Did you know that 88% of nonprofits operate on less than $500,000? Kenita Smith started H.O.P.E, Inc. with no nonprofit experience, no donors, and no grants, AND grew the organization from $11,000 to nearly $900,000 (!)

Kenita founded H.O.P.E after her own experience as a single parent trying to finish college, and one of her biggest growth strategies was getting out and telling that story. Whenever she spoke, they raised money, so she made it a goal to speak somewhere every single month.

We talk about why Kenita went years without paying herself, the pressure she felt to prove the organization was legitimate, and why 100% board buy-in is non-negotiable for a growing nonprofit. Plus, after helping more than 100 parents graduate and coaching 58 nonprofit CEOs, she shares what she’s building toward next.

Resources & Links

Connect with Kenita on LinkedIn and learn more about H.O.P.E, Inc. on their website.

This episode is presented by The Monthly Giving Builder. Generate your comprehensive monthly giving plan and build your program step by step - with a guided companion working alongside you from start to finish.

Now is the time to start making your plans for GivingTuesday. Visit GivingTuesday.org/participate for resources and inspiration.

Save the date for our next Monthly Giving Summit on February 25, 2027. Apply to speak here!

Applications are now open for the 2027 Mini Monthly Giving Mastermind and Retreat. If you have built a monthly giving program, join our high-touch peer coaching community for nonprofit leaders who are ready to break through.

Supercharge your monthly giving program and apply for my Monthly Giving VIP Intensive session. Only 2 spots are available this fall!

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Once a CEO, always a CEO? That's not how my current guest sees it. Tammy Tibbetts started She’s the First at 23, became its first employee after landing two $25,000 grants, and spent nearly 17 years leading the organization through growth, workforce reductions, and ultimately a merger with Girl Rising.

Her biggest lesson from that entire arc? The unglamorous work you’re doing every day is building the muscle you’ll need for the challenges you can’t see coming yet.

We talk about what Tammy learned from some of her loneliest years as a solo CEO, why strong boards should be looking after the CEO as a whole person, and a question we don’t talk about enough: what comes AFTER the CEO title? Tammy makes such a good case for why former CEOs can bring an entirely different level of perspective to philanthropy, chief of staff roles, and other seats at the table.

Resources & Links

Learn more about Tammy Tibbetts on her website, and check out her Merger Diaries series on LinkedIn.

Learn more about She’s the First and Girl Rising.

International Women’s Forum

This episode is presented by The Monthly Giving Builder. Generate your comprehensive monthly giving plan and build your program step by step - with a guided companion working alongside you from start to finish.

Now is the time to start making your plans for GivingTuesday. Visit GivingTuesday.org/participate for resources and inspiration.

Save the date for our next Monthly Giving Summit on February 25, 2027. Apply to speak here!

Applications are now open for the 2027 Mini Monthly Giving Mastermind and Retreat. If you have built a monthly giving program, join our high-touch peer coaching community for nonprofit leaders who are ready to break through.

Supercharge your monthly giving program and apply for my Monthly Giving VIP Intensive session. Only 2 spots are available this fall!

Let's Connect!

• Send a DM on Instagram or LinkedIn and let us know what you think of the show!
• My book, The Monthly Giving Mastermind, is here! Grab ...

When a high schooler at NewComm manages a $10,000 budget, the money is real. So is the authority, and so are the neighborhoods they're designing solutions for.

Chidi Asoluka spent 16 years as a classroom teacher before founding NewComm, a civic design studio where high schoolers from historically marginalized communities pair literature with real community challenges. He joins me in Atlanta for a special in-person CEO Series episode to share how a dream about Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon became an English elective in Philadelphia, then a summer program for 11 students, and now serves more than 150 students in the Bronx, with Brooklyn coming this fall.

We also talk about the bank CEO who paid his full Georgetown tuition, why success shouldn't require erasure, how senior "managing partners" help run the organization, and how the Net Gala, the first project students funded with their $10,000 budget, became NewComm's annual fundraiser.

Resources & Links

Learn more about NewComm and follow along on Instagram. Connect with Chidi on Instagram and LinkedIn.

Watch Chidi's TED Talk

This episode is presented by The Monthly Giving Builder. Generate your comprehensive monthly giving plan and build your program step by step - with a guided companion working alongside you from start to finish.

Now is the time to start making your plans for GivingTuesday. Visit GivingTuesday.org/participate for resources and inspiration.

Save the date for our next Monthly Giving Summit on February 25, 2027. Apply to speak here!

Applications are now open for the 2027 Mini Monthly Giving Mastermind and Retreat. If you have built a monthly giving program, join our high-touch peer coaching community for nonprofit leaders who are ready to break through.

Supercharge your monthly giving program and apply for my Monthly Giving VIP Intensive session. Only 2 spots are available this fall!

Let's Connect!

• Send a DM on Instagram or LinkedIn and let us know what you think of the show!
• My book, The Monthly Giving Mastermind, is here! Grab ...