Most nonprofit events spend dollars to raise dimes. Here's what event-based fundraising actually requires — and why relationships beat revenue every time.

Full Episode Description:

Most nonprofit fundraising events fail. Not because the cause isn't worthy or the venue isn't beautiful — but because the organization treats the event as the destination instead of the beginning.

In this episode, we explore the core ideas behind Let's Throw a Party: The Insider's Guide to Events That Actually Raise Money by Jordan H. Poole, drawn from his years running high-stakes fundraising events at Paradise Garden Foundation in Summerville, Georgia and beyond. The lessons apply whether you're running a historic preservation nonprofit, a food bank, an animal shelter, or an arts organization.

We break down why people actually give money — and it's rarely what you think. We walk through the five donor types every organization needs to understand, why your venue is already telling a story before a single guest arrives, and how the post-event window of 24 to 72 hours is the most important fundraising moment most nonprofits completely waste.

If your organization has ever planned an event that felt like a lot of work for modest results, this episode will show you exactly where the strategy broke down — and how to fix it.

Topics covered:

• Why authenticity and bold vision matter more than polished execution
• The five primary donor types and how to appeal to all of them in a single event
• How to develop your organization's story so it connects emotionally rather than just informationally
• Strategic event portfolio management and avoiding donor fatigue
• Experiential event formats that show your mission rather than describe it
• Using venue limitations as part of your authentic narrative
• Budget management — why most events lose money without realizing it
• Building and managing the event team, including generational considerations
• Sponsorship as a business partnership, not a charity ask
• The post-event stewardship window and why it determines long-term donor loyalty

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Tags/Keywords: nonprofit fundraising, event fundraising, nonprofit events, donor relations, fundraising strategy, event planning, Paradise Garden, Howard Finster, Jordan Poole, nonprofit consulting, donor cultivation, sponsorship strategy, nonprofit leadership, stewardship, community building, Postmodern Gypsy, Let's Throw a Party

Episode Category: Primary: Business Secondary: Society & Culture

How do you save an 18th-century building without turning it into a theme park? A preservationist's hard-won lessons from Mount Vernon to rural Georgia.

What does it actually take to save a piece of history? Not the romanticized version — the real version, with crumbling budgets, paralyzed boards, and buildings that have to earn their own survival.

In this episode, we look at historic preservation through the lens of Jordan Harris Poole, whose career spans George Washington's Mount Vernon, Howard Finster's visionary folk art environment in Summerville, Georgia, a 1700s restoration project in Le Mans, France, and a Quaker rock house in rural Thompson, Georgia that nearly collapsed — not from weather, but from community paralysis.

We explore why the "frozen in time" approach to preservation almost always fails, how historic properties can generate revenue without losing their soul, and why fixing the human infrastructure of an organization is often more urgent than fixing the physical one.

If you've ever wondered what happens behind the velvet rope, this episode is for you.

Topics covered:

• Adaptive reuse and short-term rental strategies for historic properties
• The forensic reality of restoring a building like Mount Vernon
• UNESCO World Heritage nomination process
• Folk art preservation and vernacular architecture
• Grant funding, nonprofit structure, and the competitive preservation economy
• Leadership succession and institutional knowledge

Learn more: pooldesigns.com

75% of U.S. residential land is zoned for single-family homes only. Here's how a 1926 Supreme Court case is still making housing unaffordable today.

In most major American cities, it is illegal to build anything other than a detached single-family home on 75% of residential land. That includes the 400-square-foot backyard cottage you've been thinking about. That includes a tiny home on wheels. That includes a small unit for your aging parent.

Why? The answer traces back to a 1926 Supreme Court decision that called apartments a "parasite" on residential neighborhoods — and whose framework still governs land use across the country today.

In this episode, we break down the mechanics of the American housing blockade: Euclidean zoning, building codes, setback requirements, the tiny home classification nightmare, and the NIMBY political machine that keeps it all in place. We also examine what happens when states stop waiting for local governments to act.

California stripped municipalities of the power to ban ADUs — and saw permitted units jump from 1,336 per year in 2016 to nearly 27,000 in 2023. Minneapolis eliminated single-family zoning citywide in 2018, and over the next five years average rents rose just 1% while other major cities saw double-digit spikes. In February 2026, a Georgia House committee advanced a bill to allow 400-square-foot tiny homes in most single-family backyards statewide.

The century-old rulebook is buckling. This episode explains why it took this long — and what comes next.

Topics covered:

• The 1926 Euclid v. Ambler Realty decision and the origins of single-family zoning
• How zoning was used as a tool of racial and economic segregation
• The difference between zoning ordinances and building codes — and why both block small housing
• Appendix Q of the International Residential Code and the tiny home legal pathway
• Why tiny homes on wheels fall into a classification no-man's-land
• The infrastructure paradox: why sprawl costs more than density
• California's ADU reform and the data behind its success
• The Minneapolis experiment and what a 1% rent increase over five years actually proves
• Georgia House Bill 1166 and the emerging state-level override movement
• The corporate buyout risk and owner-occupancy requirements as a potential safeguard

Learn more about housing consulting and strategy: pooldesigns.com

Tags/Keywords: tiny homes, ADU, accessory dwelling units, zoning laws, affordable housing, housing crisis, single family zoning, NIMBY, Euclidean zoning, housing reform, California ADU law, Minneapolis zoning, Georgia housing bill, tiny home laws, backyard cottage, missing middle housing, urban planning, housing policy, Postmodern Gypsy