Latest / We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits / 492. Shortchanged: Why and How Those Driving Important Change are Coming Up Short - Monique Parker and Taylor Johnson

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492. Shortchanged: Why and How Those Driving Important Change are Coming Up Short - Monique Parker and Taylor Johnson · We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Hey, I'm John.
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: And I'm Becky.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: And this is the we Are For Good podcast.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Nonprofits are faced with more challenges to accomplish their missions and the growing pressure to do more, raise more and be more for the causes that improve our world.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: We're here to learn with you from some of the best in the industry, bringing the most innovative ideas, inspirational stories, all to create an impact uprising.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: So welcome to the Good Community.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: We're nonprofit professionals, philanthropists, world changers and rabbit fans who are striving to bring a little more goodness into the world.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: So let's get started.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: I love when we get to be the rabbit fans.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: I mean I was literally just listening to the intro going oh, they are world changers, they are rabbit fans.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: Oh, they are believers.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Check, check, check, check check check yes.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: We have got our dear friends Monique Parker, Taylor Johnson.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: You probably know them because they're the co-host of the Short Change podcast, part of the we Are For Good podcast network.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: But the Short Change podcast is really all about the love of community.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: It's where they seek to understand the why and how organization leaders are driving important change in our communities because they keep coming up short.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: So together they're uncovering and untangling structures, how they're built, how can we can accelerate good and even often slow it down, and so they're exploring these innovative ideas through new paths that organizations and communities can get what they are due.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: We are all for this.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: And Monique, she has been on the podcast.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: You may remember her from Community Week or you may know her from the we Are For Good community.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: She is this bad A mom, entrepreneur, strategist.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: Bad A mom, I'll say it.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: I'm just saying myself, but it's so true.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: So before her nonprofit career because she started this incredible accelerator program for Black-led organizations in Texas called Little Bit of Good they have had this incredible first cohort that kicked off.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: Monique was really working in the tech industry in this really interesting diversity, equity, inclusion role, which gives her a completely different lens that we really value into this conversation, Kind of on the funder side and external partner side, to come into the nonprofit space to say why are y'all doing this like this?
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: Can we go ahead and speed things up a little bit?
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: And we just love Monique because she's also this really incredible entrepreneur.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: She's the CEO of Blow Candle Co.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: So Monique is just one of our favorite humans.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: She came up through the we Are For Good community and she is like, inspired and encouraged each of us personally and so huge honor to have you on the show again, Monique and Taylor.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: Taylor is just an incredible force for good.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: Taylor Johnson she holds a Bachelor of Science in Family, Youth and Community Sciences and Master of Science in Non-profit Development.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: I didn't even know that existed my friend and the CFR.
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: That's amazing.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: Yes, she's got her CFR.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: I remember celebrating that in the community.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: But before working with Grassroots For Good organization, she was an Associate Director of Development for the University of Florida Foundation and in those three and a half years she raised almost $2 million toward essential programs, student scholarships and capital projects.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: Go Tay, that's incredible.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: And she recently joined the Purpose Possible team as a consultant in 2022, where they empower mission-driven organizations to overcome their roadblocks that prevent them from making their purpose possible.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: She is also really involved in a little bit of Good Journey 2 as a board member, and Taylor and Monique.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: It's like our favorite philanthropy love story of the we Are For Good community.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: That is actually where they first met and they were like okay, let's go change the world together.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: And they came together.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: And now to have you on the podcast, relaunching your podcast in this community, just feels so kismet and the universe is here in this moment.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: So, friends, welcome back to the show.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: So good to have you here.
• 3:30
  Speaker 4: We are so excited to be here.
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: Thank you, always love seeing all spaces.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: We love you guys so much.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, every time we talk to y'all we feel inspired, encouraged and just all the things.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: So I want to create space so everybody listening at home can feel the same thing too.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: Catch us up a little bit of your journey.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: Thank you for watching.
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: Yes, just a quick rundown.
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: Like you said, I started my career in tech.
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: That's been my whole professional career and moved through the DEI strategy space and ultimately was leading a lot of our philanthropic giving, and in that position is where I really got introduced to nonprofit organizations.
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: And this whole data or lack of data and marketing and all of that and little bit of good originally was going to be all about how do we effectively market to these large donors and the disconnect that I was seeing.
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: And after doing some interviews with other people in the sector and then also writing some grants, volunteering a little bit, I definitely recognize the huge gap when it came to access and capacity for Black led organizations and also funding, and so that kind of lit my fire a bit.
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: I had already started Blow Candle Co like a year and a half prior, so I already knew like, oh, if I can sell candles, I can, I can do things, and I was like okay, we're going to get our 501 and do it, and then I found we are for good through Mallory and then got all up in the community.
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: I tell everybody this is my and I say it every time I'm on too.
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: This is my nonprofit university and, yeah, we got started with little bit of good last year.
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: We just had our first year anniversary in August and we run our first capacity program throughout this year and it has just been a massive learning and incredible outcomes and I'm really, really excited for next year.
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: But have had the pleasure to be with Taylor over the last year too and just building and talking and scheming and now we have this baby in the world so excited.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean like we didn't even say that Taylor is eight months pregnant with her first child.
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: So Margaret like the baby.
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: They have the baby of shortchanged and Taylor's about to become a mom.
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: And as we're talking about that, I just want to say we are like proud parents watching you to build these respective movements, this creativity, keep these conversations going.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: So thank you for that, monique Taylor, what about you?
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: Catch us up on what's going on with you besides this baby?
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: Oh, my goodness.
• 6:22
  Speaker 4: Well, and I've shared this with you guys offline but the really being in the we are for good community and having the front row seat of literally some of the most incredible change makers in the world has made me feel a little bit more hopeful about bringing a new life into the world.
• 6:38
  Speaker 4: You know, I want my daughter to be a part of what these folks are building, and so that's just.
• 6:43
  Speaker 4: I just yeah, I have to love on, we are for good a little bit, a little bit extra before.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: I get it I always agree in a little bit.
• 6:52
  Speaker 4: But, yeah, I started my journey at the University of Florida Shout out to FYCS, family and Community Sciences and that's really where I was asking the questions, hearing a lot of really different perspectives about how, like, doing good is not just doing good, like how do we do good?
• 7:12
  Speaker 4: Well, and so I just became an absolute nonprofit philanthropy nerd when I was about 20 years old and I have not stopped.
• 7:22
  Speaker 4: And now I actually get to utilize all of those lessons in my work today, and I have always been really passionate about a lot of different things and I think for a while there I thought okay, taylor, you've got to, you've got to hone in.
• 7:38
  Speaker 4: What are you?
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: What are you most passionate about?
• 7:40
  Speaker 4: What is the cause that really, really excites you the most, that you want to be a part of?
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: And I realized that my what I thought was a lack of capacity to really focus in on something really prepped me for this career path that I've taken in nonprofit consulting.
• 7:59
  Speaker 4: I now get to work with so many different kinds of organizations and causes and I literally get so passionate and excited about each and every one of them, and so it's really, really incredible that I basically get to attach myself to a bunch of different incredible organizations.
• 8:17
  Speaker 4: Most of them now are centered in the Washington DC area.
• 8:21
  Speaker 4: But yeah, and really just get to be a part of their team and be their cheerleaders and walk alongside them as they implement fundraising strategies.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: Your journeys.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: Both of you are just so interesting and so winding and so inspiring to us and we're going to talk about these big questions in philanthropy.
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: But I also want to say just an observation that I've had, just knowing both of you and visiting with you one on one.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: Even one of you are comfortable with the status quo at all.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: I feel that so much in your spirit and the way that you want more for yourselves, you want more for your community, you want more for the causes that you're supporting.
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: You are like everybody's hype team.
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: So it's why we were so excited to add this podcast to our network, because shortchanged is asking some of those really uncomfortable questions that, let's be honest, we don't ask enough uncomfortable questions in our sector.
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: We are all kind of very scarce in the way we don't want to approach the big elephant in the room and, as your resident, like charged through confrontation.
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: I'm human here, mostly because I just am trying to get to harmony, like I want to thank you for being brave and bold and saying the things that are on all of our minds and I want to get into those bigger questions because you've had some conversations already on the podcast and you've been doing this work without hitting record for several months, if not years.
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: And in your experience I'm just really curious, like what are some of the common reasons?
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: You think and see that organizations and leaders fall short of driving this really important change in their communities, within their organizations, because we know they have the best of intentions.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: And, monique, I'm going to kick that one to you first.
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I mean it's a big question, and how much time do we have?
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: Because there's a lot of different things that we could point to just in terms of why, you know, organizations fall short.
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: And I think we can take a moment to look internally first, and we just had an amazing conversation with Sabrina Walker Hernandez from Supporting World Hope, and one thing that she said that I've been thinking about since our conversation is this approach of servitude versus service, and it, like, truly impacted me, and I think that we do a lot of us starting organizations or leading organizations.
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: We go in because it's a heart thing and we see something and it needs to be fixed and we want to fix it, but it's not necessarily with and now I'm going to tell you what I need to do this, because I can't do it alone and leading something can be very lonely, but in this sector, we have to have collaboration, and I think that there's also a lack of collaboration between funders and organizers as well, and, more so, putting the responsibility on our funders.
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: I think that they have started to kind of stop it like here's the check and we'll see you at reporting time, and there's so much more work that can be done in between that, where you, as a funder, could be leaning in to say now how can I support you in how we're implementing this money?
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: I agree with Monique it's rarely this lack of passion or lack of desire to see this change through.
• 11:55
  Speaker 4: I think our communities are nonprofits and our communities get what they are due when the funding they receive is based in, wrapped in trust, where the nonprofits on the ground are treated as the experts, they're believed to be the experts of the cause at hand, and the funders become partners rather than directors of the funds, and then there's just this freedom for the community to be at the center of the work when there's trust.
• 12:29
  Speaker 4: And so I think our nonprofits get more what they are due.
• 12:32
  Speaker 4: And then, if our nonprofits are getting what they're due, our communities are getting what they're due.
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: And so, yeah, I think it does come back to trust in funding that we need.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: I mean, this is what's so good about this, because I'm, of course, equating this to parenting and I'm thinking through, like something recently that my wife and I talked about is just when you're, like, you know, trying to help your kid make a better decision, if you don't throw it through the lens of like they're a human, like they're not like this pond that just does these things there, they're like a little mini adult in training.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: In the same way, if we're not being treated like the expert, what are we, you know?
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: I mean we're putting our entire missions on the line to these things.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: Of course we're the experts.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: Like how do we shift that?
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: So I mean you're asking these questions.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: You feel like you are getting somewhere.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: I mean, what do you think needs to shift Inside the nonprofit?
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: Because I think it feels like, oh, they need to change this funders, what do we need to change as nonprofits and how we go into these conversations?
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: Coming into the sector, not having worked in it before, I think the biggest shift in perspective I've had is how we treat funding in nonprofit and how we look at the organization, and I think that we don't look at it, for some reason, as a business as opposed to, like this, full time volunteer job.
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: But businesses need funding to function and we need staff to function, and I know that there's, you know, certain constraints that were under when it comes to funding, but it starts with, you know, leaders and staff really understanding that this is a business that we're running.
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: We provide a service.
• 14:44
  Speaker 4: yes, it is community base, but we need to have ownership in what this is yeah, and then what the work that's being provide, the services being provided, our work is valuable and so it should be funded, and I think that that's something that we had kind of to bring that back down to our conversation with Sabrina earlier this week About the service versus servitude.
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: I think we just come in and assume that, well, you know, like I have to start just taking pennies because this is what you know, this is what you do in this sector, and so I think, recentering that the work that we do is valuable and has worth, and having those conversations internally, trying to create the capacity in the, in the nonprofit, the organization, so we're not everyone's wearing seventeen hats and everyone's burnt out, and I think also sharing with the board, like this is the, this is what I need to do this successfully now and in the future, like I want to sustain this impact, this is what needs to be put in place, and so I think having some of those more bold conversations within the organization is something, is a place we can start.
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: And allowing for innovation I think that's one other thing is just space to try things and pilot things and just see if something works, as opposed to, like this, how we've been doing it.
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: We know we're gonna get this much, so we're gonna do it next year, because that is what's safe.
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: It feels like we're in such a moment.
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: That's right for asking these bigger questions, and I and I want to talk a little bit about In equities, in funding, in the sector this is something you've really gone into in season one, and I'm here to tell you.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: I'm here for it and I want you to say it because I think, taylor, like you, made a really good point.
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: We don't have to say yes to everything.
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: John, we didn't have to say yes to accepting that penguin Suit that was gifted to our medical center at our university.
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: That is a true story, by the way.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: You do not have let that be a metaphor for all of you.
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: Don't have to accept the penguin suit.
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: Like we want funding to be equitable and we fundamentally know that it is not.
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: And so, in this first season, you're really focusing on inequities, and I just want you to talk Through with our listeners.
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: What do you find out?
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: What sort of through lines are you seeing?
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: What's been surprising like?
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: Lift some of the high notes.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: And I want to start with you, taylor.
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and I think I do also make it just a note that when we are Sitting down and having these really hard conversations, it's coming from a place of true love for the philanthropic sector.
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: We are coming to just point fingers.
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: We Love it, we believe in it and so that's why we're criticizing it, and I just think it's a really important mindset to have.
• 17:37
  Speaker 4: we're coming in and we aren't wanting to just Flip tables for challenging yes, absolutely, and then to rebuild is really what we're hoping for here, but I think that the reality is we have Very frustratingly slow and outdated processes of moving money through our communities, and I think we literally leave Money on the table, we leave community change on the table when we have these systems that are just not working.
• 18:05
  Speaker 4: Every episode that we had collective I rolls for sure.
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: We never stopped the episode before there was this like glimmer of hope, because we're talking with all these, these experts who are doing the work despite it all, and so I always felt like I left the episode still really hopeful about what was next, and I think I'm with within the inequity of funding.
• 18:29
  Speaker 4: I think we can't move on without talking about unrestricted funding, and so one of our guest, eric Butler, from project one ten they create intentional spaces for black and brown boys during the critical transition to high school through mentorship and peer to peer community building.
• 18:46
  Speaker 4: They've been around since twenty.
• 18:47
  Speaker 4: Yeah, they're incredible.
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: They've been around since twenty eighteen and they have only received unrestricted funding, which is just Insane insane, and so the reason they're doing such incredible innovative work is because they have this freedom to do what their community needs, answering to their funders about their program planning and implementation.
• 19:12
  Speaker 4: They are centering all of their discussions around the students and the families, and so, therefore, their work is Meeting the need head on, and they're just.
• 19:22
  Speaker 4: They're innovating, they're creating, they are just making space for these boys in such a special way, and so I think that that's just such an important aspect of equity in funding is unrestricted funding.
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: What about you?
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: I think that I mean we've learned a ton throughout the season so far and I've, like taylor said, there's a lot of hope that we've gleaned through each of our conversations and I have been impressed by the ability to be creative in a sector that is really Traditional, and all of the you know more innovative solutions that we've seen in terms of funding organizers and organizations that are approaching their communities in a different way to talk about what they do, or In regards to data and data collection, using that as an entry point to really express.
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: This is why we need support.
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: I feel like the biggest thing for me has really just been Having the opportunity to spotlight some of these conversations and people to learn from them.
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: I just feel like them having that mic and us having these conversations.
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: We never know whose ears it will land on, so I'm hopeful that you know there's some change in all of the you know themes that we talk about.
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: And I love the podcasting medium for that, because there's not a week that goes by that we don't get a random dm of someone that just found us that there's no reason that we should have connected otherwise.
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: And so the fact that you are putting these conversations on the wild, like this and your podcasters which is why I want to ask you this I mean your season and your belt how have these conversations changed you as people and maybe even your perception of the sector is?
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: I think that's Stop talking, I promise, but I'm like that is one of those things I didn't come in with starting a podcast with how it would really shape so much of my world view.
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so how has it changed you one season in?
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: I think for me, I Especially because we chose equity as our kind of major theme throughout the podcast and Because my career has been in that space, I Think I kind of came in with more of a skeptical Approach, where it's like, in my world, we've been talking about this for years, so how are we just getting the conversation started?
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: And I'm more, I was quicker to like we need to jump to action, let's jump to action.
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: But I think in having these conversations, it's definitely giving me a better perspective of how we can still jump to action quickly but also Weaving the learning that needs to happen.
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: And it's helped me in my position in what little bit of good is also Trying to do, because we're very action-oriented, we want to see tangible outcomes, but now realizing there's a lot of learning and unlearning that also has to take place.
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: I also think it's just really helped me to define what I want to do personally in this sector, because I was like, oh, I'm gonna start my org and BNED and I'm gonna run that and we're gonna do these great things.
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: And now I'm like, oh, I need to be having conversations with whoever is at the top because you know, I'm gonna use my, my likable attitude and things like that and then.
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: So this is what we need to do.
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna use my strategy skillset, but it's been like just so great in helping me to figure out like where my passion lies within the sector.
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: So good, tell you what happened there.
• 23:06
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think.
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: I think I like how you framed that too, as, as as podcasters, you know how has this changed you?
• 23:13
  Speaker 4: Because I think I think there's.
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: I always feel pressure in my personal life to have my, my thoughts and my answers all put together and All tied in a bow before I presented to anybody, and am I saying the right things?
• 23:28
  Speaker 4: Am I doing the right things?
• 23:29
  Speaker 4: And I think, oh man, do I feel that it's heavy?
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: It's a heavy load.
• 23:35
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I pull mine from my Enneagram 3, but I think what's so fascinating about the podcast platform if you were the host, you are Put in a very humble position of just asking questions, and so getting to just Show up and really actually be just authentically curious and in such a safe space has been so I.
• 24:02
  Speaker 4: I think that has been what's been so like life-changing about about this experience for sure, and in one of those things getting like almost Because you're sitting next to elbow to elbow with these, with these experts, and so they're giving you like just some of their sweetest gems, and I think one of the Feel like things that I feel like change my perspective really gave me vocab for a perspective I think I already had Was from Yada paying from just love her.
• 24:32
  Speaker 4: She reframed that equity is strategy.
• 24:38
  Speaker 4: It is being equitable is being the most strategic, and I think creating equity and funding isn't you know we're doing a favor for this organization by finally bringing them into the fold, it's we are moving money Efficiently to the people who are closest to the issue at hand, who are most closely in touch with the solution that's needed, and so I really appreciated the way that she reframed that for me and gave me words for for that.
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: Oh, that is so powerful.
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: John, do you want to get in there and say something about that?
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: I?
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: mean.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: There's lots of things I want to say.
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: I'm like I always have said like the podcasting changed my life and Taylor comes in and just casually says, yeah, it's because whenever you listen more and ask questions.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah that's what changes you.
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: That's available to all of us, whether you have a podcast or not.
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: It's like that positioning, posture in life is what changes you, and I'm like that's just really profound.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: So thank you for that moment.
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: It is, and the practice of listening is a beautiful practice and and I think you've said it really well just like staying humbly curious is is a gift, and I and I think that if you're someone who really believes in abundance and kindness and goodness and safety and peace and Feeling whole as a human being, like these are the things we're fighting for.
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: And so to get to that point, we got a walk through the muck of some of this hard stuff, and there's a lot of mucky stuff in this work, but there's a lot of good too, and so can I bring up something mucky.
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: So I want to get something, I want to get the ball rolling.
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: You know me, I want to ask all of these questions that are kind of like right on the edge.
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: We got to talk about the overhead myth.
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: Y'all I mean y'all are centering.
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: The overhead myth is like your season 2 Coverage, which I'm like they're spinning an entire season.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: It's like crime for philanthropy.
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: Like I love.
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: It Is like the greatest thing.
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: I've got a playlist to people.
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: I mean, we were literally just in Minnesota.
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: We were celebrating National Philanthropy Day with our friends at the AFP southern Minnesota chapter and we were talking About the overhead myth and some of them had never heard of it and some of them had already been to see Uncharitable Dan Pilata's new film and there seems to be like like we're waking up a little bit, not to the fact that this exists, but that we're gonna do something about it.
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: And I'm really interested in what listeners can expect if you'll give us kind of a little preview and like what are some of these bigger questions that you're asking?
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: I am super pumped to be covering the overhead myth, quote, unquote myth, because it's not a myth.
• 27:30
  Speaker 3: But the overhead myth this season and the people that we have brought in and the specific Themes that we are focusing on by the episode because, like Taylor said, originally we were like how much can we talk about this without it becoming redundant?
• 27:48
  Speaker 3: But there's so many areas that the lack of investment and the lack of encouragement for increasing overhead has on so many things.
• 28:00
  Speaker 3: And then also, you know how you can really better utilize some things Internally in different strategies.
• 28:07
  Speaker 3: Internally to try to match what the overhead is doing, or the overhead myth is doing right now.
• 28:13
  Speaker 3: We're talking about technology and how lack of investment really impacts that and your board and how to utilize your board and how their focus can be towards.
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: You know getting operational funds.
• 28:26
  Speaker 3: And then a lot of you know Internal focusing to like Taylor says, we're not necessarily just always pointing the finger we're looking for.
• 28:34
  Speaker 3: You know things that we can do as well as leaders in this space to change.
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: So a lot of good, actionable insights my favorite thing and some really incredible experts too.
• 28:45
  Speaker 4: Just to add on to some of the like, the threads that will pull is you know what is this doing to staff turnover and burnout and the scarcity mindset and and with all of that, what the lack of investment overhead is doing to actual impact the community change that we aren't seeing because we aren't investing in the sustainability of the nonprofit.
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: I Mean there's just so many angles to it.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: So I love the chiller dedicating a season to unpacking this.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: I think it speaks to just the collective and I think that's where we're gonna find the answers is when we Consider a lot of different angles and consider, you know, the different inputs and how we're all gonna be part of the solution collectively too.
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: So I'm curious about when y'all sit around and dream, you know what is, what is your dream for?
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: What comes out of the short change podcast?
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: What kind of change do you hope is gonna be inspired through this work?
• 29:37
  Speaker 4: What bugs me so much about the overhead myth is how far and wide it seeps into the broader community.
• 29:46
  Speaker 4: I'm sure we've all been recommended or not recommended to give to a specific nonprofit because of how much or how little they invest in overhead.
• 29:56
  Speaker 4: And so, and I think that when people use the overhead myth as their, their vetting process for giving to a nonprofit, they feel like they are becoming educated philanthropists.
• 30:11
  Speaker 4: And I'm saying that because I also felt that way when I first heard that you're not supposed to spend money on overhead.
• 30:16
  Speaker 4: That's a question that I asked nonprofits to see.
• 30:19
  Speaker 4: You know if this was the right nonprofit to give to.
• 30:21
  Speaker 4: And so what I'm really hoping and I've always wanted this, this podcast to, of course, give tools to the nonprofit sector to advocate for themselves, but I also really wanted to activate everyday philanthropists to realize their, their role in all of this and to actually give them the tools to actually be asking the right questions and mobilizing their generosity in a way that is effective and equitable and sustainable.
• 30:51
  Speaker 4: And so, whereas, like, at face value, the overhead myth might sound like a good thing, we're just asking ourselves the wrong questions.
• 30:58
  Speaker 4: We're not asking about the the long term sustainable impact and the living wages of the staff and solving a problem and not just putting a bandaid on it.
• 31:09
  Speaker 4: And so, yeah, I think my biggest hope is that the broader community feels activated to really be engaged in philanthropic movements.
• 31:21
  Speaker 3: I think my dreams for short changed have developed over time, because our inception story really started with Taylor.
• 31:28
  Speaker 3: This wasn't my plan and I since now getting into it, I just see so much possibility for the movement of money and, like Taylor said, I think the, you know, episodes that we release really do cause you to ask questions and in the future hopefully near future I would love to see us really, you know, galvanizing the movement of funds and I think that's, you know, multi layered, because the people that we have on our episodes are incredible and you can hire them and I hope that people listen and are like, oh my gosh, let me go ahead and reach out to this person because I have this need and they were excellent.
• 32:17
  Speaker 3: I hope that you know, philanthropists and funders listen and, if anything, reach out to us to say like, hey, this is what we're trying to do, who can you refer?
• 32:25
  Speaker 3: What can you do?
• 32:26
  Speaker 3: Like I really just I see us really positioning ourselves within philanthropy as this approachable but honest resource to really get you moving and I there's so many things that we can do with that, but I just really see us making the money flow.
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: You manifest that.
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: My friend, can I put my dream out there for you all?
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: I want it to eventually become, be renamed, shortchanged.
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: I want it to be called fully funded, because we get to a place where everybody has enough, the money is flowing equitably.
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: You all may think that's a pipe dream, but you know what?
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: I just think anything.
• 33:12
  Speaker 2: When community gets involved in lock arms, things can move quickly.
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: So that's my little dream, for you guys too, just a small one.
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: I wonder what is it meant to have people come alongside you in this journey and what I mean?
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: You are the embodiment to me of community.
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: You all came and found us because you were seeking community.
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: You were magnets to each other, based on the vitality of what you all saw in the other.
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: You have built this podcast.
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: Taylor's on your board, monique.
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: You are giving this gift of conversation to the community, and I wonder what is it meant to have community around you?
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: And do you want to shout out?
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: Anybody?
• 33:54
  Speaker 4: I definitely want to shout out Purpose Possible, where I actually work, and they are just incredible cheerleaders and actually partners with us on this journey for season two.
• 34:06
  Speaker 4: They are quite literally making this platform possible for us.
• 34:10
  Speaker 4: Thank you, purpose Possible.
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much, purpose Possible, thank you for the best thing you've been doing in this these conversations.
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: They matter.
• 34:16
  Speaker 4: Yes, they do, and it's just it's been, really it's been a lot to me.
• 34:20
  Speaker 4: It's where I, you know, put most of my time in is alongside Purpose, Possible and just so.
• 34:25
  Speaker 4: Being believed in in this way is really it's just honored by them and thankful for the work they're doing outside of this.
• 34:33
  Speaker 4: You know they are a consulting agency that is transforming communities by empowering mission driven organizations and they are just rock stars, and so we're so thankful that they are powering season two for us Amazing.
• 34:45
  Speaker 2: What about you, monique?
• 34:47
  Speaker 3: It's just been.
• 34:48
  Speaker 3: I am always one of those people who like want to be involved in everything and when I was in school and all the clubs and all the groups and all the things.
• 34:57
  Speaker 3: And as an adult you know we have jobs and it's we can't be in all the things or in nonprofit helping all the people.
• 35:05
  Speaker 3: But I think what we've built here and started to kind of cultivate here allows me to be in all the things.
• 35:14
  Speaker 3: Talking to the people, all the people in you know various different lanes and you know serving in different ways and then being able to selfishly, like my like love language is like oh, what can I do for you, how can I help you?
• 35:28
  Speaker 3: And now we've slowed that down because capacity and time have to respect it but being able to meet these people who have offered us their time and insights and expertise, and then turn around and say like how can I help you?
• 35:43
  Speaker 3: Who can I refer to you?
• 35:44
  Speaker 3: It's just been the best just building.
• 35:48
  Speaker 3: And then when you see, like season one, we got, you know, oh my gosh, you're doing this, you should talk to this person.
• 35:55
  Speaker 3: And then they come on and you should talk to this person and it's just built and built and built and it's nice to say like, hey, oh my gosh, you just heard about your organization.
• 36:04
  Speaker 3: So great, you want to come on my podcast.
• 36:06
  Speaker 3: People like, oh yes, thank you, thank you, thank you so much.
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: I love it so much and also have to money because of your candle company takes me back to the days when we had our handmade baby clothing business and, like the theme of that part of our life, when we were small business in community, it was we all of our best friends were all in this together with small businesses, and it was just this aspect of not competition but community, and I think that is exactly this moment right here and that's why I think we love you all so much, because that's what this is about like.
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: That's this moment that we come together in community and some days you tell people in your community to broccoli in your teeth and you talk about you know, but some days like you come together and you're sharing funders with each other and you're sharing ideas with each other and like that's a beautiful space that we want to be part of.
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: So thank you for expanding the table, setting up a new card table and or a bigger table than a card table my gosh, but Just really grateful for this.
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: So we got around out and get your one good thing in here.
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: So who wants to go first?
• 37:13
  Speaker 4: I think it's actually kind of a tool that I use in my personal life and in my work life and it's really setting Rhythms, which is kind of like a fancy word for routine, but it sounds.
• 37:26
  Speaker 4: It sounds better.
• 37:27
  Speaker 4: I think I have like committed to really slow mornings.
• 37:34
  Speaker 4: You know, I'm getting home from the gym and drinking coffee, eating breakfast and reading a book before I ever start my day.
• 37:38
  Speaker 4: Someone's much, much wiser than me shared that if you give yourself what you need at the front of the day, you're not chasing it the rest of the day, and so that's been really helpful for me to like not go into my days like just hurried, get out, get out of the bed, hit the ground running and just go, go, go.
• 37:57
  Speaker 4: And then within my, within my workspace, I do a lot of.
• 38:01
  Speaker 4: I do a lot of money knows this but I do a lot of like tasks list and milestones and things like that.
• 38:09
  Speaker 4: I know it's silly, but I, you know I get to Layout projects like weeks and months and kind of put anchors out throughout.
• 38:16
  Speaker 4: So then when I'm focused and why I do that and looks probably crazy to people, but the reason I do that is because when I know that there's a to do list for today and it's done.
• 38:27
  Speaker 4: The work is done.
• 38:28
  Speaker 4: I'm not having to worry about the full project scope or oh my gosh, like is this gonna get lost.
• 38:33
  Speaker 4: It's not because future Taylor has it, and so I get to just Really find that space for rest when I put these rhythms in my day and again.
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: That's personal and in my work life, taylor can you create a rhythm for mood for food and meal.
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: I cannot get that going.
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: I already have meals for postpartum.
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: Join the mini stode where Taylor breaks this down with us.
• 39:02
  Speaker 2: Taylor batches meal prep for everyone two months and I don't know.
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: We're eating tonight and you know.
• 39:12
  Speaker 2: So true that, oh, that's amazing.
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: Okay, hey, monique, good luck with your good thing.
• 39:19
  Speaker 3: I'm going to go ahead and make my one good thing, two good things and just say there you go, recognizing your strengths and picking good partners to go into business with, because we're completely opposite in that way.
• 39:31
  Speaker 3: We have outlines for conversations and Monique's notes are never in there.
• 39:37
  Speaker 3: Taylor is very prepared and I'm very off the cuff, but we balance each other so well and I think that's why we've been able to be Successful.
• 39:46
  Speaker 3: So, recognizing your strengths and you know your opportunities.
• 39:50
  Speaker 3: And that's my one, my number one, part one of my one good thing.
• 39:55
  Speaker 3: My part two is chat GPT.
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Okay, say this, say this, keep going.
• 40:04
  Speaker 3: I was very against the robots and using all the generators and I was just like it's so, so an authentic and all that stuff.
• 40:14
  Speaker 3: And I recently went to an AI conference and we talked a lot about the different platforms and really how to Get the most out of them.
• 40:23
  Speaker 3: And now that I'm really learning prompting and how to really flex these machines, it is I.
• 40:31
  Speaker 3: I am very slow to do grants for the nonprofit, but I submitted three grants last month and that was just utilizing Chat, gpt and really narrowing down what I need and like taking an hour to really feed it and then do it.
• 40:48
  Speaker 3: So, as much as I was like really hesitant, I do think that it's extremely helpful, so it's been saving me lately.
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: Wow.
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: Definite gratitude for the robots and the way they save us time, and much gratitude for finding your person in this.
• 41:05
  Speaker 2: I am so glad you found your Becky and John.
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: I was thinking that I'm the one who doesn't add my notes in every single time.
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: So that's me on this team.
• 41:14
  Speaker 2: It's okay.
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: It's okay, we're type A, aren't we, taylor?
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: We're happy to just get it all in there, okay.
• 41:22
  Speaker 2: So the most important question how can people find short changed?
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: And let me and I say that like cheekily, but there have been so many times I have gone up to someone and said we have the we are for good podcast, and they're like I've never listened to a podcast, I don't even know how to get there.
• 41:38
  Speaker 2: So tell people, yeah, where to go find it and your website and all the good stuff where you all hang out online, yeah well, we actually newly have our very own Instagram account, so at short changed pod.
• 41:53
  Speaker 4: And then our website is hosted on the little bit of good org website, monique's organization, and we are also now on the we are for good network channel.
• 42:07
  Speaker 3: Did that in sync.
• 42:07
  Speaker 3: We manifested that for real.
• 42:11
  Speaker 2: I think we were manifesting it as well.
• 42:14
  Speaker 4: So we finally met.
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 42:17
  Speaker 2: Well, thank you for what you guys are doing so much.
• 42:20
  Speaker 2: I mean, I thank you for the way you're uplifting these conversations, thank you for uplifting the voices of black and brown leaders, thank you for doing it in harmony and kindness and joy and also having radical candor and the way that you're asking these questions, because we got to be frank about it.
• 42:36
  Speaker 2: So I just think you're building something beautiful in the world you're creating for little Margaret is a kinder, more equitable place.
• 42:45
  Speaker 2: I think so just love you guys and are rooting for you so mildly.
• 42:49
  Speaker 3: Thank you so much, so much, all the love.
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for being here.
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: Friends, and you probably hear it in our voices, but we love connecting you with the most innovative people to help you achieve more for your mission than ever before.
• 43:03
  Speaker 2: We'd love for you to come join our good community.
• 43:05
  Speaker 2: It's free and you can think of it as the after party to each podcast episode.
• 43:09
  Speaker 2: Sign up today at.
• 43:10
  Speaker 2: We are for goodcom, backslash hello.
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: And one more thing if you love what you heard today, would you mind leaving us a podcast rating interview?
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: It means the world to us and your support helps more people find this community.
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much, friends.
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: Can't wait to our next conversation.