Nonprofit Power Podcast

Kath Patrick

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In their own words

If you’re a progressive nonprofit leader who wants to build powerful influence with the money and policy decisionmakers in your world, but aren’t happy with your progress, help has arrived! Host Kath Patrick has been teaching and coaching leaders on these vital skills for 25+ years, and now she shares her secrets for advocacy success with you every week.

As heard by us

Based on 4 episodes we listened to · September 2026

Kath Patrick makes nonprofit influence concrete by connecting persuasive storytelling, meeting tactics, policy consequences, and decision-maker priorities.

Nonprofit Power Podcast turns advocacy into a practical discipline for influencing the people who control funding and policy. In direct, solo episodes, Kath Patrick moves from difficult meeting moments to the mechanics of persuasive messaging, explaining how nonprofit leaders…

Read our full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Kath Patrick turns a decision maker's curveball into a clue you can actually use.

Press play if you want

  • to keep your footing when a decision maker asks the question you didn't rehearse
  • to show how a poorly crafted policy blocks someone, instead of reciting another set of facts
Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Talks about

Best episodes of Nonprofit Power Podcast

Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.

Four Simple Checks to Tell You if Your Message is Built for Maximum Impact

A clear four-part guide for making nonprofit appeals land better.

Nonprofit messaging is treated here as persuasion work, not decoration. The episode lays out four checks: whether the message hooks fast, carries feeling, shows a before and after, and ties the ask to something the decision maker already cares about.

How to Handle a Curve Ball Like a Pro

A steadier way to handle unexpected questions from decision makers.

Kath Patrick centers this episode on a familiar meeting problem: the curveball question or statement from a decision maker. The useful move is the reframing.

Why is There So Much Dumb Public Policy and What Can We Do About It?

Policy change depends on making decision makers feel the cost of the problem.

The episode treats public policy as a messaging problem as much as an evidence problem. Decision makers may see themselves as careful stewards, but dry facts rarely move them unless the human and financial cost feels real.

Five Big Reasons I'm Feeling Optimistic, Plus About 100 Other Little Things

A clear, measured take on election results and the opening they may give nonprofit leaders.

Kath Patrick treats this week's elections as a useful check on how nonprofit leaders read money and policy. Affordability sits at the center of the story, and that point comes through clearly across races that otherwise look different.

Podcasts like Nonprofit Power Podcast

Episodes

  1. 1

    Five Big Reasons I'm Feeling Optimistic, Plus About 100 Other Little Things

    Host Kath Patrick analyzes recent election results, highlighting reasons for optimism such as high voter turnout, shifts in demographic voting patterns, and Democratic wins on affordability issues.

    ·22m·2 clips
  2. 2

    How the Power of Collective Action is Creating Great Possibility in 2026

    ·16m
  3. 3

    A Totally Different Take on the Year-End Review

    ·15m
  4. 4

    The Two Most Essential Ingredients to Getting a Decisionmaker to Say Yes

    ·24m
  5. 5

    My Five Most Powerful Sources of Gratitude

    The host introduces the podcast's focus on building influence for nonprofit leaders and shares personal gratitude themes in a stressful context.

    ·20m
  6. 6

    How to Get Decisionmakers to See Your Services as the Best Possible Bargain

    Kath Patrick opens with a coaching client whose door-to-door transportation service was challenged on price by funders who preferred group-bus providers.

    ·22m·1 clip
  7. 7

    How to Turn Every Conversation with Decisionmakers into a Skill-Building Bonanza

    Host Kath Patrick says messaging and engagement with decision makers are learnable skills, not "natural talent," and that building them does not require much extra time.

    ·27m·2 clips
  8. 8

    Are You Making Enough Mistakes?

    Host Kath Patrick opens with her 2026 resolution to make more mistakes and the puzzled reactions it gets.

    ·25m·1 clip
  9. 9

    Powerful Lessons from Minnesota on How We Can Help Our Immigrant Neighbors

    Host Kath Patrick argues that nonprofits can respond to ICE activity in Minneapolis by combining support for immigrant neighbors with organized pushback.

    ·22m·1 clip
  10. 10

    The 3 Biggest Messaging and Engagement Mistakes that Could be Costing You Influence and Results

    Kath Patrick names three costly mistakes in nonprofit messaging: opening with information instead of engagement, waiting until the end to show alignment, and over-relying on data.

    ·27m·2 clips
  11. 11

    What it Really Means When You Fall Short of Expectations

    Kath Patrick, host of the Nonprofit Power Podcast, opens by saying falling short of expectations is inevitable and that the emotional weight of "what it means about us" does more harm than the shortfall.

    ·30m·2 clips
  12. 12

    What is Your Relationship with Power, and How is it Affecting Your Actions and Decisions?

    Kath Patrick opens the Nonprofit Power Podcast's New Year 2026 episode by saying many nonprofit leaders are "not super comfortable with the concept of power" and hold beliefs like "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." She says the brain's reticular activating system filters in evidence that affirms such beliefs, so leaders must deliberately investigate them and teach it a new filter.

    ·28m·2 clips
  13. 13

    How to Find the Messaging Winners in a Sea of Details

    Kath Patrick names the "curse of the expert" as the reason nonprofit leaders overload decision makers with details.

    ·23m·1 clip
  14. 14

    Four Simple Checks to Tell You if Your Message is Built for Maximum Impact

    Kath Patrick shares four essential checks for nonprofit messaging to engage decision-makers: pulling them in immediately, sparking emotion, painting a vivid picture, and aligning with their interests.

    ·21m·1 clip
  15. 15

    The Number One Advocacy Skillset You Absolutely Need in the Age of AI

    Kath Patrick argues on the Nonprofit Power Podcast that AI makes information-only advocacy less valuable because decision makers can assemble complex information through an AI interface.

    ·21m·1 clip
  16. 16

    Is Your Storytelling Built for Results?

    Kath Patrick of the Nonprofit Power Podcast argues that nonprofit storytelling should be designed to produce a specific advocacy result rather than rely automatically on client stories.

    ·27m·1 clip
  17. 17

    Three Big Mistakes that can Turn Your Great Policy Win into a Bust

    Kath Patrick of the Nonprofit Power Podcast explains why passing legislative or administrative policy is only the beginning of advocacy work.

    ·21m·1 clip
  18. 18

    How to Clear One of the Biggest Obstacles to Your Greatest Results

    Hidden expectations can shrink nonprofit results.

    ·27m·2 clips
  19. 19

    Why is There So Much Dumb Public Policy and What Can We Do About It?

    Hidden gem

    Kath Patrick opens with a blunt question: why is there so much dumb public policy, and what can be done about it?

    ·33m·2 clips
  20. 20

    How to Handle a Curve Ball Like a Pro

    Kath Patrick teaches nonprofit leaders how to handle unexpected questions or statements from decision-makers by reframing curveballs as opportunities to uncover hidden beliefs and misconceptions.

    ·37m·3 clips
  21. 21

    My Three Favorite Shortcuts to Faster Advocacy Results

    ·22m
  22. 22

    How Your Modesty May Be Costing You Serious Money

    Kath Patrick of the Nonprofit Power Podcast says "false modesty" is "one of the biggest causes of underinvestment by decision makers" in nonprofit work.

    ·24m·1 clip
  23. 23

    How to Capture the Full Attention of a Decisionmaker in the First 60 Seconds

    This episode teaches how to capture a decision maker's full attention within the first 60 seconds to build influence.

    Apr 15, 2026·25m
  24. 24

    The X Factor that can Make or Break Your Message's Impact

    Kath Patrick reveals the X factor for making your message impactful: bringing the right energy and engagement to encounters with decision makers.

    Oct 26, 2025·28m
  25. 25

    How Each One of Us Can Help Prevent an Authoritarian Takeover

    Host Kath Patrick discusses how individuals can help prevent an authoritarian takeover, drawing on recent mass protests.

    Oct 21, 2025·35m
  26. 26

    How to Use the Power of Vision to Help Decisionmakers Commit to You on a Greater Scale

    Kath Patrick teaches nonprofit leaders how to use vision to overcome fear and gain influence with decision makers.

    Oct 12, 2025·21m
  27. 27

    What's Standing in the Way Between You and the Advocacy Results You Want?

    Oct 5, 2025·20m
  28. 28

    A True Story that Just Might Change How You Talk to Decisionmakers

    Sep 28, 2025·25m
  29. 29

    How to Claim Your Unique Value in the Marketplace

    Sep 21, 2025·21m
  30. 30

    How Do You Decide What to Say Yes to?

    Sep 14, 2025·22m
  31. 31

    How to Deal with Decisionmakers Who Say There's No Money Right Now

    Sep 7, 2025·29m
  32. 32

    Why More Information Rarely Results in Greater Understanding

    Aug 31, 2025·23m
  33. 33

    How to Cultivate the Personal Power You Need Right Now

    Aug 24, 2025·28m
  34. 34

    How to Apply Pressure to Decisionmakers, Without it Blowing Up in Your Face

    Aug 17, 2025·25m
  35. 35

    How to Establish Yourself as an Expert in the Eyes of Decisionmakers

    Aug 10, 2025·25m
  36. 36

    The Hidden Trap in Tailoring Your Messaging to Decisionmakers’ Concerns

    Aug 3, 2025·19m
  37. 37

    Three Ways to Take Maximum Advantage of the Congressional Recess Right Now

    Jul 27, 2025·20m
  38. 38

    The Four Essential Elements at the Heart of High-Impact Advocacy Messaging

    Jul 20, 2025·29m
  39. 39

    Three Areas of Personal Growth that Will Have the Biggest Impact on Your Advocacy Success

    Jul 11, 2025·28m
  40. 40

    The Fastest Way to Get Decisionmakers to Value, Respect, and Rely on Your Expertise

    Jul 7, 2025·28m
  41. 41

    Decisionmakers Do Not Care About Your Services! (and That's OK if You Know What To Do)

    Jun 29, 2025·28m
  42. 42

    The Most Powerful Thing Nonprofit Leaders Can Do Right Now to Preserve Medicaid and SNAP

    Jun 22, 2025·32m
  43. 43

    The Shortest Distance Between Where You Are Now and the Advocacy Results You Want

    Jun 14, 2025·23m
  44. 44

    How to Successfully Build Advocacy into Every Team Member's Role

    Jun 7, 2025·34m
  45. 45

    Two Surefire Things You Can Do to Fix Your Messaging on the Fly

    Jun 1, 2025·31m
  46. 46

    How Nonprofit Leaders Can Help Save Medicaid

    May 24, 2025·34m
  47. 47

    Self Care in Times of Total Insanity

    May 17, 2025·33m
  48. 48

    The Most Underutilized Advocacy Tool You Can Use Right Now to Improve Your Results

    May 9, 2025·32m
  49. 49

    How To Stay Strong when Others Around You are Giving into Fear

    May 3, 2025·22m
  50. 50

    How To Deal with a Decisionmaker Who Can't or Won't Make a Decision

    Apr 27, 2025·21m
  51. 51

    Three Secrets to Building Influence with any Money or Policy Decisionmaker in Your World

    Apr 19, 2025·29m
  52. 52

    How to Successfully Advocate for Your Funding on Multiple Fronts at Once

    Apr 13, 2025·20m
  53. 53

    How to Ensure You Have Maximum Impact when Your Members of Congress are Home in Their Districts

    Apr 5, 2025·28m
  54. 54

    How the Power of Community Building Can Help You Fight Back Against Attacks on Your Program and Your Funding

    Mar 21, 2025·18m
  55. 55

    The Best Way to Help Your Supporters Become Valuable Advocates for Your Work and Funding

    Mar 14, 2025·18m
  56. 56

    The Essential 5-Point Messaging Framework for Your Advocacy with Congress

    Mar 7, 2025·16m
  57. 57

    Where to Focus Your Federal Advocacy Efforts Right Now to Have the Greatest Impact

    Mar 1, 2025·37m
  58. 58

    How to Deal with the Right Wing's "Waste, Fraud & Abuse" Propaganda

    Feb 21, 2025·23m
  59. 59

    How to Defend Against Attacks on Your Federal Funding – Part 2

    Feb 15, 2025·38m
  60. 60

    How to Defend Against Attacks on Your Federal Funding - Part 1

    Feb 8, 2025·44m
  61. 61

    The Top Three Things to Focus on First When Crisis Strikes

    Jan 31, 2025·32m
  62. 62

    How to Combat the Right Wing Messaging that Could be About to Endanger Your Program's Funding

    Jan 24, 2025·28m
  63. 63

    How to Access Confidence Even When You’re Way Outside Your Comfort Zone

    Jan 18, 2025·36m
  64. 64

    Why Money and Policy Decisionmakers Rarely Receive Your Intended Message – and What You Can Do About it

    Jan 11, 2025·24m
  65. 65

    Setting Powerful Intentions that Will Serve You Well in the New Year

    Jan 4, 2025·28m
  66. 66

    How to Capture Your Most Valuable Lessons from 2024

    Dec 22, 2024·24m
  67. 67

    When Professionalism Can Become a Liability

    Dec 15, 2024·37m
  68. 68

    Two Marketing Secrets that will Help You Engage Decisionmakers More Deeply, and Get to Yes Faster

    Dec 7, 2024·22m
  69. 69

    What I'm Most Thankful for, and Why I'm Leaning into a Daily Practice of Gratitude

    Nov 29, 2024·21m
  70. 70

    The Most Undervalued Skill that Could be Your Key to Engaging Decisionmakers

    Nov 23, 2024·27m
  71. 71

    Building Strategies for a New Threat Environment

    Nov 16, 2024·23m
  72. 72

    A Few Early Thoughts About the Recent Elections

    Nov 8, 2024·14m
  73. 73

    How to Stay Grounded in Your Messaging in Stressful Encounters with Decisionmakers

    Host Kath Patrick teaches nonprofit leaders how to stay grounded in their messaging when facing challenging behaviors from decision makers.

    Nov 3, 2024·24m
  74. 74

    How to Cope with Election Anxiety

    Host Kath Patrick discusses how to cope with election anxiety as the 2024 elections approach, offering strategies for nonprofit leaders to manage stress and maintain influence.

    Oct 25, 2024·24m
  75. 75

    Three Keys to Finding the Right Decisionmaker in any System

    Oct 19, 2024·30m
  76. 76

    How to Help Your Clients Make Sure Their Vote Counts

    Oct 12, 2024·33m
  77. 77

    Two Secrets to Successful Negotiation

    Oct 5, 2024·35m
  78. 78

    The Number One Block Most Decisionmakers Have that Keeps Them from Fully Valuing Your Services - Episode 64

    Sep 28, 2024·32m
  79. 79

    How to Get Out of TMI Syndrome, and Laser-Focus Your Messaging with Decisionmakers - Episode 63

    Sep 20, 2024·30m
  80. 80

    How Your Nonprofit Can Help Your Clients Register to Vote in the 2024 Elections - Episode 62

    Sep 16, 2024·27m
  81. 81

    How to Turn Your Team into an Opportunity Generating Machine - Episode 61

    Sep 6, 2024·36m
  82. 82

    Five Leadership Behaviors to Lean Into and Five to Leave Behind - Episode 60

    Aug 31, 2024·48m
  83. 83

    10 Powerful Things I've Learned from my Best Coaches - Episode 59

    Aug 25, 2024·33m
  84. 84

    How to Cultivate an Energetic Frequency that Boosts Your Effectiveness as an Advocate and Leader - Episode 58

    Aug 11, 2024·36m
  85. 85

    How to Turn Data into a Story that Engages and Compels a Decisionmaker - Episode 57

    Aug 1, 2024·31m
  86. 86

    How to 5 to 10 X Your Organization's Capacity for Building Influential Relationships with Decisionmakers - Episode 56

    Jul 27, 2024·30m
  87. 87

    How to Use Imagery to Shift a Decisionmaker’s Perspective in Your Favor - Episode 55

    Jul 20, 2024·37m
  88. 88

    How to Help the People You Serve Make Their Voices Heard at the Ballot Box - Episode 54

    Jul 7, 2024·32m
  89. 89

    How to Make Sure Your Pilot Project Leads to Sustainable Funding - Episode 53

    Jun 28, 2024·36m
  90. 90

    The Identity Cues from Decisionmakers that Tell You How to Talk to Them and What to Talk About - Episode 52

    Jun 22, 2024·40m
  91. 91

    How to Craft Public Policy that Actually Does what You Need it To Do – Part 2 - Episode 51

    Jun 15, 2024·44m
  92. 92

    How to Craft Public Policy that Actually Does what You Need it To Do - Part 1 - Episode 50

    Jun 8, 2024·33m
  93. 93

    How to Maintain Your Personal Power when the Ish Hits the Fan - Episode 49

    May 31, 2024·25m
  94. 94

    How to Equip Your Team to Successfully Communicate Your Best Messaging - Episode 48

    May 23, 2024·21m
  95. 95

    Why Your Carefully Prepared Information May Be Failing to Engage Decisionmakers - Episode 47

    May 17, 2024·31m
  96. 96

    How to Influence Critical Decisions About Your Program’s Federal Funding - Episode 46

    May 12, 2024·27m
  97. 97

    How Right Wing Messaging is Damaging to Your Nonprofit, and How You Can Counter It - Episode 45

    May 3, 2024·29m
  98. 98

    How to Use the Power of Vision to Achieve Your Biggest Goals - Episode 44

    Apr 25, 2024·24m
  99. 99

    How To Add Client Voices to Your Advocacy Messaging for Maximum Impact - Episode 43

    Apr 18, 2024·25m
  100. 100

    How To Build a Strong Cadre of Influential Champions - Episode 42

    Apr 11, 2024·25m
  101. 101

    Should We Join (or Start) that Coalition? Top Strategic Considerations - Episode 41

    Apr 5, 2024·30m
  102. 102

    What if You had Unlimited Advocacy Resources? - Episode 40

    Mar 29, 2024·35m
  103. 103

    What To Do when You Have Too Many Competing Advocacy Priorities, and Everything Feels Urgent - Episode 39

    Mar 22, 2024·34m
  104. 104

    Design Your Capitol Hill Visits with Members of Congress for Maximum Impact - Episode 38

    Mar 15, 2024·35m
  105. 105

    How Parts of Your Messaging May Be Sabotaging Your Advocacy Success - Episode 37

    Mar 8, 2024·26m
  106. 106

    How to Accelerate and Maximize Know, Like and Trust with Decisionmakers - Episode 36

    Feb 29, 2024·38m
  107. 107

    The 5-Point Test to Determine How Well Your Advocacy Messaging is Performing - Episode 35

    Feb 15, 2024·30m
  108. 108

    The Best Ways to Address Objections from Decisionmakers to Turn a No into a Yes - Episode 34

    Feb 9, 2024·40m
  109. 109

    How One Nonprofit is Generating Millions in Revenue-Generating Partnerships to Fund Vital Services – with Dorella Walters - Episode 33

    Jan 31, 2024·42m
  110. 110

    Successful Strategies for Negotiating with Decisionmakers - Episode 32

    Jan 26, 2024·41m
  111. 111

    How to Get Maximum Results from a Decisionmaker’s Visit to Your Program - Episode 31

    Jan 18, 2024·35m
  112. 112

    How to Create Powerful and Empowering Advocacy and Leadership Opportunities for the People You Serve - Episode 30

    Jan 10, 2024·37m
  113. 113

    How to Plan Your Breakthrough Advocacy Year - Episode 29

    Jan 4, 2024·26m
  114. 114

    The Five Most Valuable Things to Focus on in Your Year-End Advocacy Review - Episode 28

    Dec 20, 2023·21m
  115. 115

    Are You Unknowingly Undermining Your Strategic Relationship Building? - Episode 27

    Dec 15, 2023·45m
  116. 116

    The Key to Mastering Any Skill (Including Advocacy Skills) - Episode 26

    Dec 7, 2023·35m
  117. 117

    How to Avoid Overload when Adding Advocacy Work to Your Plate - Episode 25

    Nov 29, 2023·28m
  118. 118

    Gratitude for the Progressive Nonprofit Leaders Who Inspire Me Most - Episode 24

    Nov 22, 2023·10m
  119. 119

    How to Navigate High-Stakes Encounters with Decisionmakers and Be Ready to Handle Whatever They Throw at You - Episode 23

    Nov 18, 2023·40m
  120. 120

    How to Build a Relationship with a Decisionmaker When You’re Starting from Scratch with Them - Episode 22

    Nov 11, 2023·39m
  121. 121

    What To Do when Your Advocacy Work has Stalled - Episode 21

    Nov 3, 2023·31m
  122. 122

    Unlocking Your Next Level as an Advocate -Episode 20

    Oct 26, 2023·36m
  123. 123

    When You Need a Lobbyist, and How to Work with One Successfully - Episode 19

    Oct 20, 2023·31m
  124. 124

    Inside Secrets to Engaging both Elected Officials and Their Staff for Greater Advocacy Success - Episode 18

    Oct 13, 2023·33m
  125. 125

    Establishing Yourself as a Thought Leader - Episode 17

    Oct 6, 2023·32m
  126. 126

    How to Create an Advocacy Plan that Keeps Your Team Focused and Getting Great Results - Episode 16

    Sep 28, 2023·34m
  127. 127

    How to Build an Advocacy Team that will Take You to New Levels of Impact and Success - Episode 15

    Sep 21, 2023·31m
  128. 128

    The Four Essential Strategic Relationships Every Nonprofit Leader Needs - Episode 14

    Sep 15, 2023·37m
  129. 129

    How to Use Story to Create Breakthrough Messaging with Decisionmakers - Episode 13

    Sep 6, 2023·24m
  130. 130

    What Stops Decisionmakers from Hearing Your Message, and How to Break Through - Episode 12

    Aug 31, 2023·31m
  131. 131

    Influencing Public Policy - Laying the Groundwork for Success - Episode 11

    Aug 24, 2023·24m
  132. 132

    Advocacy Advice from a Nonprofit Leader Turned State Senate Majority Leader – with Sen. Eloise Vitelli - Episode 10

    Aug 16, 2023·39m
  133. 133

    How to Get Decisionmakers to Pay Top Dollar for Your Organization’s Services - Episode 09

    Aug 9, 2023·29m
  134. 134

    How to Get Your Board Fully on Board with Advocacy - Episode 08

    Aug 2, 2023·30m
  135. 135

    How a Nonprofit Leader with a Counseling Background Negotiates 7-Figure Contracts with Major Partners – with Aleta McLean - Episode 07

    Jul 26, 2023·38m
  136. 136

    Operating from the Identity of a Powerfully Influential Leader - Episode 06

    Jul 19, 2023·17m
  137. 137

    How to Apply Pressure When You Need To - Episode 05

    Jul 12, 2023·19m
  138. 138

    Knowing Who's Really In Charge, & What Makes Them Tick - Episode 02

    Jul 5, 2023·22m
  139. 139

    Knowing What You Want from Decisionmakers and How To Ask For It - Episode 03

    Jul 5, 2023·34m
  140. 140

    Building Strategic Relationships That Get Results - Episode 04

    Jul 5, 2023·23m
  141. 141

    A New Definition of Advocacy - Episode 01

    Jun 30, 2023·10m