The Charity Charge Show - Nonprofit Podcast · Charity Charge

How Easterseals CEO Kendra Davenport Leads a $100M+ Nonprofit

·37 min·2 clips

Kendra says nonprofits that operate like a business tend to do better when things are hardest.

1. Charity Charge Show - Nonprofit Podcast focuses on Kendra Davenport and Easterseals, with Stephen Garton hosting the conversation. 2. Kendra Davenport is the CEO of Easterseals, a role she has held since 2022, and Stephen Garton frames the episode around nonprofit leadership and growth. 3. The episode asks how a 100-year-old disability nonprofit can stay sustainable, relevant, and locally useful at scale. 4. Kendra says Easterseals has been around for more than a century and exists to help people with disabilities live life to the fullest. 5. She says the network includes 70 affiliates across the country operating out of 1,400 centers and supporting about 1.5 million people every day. 6. Stephen Garton asks how listeners can get involved, and Kendra directs them to EasterSeals.com to search by zip code. 7. Kendra explains that each affiliate is different, with some focused on early childhood intervention, some on adults with intellectual and physical disabilities, and some on disabled veterans. 8. She says supporters can donate to the national office if they do not know where to direct a gift, and the national office pushes money out to affiliates. 9. Kendra describes Easterseals as an organization that supports all disabilities, including acquired disabilities, disabilities people are born with, rare diseases, autism, and physical disabilities. 10. She says families often turn to Easterseals when public school supports are unavailable or unaffordable, and she calls the organization a gap-filler. 11. Kendra says one of Easterseals' biggest challenges is awareness, because people outside the disability community often do not know how vast the organization is. 12. She says she first thought she was not qualified for the CEO role because she was a fundraiser, marketer, and communications person rather than a program operator. 13. Kendra says the job appealed to her once she learned Easterseals wanted someone to make the organization more sustainable, refresh the brand, and expand awareness. 14. She says nonprofits need to innovate, refresh, and adapt to crises rather than waiting for conditions to improve. 15. Kendra argues that nonprofit leaders should operate like businesses, make hard decisions when needed, and avoid saying yes to every request. 16. She says her own organization reviews the budget almost weekly, uses collaboration across departments, and keeps national-office departments almost never over budget. 17. Kendra says unexpected windfalls should be split among permanent savings, short-term reserves, and strategic investments instead of being spent immediately. 18. She says her leadership goal is to leave Easterseals more sustainable in five years, and she notes the national office has no line of credit and no debt. 19. The interview style is practical and executive-level, with Stephen Garton asking direct follow-up questions and Kendra answering in concrete operating terms. 20. People running local nonprofits with tight budgets will get the most from this conversation, while listeners wanting a mission-only profile may skip it.

As heard by us

A practical look at how Easterseals stays disciplined when money gets tight.

The episode presents Easterseals as a long-running organization serving people with disabilities of all ages, and it works best when the mission is tied to how the organization actually operates.

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Why you'd press play

A steady look at how Easterseals balances a century-old mission with nonprofit financial discipline.

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