Beyond the Platform: What GoFundMe Taught Us About Nonprofit Tech Ownership
This week, headlines broke that GoFundMe quietly created fundraising pages for 1.4 million nonprofits across the U.S. Most of those organizations had no idea the pages even existed. It’s a perfect, if uncomfortable, illustration of where nonprofits stand today in the digital landscape. Tech platforms are moving faster than most organizations can keep up with, and if you don’t actively manage your digital presence, someone else will.
That’s not a dig at GoFundMe. Their intent was to make it easier for donors to find and give to nonprofits. But it highlights a bigger truth: digital transformation isn’t optional anymore. It’s not just about adopting tools; it’s about owning your identity, your data, and your narrative in an increasingly automated world.
When platforms create something on your behalf without asking, it’s a sign that your digital footprint isn’t fully under your control. For many nonprofits, that’s the wake-up call. If you’re running a nonprofit today, you have to ask yourself who controls your donor data, where your stories live, and what happens if a platform changes the rules or shuts down tomorrow. For years, we’ve relied on “free” or convenient tech to manage fundraising, communications, and volunteers. But convenience can come with a cost: loss of visibility, fragmented data, or misaligned branding that confuses your supporters. The GoFundMe situation reminds us that digital transformation starts with digital ownership. Before you chase new technology, make sure you truly own the assets that represent your mission online.
Let’s be clear: digital transformation isn’t about buying software. It’s about restructuring how your organization operates around technology that works for you, not the other way around. It means automating what’s repeatable so staff can focus on mission-critical work, connecting systems so fundraising, communications, and program data actually talk to each other, and making decisions based on insight, not instinct. Most importantly, it’s about protecting donor trust by managing data responsibly.
When I started my nonprofit career, we used to duct-tape systems together—email lists in one place, event registrations in another, donor CRM halfway updated somewhere else. It worked, sort of, but it wasn’t transformation. It was survival. True digital transformation is when technology becomes your infrastructure, not your headache. It’s when your organization operates seamlessly, with staff empowered by tools that make their work more meaningful instead of more complicated.
At the heart of any modern nonprofit technology strategy are five ideas: ownership, automation, security, scalability, and literacy. Data ownership means not relying solely on third-party platforms as your donor database and making sure your records are secure, accessible, and exportable. Automation means freeing your team from repetitive administrative tasks so they can focus on building relationships and delivering programs. Security means treating donor information with the highest level of care and transparency, ensuring your supporters know their trust is earned and maintained. Scalability means choosing cloud-based systems that can grow with you rather than hold you back. And digital literacy means making sure your team (not just one tech-savvy person) feels confident navigating and adopting new systems.
If all of this feels overwhelming, start small. Begin with a technology audit to understand where your data lives and who controls it. Then, take back ownership of your digital profiles, including any GoFundMe pages that might have been created without your knowledge. Clean up your logins and security, and identify one process to modernize: maybe automating thank-you messages, consolidating donor records, or streamlining communications between departments. Transformation doesn’t happen overnight. It happens one workflow at a time.
The nonprofits that thrive over the next decade will be those that move as fast as their cause deserves. They’ll understand that “digital” isn’t a department or a project; it’s part of how we lead. If GoFundMe can spin up a million nonprofit pages overnight, imagine what your organization could do with that same energy, but with intention, alignment, and full ownership.
Don’t wait for platforms to define your presence. Define it yourself. Digital transformation isn’t about keeping up with technology; it’s about taking back control of your mission’s digital future.
Podcast Feature: The Flex Uncensored Podcast — Clarity in Flex with Kenny Kane
Recorded August 30, 2023
I joined hosts Jamie Russo and Giovanni Palavacini on The Flex Uncensored Podcast to talk about Firmspace’s growth, our focus on serving established professionals, and my own path from operations to CEO.
The conversation covered:
Ideal customers: why Firmspace was built for attorneys, financial services, consultants, and other professionals who value privacy and security.
My leadership style: servant leadership, staying close to operations, and “extreme ownership.”
Design + infrastructure: lessons from using demountable walls, acoustic strategies, and how we balance flexibility with confidentiality.
Brand positioning: why Firmspace is “aspirational but attainable,” offering an alternative between mass-market coworking and long-term direct leases.
We also swapped a few stories—from building spaces over Zoom during COVID, to managing giant rooftop signage projects, to parenting a toddler.
Looking Back at My Binghamton 1.0
Almost ten years ago, I wrote about one of the most formative experiences of my life: earning a 1.0 GPA during my one semester at Binghamton University. At the time, I called it “educational bankruptcy.” I described the noisy dorms, my car being towed on day two, the registration system crashing, and how a bad semester sent me back home to regroup.
Re-reading that post now, I realize how much of my current life is still tethered to the lessons of that time.
Environment matters. I learned quickly that I couldn’t thrive in a noisy suite or a lecture hall with 300 students. Today, as CEO of Firmspace, I obsess over creating environments where high-caliber professionals can thrive. That thread connects directly back to Binghamton.
Timing matters. I transferred at the last minute and paid the price in stress and missed opportunities. These days, I preach planning, preparation, and process. Business strategy, like school, punishes you for winging it.
Systems matter. Watching a university’s registration portal collapse taught me that bad systems create bad experiences. That frustration shaped my love for operational excellence and my belief that details matter.
Back then, I closed the post with a reflection that “failure” sometimes becomes the best thing that ever happens to you. Today, with almost twenty years more perspective, I believe that even more strongly.
My 1.0 didn’t define me, but it did direct me. It pushed me into communications, into nonprofits, into Stupid Cancer, and eventually into leading organizations in health, technology, and commercial real estate.
When I look back now, I see a straight line between the kid who couldn’t sleep through the noise in College-in-the-Woods and the leader who builds quiet, intentional workspaces for others. The setbacks were signals.
So if you’ve ever had a “1.0 moment” — whether in school, work, or life — don’t bury it. Revisit it. Sometimes those moments aren’t the end of the story. They’re the beginning.
Who Has Your Back?
It's a simple question. But in leadership, life, and the low points in between, it's one of the most important ones you can ask.
We spend a lot of time talking about strategy. Growth plans. Market opportunities. Metrics and margins. But none of that matters if you don’t have people around you who can pick you up when you’re exhausted, call you out when you’re off course, or stand by you when things get messy.
I’ve had the privilege of building teams, leading organizations, and navigating both the nonprofit and for-profit worlds. And here’s something I’ve learned the hard way: It’s not about how many people report to you, or how many people follow you. It’s about who shows up—especially when they don’t have to.
The colleague who jumps in unasked because they see you drowning in details.
The mentor who reminds you of your worth when you’ve just failed hard.
The friend who doesn't need the full backstory to tell you, “You’ve got this.”
I can trace every major inflection point in my life to someone who had my back. A professor who saw something in me before I saw it in myself. A founder who took a chance on me when I was still figuring it out. A board member who reminded me that impact is rarely convenient—and worth it every time.
We all want to believe we’re self-made. But the truth is, nobody does this alone. The higher you climb, the more crucial it is to have people who’ll give you the honest feedback, the hard truths, and the steady encouragement. Not just the ones who applaud your wins—but the ones who sit with you in the losses.
So ask yourself:
Who has your back?
And just as importantly—whose back do you have?
Because in the end, it's not just about what you build.
It's about who you build it with.
“Everyone is a gangster until it’s time to do gangster shit.”
My Top Influencers of 2016
Over the past year, I've accumulated several different types of email subscriptions. From Seth Godin's daily musings to Nathan Barry's drip email about his book, I've read and enjoyed them all.
Over the past year, I've accumulated several different types of email subscriptions. From Seth Godin's daily musings to Nathan Barry's drip email about his book, I've read and enjoyed them all.
Email is a tricky medium. In recent years, I've become so accustomed to unsubscribing from newsletters, that it has become second nature to skip the content and go right to the footer. GMail has gone so far as to give you the option right from the inbox.
As social media has grown and evolved over recent years, the necessity to focus on well-crafted email has declined.
There are, however, individuals doing email and doing it well. Without further ado, here are some of my top influencers of the 2016:
Nathan Barry
Nathan is a designer turned writer turned email software aficionado. I am in awe of his mini-empire and enjoy watching him and the company he founded, ConvertKit, grow.
In Nathan's drip emails about his book, Authority, he takes you on a wild journey which ultimately sold me on signing up for his $29/mo email platform. See my last post about it.
Paul Jarvis
Paul Jarvis is intelligent as he is entertaining to follow. He is a veteran web designer who shares knowledge, insights, and has carved out a nice little corner of the Internet for himself. His emails span from direct marketing to step-by-step guides.
Jason Zook
If the Internet was a candy store, Jason would be the kid in it. I am consistently impressed with his ability to get shit done and do it in creative & innovative ways. As I pen this blog post, he is writing his next book live daily on WatchMeWrite.
* Sometimes Nathan, Paul, and Jason come together to form course-making Voltron and put out some really great stuff.
Tobias Van Schneider
I can't recall how I came to find out about TVS, but I am glad I did. Tobias has an eye for the finer things in life and shares this through his channels. His weekend emails are interesting commentary on design, technology, pop culture, work, and productivity. As a world-class designer, everything is put together rather elegantly.
Seth Godin
Seth Godin has been around almost as long as the Internet itself and needs very little introduction. Seth has been blogging every single day for many years now. His morning emails offer inspiration and prompt introspection. It's a great way to start off your day and can help you make decisions in life and business.
I would be remiss in failing to mention the evolving good stuff that Gary Vaynerchuk puts out every single day, seemingly on every platform. I have also enjoyed watching Casey Neistat chronicle his life in his daily vlogs.
Let me know if the comments who you subscribe to!
13 Things I Wish I Knew Upon Graduation
13 tips that could have benefitted me when I graduated college in May 2010.
My fall semester graduate friends have me feeling nostalgic. Here is a list of things I wish I knew before entering the real world.
Be self-aware The world knows everything about you. Be in control of crafting the narrative by being savvy with what you share.
Your career started 4 years ago Maybe 5 if you were like me in college.
Emotional Intelligence Google it. Practice it.
Create an about.me page Here is mine for reference. Don’t have much to say? Take a hi-res picture of yourself somewhere interesting. Fake it until you make it.
Create a vanity LinkedIn URL Don’t try to reinvent the wheel – First name, last name. If taken, use first name, middle initial, last name. Worst case scenario, add a number.
Delete all your terrible tweets This wasn’t so much of an issue for me in 2010, but I recommend running an advanced search and pruning profanity, politics, and anything that could be misinterpreted.
Delete allllllll your terrible tweets Sorry that your aspirations to be the next highly opinionated Internet celebrity didn’t work out. Use this to start from scratch without losing followers.
Claim your personal branded assets yourname@gmail.com, yourname.com, linkedin.com/in/yourname (really trying to drive this home), twitter.com/yourname, facebook.com/yourname, instagram.com/yourname. You get the picture.
Consider making all your social accounts private Or maybe don’t. For me, my personal/professional life blurred very quickly right off the bat. This led to a lot of cleanup of old, useless posts that I thought were funny but probably no one else would. There is a thin line between being authentic and being too transparent.
Stay in touch with friends and classmates, but keep moving forward Your alumni network of peers is a great thing to consider spending time on, but it will probably not help you attain success or wealth right out of school.Bonus: Keep in touch with professors and let them know of your successes. College newspapers are great PR early on in your career and your alma mater will want to brag about you.
Instead, join a professional society For example, if you’re looking to work in the non-profit field in any major city, you should join YNPN.
Don’t run right back to school A Masters degree is nice to think about, but think about how you can rise up through the ranks without one. Instead of embarking on a journey that might be costly and unnecessary, try taking a class or two at a specialized training school, like General Assembly.
Keep learning…you’re never done.
Nonprofiteer of the Year 2013
In June, I found out I was a finalist for the Young Non-Profit Professionals Network of New York City's Nonprofiteer of the Year 2013 award. I was stoked to be nominated for my first professional award. As soon as I found out, I had several colleagues forward me the newsletter YNPN-NYC had sent out, along with the 4 other finalists. Quite an impressive list of people:
John Hellman (@JuanEstebanNYC) Director of Advocacy, Latino Commission on AIDS
John Moreno (@JohncitoMoreno) Founder, Latino Youth for Higher Education Program
Tara Pokras (@tpokras) Program Assistant, Project Sunshine
Mon Yuck Yu Chief of Staff, Academy of Medical & Public Health Services
The event was held in at the Center for Social Innovation on June 27th. It was a nice intimate gathering of like-minded individuals. The winner was named towards the end of the event after the 5 of us offered up some career advice. I was honored to have been selected and thankful to everyone who nominated me!