Navigating the Maize
A weekly, 15-minute podcast on nonprofits and AI — real workflows, no hype, hosted by a 30-year nonprofit development veteran.
Navigating the Maize
Latest Episodes
Why Your Nonprofit Needs an AI Governance Policy (Even a One-Pager)
Back in episode two, Sean cited a stat and moved past it fast: 47% of nonprofits have no AI governance policy at all. This episode unpacks why that’s riskier than it feels, not one dramatic AI failure, but a slow buildup of small, ungoverned de...
AI Hiring - From Start to Finish
Every episode so far has been about donors. This one turns to your own team. Sean walks through a real search he ran for a client — filling a Development and Donor Relations Coordinator role — covering exactly where AI helped, where he delibera...
Episode 3 Navigating the mAIZe: Donor Segmentation
Building a Donor Segmentation Model, Step by Step.A few episodes back I mentioned a segmentation model I built for a crisis campaign — 1,100+ donors, five tiers, different outreach for each. This episode walks through exactly how, in...
Episode 2 — “The AI Adoption Paradox, Unpacked“
92% of nonprofits use AI. Only 7% say it’s moved the needle. This episode unpacks why — with three real case studies from my own client work: a donor segmentation model that changed a crisis campaign’s outreach, a development health diagnostic ...
Episode 1: Why Nonprofits and AI, Why Me, Why Now
In this first episode of Navigating the mAIze, I introduce myself and lay out exactly what this weekly show is going to be.I’m Sean, founder and principal of Magnolia Philanthropic Services, a boutique senior philanthropic advisory firm ...
