6 Lessons Learned that We Believe Can Revolutionize Nonprofits - Jonathan McCoy, CFRE, Becky Endicott, CFRE and Julie Confer

12:57AM Aug 25, 2021

Speakers:

Julie Confer

Becky Endicott

Jonathan McCoy

Keywords:

people

donor

episode

nonprofit

podcast

community

conversation

mission

organization

world

year

lift

gifts

feel

julie

mobilize

fundraising

dm

holding

butter

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, where nonprofit professionals, philanthropist world changers and rabid fans who are striving to bring a little more goodness into the world. So let's get started. Happy birthday, confetti, cannons, exploding smash cakes. So exciting. Happy birthday. Happy birthday, Julie.

Thanks.

So the podcast is a year old today. I remember hitting record for the first time feeling all things imposter syndrome, excitement, fear, what are they gonna think? What are we gonna say? And here we are a year later. 160 episodes later,

actually, I wasn't going to do this. But you saying that makes me want to share the story of us like doing our first interview? Guys, we literally walked into John's house. No practice no real conversation about we had our you know, running list of questions we're gonna ask, we literally just push the play button and wait for it. So I guess what we're saying is, anybody can do this. If you have great thoughts, and you have great content, just push that button. That's a great metaphor for this conversation.

This time, one year ago, I googled How do I edit a podcast? reel.

So that's a perfect segue. I mean, this year is all about growth mindset for us. I mean, we all kind of came into this place hungry that the things we didn't know how to do, we were going to lean into and really learn. And I feel like, man, our hearts and minds have expanded this year at all of a lot of different ways. And so I hope that's kind of the tone of this conversation today of the stuff we've learned.

And you know, when you sit down and you just talk to people, for a year, you start to like glean some insights, you start to see some pervasive themes that sort of bubble up to the top. And I will tell you, our little group of three feels like we are entirely different human beings than when we actually used to work in our healthcare shop that we were at before we actually jumped in, lifted this podcast, because the mindset shifts, the strategies, the innovations, the creativity, all of it has awakened something within us to go deeper, to jump further. And to just go for it, because we're seeing and visiting with all of these people who have done just that, in taking those leaps of faith. And the rewards are endless. And you're sitting here listening, and you're a huge part of it.

Yeah, I mean, I agree. It's like, we're all really connected. And when you're in your organization, whatever seats you find yourself in today, I remember feeling like that, like we had a team of 10, around 10 people in our office. But a lot of times you felt like on an island, trying to figure things out whatever sphere that your job responsibilities are. And so I remember that's why we wanted to create this space. And as we zoom out, and what we've gotten to have they explain to the podcast, you see how connected our stories are, and everyone's kind of wrestling through the same things and trying to adapt to the changing world and trends and all those things. And so it really is, we're all in this together. And I think, definitely more than ever believe in just abundance. And so I hope the conversation today, we want to kind of Port back because we really spent time thinking what would be the most impactful thing to talk about today. And we're dedicating this episode to what we would have told our younger selves when we were sitting in a nonprofit, just a year ago, or two years ago, what are the things that are really important? And what are the things that maybe aren't as important? So it's a little bit of this versus that or if you're familiar with do this, not that we're gonna throw some big ideas and some real actionable stuff at you today. So we're really excited about this conversation. Where do we start? I think,

john, you need to start, Mr. President, with your big dreamy vision and what he What are you thinking about vision?

Okay, so if you listen to season three, so we just wrapped season three is the end of season three, startup season four, we talked a lot about dreaming big. And part of this is threaded with that you can't move past some of the conversations we had this past season, about just dreaming bigger as these missions that we're fighting for in these situations we're trying to eradicate around the world, like our missions are so big, but I've seen and I remember being in this in the seat of your house, you feel so much like you've got to preserve these things that have been historical to your organization all the time with events. We've always had this event people love this

sacred cow. Oh,

yes, yes, the sacred cows. So what are those rhythms that you're just so used to doing that they've lost sight of the real purpose and vision that you're trying to accomplish? Because if COVID taught us one thing is that we've got to hold loose to the tactics. There's so many ways to mobilize people in this day and age, it doesn't have to be in a ballroom sitting around fancy tables in fancy chairs, like people are people. And so looking for the newest way to connect people, to engage them to, you know, connect hearts and mobilize people. That's what we need to be leaning into. And so if you're a leader at an organization, if you're in a position of influence, this is what you should be looking at. Is My mission is my vision. Is it bright enough to really mobilize galvanize my team, really get them excited to come to work excited that we're what we're doing is really meaningful. And the same with your donors. We love starting inside. But also, is it dreamy enough? Is it truly aspirational enough that you're going to attract those type of donors investment level donors to come alongside? So threading those together, I guess here's my do this, not that. Don't preserve the tactics, fight for your vision fight for that big dreamy vision that you want to do.

I feel like you just gave me permission to keep my Spanx in the back of the drawer to keep my bedazzled jeweled high heels in my closet. Because I, you said something so smart. And I don't want anybody to miss it. But if you really think about having a gala, you're going to attract gala type donors. Yeah. But if you have a huge vision that is going to change the face of your mission of your beneficiaries of your community, think you're also going to attract visionaries who want to be a part of that. So the challenge becomes, which one do you want? And we're saying, we think that the space is rife for disruption for growth potential over here, when you take that big leap of faith, so I love it. Excellent. Okay, my my do this not that is really talking about digital. I mean, never before in our history, especially with something like COVID, have we seen such a massive movement of so many people going online. And so what I'm saying is, the digital playground is real, and it is here to stay. So we have got to level up our digital game, not only to expand our fundraising, but to expand into virtual community too. So if you're really employing this digital first thinking, it's about how do we look at everything in our shop through the lens of how we can run it through a virtual channel. And so I used to think of marketing this is this is old Becky, this is old, who is a marketer, like even just years ago, I used to think of it so much as Okay, I've got my website up, my website looks beautiful. We've got some social channels where you know, occasionally posting on those. And it's typically event photos to your point before and I am like lapping the palm on my forehead, and all the times that we have missed out on having so many connection points. So it's really about going further, we can't just rest on our website and having these really passive channels, don't do that. Do ramp up your website, update it often. test out your calls to action frequently, build an email list, share content, you are an expert in whatever your nonprofits mission is, you have expertise in there that people want leverage that this is not just a pull type of mentality where we're trying to pull donors into our mission, we have got to be in this push pull mentality, where we're pushing valuable content, information, engagement opportunities out to them, and we want to pull them alongside us to come along and be a part of this massive miracle. So this is what we're saying, you've got to level up and really put some investment in your digital strategy. And I'm not just talking about a financial investment, though, I do think you should be putting money in your budget for either a digital media specialist for ads for, you know, anything you could do to help with search engine optimization, but I'm talking about your time, your time is such an incredible asset. And you need to be spending that time building community online. People are there and they don't even know how to connect with you until you push beyond the event wall beyond your office walls beyond your tiny little community. Well, I

think you said something so smart that, you know, we get in this mindset that we're going out to ask. And it's that that constant motion of coming into us because we're the nonprofit people are giving to us. But you're so right that we have so much to offer from a content and also what we can offer that's not even tangible, these emotions that you really can't get any other way. So how are we allowing people to be part of that narrative and the story and all of that through all the channels like that so smart.

I love it because it's so much the theme of what has been replayed on this podcast over and over, which is the new landscape. I think the new future of nonprofit is no longer us standing there holding our collection plate. It's about partnership. And it's about asking donors to come along and partner with us. We have something to offer, they have something to offer. When we lock arms, we are unstoppable because our passion is going to drive us to mission delivery. So if you're someone who wants to dive into this, we've had a couple episodes that we think you can start with. One is, of course, the incomparable Dana Snyder, who is the digital marketing queen. That was episode number 70. How to level up your nonprofits online marketing. The second one is Cameron Bartlett, Episode 122. And he talks about how to build a very intentional online donor journey with your prospects. So check those two out.

So something I want to lift that I feel like I've learned from a ton of our guests is just this concept of being brave and not perfect. I think as a young professional, these big fundraising asks, starting new programs from scratch, starting difficult conversations in a boardroom, even meeting with an intimidating donor can be super overwhelming. I was 23. And I was having conversations with million dollar donors and I was scared out of my mind. So I think just some of these conversations we had around courage and mindset with our guests is something that I think everyone can double click on. And so my do this not that is do not make your mission about you. Do focus on being courageous, authentic and vulnerable, not perfect, because we're making our missions about us instead of what the mission is. And so three quotes that I pulled because I'm a sucker for a good quote tyskie Williams and Episode 24 she said courage is so important for institutions and organizations, it is not only important as a virtue, it's a verb, we have to attach action to being courageous. And our girl Mallory Erickson in Episode 60, said, perfectionism leaves us paralyzed. And in a state of inaction and hyper analysis, this is so dangerous and fundraising is because it's a direct conflict with authenticity, you can't be authentic and perfect. And then Julie Ordonez, founder of the courage lab said, there are problems we can solve in our lifetime. It's not that we don't know how to solve them. And it's not that the resources are not there. It's that we lack the courage to ask people to join us in the fight. So be brave, don't be perfect friends, okay. It's not just the

young professionals almost said non professionals. But just the young professionals. I mean, I had been in career for 15 years, and I still was intimidated in those moments. So I love those conversations you lifted, they helped me too.

Yeah. And I will say I have a fearless component about my personality, which we all know. And I still have those fears. And, Julie, I think you said something really important. That made me think about our conversation and employee giving about the dangers of trying to get 100% participation. And I think when you're trying to reach for that level of perfection, you lose some of your soul. And I know what you're thinking about, john, you're thinking about in the height of like, employee, I think of employee giving, specifically, when you're just trying to get to a number and you're throwing pledge cards in front of people's faces. And it's like, no, that is the opposite of what we're trying to do. If we can come at this, humanly talk about the mission, again, to your point, Julie, instead of ourselves, then we're not worried about getting to 100%, we're not worried about being perfect. We're worried about making connections that last,

so good. Okay, the other one that I would say that I really want to lift in, I am fully realizing that I am a white guy in the middle of Oklahoma, but I feel like that's even more important that I want to be waving this flag. But the conversation around diversity, equity and inclusion, specifically in the hiring and retention of employees, is your responsibility. It's everybody's responsibility. But I'm looking at you that are in positions of leadership, or of privilege, that this is a space that you have to become a learner. And I feel like this year have gotten to sit under the tutelage of so many people that have gone before us that have been brave and sharing their stories, and has stopped me in my tracks and made me really look at you know, some of the conditioning that I came up in, in my career that I never really saw that was blocking our offices for becoming more diverse, more inclusive, and more equity for everybody involved. And so some of the key themes that I think are really key, and I want to thank keshawn Palmer for lifting this in Episode 63, kind of mid year to us is what are your hiring practices look like? Like are you really going at this leaders with a goal with an actual goal that you're getting graded upon, to recruit a diverse team and to retain them and I can tell you that that had never lifted as a goal in My 15 years of experience, I mean, it's something maybe that we talked about with HR once a year is kind of a check the box kind of thing, but never a truly are, we were saying we value everybody, but we're really not fighting to get everybody here at the table to have an opportunity to be on this team or to be represented on our board. And it really is going to take some deep work, and to change the social norms of a lot of organizations that are not doing this. So looking at boards that are not representative of the communities that they're serving. Do we need to grow the boards? Do we need to add more seats? Do we need to sunset some positions that have been there for so long? And it really is everybody's conversation to have. And so a few episodes I want to lift Yolanda F. Johnson, she came on one of the first interviews on the podcast and I think she speaks with such clarity and such community that she's gathered through women of color and philanthropy up in New York that has members across the country. She was Episode Four, go back and listen to that episode to Shauna I've mentioned but also beer get Burton here get she is, you know, we kind of unloaded on her last episode, go listen to 121 and then get back to me if you're having trouble like understanding the lens. Her personal story is so moving, that it causes you to stop, pause and think of like how am I part of this problem? Whether I have the best intentions in the world? How am I maybe reinforcing some of these practices that's holding other people out? So look at this friends and do the work and I'm doing the work still. So I'm not saying I've got it figured out but do the work.

Hey friends, we wanted to take a moment to thank our amazing sponsor gift butter, the world's fastest growing online giving platform powering more than 35,000 causes. One of these is family reach a national nonprofit dedicated to eradicating the financial barriers that accompany a cancer diagnosis. Like many of us, they were unsure how they were going to replace their critical in person fundraising events during COVID. Family reach put give butters virtual fundraising tools to use by hosting a super fun and engaging celebrity chef cooking challenge where they raised more than $350,000. And if you think this was a one off success, think again. They just did it again and raised more than $600,000 family reach raves about give butters ability to livestream video alongside their real time supporter feed and saw how the threaded comments engage their audience beyond what was possible on other platforms. It's buttery goodness at its finest. Don't miss the full success story in our show notes. Ready to explore how gift butter can help your organization take your online fundraising to the next level. Check them out at gift buttered calm. Okay, you knew I was gonna go here. My last one that I'm bringing up is corporate culture can be toxic, and it can stifle community. So now is the time to break free. It's time to be human. It's time to express who your organization is authentically. And it's a place we need to create where people are always at the center. So in the terms of the do not do this not that do not show up and communicate as if you were a robot as if you were big brother as if you were taking the corporate line. Please do show up by giving your organization a soul. The way you can do that is think about the way you speak. Think about the way you write think about the way you publish share emote Connect, you need to be sharing personal stories. People laugh when I say this, but you need to be using contractions. That is more conversational, use emojis, be vulnerable share a personal lived experience, create a voice that someone can relate to pick graphics of individuals who are actually at your nonprofit or within your community as the beneficiary if you are able, we know there are some missions that cannot. But try to be as human as possible because that is the we believe that humanity and storytelling is the heartbeat of connection. And so what we're saying is one, simplify humanize and tell a good story. And that is, by the way, Episode Number 19. And it's also our third core value. Go back and check out that episode. We talked about how do you show up authentically. And that ties back again, to what we're saying about getting leveling up your digital, we think you can do these in tandem. And now is a great time to do a hard reset. I think another good one on like trying to break through from this corporate space is Matthew Zachary. He had a great Episode Episode 51 on disrupting the nonprofit space and building a massive community. And then the last one I'd lift up is we did an episode on cultivating and mobilizing rabid fans, which was episode number 25. And that again is going to help you get to the heartbeat of who those people are at the base and how to connect with them.

The next one I want to close out with is invest in yourself and your team by nature of hitting play and listening to this Right now you are already doing this, although Bravo, but don't get stuck in the way that things have always been do invest in your team. Professional Development, we believe can take all our missions around the world to the next level. And it may take you being the champion of this in your organization, whether you're young professional, or be executive director, I remember talking to Thomas Manse from feeding Tampa Bay in Episode 14. And he said, if your business model does not adapt and evolve, you will get left behind. And I recently saw a tweet that said, we're we're coming up on being two years past 2020, the craziness that was 2020, it is almost been two years since then. And so if you're still finding yourself, trying to figure this out, you still feel like you're underwater, it may be time to make a change and start investing in a new way to do things because the world is changing. And it is a it is a new day. So we hear you we know how busy you are, we believe one of the most worthy investments in business strategies over the next year is this investment. So if you do anything today, just start a conversation with your team with those around you. How do you want to grow? What do you want to learn? What if we set personal and professional development goals and held them to as high of stakes as our fundraising goals? So that that is our challenge for you is start making that investment,

whether we dedicated episode about professional development, just a couple episodes back, and I passively just kind of threw out there I said, this may be the highest ROI activity that you would commit to in the year. And let me just back that up. Because I think it's actually true. And I remember a conversation with Bill Littlejohn, he leads the development efforts for Sharp HealthCare, this huge health system in San Diego. And he has challenged his board before because there's a lot of strategies that can drive development that I know a really incredible arguing point that he'll say is, overall, they have a return on investment of every dollar that's invested in their development shop turns out for for impact in the health system. And so he always challenges his board. When do you stop giving me dollars? If every time you give me $1, I give you four, and I would allow it, I would challenge you to do the same. If taking that course, or going to that conference, or implementing this new strategy or learning through some workshop is going to return on investment. What three or fourfold? Why would you not do it? And often it's going to be way more than that. And so it's really interesting dynamic. This happens in the for profit in the entrepreneurial space, people are stuck on ROI. I mean, it's always about what's that interval change. Why do we not look at professional development through that lens in the nonprofit space, it's really holding us back.

So if you're someone who wants to be invested in in, let me just tell you, you are worthy of being invested in and it will grow you personally and it will grow your organization, go to where for good pro.com sign up, you're going to get early access to Pro, I am telling you it is going to be like a warm little hug, to help you get what you need to do to help launch all of these things that we have lifted. In today's conversation. And more.

Y'all it's been a heck of a year. But we've thrown a lot at you today, I really think that these things will shift the needle for you, whatever seat of the house, whatever organization you're serving, know that we're pulling for you, we think about you We love hearing and talking to people around the world have the missions that you're advocating. And we're here to create content that serves and lifts and really challenges you to be able to grow your impact wherever you may be. So we can't end a conversation that without going into one get things right.

The question we fear more than any other one. We're getting interviewed.

So what is your one good thing from one year, Julie?

Um, I feel like I've said this a lot. But it has just stuck with me is that you have something to learn from everyone. We say this a lot. But community really is everything. So I guess my one good thing is lock arms with people around you or halfway around the world. We we have learned over the last year we have a lot more in common than we don't with people all over the world. And you will just find your heart and your mind grow. So that's my advice. That's so good. I've

got warm fuzzy No kidding. What about you, john?

I feel like mine connects to this. As I really thought about it. I was driving in my car like taking notes, just I guess because we're a verbal processor now that thanks to the podcast, but I was like why did I really learn this year? And it's all about this idea of a ripple. And I don't know I was trying to explain. I don't know if it's that we started something from scratch. So everything is kind of new. But it is so fascinating how one person one moment one action can lead to so much down the road. So you may remember Travis Nene, we had him on the podcast from Maya. And even meeting him is a perfect example of the ripple. I mean, I love what he's doing. I love what he stands for. I'd never heard of him or never met him. But we met Travis because we met she's the First, and we met she's the first because we met Susan MacPherson. And we met Susan MacPherson, because McKenna is in her office who happens to be friends with dulari. Gandhi, who we literally just dm on LinkedIn, because we love the work that she was doing at the young nonprofit association in Austin.

And so basically, you're saying it all started with a DM and LinkedIn. And we had seven friendships and incredible moments that came as a result of that dm.

And those connections spanned from Austin to Chicago to New York City to Guatemala. So just don't stay in your bubble. Just reach out to someone send that dm, because it may take you halfway around the world with tons of lessons in between.

And can I just say the lens on this, too. It's not just about the ripple effect. It's the power of the abundance mindset that there's enough to go around. There's enough relationships, there's enough people. And if the belief that everyone matters, everyone deserves your time, your attention, getting to know them, these relationships happen because of authentic relationships at each step. And it's just so fascinating. And I just I literally love it. And I've got chills again,

such a good conversation. And I hate that I have to do my one good thing last because it's a lot of pressure. But I've just been thinking about this a lot lately. And my one good thing is, it's time to awaken your base. Love that word. And what I mean is, I'm not saying stop asking for major gifts. I don't want anybody saying that Becky does not advocate for major gifts, because I am a recovering major gift officer, I definitely think they have a place. But I'm saying that we have to have a focus that's bigger than major gifts. You know, as by virtue of sitting on this podcast, we have clients that we work with, we see the scarcity mindset, all the time of people feeling so tied down to their KPIs and their development goals and trying to hit whatever that number is. And their focus just become sprinting at major gifts, throwing another event together, pushing out 42 grants without any intentionality without any calls or cultivation, we're saying stop, pause and go back and look at your base. Flip that donor pyramid because I know if you have been in nonprofit for more than two days, you have learned that that top pinnacle of the pyramid is where the bulk of your funding is going to come from. And we're not going to argue that however, that's how you get funding. But it's not how you build a movement. Wow, that grows and swells over time. So what we're saying is flip that donor pyramid. Invest, start talking, start cultivating those people at the bottom and do it gently do it digitally. You can automate this stuff, it will go in the background without you even pushing a button. And it's like start seeing people start understanding what they're passionate about. And then start cultivating them the same way you would that major gift donor, start saying thank you, you know, even if it's on Instagram, say thank you let them know you saw them respond to every single message you ever get on social media, ask them questions, pole, get them activated, get them giving an all of a sudden, the donor is not a donor, the donor becomes a believer. And believers are so versatile believers will be donors. There'll be volunteers, there'll be ambassadors, there'll be activist, they can literally fill in the gap, nearly every single hole that you have in your nonprofit, where you need passion and hustle. So today, awaken your base, start looking at the smallest gifts among you, and start figuring out a way to engage and cultivate them.

Okay, chills again. I can't sit and hear you say that and not I'm just nodding with so much affirmation. But you by virtue of leaning into this community, heck, creating this community by being part of the podcast and the community in our weekly all the different ways we plug in and now Pro, like, You're what power this movement, and you're who we're making this for. So I just want to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts. It's been a heck of a year. And this is our retirement plan. So we're not going anywhere.

I agree. I hope we're in here like podcasting or 50th anniversary. I'm going to be 92 at the time, but I'm very excited about it. We hope that you will stick around, find content and information that is relevant to you, grows you professionally, it grows you personally we hope you're taking care of yourself. You will always have a seat at this kitchen table. And we're just infinitely grateful that you continue to show up. So if you continue to show up, we're going to keep pouring more goodness into the world. Thank you for being here.

Okay, so when you're down 159 episodes, 123 guests

70,000 downloads.

Yeah. And it feels like we're just getting started so let's do this,

or for you.

Hey Friends thanks so much for being here. Did you know we create a landing page for each podcast episode with helpful links, freebies and even shareable graphics? Be sure to check it out at the link in this episode's description. 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 our we'd love for you to join our good community it's free and you can think of it is the after party to each podcast episode you can sign up today at we are for goods comm backslash Hello for thing if you loved what you heard today, would you mind leaving us a podcast rating and review? It means the world to us and Your support helps more people find our community. Thanks friends. I'm our producer Julie Confer and our theme song is sunray by Remy Boris boom