The NPT Executive Session Featuring Jonathan Reckford: It’s Time To be Financially Nimble And Politically Nonpartisan
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Global volatility and uncertainty, including oil shocks and tariff concerns, are disproportionately affecting low-income families. Nonprofit leaders need to engage in “quick and dirty” scenario planning to remain nimble in the face of a potential economic downturn.
That’s the viewpoint of Jonathan Reckford, president & CEO of Habitat For Humanity International, during the latest edition of The NonProfit Times’ “Executive Session” series. The key for leaders is to be political but not partisan to get through the economic issues facing communities.
Maintaining cash flexibility and building “change muscles” within teams are essential for adapting to the current high-change environment.
Addressing housing and other key sector issues requires local, state, and federal interaction including involvement by affiliates of Leadership 18, the group of the nation’s largest social service organizations. Reckford talked strategy at Habitat and for all leaders, which starts locally and often quietly but can have national and international impact.
NPT Exclusive: Executive Session With United Way Worldwide Interim President And CEO
Interim President & CEO of United Way Worldwide Rosie Allen-Herring spoke exclusively to The NonProfit Times for its Executive Session kick-off for 2026.
During a candid conversation, she touched on probing local United Way leaders on priorities, philosophy regarding how the United Way system operates, along with assessing the system in a period of expanding need of its clients and for new avenues of revenue.
Watch to hear what she has to say regarding United Way’s connection to 1,100 communities across 30 countries.
NPT Executive Session with Akilah Watkins, Ph.D., president and CEO of Independent Sector
Social capital is the number one currency of the nonprofit sector. The interdependence of the sector and government is keeping executives up at night as program funding disappears.
Because Americans are going to need more services for which there is no longer funding, there is a danger that trust in the sector will erode because of that interdependence.
That’s just part of the provocative conversation during the new NPT Executive Session with Akilah Watkins, Ph.D., president and CEO of Independent Sector.
Watkins pulls no punches when talking about the challenges the sector faces during the next few years and how Independent Sector – a foundational advocacy organization – is getting prepared. That includes pushing the federal government to track sector data, especially employment and the sector’s contributions to the economy.
Nonprofit leaders need to rethink where they are going because the A.I. data is clear — many organizations won’t be here in 10 years. There are two types of A.I. – the one used by charities and the one in the commercial space. Is it a race between good and evil?
Author, technologist, fundraiser Nathan Chappell explores what’s next for charities and AI in the latest edition of The NonProfit Times’ Executive Session.
Carmen Rojas
Ph.D. President and CEO
Marguerite Casey Foundation
Spotlighted in the new video edition of The NPT’s Executive Session, economist Una Osili, Ph.D., talks about uncertainty in the nonprofit sector and suggests strategies for surviving these turbulent financial times.
Dr. Osili is the nonprofit sector’s economist. She is associate dean for Research and International Programs, the Efroymson Chair in Philanthropy, and the Dean’s Fellow, Mays Family Institute on Diverse Philanthropy at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University.
American households tend to postpone giving during uncertainty, especially very large commitments, according to Osili. Red signals for nonprofit executives right now include restructuring service delivery, earned income strategies and reinventing costs structure models.
Diversification of income sources and programmatic structure will somewhat shield the sector during the turbulence.
Asha Curran, CEO of GivingTuesday, the global generosity movement, checks in with The NonProfit Times’ Executive Session from Belgium, discussing how the world is reacting to political events in the United States and the potential impact on world generosity – financial and participatory.
It just might be the time to reset how nonprofits operate, even though there is angst … first responders are always local NGOs whose leaders pivot mission to react on a worldwide scale.
The NPT Executive Session: Fundraising As A Source For Unity
America is evolving with a diversity of points of view that simply will not be denied. Nonprofit organizations, and fundraisers in particular, have an ability to get people together around a purpose. Giving people agency within their communities to make change together just might be what quells the uncertainty being experienced.
There also needs to be change in the fundraising process, according to H. Art Taylor, founder of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance and now the new president and CEO of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Taylor brings some provocative ideas to this episode of The NonProfit Times’ Executive Session. Hear what he has to say about fundraisers’ compensation, the relationship with donors and his plan for looking to the future of financing in the nonprofit sector.
NPT Exclusive: An Unedited Sit-Down With Diane Yentel
In this video edition of The NonProfit Times’ Executive Session, Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits, talks about her chaotic first two months at the organization’s helm, which has included suing the federal government to protect charitable sector funding and beating back the administration’s social media attacks on nonprofits. “The threats are tremendous and really systematic.”
