Podcast Summary: Finding Purpose and Passion in the Nonprofit Tech Space with Mark Cross

Podcast: RKD Group: Thinkers
Host: Justin McCord with Ronnie Richard
Guest: Mark Cross, Head of Sales at Hatch
Date: October 13, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode explores the journey and evolving passion of Mark Cross in the nonprofit technology sector. The conversation dives into pivotal life moments, the unique challenges and gratifications of working in nonprofit tech, leadership experiences, and the transformative impact of AI in the sector. Mark shares both personal stories and professional insights, offering listeners relatable anecdotes, strategic advice, and touching reflections on mission-driven work.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Formative Moments and Sports as Life Markers

[03:59 - 09:43]

• The episode opens with Mark recalling his 11th birthday, a time that coincided with a legendary Notre Dame football victory over Florida State, experienced alongside his father—an event that shaped his identity, highlighted the importance of formative moments, and mirrored themes seen in both personal and professional growth.
• “My favorite birthday was my 11th birthday because that was November 13, 1993, when number two, Notre Dame beat number one Florida State… mine hit its apex, the date of my 11th birthday, sitting in Notre Dame Stadium next to my dad, watching that game.” — Mark Cross [04:13]

Insight:
Formative childhood and sports moments can shape how individuals approach meaning, influence, and purpose later in life.

2. Finding (and Losing) Your Passion in Career

[10:36 - 18:04]

• Mark candidly discusses his early career drift, lack of fulfillment in conventional sales roles, and the pivotal advice: “You're never going to be successful or happy unless this is truly your passion.”
• A critical realization came after being fired from a job he didn’t care about:
  • “I don't care about roofers… helping them make another dollar wasn't very inspiring to me.” — Mark Cross [11:50]
• Stumbling into nonprofit tech via Blackbaud, Mark found a deeper connection to meaningful work:
  • “For the first time in my career, when I was at Blackbaud, I really started to feel success for the first time... it was really an investment in nonprofits and their outcomes and getting to know them and their mission.” — Mark Cross [13:36]

Insight:
Authentic passion for a field, especially in nonprofit work, is vital for both personal fulfillment and professional success.

3. The Unique Nature of Nonprofit Tech Leadership

[18:04 - 20:25]

• Reflecting on leading large sales teams at Blackbaud, Mark contrasts big-company infrastructure with the versatile demands of startup environments.
  • “In a weird way, [managing a big team] was easier than working with teams of two or three or five in a startup environment where there is not that infrastructure.” — Mark Cross [18:44]

Insight:
Leadership in startups versus established organizations requires different skill sets; lack of support infrastructure in startups demands adaptability and resourcefulness.

4. Venturing into Consulting and the Role of AI as Copilot

[20:25 - 26:18]

• Mark describes the leap from established companies to co-founding his consulting firm, Constant Method, paralleled to parenthood—something impossible to fully prepare for.
  • “It's much like parenthood… actually stepping into it, you're like, oh, man, not only was I not prepared, but there's like no way I ever really could have prepared.” — Mark Cross [20:50]
• AI tools, especially ChatGPT, proved invaluable in launching and running the business, filling knowledge gaps with ‘no dumb questions’ answers.
  • “AI and ChatGPT was just the easiest copilot of like, I want to do this, literally what's first?” — Mark Cross [23:34]

Insight:
Modern AI serves as an on-demand business mentor and administrative assistant, dramatically lowering barriers for entrepreneurs and innovators.

5. The Niche Need for Sector-Savvy Consulting

[26:18 - 29:10]

• Mark identifies a sector problem: most consultants don’t understand the nonprofit space’s nuances, leading to costly onboarding and inefficiency.
  • “What they don't quite understand are nonprofits and the nonprofit industry… the nuance is the way that you separate yourself and succeed.” — Mark Cross [27:12]
• The solution: specialized consulting for companies selling to or supporting nonprofits, minimizing the need for extended learning curves.

Insight:
Sector-specific expertise is crucial; nonprofits deserve consultants who bring context, not just generalizable skills.

6. AI’s Evolution and its Transformative Potential for Nonprofits

[29:10 - 33:56]

• Mark analyses AI’s current moment as analogous to early Internet days: clearly world-changing, but with emerging, not-yet-fully-known use cases.
  • “It feels very much in that moment of like, this is going to be game changing. But we don't always know. We can't really predict exactly how. And that's cool to me.” — Mark Cross [31:13]
• He critiques early AI marketing as solving invented problems; now, AI ads focus on practical, real-life scenarios, signaling mainstream adoption and impactful application.

Insight:
AI is at a cultural inflection point, and nonprofits must remain agile and curious in leveraging this rapidly evolving technology for good.

7. Personal Purpose and Meaning in Nonprofit Work

[34:44 - 38:21]

• Mark closes with a powerful story: His father, present at his 11th birthday and later affected by Parkinson’s, inspired Mark’s connection to the Michael J. Fox Foundation. His team’s work enabled breakthroughs, creating tangible, personal impact.
  • “Having that money give a direct impact to a cause that you care about that so closely resonates with you, those are the things that drive me... that is the great joy in working in this industry.” — Mark Cross [35:37]
• He challenges listeners to find their own personal connection to their work:
  • “If you're working with nonprofits, don't expect to get rich from this… But the fact that we get to get up and have these discussions and work with nonprofits and have successes that lead to money raise that positively impacts the world is such a, such an amazing, just joy and really to me is one of the best parts about working in this industry.” — Mark Cross [37:07]

Insight:
Deep personal connection to nonprofit missions fuels purpose-driven achievement and satisfaction, contrasting transactional work in other sectors.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You're never going to be successful or happy unless this is truly your passion.” — Sales instructor, cited by Mark Cross [11:09]
• “She's not the idiot, you're the idiot. And I was like, I'm not the idiot, like, whatever. But that stuck with me for a long time and I still think about it today and teach it to the people that I work with.” — Mark Cross, recalling a pivotal lesson about client empathy [15:07]
• “The nuance is the way that you separate yourself and succeed.” — Mark Cross [27:25]
• “What is life if you're not working for something bigger than yourself?” — Justin McCord [38:21]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:59] Mark recounts his 11th birthday/Notre Dame football
• [10:36] Early career setbacks and lack of passion
• [13:36] Discovery of fulfillment in nonprofit tech at Blackbaud
• [18:04] Leading large teams at Blackbaud
• [20:44] Transition from big organizations to startups and consulting
• [23:34] AI as a business and knowledge copilot
• [26:18] Unique need for nonprofit-specific consulting
• [29:52] Mark explains current AI moment and its parallels to the dawn of the Internet
• [34:44] Personal motivation rooted in family experience and impact with the Michael J. Fox Foundation

Tone

Mark’s stories are candid, tongue-in-cheek, and earnest, blending humor and humility. The hosts foster a warm, reflective environment, encouraging both genuine admiration for nonprofit work and open engagement with the sector’s challenges and evolving technologies.

Conclusion

This episode provides a rich, relatable view into the journey of purpose-driven work in nonprofit tech. Mark Cross’s narrative—from awkward formative moments to impactful, AI-driven consulting—reminds listeners that authentic success is rooted in passion, empathy, and the persistent pursuit of meaningful impact. Both emerging and longtime nonprofit professionals will find actionable insights and inspiration in Mark's experience.