Newsletter
A monthly newsletter for nonprofit leaders.
Issue 6: Brilliance Is Overrated. Reliability Is Underrated.
One year in. The pattern that explained the difference between organizations that grew major giving and the ones that didn't. It wasn't charisma, breakthrough programming, or cultural relevance. It was this.
Issue 5: December 31st Is Not the Finish Line. It Is the Starting Line.
We mistake beginnings for endings — and it costs us the next gift. A reframe for what it means to close a campaign, land a major gift, or wrap a successful year.
Issue 4: The Awe Never Fully Left Me
A $20,000 grant letter. The wonder that people choose to give. The gratitude and the grief that live together in this work. On what it means to still be moved by this after twenty years.
Issue 3: A Windfall Gift Is Not a Spending Decision. It Is a Leadership Transition.
Most nonprofits are prepared for scarcity. Almost none are prepared for abundance. This issue unpacks what the leaders who navigated major unexpected gifts learned — and what they wish they'd known first.
Issue 2: The Sector Is Being Funded Backwards
Funders say they want innovative solutions but won't pay for the infrastructure that makes innovation possible. Here's the honest cost of that gap — and what it means for the leaders trying to build inside it.
Issue 1: There Is a Season of Her Career She Does Not Talk About in Detail
The origin story of The Gravity Collective — why she left, how consulting found her, and the walk where a word stopped her cold. Plus: how to get a major donor to call you back.
The newsletter nonprofit leaders forward to their boards.
Once a month, the deep thinking you don't have time to do yourself — on fundraising strategy, donor relationships, board leadership, and how to raise what your mission is worth. Practical frameworks. Real-world tools. Ideas you can put to work the same week.
Subscribe and receive the Add a Zero framework free: a practical guide to helping your organization stop underasking and start raising gifts at the level your mission deserves.
Speaking & Facilitation
Shannon speaks and facilitates for nonprofit leaders, boards, and development teams. Three signature talks, available as talks or workshops.