CALLIVE'S CORNER
Welcome to Callive's Corner
Why we're starting a blog and a newsletter — and what we hope it does for you.
For years, the most useful conversations I've had about running a nonprofit didn't happen on a stage or in a report. They happened in a corner - a quiet aside after a board meeting, a phone call with an executive director at the end of a long week, a moment at a retreat when someone finally said out loud what they'd been carrying. That's where the real questions come out, and where the most honest guidance gets shared. This blog is meant to be that corner, opened up a little wider. Welcome to Callive's Corner.
Why I started Callive
I've spent my career inside and alongside mission-driven organizations. I've sat in the executive director's chair, with the weight of payroll, a board, and a mission all resting on the same set of shoulders. I've worked on the corporate side of community relations, watching how funding decisions actually get made. And for years now, through Callive, I've walked alongside small and mid-sized social change organizations as they've tried to become stronger and more sustainable.
Across all of it, I kept seeing the same thing. Organizations doing impactful, necessary work — feeding people, housing them, educating them, changing their communities — held back not by the quality of their
mission but by the fragility of their structure. A board that wasn't sure of its role. A budget with no cushion. A founder doing the work of five people until they couldn't anymore. The mission was never the problem. The scaffolding around it was.
That's the conviction Callive was built on: that with strong governance, sound management, and stable funding, an organization can move from surviving to consistently high-performing — and that the leaders doing this work deserve real support, not just applause. It's the work I've been recognized for, including the 2021 CNHED Bob Pohlman Lifetime Achievement Award, but far more than any award, it's the work I simply believe in.
Why a blog and newsletter, and why now
Here's the honest truth: consulting reaches one organization at a time. There are only so many board retreats we can facilitate and strategic plans our team can build in a year. But the questions I get asked — about governance, fundraising, succession and strategic planning — are the same questions thousands of nonprofit leaders are asking, often alone, often without anyone to ask.
A blog and a newsletter let me answer those questions in the open, for anyone who needs them, whether or not they ever become a client. And the timing matters. Heading into 2027, small and mid- sized nonprofits are navigating uncertain funding, rising costs, and leaders stretched thin. This is exactly the moment when practical, trustworthy guidance shouldn't sit behind a consulting invoice. It should be available to our nonprofit leaders when they need it.
what you’ll find here
Callive's Corner is practical, plain-language guidance for the people who lead small and mid-sized nonprofits — executive directors, board members, founders, and the staff who hold it all together. Twice a month, we'll dig into the things that actually determine whether an organization thrives:
Governance and boards — what a board is really for, and how to help yours do its job well.
Strategy and sustainability — planning that fits your stage and holds up when the ground shifts.
Fund development — building revenue you can count on, not just chase.
Leadership continuity and succession — making sure the mission doesn't wobble when leadership changes.
No jargon, no lectures, just the kind of straight, experienced counsel I'd offer a leader sitting across the table. Sometimes it'll be a framework; sometimes a checklist; sometimes just a hard-won lesson from the field.
Come sit in the corner
with us
If the blog is the corner, the newsletter is what helps you find your way forward. Once a month, The Callive Compass rounds up our latest posts, and shares the occasional tool or resource you won't find anywhere else. It's the easiest way to keep this guidance close without having to go looking for it.
Whether you're just starting out, steadying a growing organization, or steering through a hard season, We hope you'll find something here that helps, and that makes the work feel a little less lonely. Thank you for being here at the very beginning.
Subscribe to The Callive Compass: Get Callive's Corner in your inbox once a month — practical guidance on building a nonprofit that lasts. Join us and never miss a post.