A Quick Reference guide to financial, fundraising and leadership terms, written in plain language, and a Discussion and Reflection Guide for reading on your own, with your board, with a leadership team, in a book club or in a classroom.
Most nonprofit leaders don’t step into the role because they love budgets, cash flow, or board meetings. They step in because they care deeply about the mission. But sooner or later, many find themselves facing hard questions they were never trained to answer:
The Deep End is a practical, encouraging guide for nonprofit leaders who feel called to serve but unprepared for the financial side of leadership. Through the story of Alex, a newly appointed executive director at an animal shelter, Kathy Arney and Gordon Holley explore the journey from financial chaos to clarity, showing how nonprofit leaders can move from scarcity thinking and quiet panic toward confidence, honesty, and sustainable strategy.
Warm, honest, and grounded in the real pressures of nonprofit work, The Deep End shows that money is not separate from a nonprofit organization’s mission. It’s part of how that mission survives, grows, and endures.
This is a book for nonprofit leaders who want to stop treading water and start leading with courage and clarity.
The Deep End is the first book in the Finance and Fundraising Capacity Series.
“Infrastructure wasn’t a moral failure; it was care made reliable. A standout phrase from The Deep End: A Nonprofit Leader’s Journey from Financial Chaos to Clarity. Kathy and Gordon captured the reality faced by many nonprofit leaders and distilled the ongoing challenges of operating a charity into a terrific story which imparts pearls of wisdom.”
“The Deep End transforms nonprofit financial leadership from an intimidating subject into an accessible and engaging journey. Through a compelling story and practical tools, Gordon Holley and Kathy Arney demonstrate that financial literacy is not separate from mission leadership, it is essential to it. This is a valuable resource for nonprofit executives, board members, and emerging leaders seeking to build stronger, more sustainable organizations.”
“This book will be a phenomenal resource for non-profit leaders. The narrative style and compelling story will resonate with leaders from all backgrounds, and makes the strategies and tools that are shared quickly accessible and understandable. More importantly, the book offers practical approaches to directly address some of the harmful myths and misunderstandings that plague the sector. To ensure the future viability of community based organizations, it is critical that we move away from fear based strategies that hide the true cost of social impact programs. The sector as a whole needs to continue the shift towards courageous sharing of what resources are available and required to ensure a bright future for community based organizations. This book offers the vocabulary, tools, and guidance to make this possible.”
Watch for the next book in the Finance and Fundraising Capacity Series, following a nonprofit leader’s journey from clarity to confidence.
We wrote The Deep End because we kept meeting the same leader. Between us, we have spent a long time sitting across the table from executive directors of Canadian nonprofits: capable, committed people, most of them promoted from program work, who were handed responsibility for the money without ever being handed the tools. They weren’t bad with numbers. They were under-prepared and over-extended, holding the whole organization together with heroics and hope.
Gordon had built the Five Stages of Financial Wellness™ to show leaders where they stand and what to do next. Kathy had built the GROW Model™ to show them how to fund the work. What neither of us had was a way to teach both at once that didn’t feel like one more manual on the pile.
So we gave the ideas to Alex, the executive director of an animal shelter who is lying awake wondering whether she can make payroll next month, and let her learn them the way our clients do: in conversation, under pressure, from mentors who ask more than they tell.
If you lead a nonprofit and have ever done that same math in your head at two in the morning, this book is for you. We want you to close the last page clearer, steadier, and more capable than when you first opened the book.
Kathy Arney and Gordon Holley
Kathy Arney and Gordon Holley are Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) who have spent their careers helping nonprofit and social purpose organizations build financial clarity, stronger governance, healthier revenue models, and long-term sustainability. In addition to their CPA expertise, they bring deep experience in executive leadership, board governance, coaching, training, fundraising strategy, and major gift development.
Gordon is the creator of Humanity Financial’s Five Stages of Financial Wellness™ for Social Purpose Organizations, a framework that helps organizations move from crisis to strength and freedom through stronger systems, sound governance, and greater financial literacy. Kathy is the creator of KEA Canada’s GROW Model™, a practical approach to revenue design that connects full-cost understanding with diversified funding strategy.
Together, they help bridge finance and fund development, two areas often treated separately in nonprofit organizations even though they are deeply connected in practice.
Gordon lives with his wife, Megan, and their dog, Rosie, in West Vancouver, British Columbia. He is currently volunteering on five charity and non-profit boards of directors, including Vantage Point in Vancouver and is Past Chair at Community Foundations of Canada. Kathy lives with her husband, Paul, and their dog, Ollie, in Canmore, Alberta. She currently chairs the board of the Canadian Association of Gift Planners (CAGP) and holds the MFA-P™ (Master Financial Advisor – Philanthropy) designation. The Deep End is their first book.
Watch for the next book in the Finance and Fundraising Capacity Series, following a nonprofit leader’s journey from clarity to confidence.
