The Nonprofit Show
The Nonprofit Show is the nation’s daily broadcast for the business side of nonprofits — bringing you practical insights, expert interviews, and real-world strategies to help your organization run smarter, lead stronger, and fund better.
Each weekday, our co-hosts and guests break down the most current topics in fundraising, board governance, leadership, staffing, technology, communications, and financial strategy — giving nonprofit professionals the tools they need to build sustainable, high-performing organizations.
With more than 1,400 episodes and growing, our on-demand library is a trusted resource for executive directors, team members, fundraisers, board members, and sector leaders who are ready to move beyond inspiration and into implementation.
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The Nonprofit Show
Nonprofit Funding Beyond the Check: How Funders Add Real Business Value
In the nonprofit world, “funding” is often treated like a finish line. But in this conversation, Gloria Dixon—Executive Director and Director of Philanthropy at the BECU Foundation—frames it as something more useful: a long-term business relationship built on trust, clarity, and shared accountability.
Gloria begins with BECU’s origin story, rooted in cooperative problem-solving: in 1935, Boeing employees pooled money in a tin box so colleagues could buy the tools they needed to work. That same “people helping people” ethos still shapes how BECU shows up today—through products and services, employee volunteerism, and philanthropic partnerships designed to strengthen community financial health.
From there, the discussion moves into what many nonprofits are feeling right now: shifts in funding, rising uncertainty, and the need to adjust strategy without losing momentum. Gloria makes the business case for longer-term, larger-dollar commitments—because multi-year stability gives nonprofits room to plan, staff, and deliver outcomes instead of living in perpetual fundraising churn. She explains trust-based philanthropy as a power shift that respects expertise closest to the work: “We have to trust them to do the work…give them the funding they need… and then just get out their way so they can do the best work.”
That mindset shows up in BECU Foundation’s approach to grants. Instead of long, technical applications, Gloria’s team prioritizes conversation and relationship—practical for a small staff overseeing partnerships with nearly 300 nonprofits annually, and aligned with how trust actually gets built. Reporting expectations, she explains, vary by the size and structure of the partnership—light-touch for small, one-time support, and more defined reporting for multi-year agreements.
Perhaps the most refreshing business lesson is Gloria’s view of “competition.” In her words: “There is no competition, never.” The goal isn’t brand ownership—it’s maximizing community outcomes. BECU also adds value beyond checks: their name can signal credibility to other funders, they share partner insights across philanthropic networks, and they even play matchmaker—connecting senior executives to nonprofit board opportunities when leadership talent is needed.
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