Jason VanLue
Founding Partner and Lead
Twenty years in product and design. Six years leading product and design at a fundraising platform used by more than 2,000 nonprofits.
- 20+
- years in product & design
- 2,000+
- nonprofits served
Why Nonprofit Builders
A guide for the road ahead.
Between where you are and what the mission needs next, there's a gap. We help you see it, plan it, and build your way across, together.
Three things are changing at once.
The organizations that thrive next will have a plan, and a path to build it.
How supporters find you
More places to be found, and more noise to cut through.
How they give
More ways to give, and higher expectations on every screen.
How the work gets done
AI changes what a small team can do, and how fast.
Most see the opportunity. Very few have a plan.
- 92%Of nonprofits use AI
- 7%See real value from it
- 8%Have a roadmap for it
Sources: 2026 Nonprofit AI Adoption Report, Virtuous and Fundraising.AI. NTEN and The Bridgespan Group, 2026.
The missing seat, and the missing layer
Someone has to own what comes next.
It's a seat at your table and a layer across your organization: the one that connects your leaders, your team, and your tools, and keeps the work moving.
Organizations that handle this well have someone who is
- Senior enough to decide.
- Technical enough to build.
- Close enough to the mission to know what matters.
In most nonprofits, that seat is open. We fill it.
With a full team behind us. It starts with a free call about your mission and your next step.
How we help
One team, everywhere the mission grows.
Five disciplines in the same hands, in the four places a mission grows.
- Story + Brand
- Design + Technology
- Marketing + Fundraising
- Data
- AI
OperateSave time and money
- AI for Your Team
- Workflow Automation
- Role Redesign
- Reporting and Dashboards
- Jobs to Be Done
ReachReach the right supporters
- Story + Brand
- One Story, Everywhere
- Websites
- Discoverability
- Find Your Next Supporters
GiveRaise more
- Monthly Giving Program
- Event Experience
- Peer-to-Peer Pages
- Giving Experience
- Volunteer and Skills Intake
KeepKeep more of it
- Gala + Year-End Follow-Through
- Lapsed Donor Win-Back
- Mid-Level Donor Program
- Impact Report
- Donor Listening
What makes us different
We have sat in your seat.
And we know what it takes to move a mission forward.
Proven where it counts.
Product, design, and technology practice from companies like Google, Cisco, and Dropbox, plus years inside nonprofits and the platforms they run on, including six years at Virtuous.
StoryBrand CertifiedMessaging built on the StoryBrand framework, by a certified team.Many disciplines, one team.
Story, design and technology, marketing and fundraising, and data in the same hands, connected by one operating layer and multiplied by AI. Nothing gets lost between vendors.
Made for missional work.
Built for the needs, budgets, and people of nonprofits and ministries: the development team, the board, the volunteer, and the donor.
More for the mission.
Hours and dollars back for your team, more generosity from the people who believe in you, and a mission moving into what's next.
How we think about AI
AI clears the work, so people can do the human work.
Human-centered.
AI clears the busywork so people have more time for people. Giving is personal, and it stays that way.
Intentional.
We start from the outcome, never the tool, and use AI only where it actually helps the mission.
Do no harm.
A standard borrowed from medicine. We stand behind what we build, and nothing runs that you couldn't explain to your board.
Our promises
What you can count on.
Four commitments we make to every organization, before any work starts.
We build on what you have
We start from your CRM, giving platform, and website, and connect what's there before suggesting anything new.
We stay after launch
We don't build something new and walk away. We keep it working, watch the number with you, and keep improving it.
Relationships stay human
AI clears the busywork. Nothing asks a supporter for money without a person reviewing it.
An honest no, early
If we're not the right fit, or you should wait, we'll say so on the first call.
Who you'll work with
Senior people, in the room.
You work directly with people who have built for leading companies and from inside nonprofit technology.
Jay Owen
Founder, Business Builders
Founded Business Builders in 1999 and leads it today. Author of Building a Business That Lasts.
- 26+
- years serving missions
- 1999
- founded Business Builders
Jason has a rare gift. He can sit in a room full of competing priorities, technical constraints, and half‑formed ideas, and walk out with a clear picture of what actually matters and how to build it.
Plus a full operating bench across all five disciplines.
A unified team of senior operators to free you up for the work that only you can do.
- StoryBrand Certified
- HubSpot Platinum Partner
- Inc. 5000, twice
- Serving missions since 1999
Our team has built for
Let's map the way across.
Twenty minutes, free. Tell us where the mission is headed, and we'll share a few ideas and a clear next step.
What we'll cover
- Your missionWhere you are, what's working, and what's in the way.
- What you wish were trueA year from now, in your words.
- What to do nextA few ideas you can use either way, and a suggested next step.
You'll talk with Jason VanLueFormer VP of Product and Design at Virtuous
Prefer to start on your own? The Self-Guided Blueprint helps you name one outcome for next year.