The Weekly Memo
The stuff nobody writes down.
One essay, most weeks, on how this sector really works — the incentives, the money, and the things everyone in the room already knows and nobody says out loud.
What you are subscribing to
No fixes. Just what is actually going on.
Each essay names a structure, traces an incentive to the behaviour it produces, and gives a specific example.
You will not get a remedy presented as a framework. Where the answer depends on your board, your budget, or your community, the essay stops and the decision returns to you.
Free, weekly, and nothing else is sent.
Where to start
Start with these two.
They are a pair: the diagnosis, then what follows from it. Together they set out the argument the Library is built on.
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The people who pay are not the people who receive
In a business, the person who pays for the thing is the person who gets it, so money carries information: if the product is bad, revenue tells you, on schedule, without anyone having to be brave. Split those two people and that channel goes dead. Everything else — the overhead theatre, the unmeasured programs, the growth reflex, the salaries — follows from that one gap.
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Every fix worth making does the same one thing
One diagnosis, one class of remedy. Every fix in this sector that has ever worked closes the gap between the person paying and the person receiving. Every fix that failed left the gap alone and went after the symptoms. That is a filter you can run any piece of advice through, including mine.
Full archive lives on Substack. Read everything →
What is coming
Queued between now and November 2026.
The memo runs weekly through the release. Most of what is queued is drawn from the volumes and written for the person looking the question up, rather than for the sector.
- 01How to start a nonprofit with no money
The most common form of the question, answered without a filing service attached. From Book One.
- 02Nonprofit bylaws, annotated line by line
The document from Book Ten, annotated clause by clause.
- 03The overhead myth, and what your real number is
Why one organization reported 11 per cent for years when the true figure was 22, and why the accurate number is the better one to publish. From Book Five.
- 04Founder’s syndrome, from the inside
Almost never recognised at the time. From Book Nine.
- 05Do nonprofit founders get paid?
Yes. The figure is also a public statement about what the work is worth. From Books Six and Nine.
- 06Should I take this government contract?
One organization declined $94,000 in its fifth year. The arithmetic is worth doing before the offer arrives. From Book Four.
November 2026
Ten books.
One job.
All of it.
The complete set publishes in November. The full contents of every volume are listed on this site.
