I’ve spent more than twenty years helping nonprofits navigate expansions, mergers, closures, startups, restructurings, and bankruptcy.

 

I hold an MBA, but my real education came from sitting in rooms and watching what actually happens when financial decisions get made under pressure. It involved working with incomplete information — and very real consequences, sometimes under a public spotlight. Mixed incentives and competing needs made even the best choices feel suboptimal, and shared understanding harder to reach.

 

But here’s the thing: people got through it. And it was amazing to see. 

 

After mountains of spreadsheets and oceans of meetings, I’ve arrived at a few strong convictions about nonprofit financial conversations:

 

• CPA-grade finance skills should not be the price of admission. Anyone — and I mean anyone — can understand what matters most when it’s explained well. Shaming people for lack of “financial literacy” pushes people out of the conversation when they are most needed.
• One person’s “stupid question” can be another person’s breakthrough moment. Conversations that make room for all kinds of questions get better answers at the end of the day.
• Money still matters even if people would rather not talk about it. Mission and impact matter deeply, but when financial questions are ducked or ignored, there is a cost. It’s not just about the bottom line – it’s also about people living under financial stress.
• Shared responsibility doesn’t happen without shared language. Major financial decisions don't sit cleanly in one person’s lap. Board fiduciary responsibility is critical. But if people are talking past each other, it’s impossible to reach shared ownership of a decision.
• Emotion has a place in financial conversations. Money brings big feelings into the room. Ignoring it causes explosions later or distorts decisions down the line. 
• The world is an imperfect place. Complex choices are not easy to land. Certainty can be frustratingly elusive. It’s about staying honest about what is known and taking a beat to find new lessons to carry forward on the next leg of the journey.

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I started Nonprofit Money Talks because I wanted to open up a conversational space about nonprofit finance that plays by those human rules, not just accounting ones trapped in a spreadsheet. 

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In addition to writing, I work with nonprofit boards, executive teams, and funders as an advisor when financial decisions involve real tradeoffs and people need to decide what the numbers mean and what to do next.