One Voice, Thousands of Missions: NDANO's Kayla Deitch · Fargo INC!
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One Voice, Thousands of Missions: NDANO's Kayla Deitch
Kayla Deitch became the first full-time executive director of the North Dakota Association of Nonprofit Organizations, bringing an entrepreneurial background to a sector she believes needs one voice representing thousands of missions.
In shortKayla Deitch became NDANO's first full-time executive director in June, bringing an entrepreneurial and consulting background to lead the 1997-founded association representing North Dakota's nonprofit sector.
3 things to know
1Deitch's role centers on educating, advocating for, and connecting North Dakota nonprofits, with an early focus on a statewide 'listening tour' to identify sector-wide needs.
2NDANO's sector research identifies 3,896 public charities, 175 private foundations, and 1,941 other nonprofits in North Dakota, with 84% of reporting organizations having budgets below $500,000.
3NDANO's 2025 annual report listed 152 nonprofit members and 40 business, government, and individual members, representing a significant growth opportunity Deitch aims to pursue.
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By Brady Drake | Photos provided by NDANO
One Voice, Thousands of Missions
Kayla Deitch had been on the job for less than a week when she walked into the North Dakota State Fair Center in Minot and met the work all at once.
The North Dakota Association of Nonprofit Organizations' 29th annual leadership conference had brought nonprofit executives, funders, vendors and community leaders together from across the state. Over two days, they traded ideas, attended workshops and talked openly about the challenges they had in common, from funding restrictions and rising costs to workforce development and volunteer recruitment. It was, in effect, Deitch's orientation.
Then came the passwords.
After the conference, Deitch returned to the less visible work of transferring accounts, records, applications, equipment, and years of organizational knowledge from NDANO's longtime management partner, Clearwater Communications, into a full-time executive office.
That contrast, statewide ambition on one hand and administrative detail on the other, suited her.
A nonprofit's mission may be the part the public sees. The mission, however, only survives when the systems, budgets, technology, compliance work, and people behind it are strong enough to carry it.
That is now Deitch's challenge at NDANO.
The association was founded in 1997 by nonprofit leaders who saw a need to strengthen organizations throughout the state. Its mission is expressed in three verbs: educate, advocate, and connect. In June, Deitch became its first full-time executive director, beginning what the organization has described as a new chapter of growth.
"I'm being given an opportunity to step into an organization that is established, with an incredible board, a network, and financial backing," Deitch said. "It's a humongous gift."
What Is NDANO?
Founded: 1997 Purpose: Strengthen North Dakota's nonprofit sector Core functions: Educate, advocate and connect Who can join: Nonprofits, businesses, consultants, agencies and individuals Member resources: Training, advocacy, networking, policy information and the annual conference
Three Years That Felt Like 10
The position is the culmination of a professional evolution. Deitch says she could not have rushed.
She spent nearly a decade with the International Association for Impact Assessment, learning association work, event logistics, and member service. She valued the organization and its culture, but eventually recognized that she needed a larger challenge and more room to grow.
After leaving the association, Deitch spent approximately three years building a consulting career and launching Execla, an executive-support business centered on repeatable systems and proactive operational assistance.
"I probably grew 10 years in 3 years," she said.
Consulting conditioned her to hear "no" without becoming immobilized by it. It taught her to pick up the phone, make decisions with incomplete information, and move forward after finishing an engagement, even when doing the work well meant a client no longer needed her.
Most importantly, she said, those years made her more resilient and more decisive.
I conditioned myself to be the CEO I wanted to be three years ago. I couldn't have been that person three years ago, but I am for today. It was the right time and the right opportunity.
Listening Before Leading
Deitch has informally named the opening months of her tenure her "listening tour."
She is traveling the state, meeting nonprofit executives, board members, funders, volunteers, and community partners. She is asking: What are organizations confronting? Where are leaders getting stuck? What knowledge is missing? What could NDANO provide, or who could it connect them with, that would make the work easier?
She is not an expert on every mission represented within the sector. North Dakota nonprofits work in housing, health care, education, food security, public safety, animal welfare, the arts, economic development, and dozens of other areas. Deitch sees her role as recognizing shared needs, connecting people with credible expertise, and helping organizations act together when the situation calls for it.
"How do we get out of our silos and work together?" she said.
The scale of that opportunity is substantial.
NDANO's sector research identifies 3,896 public charities in North Dakota, in addition to 175 private foundations and 1,941 other nonprofits such as trade associations and fraternal organizations. Its 2025 report says 84% of North Dakota nonprofits reporting financial information have annual budgets below $500,000.
In many of those organizations, the executive director is not simply setting strategy. The same person may be fundraising, supervising employees, helping the board, writing grants, managing technology, checking regulatory requirements, and making sure the building opens in the morning.
Smiling woman with wavy hair wearing a blue flower pendant necklace; decorative butterflies and wall art behind.
NDANO's 2025 annual report listed 152 nonprofit members and 40 business, government, and individual members. The distance between that network and the full statewide sector represents an enormous growth opportunity for Deitch.
"I really want to grow it," she said. "I want to see what types of relationships I can build to bring funding to NDANO, grow a team, and really add value."
An Immediate Test of Advocacy
One of Deitch's first tests came not from a North Dakota meeting room, but from a lengthy federal proposal.
On May 29, the federal Office of Management and Budget proposed revisions to the Uniform Guidance, the government-wide rules governing most federal grants, cooperative agreements and other financial assistance.
OMB said the proposed changes were intended to improve transparency, accountability and oversight while reducing burdens on recipients. The National Council of Nonprofits, whose network includes NDANO, raised concerns that parts of the proposal could create instability for organizations receiving federal awards, including by broadening the circumstances under which grants could be suspended or terminated.
The issue carried immediate consequences for organizations that use federal funding to provide housing, health, education, food, shelter, and other services.
For Deitch, NDANO's responsibility was not to tell every member what to think. It was to make sure affected organizations understood what was being proposed, had access to reliable analysis and knew how to submit their perspectives before the July 13 public-comment deadline.
"My goal is to be the one making sure our members know what's going on," she said.
The National Council of Nonprofits had specialists reviewing the proposal and turning its technical language into more digestible guidance. Deitch's job was to move that information through North Dakota, sharing resources, answering questions and calling members directly.
At one point, she planned to use a long drive across the state to work through a list of phone calls.
It was scrappy advocacy, but it illustrated the role Deitch wants NDANO to play, which is to identify the issue, translate it, connect members with expertise, and help the sector respond together.
Speaker at podium with raised hand beside illuminated “INDANO” letters on stage.
Not every policy concern is that sweeping. Sometimes an organization needs help understanding a filing requirement, fundraising rule, or tax provision. Those smaller operational issues can still consume scarce time and money.
The Business Behind the Mission
Deitch's largest long-term opportunity may be helping nonprofit leaders strengthen the business beneath their missions.
"Nonprofits are businesses too," she said.
The nonprofit designation does not mean an organization should operate without financial discipline, reserves, or a plan for sustainability. Deitch wants leaders to have more access to practical education on governance, operations, human resources, technology, financial management, fundraising, and communication.
NDANO already maintains a best-practices program organized around 10 principles of nonprofit excellence, including accountability, financial management, governance, fundraising, human resources, planning, evaluation, technology, and strategic alliances. Deitch sees an opportunity to make resources like those even more accessible and actionable.
Her entrepreneurial background becomes especially apparent when she discusses funding.
A strong mission does not automatically produce a strong funding request. Organizations must understand why a foundation, public agency, or corporate partner exists, what outcomes it is trying to create, and where the nonprofit's work genuinely aligns with those priorities.
"How can we tell the story that the funder needs to hear?" Deitch said.
That does not mean changing the mission to chase money. It means doing the homework, understanding the opportunity, and describing the organization's work in terms a reviewer can quickly recognize.
Rather than allowing a rejected request to become a source of lasting frustration, Deitch wants leaders to approach it as a business-development question: Was the opportunity truly aligned? Was the story clear? Is there a relationship the organization has not built? Is there another funding structure it has not considered?
"How do we figure this out?" she said. "What are we not seeing? What are we not looking at?"
Because NDANO remains a lean organization, Deitch sees its network as a way to expand its capacity. Accountants, attorneys, marketers, technology professionals, fundraisers, human-resource specialists, and other experts can help educate members through webinars, conference sessions, and vetted resources.
How Businesses Can Engage With NDANO
Become an associate member. NDANO offers four associate-membership levels, ranging from $120 to $1,200 annually, for businesses, consultants, government agencies and individuals.
Share useful expertise. Associate members may submit proposals to provide educational content or present learning opportunities to nonprofit leaders.
Participate in the annual conference. Businesses can exhibit, sponsor programming, and build relationships with nonprofit executives and funders from across North Dakota.
Help someone connect. Companies can encourage employees to serve on boards, volunteer, or share professional skills with organizations whose missions matter to them.
The organization's associate-membership program is specifically designed for businesses, consultants, government agencies, and individuals that want to connect with nonprofit organizations. Depending on the membership level, benefits can include business-directory placement, conference discounts, organizational recognition, and the opportunity to submit proposals for educational programming.
For Deitch, the best relationships will deliver value before they attempt to sell anything.
A social-media specialist, for example, might teach nonprofit leaders how to create a manageable content plan. A financial professional could explain cash reserves or restricted funding. A human-resource expert could help a small organization understand employment practices it has never had internal staff to manage.
That education helps nonprofits operate more effectively. It also allows participating businesses to establish trust within a statewide network.
An Invitation Beyond the Nonprofit Sector
Deitch wants more nonprofit organizations to know NDANO exists, but her invitation extends beyond them.
For businesses, the organization offers access to leaders from a sector that purchases professional services, employs tens of thousands of North Dakotans, and contributes to the communities in which companies recruit and retain employees.
For professionals, it offers opportunities to share expertise.
For individuals and families, it can serve as a connector to organizations seeking volunteers, board members, and community advocates.
And for nonprofits, membership offers a place to learn from peers who understand the work.
Deitch described NDANO's annual conference as the one time each year when many nonprofit leaders can step away from their daily demands, meet other decision-makers, and think more broadly about the problems they are trying to solve. The 2026 conference in Minot brought organizations together with workshops, funders, sponsors, and vendors.
Nonprofit membership dues are scaled according to annual operating budget and currently range from $75 to $1,000. Deitch said any organization for which the fee presents a genuine limitation should contact her directly.
Her immediate objective is not to make NDANO the answer to every question. It is to make the association the place people call when they do not know where the answer is. Sometimes the value may be a national policy summary arriving before a deadline. Sometimes it may be a webinar on an operational problem. Sometimes it may be a conversation between two leaders who discover that they have been trying to solve the same problem separately.
Deitch wants NDANO to make those connections happen more often, and with more optimism.
"There is so much negative scrutiny right now," she said. "I really want to be that positive light for people."
Before You Join a Nonprofit Board
Understand the organization's mission
Review its finances
Ask about the expected time commitment
Understand fundraising expectations
Learn the board's legal responsibilities
Ask whether directors and officers insurance is in place
Determine how your expertise would be used
Clarify term lengths and meeting frequency
North Dakota's nonprofit sector is not a small or peripheral piece of the state's economy. NDANO's sector report attributes 52,848 North Dakota jobs and more than 185,000 formal volunteers to nonprofit activity. Those organizations support housing, food access, education, health, arts, public safety, workforce development, and many of the conditions that allow communities and businesses to function.
"Nonprofits are the glue in society," Deitch said. "They're the ones that heal. They're the ones that give purpose and meaning and remind us that we're all human, and that sometimes we all need some help."
Her plan for NDANO is similarly connective: make the phone call, translate the issue, bring the right people into the room, and help organizations move together rather than struggle alone.
Educate. Advocate. Connect.
In Deitch's hands, those three words are more than a mission statement. They are a growth strategy.
Editor of Fargo INC! — covering the founders, companies, and ideas shaping business in Fargo-Moorhead. Eleven years in, still no opinions, no politics, all business.
