Making decisions is easy when revenue feels stable.

It’s much harder when budgets tighten and uncertainty creeps in.

In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly breaks down how nonprofit leaders can make brave, strategic decisions when money feels scarce — without freezing, panicking, or shrinking the mission.

When resources get tight, most leaders do one of two things:

• Freeze and delay decisions
• Panic and make reactive cuts

Neither builds long-term strength.

Most nonprofit leaders think clarity requires time.

It doesn’t. It requires action.

In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly shares the Five-Minute Rule — the simple leadership habit that helps overwhelmed nonprofit executives move from paralysis to progress.

In mission-driven organizations, everything feels urgent. Revenue goals. Board pressure. Retention issues. Staffing gaps. Strategic plans. It’s easy to get stuck staring at the big problem.

The Five-Minute Rule changes the question.

Most fundraising plans don’t fail in execution.

They fail the moment they’re written.

In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly breaks down why so many nonprofit fundraising plans collapse before the first email is ever sent — and how to design a plan that actually turns into revenue.

The problem isn’t effort. It’s structure.

Too many plans are built around activities instead of outcomes. Spring appeal. Fall appeal. Giving Day. Year-end. It looks strategic. It feels productive. But it’s already broken.

Tom unpacks the five silent reasons fundraising plans fail:

• Too much ambition

• Not enough math

• No ownership

• No systems

• No feedback loops

You’ll learn why hope is not math, why “everyone owns it” guarantees no one owns it, and why automation is what turns ideas into execution.