Every nonprofit leader knows the feeling: the mission is growing, but the money never seems to catch up. Our CEO & Founder, Karen Houghton, has spent her career on the other side of that feeling, and she recently sat down with Swim Karim on The Nonprofit Insider Podcast to talk about how organizations can break the cycle.

If you've ever wondered what it would take for your nonprofit to stop surviving and start building, this is a conversation worth your next commute.

A leader who's been in your seat

Karen didn't come to nonprofit finance from Wall Street. She started as the executive director of a small nonprofit, where she lived the endless fundraising cycle firsthand. She went on to serve as Vice President of Atlanta Tech Village and as a venture partner with Atlanta Ventures, then founded Infinite Giving to bring modern financial tools to the organizations that need them most.

That mix of perspectives is what makes her voice so useful. She speaks the language of boards, development teams, and executive directors, and she can translate investment concepts into decisions a small team can actually make.
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What Karen and Swim dig into

Swim is known for honest, unfiltered conversations about what really happens inside nonprofits, and this episode is no exception. Listen for Karen's take on:

• Moving from scarcity to strategy. Why so many organizations get stuck in a hand-to-mouth cycle, and the mindset shift that helps leaders plan beyond the next grant or gala.
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• Saying yes to non-cash gifts. How accepting gifts of stock and crypto can open the door to larger, more tax-efficient donations from your most committed supporters.
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• Building reserves that protect your mission. Practical steps toward an operating reserve, so a slow quarter doesn't force hard cuts to programs.
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• Putting idle cash to work. There are estimates that ononprofits leave roughly $5 billion on the table each year in fees and lost interest. Karen explains how small changes add up.
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Why it matters for your team

Financial stewardship isn't just a job for your CFO or finance committee. It shapes how confidently your board makes decisions, how boldly your development team asks for gifts, and how long your programs can weather uncertainty.

Karen's message is simple and hopeful: you don't need a massive endowment or a dedicated investment staff to manage money well. You need the right tools, a clear policy, and a partner who understands the nonprofit world. That's the work Infinite Giving does every day alongside nonprofit teams of every size.
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Listen now

Catch Karen's full conversation with Swim Karim on The Nonprofit Insider Podcast, available on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.