Latest / We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits / 443. Best of Season 7: 5 Takeaways We Don't Want You to Miss - Jon McCoy, CFRE, Becky Endicott, CFRE and Julie Confer

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443. Best of Season 7: 5 Takeaways We Don't Want You to Miss - Jon McCoy, CFRE, Becky Endicott, CFRE and Julie Confer · 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 rabid 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: Becky and Julie, what's happening?
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: Julie's here, hello.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: She just makes my heart so happy when Julie joins us on the podcast.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: Season 7 is wrapped up.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: That's what today is.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Can you help believe it?
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: It's been six months, and what a six months for this industry.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: Can we talk about that for a second Holy smokes?
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: we are sitting in the evolution.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: If you've hung around the We Are For Good podcast for long.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: We try to work in season so we can all take time to just reflect and take a minute and celebrate too, but look back and be like man.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: We've had a lot of conversations and we are growing and learning so fast that we don't want to miss it.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: We don't want you to miss it either, and so today is all about pulling up.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: We obviously can't reflect on every episode, but we wanted to lift a few from the queue and just be like man.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: What are we seeing?
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: We're having all these different conversations and what's kind of brewing in our minds and hearts as we see it all overlay together, and there's one word that I keep coming back to And as a team we kept coming back to it has to be evolution.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: This idea of evolution is not only what we focused on at the Responsive Nonprofit Summit, when we sat down with the virtuous team and they invited us to help co-build that content.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: We're like this is the moment we're in that everyone's looking like how do I evolve to meet this moment Which is really coming out in a really powerful way, not just getting impacted by everything happening around this, but coming out stronger and better as a result of it, and so that's the place that I think all these conversations are leading to so many ideas of how to be equipped and activated for this very moment.
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: We have rounded out five takeaways from this season that we don't want you to miss, as we kind of step back and reflect it on what we've been learning.
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: So, becky, do you want to start with the first one?
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, for those of you that are taking notes, here's your takeaway one.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: And I want to create like an anchor and some pause in this Number one our mindset has to evolve.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: Never before have we seen the sector radically shifting in the way that it has shifted in the last two to three years.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: And you look at something like the GivingUSA results and it's showing that generosity went down.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: I think all of us who are reading that report just have this sense of heaviness and burden on us.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: But yet, if we're really evolving our mindset, this is a perfect example of focusing on the wrong thing.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: It's easy to get caught up in the numbers and look at only that number that's going down, that financial number.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: But if you look at overall generosity, it is evolving.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: It is not just in what we're giving, it's how we're giving our time, it's how we're volunteering Shout out to Gen Z, and I'm going to tease this because it's coming in in a further trend But it's like how we're showing up to reflect generosity as identity, as a part of who we are.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: That is evolving and beautiful in new ways And we want you to lean into that.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: And I can't help but think about Scott Harrison, who's the founder of Charity Water.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: He kicked off our season and he completely gobsmacked us when he was like you know what, i don't think about the non-profit sector at all.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: Do you guys remember when he said that?
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: He's like.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: I spent like 0% of my time thinking about it.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: He said 0% of my time and he's just thinking about it on a different level.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: He's not thinking about what are the nuts and bolts.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: He's like how do we radically change and evolve generosity?
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: How do we move beyond these traditional approaches and adapt to new learnings, new technologies, new ways of thinking that engage our communities and build this broad base of support?
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: So he says this is episode 368.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: If you did not hear the Scott Harrison episode, please go back, because he said I'm focused on exponential growth and radical disruption And the way that Charity Water is doing that is absolutely phenomenal.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: But another person who I thought was absolutely brilliant with this, who is a rabbit fan and a wonderful member of our community, is Virginia Almendaris.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: She came in in episode 420 and she basically said your money stuff is not your donors' money stuff, which means we're bringing in our own ideas and beliefs around money.
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: We're bringing in our own cultural viewpoint, our own cognitive diversity, and knowing that we're doing that is going to limit our mindset a little bit.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: We have to evolve and we've got to center that conversation and humanity And when we can do that and kind of let our stuff go and really listen to our donors, the evolution of that partnership begins to, i would think, strengthen.
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: And then the last thing that I want to lift is the brilliant Tulane Montgomery.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: She is the CEO of New Profit and she came in in episode 378 and she was like we got to get into the business of enabling trust And she said trust is almost always what unlocks the movement of capital.
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: So let's get in the business of enabling trust.
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: So if our mindset is evolving, we're leaning into that trust, we're radically disrupting and leaving some of those old beliefs behind.
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: I'm telling you you are ready for this moment where we are evolving, and I just think it's an exciting moment.
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: Don't get bogged down by those giving USA results, because that's not telling the full story.
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: What's happening with your movement is telling a much bigger story.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: Dang, i got chills hearing about that.
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's like the foundation of this place like is not gone.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: You know, i feel like we can spend a lot of time looking across the entire sector and get stressed out, but at the end of the day, we need to hone in and control what we can control, you know, and build into the things that we have, you know, purview over.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: And so that's what takeaway two leads us into.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: We're calling it affectionately get your house in order, because you know, we had so many conversations when we're looking around and there's a time of recession and uncertainty decrease, giving A lot of our community members.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: We kept hearing over and over again that we want to talk about capacity building, we want to talk about sustainability and just how do we really feel more stable, regardless of what the next thing that's going to be thrown at us is?
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: And our buddy, staryn Bird, who's been on the podcast a couple of times, you know, sat down with us at AFP Icon.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: And what I love about Staryn, she was just so casual I mean, moving around doing all these things and she sits down and drops like the most Sage of wisdom, just casually, when she is like y'all, we're in a data revolution.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: The whole world is, and the nonprofit sector can't afford to fall behind anymore.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: These incidents and emergencies will keep happening and we have to be ready to meet the moment.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: It's time to command your data, to have your house in order so you're prepared to meet the moment when the unexpected happens.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: I mean, what beautiful tone setting that this is the time because we don't know what's gonna happen.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Next is the time to Focus on building strength, and so we have lined up some episodes, and y'all the three that I want to drop here Can really set you on a different course as you think about how do we focus on getting really strong.
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: Episode 393, with Brian Joseph, who is the founder of my gosh in revenue there.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, revenue king he is like set up their house of like how do we help build capacity around revenue for nonprofits?
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: He dropped five key elements of revenue infrastructure and let me just share them real quick if you missed this.
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: The first is identify your revenue model and What's that for today and over the next couple years.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: The second is what your revenue strategy?
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: What are the people, processes and systems that you need to have in place?
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: number three What skill sets do I need to have on the team?
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: talking about capacity, right for Resource allocation, when a hundred pennies come in the door, how do you allocate them?
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: and I love that he used pennies because we all feel very seen At.
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: Number five revenue culture.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: You have a revenue culture, whether you like it or not.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: So how do you draw a line between our revenue team and our programs?
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: So just those five principles.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: I know we were kind of in real time trying to apply it to our own house, that we are for good, but this is the kind of thing that helps you sleep better at night, you know, whenever you know that the core things are sustainable.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: Okay, but then I also got a list, episode 408 with Brett cop, do you?
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: remember that app, remind.
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: If you guys missed that episode, it's like literally the adventure of remind.
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: I know all you K through 12 nonprofits.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: Lean into that one And he's the founder of Omello, which is really helping nonprofits use this technology, so it's something you should totally go check out.
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: But he is all about understanding that there's quantitative numbers and there's qualitative numbers, so he shared a framework for how we can think about tracking growth, and these are things that we probably know but we need to be reminded of.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: The first one is retention How do we keep our donors coming back to us year after year?
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: The second is engagement How do you make that experience something that people really appreciate and lean more into?
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: Number three, activation When somebody signs up, is it really easy for them to get involved and take the next step, an acquisition.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: All of us are always focused on how are we finding and acquiring new donors, and Brett gives us kind of a lens for doing that, as he has grown tech products.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: So, again, surrounding ourselves in different kind of mindsets is going to help us grow and be more sustainable.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: And then the last episode I would list and getting your house in order is 415, with Matt Scott.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: He brought us this crazy case study.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: Do you all remember it was like growing a nonprofit from like $200,000 a year to $51 million a year?
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: That was insane, and I love Team Rubicon so much.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: I love that we're lifting their story.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: So he broke down.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: What does it look like to be high growth nonprofit?
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: He even wrote a free book that you can download off their website, Cosmiccom slash book.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: And that's Cosmic, It's kind of how it spells out.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: But Matt brought in just the power of the one page strategic plan And if you feel me friends, we all need the one page strategic plan because we need to be able to ruthlessly prioritize so we can stay on track and really hit the goals that we're really hoping for.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: So that's an episode I really encourage you to go back to as you think about.
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: How do you really get your house in order this summer, Julie?
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: where do we go next with number three?
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: So I claimed this one to talk about because it was one of my favorite conversations and trends that lifted.
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: But take away.
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: Number three is evolve your mission to build for the next generation.
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: Woo-hoo, i'm sitting there listening about how to get our house in order And while you're building that house, if you're also not building it for the next generation of donors, it's a loss.
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: Because we're here.
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: I mean Generation Z.
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: We had Elizabeth and Alyssa on and they talked about the future of philanthropy.
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: Gen Z is unique giving habits and how to reach them, and episode 432 and they cracked me up at the end.
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: They asked if they did me proud and it was so funny how much I saw myself in what they were describing.
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: So, gen Z, these are just a few takeaways from that episode that I want to make sure nobody misses.
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: Gen Z really wants to know the people that are actually working at your organization And I've experienced this firsthand.
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: Your newsletters are amazing.
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: Your impact letters are amazing.
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: You love reading them, but I don't truly feel connected to your mission until I've actually put a name to a face with someone that works for your mission.
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: So really focusing on that relationship building, i think, is super crucial for the next generation, and this is important.
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: Gen Z's total donation volume is lower than other generations, but it's increasing over time.
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: So I think often a lot of Gen Z is getting overlooked because if someone my age I'm 27.
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: So I'm on the tail end of millennial start of Gen Z.
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: But if someone's actively giving you a donation in their 20s, especially a monthly gift, it's a flag to really engage them, because they're actively involving you in their limited budget.
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: They're already thinking about giving back, which is super important to Gen Z.
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: And I've personally had two different experiences.
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: I was a monthly donor to two different organizations.
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: So if y'all want a little story time, i had two different experiences with both of those organizations And I'll keep them anonymous.
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: But one organization really had noticed that I had been giving monthly and had committed to that And so they brought me in.
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: I knew people on their staff I had gotten reached out to on LinkedIn and email.
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: I received a ton of their communications and they also brought me in for a focus group to help them with their messaging and how they're evolving their organization.
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: So I felt super seen and super valued.
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: Even though my donation was just $25 a month, i felt like they really appreciated what I was doing.
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: On the other end, an organization when I say I didn't hear from them, i did hear from them but it was always their mass emails and their communication that they'll send to everyone, which is informative and always feel good to hit your inbox, but I didn't feel like I was seen necessarily And if there was an invite, it was to an $800 ticket gala at the end of the year.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: No way, like hey, give us another $800 ticket, no, your audience.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: Can a Gen Z afford an $800 ticket to a?
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: gala, So I was so proud to give to both of them for a full year.
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: But when I got that email for both saying thanks for giving for a year, Here's your renewal.
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: You can understand how those feelings between the two would have been very different and maybe which one I would have leaned to keep donating to and dropping the other.
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: But there's this quote that people will remember how you make them feel, not what you say, And I think that's the best advice I can give while you're trying to prepare for this next generation.
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: Gen Z really wants you to be authentic.
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: We spend our time on TikTok, on social media.
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: I don't want to get a call from a fundraising officer, but if you text me and notice me, I will think it's the coolest thing ever.
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: So just be authentic and make people feel seen, because people will remember how you made them feel not necessarily the exact words in your perfect impact report that you're trying to write.
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: Two other episodes I'll lift just before I round this out is we had a conversation with Amy Freitag, episode 435.
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: And I felt so seen in this quote that she shared.
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: She said we're working very hard to seize the moment.
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: The next generation of donors love being close to the impact and hands-on.
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: We have to make a community foundation for the next century that meets that opportunity.
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: So go back to and listen to episode 435.
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: If you want to see in real time a leader that's actively thinking about preparing for the future.
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: And then I was super excited about this one, because I spend way too much time on TikTok, but we had TikTok for good.
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: Brett Peters in the house.
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: You had TikTok for good on the episode, like on the show What is?
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: our life.
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: He really talked about the future of digital strategy for nonprofits And he said, as I continue to talk about the issues at hand, i'm indirectly telling the story of my organization and building community around that story.
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: So he really talked about how, just by sharing that really authentic content, you don't have to come and bring all the bullets, have all the right words to say, but just through authentically telling the story and becoming the expert of your organization, you'll gain a rabid new set of fans.
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: And he gave some really fun examples that I'm now following that on TikTok, so be sure to go check them out and listen to episode 399.
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: But that is Takeaway 3.
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: I just appreciate you taking that one, julie, because I think when we're listening to the point of your example of having a nonprofit ask you as a monthly member, a Gen Z, to come in and share your thoughts, that was completely free, they weren't asking you for money And what a brilliant example of how you can feel, seen and have an impact on the organization.
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: And so I want to kind of segue into Takeaway Number 4.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: And we've lifted this just a little bit, but I got to go deeper, because Takeaway Number 4 is our funding has got to evolve.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: And so I want to dive into this funder's mindset series that we had, because, friends, we have been listening to you, we have heard you in our DMs, we've heard you in the community and the wonderful feedback that you provide.
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: And it's that the way that our funding is set up from grantors, between grantors and grantees, it needs to be rethought of And it's time to really reimagine that funder nonprofit relationship.
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: So we put a flag in the ground to kind of talk about how can we do that, how do we evolve those relationships and processes to make it symbiotic, make it empowering, make it simple, so we're not spending hours and hours on a grant report that maybe will not even get us the grant.
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: So one of the conversations I wanted to lift is someone who's doing a brilliant job with evolving their mindset, and it was Rina Greifinger.
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: And she's with Maverick Collective by PSI.
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: This is episode 370.
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: And she really talked about how do we embrace having a venture mindset And she said what Maverick funding is.
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: It's like a hyper flexible funding for new and innovative ideas And they have that have the potential to rapidly accelerate global health and solutions.
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: But the money comes with conditions.
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: Rather than saying I need you to report XYZ numbers every three months to me, the conditions are hey, we're going to learn together, we're going to stay brutally honest with each other and how things are going and when things are not going well, and we're going to identify where things are falling through the cracks or where we're failing, and then we're going to iterate.
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: And so it's really this concept of not saying you have to do exactly what you predict will do, because it may not happen.
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: And they're saying it's OK to fail as long as we're learning from it.
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: And when we do start to see success and they're starting to learn that things are moving, that's where they're going to try to galvanize all the networks and ideas and funding to really take those ideas to scale.
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: I mean, john, did you ever in our 20 years of fundraising experience ever have a funder say something like that to you?
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: I mean sadly no, And I remember on that convo with Rena.
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: One of their taglines is investing in bold, unproven ideas.
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: And that word stuck out to me because in the business world that's what happens all the time, All the time, All the time.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: In entrepreneurship, all of our friends, they're all like playing with these unproven ideas to figure out what's going to strike, And so unlocking funding around that would be revolutionary if we can get more funders to buy in.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: I just think it's a really exciting example of the evolution that we're starting to see in the funders mindset.
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: Another one that just literally knocked us out of our chair was episode 416 with Liz Ibar-Kanti, and she is doing incredible things at the Margo foundation And she was really talking about how do we build authentic relationships while still investing in wellness.
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: They're giving grants to teachers for therapy for time off, because they saw that when teachers are more arrested, they're able to have more impact on the front line.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: Another interesting example we had was Sean Couch over at the Couch Family Foundation.
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: It was episode 413.
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: And he was talking about how do we fund beyond checks And they're really enriching partnerships to fuel an impact, uprising in a way that they leverage media and storytelling.
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: And I think they were one of the ones small world here in the We Are For Good community who funded the FarmLink video.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: That went viral And if you're watching the FarmLink journey, who is PS, one of our favorite Gen Z nonprofits, i mean that video went viral.
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: It created engagement, awareness.
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: They've been on every nightly news, they've been in Ellen, they've been in People Magazine And they are raising millions and millions of dollars in this infancy of a startup.
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: That is just a new way And we thank you, sean, for leaning into just thinking differently about funding.
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: And another one that we recently just had, last week on the podcast, can we talk about?
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: when Emerson Collective came on to the podcast, that was another one.
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: We were text screening each other.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: It was really cool there.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was.
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: And Ann Marie Burgoyne came on And she is just one of the, i think, of her sort of being as one of the foremost pinnacle leaders that is really shaping and architecting the impact space And she talked about the power of the collective for creating systems change And she was really challenging us thinking about how funders can create a wraparound of support for nonprofits.
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: She's saying dollars are not always the best solutions, but sometimes we can share other things that we have.
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: We have a legal team.
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: We can provide legal counsel to our partners, we can provide tech or IT, we can provide operation support.
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: So really think differently about how you can show up to be supportive.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: And then, rounding out this incredible series, we sat down with the incomparable Hillary Fulton episode 410.
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: And she is talking about how do we center humanity in the funder and grantee partnerships And one of the quotes that really stuck out to me was how can you break the cycle and dynamic that is not working And how are you having conversations with your grantee or your funders?
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: How are you having human conversations to say, hey, this is really bogging down our team or this part isn't working, it's becoming cumbersome?
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: I think you can co-build solutions and nestling that in empathy, and two-way communication is the way to go.
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: Thank you, hillary, for those points.
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's all about the evolution And I think when we started the podcast, almost three years ago now, we shared with you the core values.
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: We unpacked those and they thread in all of the conversations.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: But one of them was it's not just about donors, it's about belief.
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: And that storyline keeps ringing true because we saw that in our nonprofit career but we see it like in spades now, especially meeting the moment, and we feel like if you're building believers instead of just donors because they unlock everything that they have not just their wallets, but like their network and just their way that they plug in and volunteer and share we feel like the greatest way to do that is to and this is takeaway five evolve your storytelling to build believers.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: So, again, it starts with a different mindset that you're not just trying to get the transaction but you're trying to garner and engage believers around your mission.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: And so I got to think of one of the coolest storytellers this season on the podcast was John Buddington.
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: He's the founder of Mythos and he came on episode four, 26 and he said a donation is a transaction.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: It's easy to do, but a very good story helps people get invested fully invested in the idea that they have agency here and they can make the world a better place, you know as we like, start to kind of stack things together.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, it's so good, as you think about this part of your identity, If you get to have that as part of your identity, being part of this story, being invited into the story, like how much more rich and I think of Julie's example of just being invited into that mission how that changed everything.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: And then we have Floyd Jones and Floyd Jones is the Floyd Jones around here.
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: We love that, Right, He's just a force about community and about storytelling and he, you know, as part of our small but mighty series, episode 431, he encouraged us to say make people become your center, because people are your power And you can do that through storytelling.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: You know we believe in the power of it and using people's personal anecdotes, their own view of the world, like changes everything.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: Kristi Kern this is even the season.
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, it is so crazy how many conversations we had that were so epic.
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: Episode 379 with Kristi Kern.
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: She gave us four guiding principles for communication And Kristi is one of those people.
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: You sit across from her and you feel like you've known each other a million years, right.
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: I love her so much.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: Because of how she does what she's teaching here.
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: And these four principles are to be clear is to be kind.
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: Two upholding dignity is paramount.
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: Number three always anchor in value.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: And four know what you're standing for And I'll add that to this as not just what you're against.
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: Understand what you're for, and I think that's part of this storyline that we get to invite other people into.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: That it's not like we're just all angry.
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: We're all fighting for something that's actually more, better and more beautiful, and people are looking for that kind of hope.
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: We can be those beacons, and so a lot of people ask us about the power of storytelling, and it is something that, looking back, we're like man.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: This really has been something that has worked really well for us when we were in nonprofit to grow a bigger following in a movement and a campaign.
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: Yes, that leads to money, but it leads to so much more, and so we have decided to wrap all of our storytelling, kind of like experience and frameworks into one course that's dropping this summer And you can sign up for it right now.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: It's storytelling for good, and this course is going to take everything from you know how do you identify the values, and we call them value bombs at your organization to understand your secret sauce.
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: And then how do you find and actually have the interviews with people that can add the color to your storyline And how do you actually draw that story out, how do you invite them into the story And then how do you use those stories to power your campaigns, power your movement and syndicate it everywhere, and so that framework and really the community that's taking this course together, we want you part of it And it's live right now.
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: We are for goodcom slash storytelling.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: We'd love to hang out with you this summer and just talk about using storytelling to activate our missions.
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: So storytelling is about building believers And I hope you've seen that threaded just in so many conversations this season.
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: And you know we have a formula to this podcast.
• 26:09
  Speaker 3: This is episode we're in the four hundreds.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: Now We have to round out our season seven podcast takeaways with.
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: What A one good thing right?
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: And this is our most feared question when people ask us this It's hard to sum it like what to take away, but this one actually was really easy for me.
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: As Julie put this in the Google doc.
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: It was like Hey, john, you need one good thing for this, because this interview only happened a couple of weeks ago.
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: We were talking to Darren Isom out at Bridge Span When I think he was also at some kind of workshop or something seminar, and he's like you know.
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: I felt like I needed to get out my notebook and write this down immediately And I've had that same visceral reaction, like I was scrambling for a pin, because I can never find a pin, if you know this about me.
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: I buy them for John packs for Christmas.
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: Yes, every Christmas.
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: So I like literally fell my pin, and Darren has taken us back to a quote from David Thomas of Morehouse College and specifically talking about leaders of color, like what are three ways to really find power in your unique perspective?
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: And it started with you know, like not only just like recognizing and loving.
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: You know the unique qualities that you come into the world with and that's your superpower.
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: But the third takeaway that he shared and this is the one that really stuck with me is that surround yourself in community that sees, support and amplifies your unique abilities, gifts and talents, and I feel like this is a safe place for that, because we each need to figure out what is that superpower at your organization and in this world, and then surround yourself with people that bring it out and celebrate it and also believe in its awesomeness, and I think that is a one good thing for all of us, right.
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: Man hard to top that one.
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: I'm going to go into my one good thing the OGT as we call it And my one good thing is stop looking at your donors as if they're donors and start looking at all of your people as the believers powering your movement.
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: I think that mindset shift when we're not just chasing that dollar.
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: It's going to open up a world of possibilities for our mission because you start seeing people for what they're contributing, not just the dollar amount that they're contributing.
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: And I think back to Julie's point earlier.
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: We're seeing this in Gen Z.
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: They can't necessarily give a lot of money right now, or you have millennials who are still struggling to make a significant gift at this point.
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: But if we can cultivate, it is the ultimate long game to start looking at people as human beings.
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: And I know that sounds very kindergarten principally, but I'm telling you that in this era where there's sensational headlines and we're scrolling and we're seeing a lot of doom and gloom, we can be the beacons of hope for people who are looking for joy, for looking for generosity, they're looking for safe places and they want to be a part of your story.
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: They want to be a part of this impact that you're building, make an opportunity to do that.
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: And what do I mean by that?
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: It means showing up in different ways, showing up in different platforms, asking for what you need, boldly responding when somebody shares something with you.
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: You're going to build a dynamic culture that's not just within the tiny pool of your donors.
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: You're going to build a radical culture that goes beyond your walls into the social digital world, and it's going to be able to have a global ripple.
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: Lean into your believers.
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: They are the ones that are going to power your movement.
• 29:37
  Speaker 3: I love that one.
• 29:37
  Speaker 3: Mine's a little less fundraising strategy, a little more just a centering life thought.
• 29:42
  Speaker 3: I do not remember where I saw this or where the inspiration come came from probably TikTok But it's something I've just been thinking about a lot lately is that everyone is experiencing life for the first time, and this really was crystal clear to me.
• 29:57
  Speaker 3: My brother and my sister-in-law just had a baby And hi Hallie, hi Hallie.
• 30:03
  Speaker 3: We all were in the room and I looked around and my grandparents were there.
• 30:07
  Speaker 3: My parents were there as fresh grandparents, my sister and I were there as fresh aunts, brother and sister-in-law as first-time parents, and every single one of us were experiencing that for the first time in a different way.
• 30:20
  Speaker 3: And I just think it's kind of centering anyone that you're sitting across from a donor, a co-worker, a friend.
• 30:26
  Speaker 3: They're experiencing their unique situation or scenario for the first time, with all of the happiness and anxieties that come with it.
• 30:33
  Speaker 3: So that's just where my brain is at right now.
• 30:36
  Speaker 3: It's kind of cool to think that everyone's experiencing something for the first time and we're all just learning as we go, because no one has this figured out And I always thought the adults around me just had it all figured out.
• 30:46
  Speaker 3: That would be my.
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: One good thing today is just remember that everyone's experiencing life for the very first time.
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: I'm just glad that our listeners get to experience what we experience on the daily, which is Julie is the smartest, most evolved, most empathetic person in the room, ending it with grace and empathy.
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: That is the way that not only are we going to grow, but it's the way we're going to heal.
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: It's the way we're going to find our people.
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: So I absolutely love that anchor.
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, y'all This was so fun to reflect back and so fun always to have Julie up at the microphone too.
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: But yeah, we got to talk about what is happening this summer, because not only is evolution the theme that we felt.
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: We kind of sat around and we're like what's kind of a unique fresh take for the summer, because we all want to find a different pace at some level, even if it's not necessarily a slow season for you.
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: We wanted to set aside time to really do things different and to give you a tool belt to really think through these things, and so we came up with an idea called summer of evolution And it is coming to the podcast starting next week.
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: You can read all about it at weareforgoodcom slash evolution.
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: But here's the deal It's like going to be eight weeks, but really like eight theme weeks stacked together where each week we're taking a theme of like evolved leadership And we're not only just giving you a conversation to have this really great jumping off point for discussion, great conversation to take and share with your teams, but then we're dropping a really practical type episode where we go deeper into it And we're bringing back some of our favorite episodes, adding some new color to it.
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: And then we're also equipping you with playlist and resources so you can go and immerse as much as you have capacity for this summer, finding the areas you really want to plug into and go deep into it.
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: But we look.
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: We never wanted to be just us talking.
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: Right, we know it's always about the community And so we also have a really fun thing that we want you to take part in.
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: Does anyone of y'all want to jump in and share about this, because I'm around I think Julie should because it's her idea.
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's so good, ok, jay.
• 32:42
  Speaker 3: I will.
• 32:43
  Speaker 3: We'll see this.
• 32:43
  Speaker 3: Sometimes People will tag us on Instagram a screenshot of an episode that they really like or something like that.
• 32:49
  Speaker 3: So I just think it would be fun, as we're going into the summer, to if you are listening and you are reflecting, snap a picture of where you're listening to the podcast from, whether it's from your house, maybe on a vacation, maybe on a nice summer walk.
• 33:02
  Speaker 3: We'd just love to see where people are tuning in from.
• 33:04
  Speaker 3: So snap a picture and tag us where at we are for good.
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: Please tag us because when we get them like I remember one with, like, grocery shopping and another one where somebody was walking to work one day with their AirPods in And it's just like knowing that we're there beside you when you're doing sometimes seemingly innocuous things.
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: It just gives us all life and bravo to you all for pouring into each other And it really diving into the summer of evolution is really grabbing hold of that first takeaway, which is evolving your mindset, and we really want to help you do that practically.
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: And y'all, it was 75 episodes in season seven.
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: That was a lot of content, but y'all, we're here for this moment.
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: We are standing in the radical evolution that's happening to our sector.
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: We are here for you.
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: This is a safe space And I can tell you season eight is going to be off the chain.
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: You're going to see some changes in the podcast structure.
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: We have got some fiery conversations that are in the queue.
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: So thanks for hanging around with us And please, if you're somebody that's wanting to dive into storytelling, come check out that storytelling course, because we want your voice in the conversation.
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: It's we are for goodcom backslash storytelling.
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: Happy summer friends.
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: I mean we're so grateful you're here, leaning in, sharing and investing and evolving yourself and your mission.
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: We're so grateful to have you as part of this community.
• 34:30
  Speaker 3: You got this, friends, we're rooting for you.
• 34:33
  Speaker 3: Hey friends, thanks so much for being here.
• 34:35
  Speaker 3: Did you know?
• 34:35
  Speaker 3: we create a landing page for each podcast episode with helpful links, freebies and even shareable graphics.
• 34:40
  Speaker 3: Be sure to check it out at the link in this episode's description.
• 34:43
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 34:50
  Speaker 3: We'd love for you to join our good community.
• 34:52
  Speaker 3: It's free And you can think of it as the after party to each podcast episode.
• 34:56
  Speaker 3: You can sign up today at we are for goodcom backslash hello.
• 34:59
  Speaker 3: One more thing if you loved what you heard today, would you mind leaving us a podcast rating and review?
• 35:03
  Speaker 3: It means the world to us and your support helps more people find our community.
• 35:07
  Speaker 3: Thanks, friends.
• 35:08
  Speaker 3: I'm our producer, julie Comfort, and our theme song is Sunray by Remy Borsbu.