In this episode of The Beacon Podcast, Jeff Jowdy is joined by John O’Kane for a discussion on nonprofit boards and fundraising. John has been an influence in the nonprofit sector in the US for more than five decades and recently joined Lighthouse Counsel of counsel.

In their conversation, John talks about:

• The stumbling blocks that make board members uncomfortable with fundraising and how to overcome them.
• How an organization can ensure that it’s recruiting the right board member at the right time?
• Keeping board members engaged, interested and eager to do their part in fundraising.

About our guest

Over more than five decades, John has worked with hundreds of nonprofit organizations as a staff member, executive director, consultant, volunteer, board member and professor. Since 2013, he has been the principal in John O’Kane Consulting.

Prior to that, John was a distinguished adjunct professor of practice at the Georgia State University Andrew Young School of Policy Studies Department of Public Management and Policy. As such, he was an instructor in financing and fundraising for nonprofits, a supervisor of independent study and advisor to research projects. He was a member of the Nonprofit Program Advisory Committee and faculty advisor to the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance student organization

Earlier in his career, John was senior vice president and consultant at Coxe Curry & Associates; vice president of human resources at the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta; and executive director at the mental health associations of both Metropolitan Atlanta and Butler County, Ohio.

John studied sociology at Marian College in Indianapolis and earned a master’s in social work at Washington University in St. Louis.

He is past president of the Kiwanis Club of Atlanta and current chair of the Kiwanis Atlanta Foundation, as well as past lieutenant governor of the Georgia Kiwanis District, past board member of the Georgia Kiwanis District Foundation and secretary of the Georgia State University Emeriti Association.