Innovation Starts with Nonprofit and Association Culture with Elizabeth Engel and Jamie Notter
Release Date: 11/18/2025
Nonprofit Strategic Planning for Clarity, Alignment, and Focus in a Turbulent World
Nonprofit Mission: Impact
Strategic planning at its best offers nonprofit leaders a way to create clarity, alignment, and shared direction in an increasingly uncertain environment. Unfortunately some have experienced strategic planning processes that felt like a really heavy lift—or even found the process and the resulting plan constraining. Episode Highlights 00:03:00 – Common fears and misconceptions about strategic planning 00:05:00 – How strategic planning creates alignment and shared direction 00:07:38 – Planning in times of uncertainty and the reality of disruption 00:09:00 – The value of...
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Strategic podcasting for nonprofits with Andrea Klunder
Nonprofit Mission: Impact
How can nonprofits use podcasting strategically to strengthen community engagement, support learning and evaluation, and build long-term relationships? In episode 146 of Nonprofit Mission: Impact, host Carol Hamilton and Andrea Klunder, founder of Creative Imposter Studios discuss: how nonprofits can use podcasting intentionally—not as a shiny communications add-on that fizzles after the original project champion leaves the organization, but as a tool that solves real organizational problems. How podcasting is a flexible medium that can support learning, evaluation, community...
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Podcasthon 2026: Nonprofit Sector Under Pressure: Why It Matters More Than Ever
Nonprofit Mission: Impact
The nonprofit sector is under growing pressure, and this episode explores what’s at stake while making the case for its essential role in filling gaps, strengthening democracy, building community, and driving social change—grounded in a personal story of impact through The Arc of Montgomery County. In this special Podcasthon episode, Nonprofit Mission: Impact host Carol Hamilton situates the nonprofit sector within a broader moment of political and social pressure, naming both the challenges facing the sector and the essential role nonprofits play in society. She: - reflects on the...
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Conferences & Convenings that Engage for Nonprofits & Associations with Lee Gimpel
Nonprofit Mission: Impact
Too many nonprofit and association conferences and convenings are built around logistics and tradition rather than purpose and participation. In episode 144 of Nonprofit Mission: Impact, Carol Hamilton and Lee Gimpel challenge nonprofit and association leaders to rethink how convenings, conferences, and member events are designed. They discuss: why too many gatherings feel like a heavy lift that fails to deliver connection, energy, or real value. why traditional conference formats fall short—and what leaders can do differently. How effective events start with purpose,...
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People Centered HR for Nonprofits with MR Rolfe
Nonprofit Mission: Impact
People-centered HR isn’t a luxury—it’s essential. Learn how nonprofit leaders can build equitable, transparent, and humane people practices that strengthen their organizations, even amid uncertainty and limited resources. In episode 143 of Nonprofit Mission: Impact, Carol Hamilton speaks with Megan Rolfe about: what it really means to practice people-centered HR in nonprofit and social-change organizations—especially small teams navigating limited resources, rising uncertainty, and growing demands for equity. reframing HR not as a compliance or risk-management function, but...
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When Strategy Meets Organization Design for Nonprofits with Jeanne Bell
Nonprofit Mission: Impact
Nonprofit organization design is about how an organization works: how decisions get made, how power flows, how people collaborate across boundaries, and how strategy actually gets translated into day-to-day action. In episode 142, of Nonprofit Mission: Impact, Carol Hamilton and Jeanne Bell dig deeply into why organization design—often overlooked or reduced to org charts—is actually a missing discipline nonprofits need to truly operationalize their strategy and values. They discuss: How nonprofits are too often stuck in false dichotomies (flat vs. hierarchical), Why too many...
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Practicing Presence in Polarized Times for nonprofits and associations with Danielle Marshall
Nonprofit Mission: Impact
Polarization isn’t just a political issue—it’s a leadership challenge, and this episode examines how nonprofit leaders can respond with presence rather than reactivity. In this “Learning Out Loud" episode of Nonprofit Mission: Impact, host Carol Hamilton and guest Danielle Marshall explore how nonprofit leaders can navigate today’s polarized environment with greater awareness, empathy, and intention. Together they: Explore the tension between “winning” difficult conversations and staying grounded, clarifying purpose, and choosing ‘right relationship’ over being right. ...
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Scenario Planning for Nonprofits in Uncertain Times with Carol Hamilton
Nonprofit Mission: Impact
As nonprofit leaders move into 2026, uncertainty no longer feels episodic—it feels constant. Scenario planning offers nonprofit leaders a practical way to navigate uncertainty by shifting from reactive decision-making to clearer priorities, stronger alignment, and more confident, values-aligned choices—even when the future is unpredictable. In this episode of Nonprofit Mission: Impact, host Carol Hamilton names the fatigue, overwhelm, and decision paralysis many leaders are carrying after this past year of heightened disruption. She introduces scenario planning as a practical, grounding...
info_outline![[Re-release] Grounded presence for nonprofit leaders in chaotic times with Danielle Marshall show art](https://assets.libsyn.com/content/196699110?height=50&width=50)
[Re-release] Grounded presence for nonprofit leaders in chaotic times with Danielle Marshall
Nonprofit Mission: Impact
Explore how nonprofit leaders can cultivate grounded presence, clarify their sphere of control, and stay anchored in mission and values while leading through ongoing uncertainty and disruption. As nonprofit leaders continue navigating unprecedented levels of uncertainty, this “learning out loud” episode of Nonprofit Mission: Impact, host Carol Hamilton and guest Danielle Marshall offers a grounded, human-centered exploration of how leaders can steady themselves—and their organizations—amid chaos. Drawing on lived experience, strategic frameworks, and resilience practices, the...
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Strategic questions for strategic thinking for nonprofit leaders with Carol Hamilton
Nonprofit Mission: Impact
Strategy for nonprofits is not a plan to perfect but a human practice—built through care, curiosity, and intentional choices in the face of uncertainty. As the year draws to a close, episode 138 of Nonprofit Mission: Impact brings together reflections from a wide range of nonprofit leaders and thinkers, all responding to one central question: What should nonprofit leaders ask themselves to be more strategic? Across topics as varied as crisis management, equity, careers, evaluation, organizational design, culture, and innovation, a clear throughline emerges—strategy is deeply human...
info_outlineIn episode 136 of Nonprofit Mission: Impact, Carol Hamilton, Elizabeth Engel, and Jamie Notter talk about their new white paper Lean at 10: Culture Eats Methodology for Lunch. Ten years after Engel first explored Lean Startup principles in the nonprofit and association world, she and Notter revisit what’s changed—and what hasn’t. Carol, Elizabeth and Jamie discuss:
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Why the tools of innovation are accessible, yet the real challenge in adoption lies in organizational culture.
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how competing commitments, fear of failure, and rigid silos can quietly sabotage innovation efforts
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what leaders can do instead to nurture learning, empathy, and experimentation.
For nonprofit and association leaders navigating rapid change, this conversation offers a candid look at how to build cultures that support innovation—not resist it.
Episode highlights:
[00:06:00] Revisiting Lean Startup, 10 Years Later
[00:010:50] Defining Lean Startup and Design Thinking
[00:011:50] Culture: The Invisible Barrier
[00:014:40] When Culture Undermines Innovation
[00:19:00] Insight Over Perfection
[00:22:00] People Don’t Resist Change—They Resist Being Changed
[00:24:40] Low Fences, Not No Silos
[00:27:00] Listening Beyond the Boardroom
[00:30:40] Volunteer Culture Matters Too
[00:31:00] The Role of Healthy Conflict
[00:37:35] What a Culture Supportive of Innovation Looks Like
[00:41:20] From Reactive to Proactive Transparency
[00:44:35] The Questions Nonprofit Leaders Should Ask
Guest Bios:
Elizabeth Weaver Engel, M.A., CAE, is Chief Strategist at Spark Consulting. For more than 25 years, Elizabeth has helped associations grow in membership, marketing, communications, public presence, and especially revenue, which is what Spark is all about. She speaks and writes frequently on a variety of topics in association management. When she's not helping associations grow, Elizabeth loves to dance, listen to live music, cook, and garden.
Jamie Notter is a speaker, author, consultant, and culture scientist. His career spans 30 years, with more than a decade of research and practice in the culture field, as well as deep experience in areas like conflict resolution and generations. He desperately wants to make work suck less for everyone, and has written four popular business books, including the award-winning Non-Obvious Guide to Employee Engagement, and his latest release, Culture Change Made Easy. He holds a Master’s in conflict resolution from George Mason and a certificate in Organization Development from Georgetown, where he served as adjunct faculty.
Important Links and Resources:
https://www.getmespark.com/blog/
https://jamienotter.com/research-books/
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