The Giving Growth Podcast is about confronting the uncomfortable truth facing nonprofits today:
The traditional donor pyramid is collapsing.
Older donors are aging out. Younger generations aren't stepping in fast enough. And economic volatility is squeezing philanthropy from all sides.
Each episode, Giving Growth features candid conversations with nonprofit leaders, funders, and innovators who are rethinking how to engage donors, build sustainable programs, and scale impact in a radically changing world.
We dig into:
* Why legacy fundraising models are failing
* What’s working to attract and retain next-gen donors
* How to use data, technology, and storytelling to drive meaningful growth
* And how to future proof your nonprofit without losing your mission
It’s not about hype. It’s about hard truths, and bold strategies for what comes next.
If you’re a nonprofit exec or fundraiser looking to grow in a world that’s shifting under your feet, this is your show.
In this episode, Chaula Gupta, Vice President and Chief Program Officer at Digital Promise, joins Greg Sobiech to explain how nonprofits can move beyond short-term projects toward sustainable, scalable impact.
Chaula explores alternative models like fee-for-service, non-profit/corporate partnerships, and venture-style investing, and explains how AI can shift from incremental efficiency gains to truly transformative learning experiences.
Chaula and Greg discuss:
- Why project-based funding fails to deliver systems change
- How nonprofits can balance big, ambitious ideas with long-term execution
- The case for fee-for-service and venture models inside nonprofits
- Why adoption matters more than innovation in education technology
- How AI can deepen learning, not just save time
15 Dec 2025
Untangling Non-profit Data Chaos: Save the Children’s Omni-Channel Marketing Approach | Jon Wheeler
Jon Wheeler, Senior Director of Direct Marketing at Save the Children US, joins Greg Sobiech for a deep dive into one of the sector’s biggest challenges: how non-profits cut through overwhelming noise and deliver messages donors actually care about.
Jon has spent his career at the intersection of digital marketing, data, and donor experience. In this episode, he breaks down how charities can move from siloed channels and a spaghetti mess of data to something far more powerful: a true omni-channel, donor-centric system that gets the right message to the right person at the right time.
👉 Whether you're a non-profit leader, fundraiser, digital marketer, or someone trying to make sense of donor behavior in 2025, this is a must-listen conversation.
Jon and Greg discuss:
👉 Why donors tune out, and how to break through
👉 How non-profits can escape siloed channels and think like a “symphony”
👉 The real reason personalization is so maddeningly hard
👉 How AI *might* finally help isolate signal from noise
👉 Why data hygiene still matters in 2025
👉 How donor intent and undesignated revenue collide
👉 The big opportunity (and threat) in today’s giving environment
📌 Chapters:
Listen to more Giving Growth episodes: https://delvedeeper.com/podcast/
Connect with Greg Sobiech: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gsobiech/
Connect with Jon Wheeler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonwheeler71/
Giving Growth is brought to you by Delve Deeper: https://delvedeeper.com/
🔔 Subscribe for interviews with nonprofit leaders reshaping the sector.
5 Dec 2025
Why Every Fundraiser Needs a Testing Strategy - Not Just Tech | Ethan Wasserman
Ethan Wasserman, Senior Director of Paid Media at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, joins Greg Sobiech to talk about the real forces reshaping digital fundraising, and why AI alone won’t save your strategy. With 15+ years leading large-scale digital programs, Ethan brings a rare mix of experimentation discipline, practical data skills, and a deep respect for the human side of giving.
In this conversation, Ethan explains how younger donors make decisions, why “experiential giving” is rising, and what nonprofits get wrong about testing and technology. He also shares the surprising lesson he learned from a Google penalty early in his career — and how it shaped the way he approaches marketing today.
👉 Whether you're a non-profit leader, digital fundraiser, or marketer trying to make sense of the AI wave, this episode will help you think sharper, test smarter, and avoid the traps of over-automation.
In this episode, we explore:
👉 Why AI is changing fundraising — and what it still *can’t* replace
👉 How to design experiments that actually teach you something
👉 What younger donors really want (it’s not what you think)
👉 Why donor engagement must feel more like an experience, not a transaction
👉 How to use data without becoming dependent on algorithms
👉 The biggest misconception nonprofits have about technology partners
Chapters
📌 Links
Listen to more Giving Growth episodes: https://delvedeeper.com/podcast/
Connect with Greg Sobiech: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gsobiech/
Connect with Ethan Wasserman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanwasserman/
Giving Growth is brought to you by Delve Deeper: https://delvedeeper.com/
🔔 Subscribe for regular interviews with nonprofit leaders who are reshaping the not-for-profit world and tackling its challenges head-on.
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