations, innovation in nonprofit communications, movement and ripple effects of story, internal nonprofit narratives, less-is-more in storytelling, event-based nonprofit learning, sustainable nonprofit leadership, elevating organizational value through story

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  Episode #23

  What Do You Do When Growth Outpaces Your People Strategy: Queie Barnett, Kysin LLC

  Sep 15, 202639 min

  What does it take to sustain your organization when your growth is outpacing your people strategy? In this Force Multiplier episode, Queie Barnett, Founder and Principal of Kysin LLC, a strategic people leadership firm for mission-driven organizations, shares her path from an early-career tenure at the Atlanta Community Food Bank under founder Bill Bowen to founding Kysin, where she brings Chief People Officer-level leadership to organizations whose growth has outpaced their people infrastructure. In our conversation, Queie shares Why a healthy organization means every people decision has a clear owner, and how that shift frees a leader to stop managing and start leading. Why burnout is a symptom of structure, not a standalone problem. What a new leader should do in their first few months before touching anything. If you're wearing every hat in your organization, trying to figure out when to delegate, or watching burnout surface no matter how hard your team works, this episode offers candid, practical insight. Build the organization your impact demands. By being the business you are. Key Takeaways A healthy organization gives every people decision a clear owner. Burnout isn't the problem itself. It's a symptom of a structure that was never built to support the work. Human capital is usually an organization's largest expense, but its infrastructure rarely gets the same intentional design as the financial side. New leaders should listen before they act by taking the first couple of months to understand who really drives the organization before making any changes. About Queie Barnett Queie Barnett is the founder and principal of Kysin LLC, a strategic people leadership firm serving founder-led and mission-driven organizations, typically between 40 and 400 employees, whose mission has grown faster than the people infrastructure behind it. She has spent more than 20 years doing people strategy at the executive level, building HR functions from the ground up across nonprofit, healthcare, manufacturing, technology, and professional services organizations. She has owned outcomes across talent strategy, compensation, culture, governance, and compliance and advised executive teams, boards, and funders on the people decisions that determine whether growth holds or unravels. She brings practical executive judgment shaped by years at the leadership table, the kind of thinking most growing organizations need long before they can justify a full-time executive hire. Queie holds SPHR and SHRM-SCP credentials. About Kysin LLC Kysin provides CHRO/CPO-level leadership to small and growing organizations that need experienced people strategy, governance, and risk oversight, without the cost or complexity of a full-time executive hire. Kysin serves as a people executive partner, accountable for how workforce strategy supports business goals. Connect with Queie Barnett LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/queiebarnett Kysin LLC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kysin-llc Website: www.kysinllc.com Email: QEB@kysinllc.com Websites and Social Company Website: tacosa360.com Impact Catapult: www.impactcatapult.com YouTube: youtube.com/@Tacosa360 Connect with Tanja LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tanjahoran Topics nonprofit HR infrastructure, delegation for nonprofit leaders, human capital strategy, nonprofit burnout prevention, scaling a growing nonprofit, nonprofit leadership development, organizational culture and structure, people strategy for mission-driven organizations

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  Episode #22

  EP 22 [Summer Spotlight] Ask the Hard Question: Is This Sustainable? Build Earned Revenue to Move Beyond Wish Money, with Shane Woods, Girlstart

  Sep 8, 202651 minS1

  What does it take to ask the hard question, "Is this sustainable?" And then put a plan in place? In this Force Multiplier episode, Shane Woods, Executive Director of Girlstart, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering girls in STEM, shares her journey leading the organization into its next stage of growth. Shane began her career as a middle school science teacher in Fort Worth ISD, rising over 17 years to K-12 Science Director for the entire district, and then served as Senior Director of the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas STEM Center of Excellence before joining Girlstart in 2022. Her work has earned her the Women Leading Technology Leadership Award and an invitation to the 2024 White House Summit on STEMM Equity and Excellence. Shane and I first met through Social Venture Partners Austin, when Girlstart was exploring new earned revenue ideas. In this episode, Shane shares perspective on the loneliness of leadership, why change happens incrementally, not overnight, and the discipline of asking not just what to add, but what to sunset. If you're navigating the loneliness of being an executive director, wrestling with how to diversify away from grant dependency, or asking what your organization needs to sunset in order to grow, this episode offers candid, practical insights. Build the organization your impact demands. By being the business you are. Key Takeaways · Leadership loneliness is real. Find people you trust to say the hard things out loud before taking them to your board. · Change happens incrementally, not overnight. Phase in big shifts. · Grant dependency is wish money, not guaranteed; earned revenue is a base you control. · Growth sometimes means sunsetting. Ask not just what to add, but what to prune. About Shane Woods Shane Woods doesn't just talk about closing the gender gap in STEM: she's built a career doing it. As Executive Director of Girlstart, she leads a nonprofit dedicated to empowering girls in STEM, bringing more than two decades of experience as a nationally recognized leader, author, and speaker in science education and equity. Shane began her career as a middle school science teacher in Fort Worth, rising over 17 years to K-12 Science Director for the entire district, then served as Senior Director of the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas STEM Center of Excellence before joining Girlstart in 2022. Her work has earned her the Women Leading Technology Leadership Award, Austin Women in Business Finalist honors, and the Rising Star Award from Women Who STEAM, Dallas Links Inc., along with an invitation to present at the 2024 White House Summit on STEMM Equity and Excellence. Shane holds an MS in Education and a BS in Biology, and stays deeply engaged in the broader education and youth development community through cofunding the North Texas Ecosystem, being a long-time partner of the Texas Girls Collaborative Project, and actively volunteering with the American Camp Association. About Girlstart Girlstart's mission is to empower girls through STEM. Girlstart envisions a future where all those who identify as girls believe they have the potential to change their world through STEM. Girlstart is a woman-founded, woman-led organization that has primarily offered year-round out-of-school STEM programming for girls in grades 4-8 in Texas, California, Massachusetts, and other locations nationwide. Girlstart is headquartered in Austin, Texas, where it was founded in 1997, and is an active part of its community, serving girls not only in its own STEM Center but also by meeting them in their schools and through family-focused events across the region. Since 1997, Girlstart has impacted more than 200,000 girls through after-school programs, summer camps, STEM career conferences, and community STEM education outreach. Connect with Shane Woods Website: girlstart.org LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/shane-woods-stem Websites and Social Company Website: tacosa360.com Impact Catapult: www.impactcatapult.com YouTube: youtube.com/@Tacosa360 Connect with Tanja LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tanjahoran Topics Nonprofit earned revenue, nonprofit sustainability, executive director leadership, nonprofit change management, nonprofit program sunsetting, women in STEM leadership, nonprofit grant dependency

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  Episode #21

  EP 21 [Summer Spotlight] Pay Now, Not Later: Invest in the ED-Board Chair Relationship and Guided Risk, with Susan Nichols, Connecting Communities Consulting

  Aug 31, 202645 min

  What does it take to bridge the business side of a nonprofit with its heart and vision? In this Force Multiplier episode, Susan Nichols shares wisdom gained from 33 years in the nonprofit sector. As founder of Connecting Communities Consulting, Susan helps nonprofits bridge the gaps between their mission, business, and community needs by refining their systems and structures, including their boards. When Susan and I first met, I was struck by her balance of being deeply relational and highly business-minded, with a real heart for nonprofit work. In this episode, she shares how the executive director and board chair relationship serves as a critical organizational health check, how a thrift store she led grew to nearly a million dollars a year, and her perspective on guided risk. If you're trying to align your board and your business strategy, wrestling with how much risk to take on a new revenue idea, or working through a season of change, this episode offers candid, practical insights. Build the organization your impact demands. By being the business you are. Key Takeaways The ED-board chair relationship is the real health check. Earned revenue builds real stability. Guided risk beats guessing because you pay for shortcuts either up front or in a costly crisis. Resistance to change is really fear of loss. About Susan Nichols Susan often says she got the best of both worlds from her parents. Her father ran her home like a Fortune 500 company. She even had to get three vendor bids for every part of her wedding. Her mother, on the other hand, had a heart full of compassion and was always willing to step outside her comfort zone to serve others. It was not unusual for Susan to come home and find a new stranger sitting on her couch. At first glance, those traits may seem like opposites: highly administrative and deeply relational. But over time, they merged and became part of her DNA. After 33 years in the nonprofit world, Susan has come to realize how rare it is to truly love both the business and visionary sides of nonprofit work. She understands the board members who want to see the strategic plan, financials, project metrics, and measurable outcomes. She also understands the executive director who keeps a journal by the bedside, because inspiration often comes at unexpected moments, and the next big idea needs to be written down before it slips away. Susan's upbringing, combined with her years of experience in the nonprofit sector, helped her recognize the need to bridge these two worlds. That realization led her to create Connecting Communities Consulting. She believes there is a tremendous opportunity to help well-intentioned nonprofits adopt strong industry practices while staying deeply connected to their mission and vision. Her goal is to help organizations become more sustainable, strategic, and effective. She is a lifelong learner, and she is grateful to serve as a bridge, helping connect the dots that transform organizations. About Connecting Communities Consulting Connecting Communities Consulting helps nonprofits bridge the gap between their mission, business, and community needs by focusing on refining their systems and structures. She uses relational insight and 33-plus years of nonprofit experience to align your team for amplified community impact. Connecting Communities Consulting works with nonprofit executives and their boards who are relational and are equally focused on the business aspects of running a nonprofit. Services include building systems and structures tailored for an organization through: Leadership Development, Organizational Development, and Community Development. Connect with Susan Nichols Website: connectingcommunitiesconsulting.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dr-susan-nichols Websites and Social Company Website: tacosa360.com Impact Catapult: www.impactcatapult.com YouTube: youtube.com/@Tacosa360 Connect with Tanja LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tanjahoran Topics Nonprofit earned revenue, nonprofit strategy, executive director and board chair relationship, nonprofit board governance, nonprofit leadership, nonprofit business sustainability, nonprofit organizational development, change management

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  Episode #20

  EP 20 [Summer Spotlight] Earned Revenue: Adds Credibility, Not Just Funding, with Jacob Blaeser, Ventures ATL

  Aug 24, 202643 min

  What does it take to provide career opportunities for a talented workforce that's traditionally overlooked? In this Force Multiplier episode, part of the podcast's Summer Spotlight series, Tanja Horan sits down with Jacob Blaeser, President of Ventures ATL, a nonprofit closing the employment gap for the neurodivergent community. Jacob shares his unexpected path — from a childhood love of sports, through engineering and management consulting — to leading Ventures ATL, a professional services firm designed to accentuate its employees' strengths in data-, process-, and AI-centric services, where the very attributes that define their neurodivergence enable them to be uniquely skilled for the task. One of Ventures ATL's earliest hires recently celebrated nine years with the company — a milestone worth celebrating for a population that has traditionally been underestimated in the job market. In their conversation, Jacob shares why he believes earned revenue gives a nonprofit's mission credibility and substance, his "three C's" — clarity, creativity, content — for nonprofits starting an earned-revenue strategy, and his advice to start with just one thing: one channel, one product, one strategy, before trying to do it all. If you're building an earned-revenue strategy, wrestling with the tension between mission and money, or figuring out how to grow without overcomplicating your model, this episode offers candid, practical insights. Build the organization your impact demands. By being the business you are. Key Takeaways • Neurodiversity: It's not a disability, it's a different ability. • Earned revenue gives the mission credibility, not just capital. • Start with one thing when starting an earned revenue stream. • Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good enough. About Jacob Blaeser My first word was ball and I dreamed of being a professional athlete. Faith is integral to who I am and is the lens through which I see the world. My mom was a teacher and thus education has always been an important driver in my family through high school, undergrad, and grad school. I love people, travel, food, movement, learning, and spending time outdoors. About Ventures ATL Ventures ATL is solving the unemployment gap within the neurodivergent community. It is a mission-driven organization that believes the autism community is talented but thus far overlooked and underutilized in the working world. Ventures ATL has designed a professional services firm that accentuates its employees' strengths while navigating around things that have traditionally been hurdles. Ventures ATL provides data-, process-, and AI-centric services where the very attributes that define its employees' neurodiversity enable them to be uniquely skilled for the task. Connect with Jacob Blaeser LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jacobcblaeser Ventures ATL: venturesatl.com Websites and Social Company Website: tacosa360.com Impact Catapult: www.impactcatapult.com YouTube: youtube.com/@Tacosa360 Connect with Tanja LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tanjahoran Topics neurodivergent workforce, employment gap, direct employment model, nonprofit earned revenue, data-centric services, AI support services, neurodiversity, nonprofit strategy

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