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Hey, I'm John.
And I'm Becky.
And this is the We Are For Good podcast.
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.
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.
So welcome to the good community, we're nonprofit professionals, philanthropists, world changers and rabid fans who are striving to bring a little more goodness into the world.
So let's get started. Becky, aren't you just so excited?
I feel like our bestie is in the house.
I cannot I was so excited to be here.
Oh my gosh, favorite human alert? For sure. Yeah,
I mean, seriously, today, it is our huge honor to have Floyd Jones in our house. And if you don't know him, do yourself the service right now and go find him online because he will bring so much joy, so much light, so much like acumen to our work. Also, he is just a powerhouse and just a really incredible human to so I'm excited to hang with him. He is coming on and kicking off this week, you know, that we're really pouring into this idea of giving Tuesday. And you know, we don't do Giving Tuesday old school style around here was not
your grandma's GivingTuesday campaign.
It is not it is threaded with community, you know, and you know, our one of our core values is community is everything. And that is probably the thing that links us up most with Floyd because that just is like a drumbeat of his heart. And you're going to fill that in this conversation today. But let me tell you a little bit about Floyd. He serves the community and partnerships lead at give better AI to all of our give better friends. If you don't know them, they're the world's first completely free end to end fundraising platform powering more than 150 million in donations per year for over 35,000 good causes. Go team. That's amazing.
So proud of you guys. Your growth has been amazing.
And you know, part of that growth is really attributed to Floyd coming in and building this incredible community growth strategy. He threads, partnerships, and sponsorships and strategic campaigns and events. And this is just like a community. And if you hang in the get better community, you get that vibe to where everyone's kind of pulling for each other. Everyone's sharing what they learn. And Floyd also just channels his own lived experience. He was one of us. He was in the nonprofit side. This passion comes from the years that he was serving specifically as Director of Development and outreach for Volvo. If you don't know them, they were the largest social sports company in America, which is pretty cool. And he was building community across multiple cities nationwide and receive all sorts of awards, you know, casually from ESPN in Wired Magazine and worked with organizations like Nike and Whole Foods, some of our favorite brands. And Floyd is recently moved to New York. That's the sirens you hear in the background. That's because he has actually just moved. No, we love it. We love the soundtrack. Before we're just delighted to have you in our house today. Welcome to the podcast.
I'm so honored to be here me and all of me New York City in the background. I'm so embarrassing can hear the sirens.
It makes us envious. Yeah, I
love it. I love it.
We you know we've gotten to spend some time with you. But we want to catch up our listeners if they don't know you. Take us back to your story. Tell us a little bit about growing up and kind of what led you to the path you're at today.
I love that. First of all, I'm just so grateful to be here the We Are For Good fam is my fam. So I feel so happy to finally be speaking with you all. But my path into fundraising is so interesting. I remember when I first interviewed to work at gift butter. And it's so funny because Max is like, you know, what brought you into fundraising. And I was like, I just feel like fundraising a sales with a soul. And since moving into sales, I'm like, no people have souls there too. But one thing that really empowers me is the idea of how do we bring people together for something bigger than ourselves. And I think that that's something that you all talk about the impact uprising and putting community at the center of everything that you do. But my story kind of starts I guess it's like seven years ago now. I spent about a month and a half in South Africa during my senior research project from school. And I was with this organization called Boca Mosa the bulk of mostly Youth Foundation, they were incredibly life giving it was such a life changing experience. And every single morning so first of all, the community center is built in a town called Winterfell. Winterfell was actually a part of Ghana that was created during apartheid. So the government actually created it and and it's so interesting because like a lot of the expectancy rates, there's high teenage pregnancy rates, there's high rates of HIV AIDS and whatnot. But a lot of the youth at this center in particular, were going off and becoming teachers or becoming doctors, or were coming out lawyers and really advancing. And I went there to study how international development and music as I studied in school played a role in what they were doing. And every single morning, these, this youth were singing songs, they were reading poetry, they were doing a lot of art therapy in practice, right. And so I was I captured my notice that there's something so beautiful, and something that was so special in this place. And when I came back to the States, I worked with a lot of the foundation leadership, and they were organizing a tour for the students in South Africa to come to America and raise money for the center. And so I helped them with the tour, I helped them with their performance and whatnot. And they ended up raising over $300,000 on that tour. And I was like, I was like, I love that. So I was like, I think I know what I want to keep doing. I want to keep working in this in this in this area. That led me to work with another organization in Washington, DC, and so on, and so forth. And that's kind of really starting to tick me off on that path. But right before this call, we were talking, my parents are actually from Sierra Leone, West Africa. So my parents and my brothers were all from Sierra Leone, West Africa. So I spent some winters growing up there every other year, we would go to Sierra Leone and everything. And I would see what it would be like to actually give back to your community, what it would be like to actually serve your community and actually provide opportunity. And that has been with me all throughout my life.
I mean, you can see why we love Floyd, I mean, the energy, the joy, the warmth. And I just think it's absolutely perfect that you're coming on to talk about giving Tuesday through the community lens, because as you're telling all of those stories, you are at your most vibrant when you're in community. And I mean, we haven't even talked about your choral background, your singing, which someday we're gonna get you singing on this podcast, and we are.
Right?
Yeah, I just I just think that you are such a wonderful embodiment of what happens to people when they can get in their zone of genius around like minded people, because you are positively lit up. And so we're all talking about giving Tuesday, this week, or this entire week, we've got a particular focus on it. And to John's point, we're not going to take out the old dusty playbook, you know, and start to play are giving Tuesday out just like everybody else, we're gonna talk about how do you bake it in to community. So it's not just a day, it becomes a movement. And so I would love to get your thoughts about gathering community because we believe community is everything. We talk about it every single time we turn on this mic. Talk to us about where do you see this value playing out with GivingTuesday campaigns and kind of set the scene for what opportunity there is for nonprofits this year to seize the community aspect of this really big Giving Day.
I love that. So I have to share story. Okay, you know, me, I had a whole I had a whole five point list, but I have to share this story first. So I my first Giving Tuesday, this is literally what changed my life and was like, Okay, I realized that given to take my favorite holiday, I was working for the Volvo Kids Foundation. And the kids Foundation is a part of a larger organization called Volvo, as we talked about. And it was such a transformative experience. Because I remember I was the first full time hire, so the executive director for the foundation. And I was like, We should do a GivingTuesday campaign. And everyone was like, let's do it. What is it? And I was like, I don't fully know, but I'm gonna figure it out. And so I remember thinking to myself, how are we going to drum up support on Giving Tuesday? I know people donate on this day. I know everyone's excited about it. But what are we going to do? Because we had no real donor database. We had no real donor, you know, development office and whatnot. But I had one thing so we were we provided free youth sports to kids across the country. Okay, free you sports. So I said I'm giving Tuesday. I'm asking everybody to do one thing, okay, if you don't do anything, just do this one thing for me. Change your profile picture to a picture of you as a child playing a sport and just share what it meant to you and share the link to our campaign. Okay, picture of you as a child playing a sport and share the link to our campaign and what sports meant to you as I asked, okay, child when I tell you that night, I was like are we gonna raise $5 Are we gonna raise 500 Like I don't we go see where we end up. Okay. That on Giving Tuesday, we ended up raising over $10,000 Okay, on our phone and I was like, What is this? I was so and it was the I was I drove home you think I have energy now? Okay, let me tell you this is a woman through the lanes I was so excited. But one thing I realized that the power was that it wasn't just us doing the act of a sharing our picture. It was us sharing our stories. And the most beautiful thing was that people were in the comments saying, oh my god, I used to play baseball, too. I used to play soccer, too. I used to play basketball. And then they were sharing their stories. And they were sharing with their communities. And it was this beautiful ripple Ripple Effect. We talked about peer to peer, right. But it's it's also person to person, it's heart to heart. It's story to story, right? I was really reflecting on this the other day, and it's like, what does philanthropy actually mean? Right? Philanthropy, when you at its core is the love of humanity. It's a love of humanity, right? But so many times we are chasing the love of the dollar. We're chasing the love of the next grant, which isn't the love of the next big dollar donor, which doesn't love the next tool, right? We need to get back to the love of humanity. And that is what we tap into in that given campaign. Right? We were tapping into humanity. And then guess what the most beautiful thing happened, right? The next year, the volunteers are reaching out to me. And they were like, What can we do? How do we get started? How are we going to make this happen. And that year, we raised over $60,000, and then over $90,000, and I'm not even at the organization anymore, and they're still running this Giving Tuesday program that we did, it makes me so happy, because they're raising over six figures from this. So every child can play campaign that we launched, and it's like, it makes me so happy to my core that they're continuing on that mission. But every organization can do that. When you focus on your people, right? I always say people are your partners, not your piggy banks. Let me say that, again, people are your partners, not your piggy banks. Okay, so focus on your people. And this year, I'm so excited to say I give butter, we're launching a big humongous initiative called get better gets back. And we are giving you the opportunity to focus on your people. Okay, we're donating over $50,000. But my only stipulation I told to everybody was this has nothing to do with how much money you raise. In fact, the judging panel is not even looking at how much money each organization raises, right? They're only looking at the amount of supporters that you're bringing in? Are you actually engaging your community? And guess what if you're a $1,000 organization or a $1 million organization, it doesn't matter, because as soon as you hit a 20 supporter threshold, you're now in the loop, right? And so it makes me happy because we're leveling the playing field. So many times, especially with like granting organization or big tech, we forget the people in the margins, right? We're like, Okay, well, what's your branding look like? What's your YouTubes look like? What's your, what's your Tiktok look like? And it's like, no, what is your people look like? What does your community look like? Is it a vibrant, healthy community? And if so, we want to support you and continue to amplify that.
Okay, Floyd, I mean, we're puddles over here. Like, I think what you're teaching is just so aligned, you know, with with everything that we are counseling through this podcast, too, is that that example of having a buddy switch their profile picture, it's like a simple thing. But you activated people, you centered their story, they allowed to see themselves in the mission, they allowed to personalize it, and to be able to see how it connects. And it creates connection, it creates story, which leads to belonging, which leads to people wanting to give and even if they didn't give, they felt seen, or they felt something which carried over. And obviously, it's working over time. Like, this is how this thing snowballs. And I just think that you were preaching, I should say, preaching to the choir, because you're
thinking that he's preaching the gospel of humanity.
And I wanted to say something really quick, too, because it really I was reading this article that was published on Vox, and oh, my God, I'm a sap. So I get emotional. But, you know, when we think about these traditional reporting structures, right, we look overall at giving an overall giving has increased right at the amount of dollars, so organizations has increased, right? But the amount of supporters we sometimes we see hasn't increased, okay. And so what does that do that triggers scarcity in people's mind? So people are like, oh, we need more money we need or we need to get more money from that specific donors. But when you think about it, traditional reporting structures, they're only looking at what your IRS and oftentimes, a lot of nonprofits are only attracting the people or reporting on the people who donate over $25. Right. So we're missing out on the smaller dollar donors, right? We're also missing out on the people who are doing in kind donations, we're missing out on the people who change their profile picture, right? Like I was just talking about, even if they don't make a donation, they're changing their profile picture, we're missing out. And we're not counting all of the people who are in part of our philanthropy, right. And that is a part of the problem. That is why you're giving Tuesday campaign a sale. That is why your fundraising is stale. That is why your development operation is stale, because you're missing out on all of the people who are a part of your purpose. All of the people who are propelling your mission forward, right? You're counting them out and you're only saying, Okay, if you only matter if you give me $1,000 But what happens is that $1,000 leaves the next year. I'll wait right then you're in a place where you're stressed out, right? No, you have to acknowledge every single person, you have to make sure every single person feels like they are a part of what you are doing. Because in truth, they are.
Everyone matters. Community is everything. These are the things that really do matter, especially even more so in today's age, because we're all building digital community. And so those that go the extra distance to leverage tech, to help do this at scale, but at the same time, keeping it ridiculously human, like sets you apart. And I just think that you do both those things. So well. So I want to specifically say, you know, as people are reimagining their Giving Tuesday, I hope you're, you're pushing the envelope here, as people think about that. What are just some ideas? What are some tips as somebody starts to lean in just to take this to their team and say, Hey, let's do something different category.
I love that. Well, I have something called the four S's of success because it's me and I love a renovation, okay. But there are four S's of success I always think about one is set your intention and your goal, okay? Everything starts with intention. If you're thinking to yourself, Okay, well, I just want to stay afloat. A photo is all you're gonna get. But if you're saying no, we're going to build a thriving development operation. No, we're going to take our organization to the next level than that is what you're going to see. Right? I always say you see what you speak, you see what you speak. So set your intention, and then make sure that that intention comes with a follow up goal, okay. And mentioned that that goal has purpose behind it right for us was when we were fundraising for youth sports, I knew that $5,000 made one league and one league had at least 40 Children in there. So I said, Hey, we are raising this money, okay, and I need $50,000, we can have 400 kids and whatever that number was, you know, it's early. Okay. So making sure that you have a number and it's associated with the actual impact. Okay? There's so many times we just put people that we think that the donors, like I said, your people, you're not your piggy banks, they are your partners, they want to know that they are a part of propelling your mission forward. Right. So one is set your intention to is tell your story, okay? People give to people, people give to people, they want to know what is going on. They want to know why this matters to you. Where if you're a fundraiser for an organization, they want to know why this matters to your fundraiser, right? I always say we are stronger together, okay? You can go by yourself or you can go with your community, you can go with your tribe, and you're gonna go further with your tribe, right? So it's tell your story and encourage your people to tell their story as well. Okay, set your intention. Tell your story. Three is segmentation. Now this one ain't sexy. I know. Everyone's like segmentation what you're talking about, but listened. Please, I have donated to your organization for so long. Don't call me friend in my email. Okay. You don't know how many days friends I've gotten. I'm not your friend. Okay. I can give you money. Every single I'm more than your friend. Okay. Call me by my name. All right. So make sure you actually segment your donors, okay. Know who your donors are. If someone donate to your campaign last year, make sure you send hey, here's what the impact of your dollar was all last year. Here's what we did with your dollar last year. Okay, here's what we need you to Well, here's how you can get involved again, right? If someone has commented on your social media, message them and say, Hey, what about this post that you like, and then you can use all those different things to bring them in, build a plan around segmentation? Please go to google.com backslash blog, okay, I run a podcast, we don't get that much time. But our blog has so much information on moves management, we have so much tips on how do you actually segment for success. So check that out. So tell your story. Um, set your intention, tell your story segmentation. And the last one is mobilize your supporters, mobilize your supporters. Every fundraising campaign that I've done, and every single campaign that I do not forget better, every single campaign that I do for literally anything, I focus on how many people are beside me. How many people are beside me, right? When I did fundraise when I rent ran fundraising campaigns, or when I work with organizations, I say, how many fundraisers do you have for your GivingTuesday campaign? Because if it's just you, it's not enough period. If it's just you, it's not enough. And everyone's a little I don't know, no, but the guests you do, and I run them through an exercise make sure you go to one of our Gibbler events, okay, we do webinars on this all the time, but I promise you, you know, more than what you you have more people in your circle than who you think you are. So mobilize your supporters because you cannot do this by yourself. Okay, so that's what I would say on my four as a success.
Okay. What I love so much about what you just said is one, enthusiasm, two, Joy. Three fun, because here's the thing guys, Giving Tuesday is one of the noisiest spaces online throughout the entire year. And everybody has got the dusty playbook. You know, that's been working for us for the last decade. So, if you want to stand out the way to stand out, I mean, we believe is one, it's got to be joyful. It's got to have energy, it's got to be fun. It's got to be something that people want to be a part of. I love absolutely every one of those that you just broke down, if you're if you're starting to get hyped up and and Floyd is your ultimate hype squad right here. And you're starting to think, Okay, I'm gonna do something a little bit differently this year, I want to engage the community I want to personalize, I want to thread these stories. Take the nonprofit listener right now who's feeling a little overwhelmed saying How the heck can I do this? And let's build a campaign Floyd. I mean, let's talk about the actual nuts and bolts of planning a campaign. Everyone who's listening stopped gulping and don't feel behind. You're not behind right now. So Floyd, start at the beginning for us and tell us how we can actually start to begin and plan a campaign that is baked in this joy and baked in this community?
Yes. I mean, I kind of one of the things that you were talking about the idea of, you know, giving Tuesday being a really noisy day, I always say, you know, we always are thinking, you know, give me give me on Giving Tuesday, but it's like, how are you going to transform that narrative to be what am I giving, giving, giving? Right? Like, how am I actually being a part of something? How am I creating something for my donors to be a part of right? How am I extending my hand and giving them an opportunity to join me and come alongside me, right? So one of the things I always say is, it always starts with a goal. Remember, start with that goal. So that intention, what is the actual goal that you are trying to work towards, and then everything else works from behind there. So if you're one week away from giving Tuesday, depending on when you're listening to this, or maybe you're one year away from it, right? It always starts with a goal, because if you don't know what you're working towards, nobody else is gonna know what you're working towards either, right? And then two is just start with what you have. Sometimes we get so overwhelmed, we're like, well, that person has 85 corporate donation sponsors, and this one has a matching grant. And that one also has 22,000, fundraisers, no start with what you have what is in your hand, I always say that what is in your hand, what is in your arsenal, what is in your network, and right now. And then you work what you have, right? And so that could mean, you're just reaching out to your local community group and asking them to be a fundraiser for you. That could mean you're tapping into your board members, that could mean you're tapping into your donor with whatever it looks like for you do that. And then my last thing that I would say is make it people center. What does that mean? Put the story at the center, put the story at the center? Yes, your goal is important. And people need to know what they're working towards. Right. But your story is why they are working towards that thing, right? People want to know that they're actively making an impact. We talk about charity water a lot in this org in this in this industry, but I love Charity Water, because let me tell you something, okay, I donated number 1212 times, right? I still know my well is doing okay, I still know my that. In fact, I'm making, okay. So that's so incredibly important. Put the story at the center, so that that way people know that they're there. They're what they're working towards.
A thread that you're saying that I just love so much is stepping into your own capabilities, too. Because some people have a ridiculous videographer, they should make a beautiful video if you have to. You have I don't know a face painter, then do a face painting campaign, like lean into like what your gift is and start there. And secondly, you said I never like go alone like in this right? aligning those like partners before. So much of this ground game is getting organized before in the silent phase for whatever you're doing. We call like the impact arc framework of like, how are you planting the seeds? How are you staging leading up to this? And just communicating personalized like, hey, Floyd, will you do x on this day is really a great way to start aligning people. So you don't wake up that morning thinking man, I hope people show up, they aligned that are going to show up. And we say like when you surround yourself in community, they they won't let you fail. You know, and I really think that's true when you really reflect back to people and pour into people and add value to people and all of those things. So, so much
one thing in here, I gotta add a pro tip that I just keep thinking about and Floyd, you've inspired this. I really think that the idea of partners is an evolved one and we keep talking about evolved partnerships this year because we've seen a massive evolution and corporate partnerships, y'all Giving Tuesday is our day. It is not Nikes day, it is not Apple's day Giving Tuesday is our day. But guess what those those brands want to be in Giving Tuesday. So if you want to bring them in, think about your evolved partnership and think about how they can underwrite your Giving Tuesday campaign. How could you launch with somebody who has a notable brand and I'm not talking about Apple, you don't have to pitch apple. But is there a local, you know, for profit in your community that you could partner with that you could double up on? Your social media, you know, you could flex theirs, they could flex yours. And it looks like such an incredible partnership. And I think what you're saying Floyd is, this is bigger than the day, it's bigger than the donor, it's about community on every single level. And think about if you could get somebody in there, even if they're not even giving a financial gift, which PS, I think you should totally ask them for a financial gift, because there is monetary value in your brand and given Tuesday, but just having that exposure and having that awareness could really light your Giving Tuesday campaign on fire. So think, even bigger beyond your community, you know, into the people who are supporting you at many levels. So thank you, Floyd, I just had to jump in there and drop that in.
I love that. And one of the things I'm going to say is, this might be controversial, but be okay, playing the long game. Be okay, playing the long game. So many people think, well, I launched my GivingTuesday campaign I rose to and I only raised $2. So if I'm done for and I'm like, no, like, stop that narrative. Stop that story. Because if you raise $4, next year, that's growth, right? And $4 that year after that might be turning into 16 out, it's gonna be a ripple effect. Do you know what I mean? If I woke up on the first ever GivingTuesday campaign that I ever did, and said, We didn't raise six figures, we're a failure. No, but you know, what the beautiful thing is, you're gonna grow at the level that your capacity, your internal capacity, can I allow you to, you know, what I'm saying, if you're thinking small, you're gonna receive small, right. But I also think that that's a blessing in so many ways, because hey, if you're only thinking on a certain level, then allow your thinking to impact who is in your immediate circle, you know what I mean? And then that proof will expand you, you know what I mean? It but it comes in increments, it comes in baby says it comes in in those little increments and steps. So allow yourself to play the long game and trust that if you are doing what you need to do, and everything else is going to come into alignment, how it's supposed to be?
Did we catch this? I mean, you shifted into some huge, like, personal things that we all need to reflect on, you know, are we dreaming big enough? are we limiting what's even possible because of the words that we're using the things that we're speaking into existence, there's so much power in that, and I love it stacking kind of on our habits series that's been dropping on Fridays is about mindset. It's about intention. And this all really connects together beautifully. So let's talk a little bit about inviting our communities into those bigger, something bigger. Also, what's your advice of like, how do we cut through clutter, and invite them into this dream, this vision, whatever we want to accomplish their GivingTuesday that goal? I love that.
So a little bit tactically, right, it's you had to be able to articulate it clearly right? Before I had a team, which I'm so amazingly blessed by. But before I had a team of people who edit the content and whatnot, it was literally just me. And I went to my mama, and I was like, can you read this for me, Mom, please? Doesn't sound like but making sure you can articulate your vision. And I always start, I always like video if you're talking about but I like to launch a campaign with a video as a launch campaign with something kind of creative. So I always have articulating the story in whatever format that you want. And then the next one is distributing that right. So what platform are you distributing this on? Maybe you're maybe you're sharing your story on YouTube, maybe you're sharing it on social, maybe you're sharing it via email, but figure out how you want to distribute that story, right? And then the third one is be clear on how people can get involved like I Chaum. I am even before I can do not I emailed a fortune 500 company that we're connected with, I'm not gonna say anybody's name. And I was like, I love you all. But why did you give me a CTA, and the link doesn't take me anywhere where I can take an action, like, this doesn't make any sense, right? It is what I'm telling people. It's like, don't tell me to do something, right. And then you're not actually giving me the way that I can do it. Right. Test your links before you send me that email. It takes me two seconds. Okay. Don't be so and but here's, here's the thing, right? And why do I say that? Because that goes back to intention. Right? If you care about everybody makes mistakes. Okay, no one is perfect, right? But if you're thinking about your community, right, and you're thinking about who is actually going to take the time to sit down and read this email, do them a favor, actually care about them enough to make sure that your links work? You know what I mean? Because then it makes me It tells me that you're just thinking about us when my eyeballs, you want my open rate, you want my open rate and you want my dollar, right? But you don't actually want me right? And that's what it's about. Make sure you know, who was the end user of that email, right. Sorry, that's my little horse member. And then also, I also make it easy for people to share right? When I always asking you all to do things for me, and I love Becky and John for this, okay, because it'll be quick to help a brother out, but when I need them to do something, make it easy for them. Give them a toolkit, okay, type up central sample copy for them. Have a proof photos in advance, okay. When I always tell people your donors are busy, okay, it wasn't me. Never don't care about you. They are your partners, not your piggy banks, like I said before at the beginning, but make it easy for them to partner with you. Right? Give them a simple picture to show, give them a simple poster put on Facebook, okay, make it so they don't have to think because the more friction you're creating for them, the harder it's going to be them to give you the dollar. You know what I mean? People are busy. We live in a world of of Instagram and Tiktok. Okay, they can scroll and be happy in 2.2 seconds. Okay? If you're making this a 2.2 minutes, you lost them, you lost them. Okay, as some of you are 2.2 hours talking about Mamiya, check, okay? Make it easy for them. Okay. And then lastly is your tech, your tech stack is so important. I mean, obviously I work for get better. So I'm biased. But like, I always tell people this, you don't have to use the platform that I'm talking to you about. Use what works with your people use what works in your community. And I know, our people are going to be like, why we talk so much? No, because I care about the community. Right? I if you have a platform that you're using that helps you say, you know, make it more seamless. Now I do think that kibra is the best in that process. Let me tell you some, okay. But I will say I will say whatever tech you're using, make it easy for them to give that donation, make it as easy as 123, add the Venmo add the apple pay either mobile wallets and whatnot, because people aren't doing this on their phones. You know what I mean? Like I said, the more friction, the harder the fight, the more friction, the harder the fight, and you don't want your donors to fight, you want them to just get okay.
And it's like, there's so much in here that I think can be overwhelming to you all. And it's like, actually, I think we just simplify it. You know, and I think what you're saying about the tech is so smart, because those automations are going to save you, they're going to save you from the one off. And so it's really about having your game ready to go on Giving Tuesday so that you're just hitting send, and that you can spend the day engaging, you can spend the day sharing, you're replying to everybody who is you know, making a comment, you're gathering your hashtags, I think the Share Comment is a really powerful one that if you hear nothing, find a way to bake in share into your Giving Tuesday, because that's going to do a lot of things. It's not just going to spread awareness and raise dollars, you may may be from new donors, but you're gonna gather story. That way, you're gonna get more eyeballs on what you're actually doing and get people to follow you. So Floyd, just bringing all the hype and bringing all the great tools I want to talk about we
I was gonna say really quick, we also have a playbook. So if you go to give it a.com backslash giving dash Tuesday, or if you use the link in the show notes, we have an entire playbook for you that will help you map this thing out. So if you don't have five weeks, if you don't have three months of you're talking about I have three days, that's fine. We literally map out every single step for you. We are team, it's like did a great job on this, you can download the entire playbook and then just fill in the blanks. Okay, we give you sample email copy, we give you simple template for your toolkit and whatnot. So check that out. Okay. I mean,
you just came here with the magic bullet you just search tool. So we'll drop those in the show notes. You guys can go check those out, especially if you're listening to this and your heart is filled with panic, because you've never, you haven't done anything yet to prepare for GivingTuesday. It's cool. I want to say John and I probably at least four years, we're like a week or two before giving Tuesday trying to figure out what are we doing forgiving Tuesday? So no, You're among friends. And we're just going to help give you everything that you can do to make yourself successful and bring community into this. So last question I want to ask you, Floyd is about sustainability, and about stewardship. Because there's so much hype and so much excitement around this day. What happens afterward? What are we doing the day after? What do we do in the weeks after? How are we showing impact? How is it flowing into urine giving campaigns talk to us about the after effect of giving Tuesday?
I love that. So I think this the research says something around like 24% of donors who make a one time gift or that are likely to come back right? And I'm like that's very low 24% So what are we doing? So what we have to be thinking about what we always have to have the end game in mind right? Giving Tuesday's a beautiful day to bring new people into your organization you're gonna get one off donors you're gonna get your second cousin twice removed Grandma, you're gonna get you're gonna get them all right, it's gonna be that one fun opportunity, right but your job now remember we talked about people give to people and they give when they feel compelled to give a give when they feel that our partner they give what they feel they're involved in your mission. Right? So now your job is to figure out who actually wants to stay who was actually committed, right? And so many people get worried and say, Oh, my donor retention levels are so low. We didn't get always willing to give back and I'm like, that's okay. You don't want just a one off donor, you know, to be a part that's gonna inflate and conflate, right your numbers right? It's gonna make If you feel like you have something that is actually not and that will that brings me back to the idea of who is in your community, right? I always say no that donor know that donor know that donor. If you only are caring about the dollars, then you are going to care about things like you know, having a low donor retention rate you're gonna care about, Oh, you didn't get the same number. No, your job now is saying, how do I figure out who came in and now start building relationships with them? People think this is a sin that I say, let me tell you child call, pick up the phone and call your donor, right? Pick up the phone and talk to them. Right? Send them a message, send. I'm a giver, we give you the ability to text your donors or send them an emails on on our platform, reach out to them and figure out why did you make a donation? Why did you make a gift in the first place? Oh, well, I'm really passionate or are SO and SO invited me to donate great, that means you know that so and so needs to be in your camp, right? You need to make sure that you find so and so and you love on someone. So you take someone's talk and dinner and make sure that they feel they're a part of that organization because even if so and so's donor didn't come back, there are more people in so and so's corner. I said someone saw a lot. So I hope you get what I'm saying right now.
It sounds better than an ominous thing or come on
somebody, right? So make sure you know why a person got involved. That's the first thing, then build a plan around that. So if you said hey, somebody donated on Giving Tuesday, I'm gonna make sure I send that person an email every single month following Giving Tuesday, letting them know the impact of that donation, right. And then six months from now, I'm going to invite them to come to an event I'm not going to ask him for no money, right? Because we're so quick to ask about when the next gift is. Remember, what did I say the beginning people are your partners, not your piggy banks. Okay? Imagine if you talk to your partner all the time you wanted something from them? That would cause problems and issues right? But we're like, no, let me just hit send on this email and expect them to show up and give me a donation? No. If you don't know me, if you're still calling me friend, okay, then why am I compelled to give you another donation, right? Talk to me on a regular basis, get to know me get to know what I like get to know what I dislike, get to know what what fuels me, right? Because that is how you build an impact uprising. That's how you build a community for the long term. That is how you build people who will partner alongside you and take you to the next level that you want to go to.
So you're throwing the impact uprising out there, you're threading our values that are core to us. But you're talking about cultivating believers. And I love that you transition to that because, you know, while we're like purist in the philanthropy world, people are going to come in that don't maybe care, and is this opportunity, because they removed because their friend asked them or maybe they just they're caught their eye. But this is an opportunity to steward in an incredible way. Make them part of the story to where they could maybe become a believer in what you're doing and become one of those long standing donors. And it's not about the giving them out. You know, it really isn't. It's about cultivating this community around it. So you've given us a ton like, I need to catch up on my notes, because you have been throwing so many value bombs. I'm loving every minute of this
literally thrown our values back at us. It's been like,
the way you know. So Floyd, I want you to take us back. I mean, you have had obviously a lot of beautiful encounters with philanthropy in your life, can you share a story of one that's just stuck with you, in your journey so far?
Honestly, I would say there's this one organization in particular, that we just worked with, so get better, get better gets back as an initiative that I was able to launch, I give butter in it. And that's what our Giving Tuesday initiative is under. But we recently launched something for black philanthropy month, and there were two moments that really stood out to me. One was meeting the founder of Black philanthropy month, I have never in my life felt so just seen if that makes sense. I was I was a black fundraiser, I am black fundraiser. And I felt so alone in the process, I felt so alone, I felt like I was literally on a hamster wheel. Not only was I given everything that I have right to this organization to these organizations, right, because it wasn't just one. And I know many fundraisers can identify with that. But then I also knew the impact of being the only person in a room, right, and the idea of falling into tokenism and feeling like I had to fit a quota and feeling like I had to plan to a role. And that alone was burning me out. Right? I felt the emotional toll on every single level, right? And so meeting somebody who is pioneering this beautiful movement of black lands in London, if you don't know them, please look them up. I do yourself a favor and look at black philanthropy month and see all the amazing work that we're doing with that with that community. But to see another person just saying, Hey, I see you, I'm with you, I'm gonna stand by you and I'm gonna support you. That was a life changing. And so taking that and being able to apply it to the giver community was so beautiful. So we did the same giveaway we give away I'm about $10,000 and this one organization, they're called Race and fate I love them so much. They're a good better user. But I remember when we were chatting with them, they were not out you know, in the eligibility category didn't have When a supporter is to be eligible for a prize, and I remember working directly with them, talking with them and saying, Hey, like, we went back to the community principles, we went back to the community principles, get on the phone, speak to your community, go to the local grocery store, because and this organization is amazing and so beautiful because they actually take people of color and in these marginalized neighborhoods, and they go camping with them, they rent out campsites they actually take them to the great outdoors actually experience something brand new. And I was like, how do we mobilize people around that, because there are people who care about what you're doing. And it was so beautiful, because a week later, when we give up the results, and they were one of the winners, and they were like Floyd, I did everything that you said to do, we put it all into action. And it's just so beautiful, because they're, they're about to launch their next camp in the next few months. And so it's just like, that's what philanthropy is, to me. That's why I do the work that I do, right? Because it's like, there are seeds that you all Becky and John are planting. The people who are listening to this are planting but you will not see you will not experience it, I'm probably never gonna go to a camp myself, okay, because I know I'm working. But on the other end, right, you are, you're planting a seed, you are transforming their lives. And that's why I do what I do. That is what philanthropy is about the love of other humans, if you keep the love at the center, I promise you, all these other things are then going to matter if you keep the love at the center, right? That's going to propel you to where you need to be.
Community is everything. I mean, I just feel it so much in your story. I want to build a community where no one feels tokenized where everybody feels welcome, where everybody can live their best life, whether you want to sleep in a tent, I do not I did. Or if you want to show up, and you know, just give somewhere, you know, give with your voice give with your social media show up and volunteer. I just think Giving Tuesday is such a beautiful spirit of just service and love of what you're saying. And if we can just not look at it as we've gotten power through this day. And we got to shove our emails in the inbox with everybody else. If we can look at it in the the joyful spirit of humanity, that you're really challenging us to be remembering why we're going back to loving these missions, why we're connected. If we can reinvigorate that, I just think the sky is the limit for your kids today. Thank you for reminding us of that, Floyd. And I'm very sad that I'm gonna have to ask this question. But we ask all of our guests for the end of our conversation about a one good thing. And we wonder what's the one good thing you would leave with our community today?
Hmm, one good thing is lead with love. That's what we kind of I think it's always been talking about lead with love, lead with love. Because that is, that's the best thing, right? I think that that's been the threat in my life, right? Every single time I've taken an opportunity, I remember coming to get better. And I was I was employee number six. When I tell you, I can't hear my faith, okay, because we didn't really know what was going on. We were still kind of figuring. But love was at the center. And I said how can I love the best? How can I how can I give my biggest expression of love right now and seeing the impact that we've made in two years? I'm literally still beside myself. So if you're an organization listening to this, if you're thinking about how can I get involved, you're thinking how can I launch a given Tuesday or even listening to this after giving Tuesday. Lean with love in your people with love that you're partners with love that your donors with love leave with love child? That's a good thing.
Floyd, this conversation has like run the gamut. But my heart is full like my idea book is full like, you just have an aura about you. That is so joyful. Thank you so much. How can people connect with you? You know, I know I love following you on LinkedIn and I love following you on Instagram. They keep up with you a little bit personally to point us to all the ways that you show up and get better too.
Yes, find me on LinkedIn, Floyd Jones, three, Floyd Johnson. The number three is where I post everything about getting better all the things that I'm doing personally all the things that I'm fighting for justice, all my little give better tips, tips and tricks and fundraising tips and tricks for tracking me on LinkedIn. Let's stay connected and join my community. Come on somebody because we're gonna get there together.
Okay, and I want you to draw out for everybody how they can qualify for this $50,000 giveaway that give butters giving tell them how they can qualify for their mission.
Go to givebutter.com/GivingTuesday. We'll also drop it in the show notes but honestly and truthfully is so easy. The only criteria that we have is your 10 unique supporters. We want to make sure that you have 10 unique supporters, that's new, new donors giving unique donations to your cause and then you automatically qualify. Okay, so give it a.com backslash Giving Tuesday, and we'll give you all the other details that you need.
Okay, I just love the way you guys show up. I love your infectious energy. I love Your joy, it is just a complete delight to hanging out or but you truly are one of our besties and just really appreciate you empowering this community to go out and and really build something extraordinary this Giving Tuesday. So appreciate you so much my friend.
Thank you all and thank you all to the listeners. You can do this y'all, you can do it.
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