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. What's up y'all?
Season eight baby.
We did it.
In books
I know,
Holy heck. We're so excited to have Julie to the mic. I feel like you know, Julie comes in at special occasions and helps us wrap the seasons because that's what she does. Julie is working behind the scenes and knows this content and knows our guests so closely. And so I love having your lens in these conversations. J, thanks for being here. today.
I'm excited. I think I talk on this podcast maybe four times a year and every single time they're doing construction somewhere around me. So if you hear
very New York City,
If you hear the noises of New York, I apologize in advance. But I'm excited to be here, y'all.
Thanks for staying with us. We are closing out season eight. And today we are rolling up six takeaways that we feel like have really lifted as themes this season. And then we're going to close out with some one good things. But it would be prudent in season eight that we would have to talk first about the two GOATs that came on to our podcast this season, Seth Godin, and Dan Pallotta. Are you guys still pinching yourselves?
Yeah, haven't recovered from those conversations.
Yeah. And I think what we were feeling in both of them is this shift. And if you're feeling it, it's it's very palpable. I think it's real. It's not only just in the sector, there's a shift in the world right now. And it feels like this is such a moment, to embrace this new narrative of our work, and the potential for movements in the moment for nonprofits to seize. And so we're really looking at this new era of modern philanthropy, we're talking about big innovation, which starts internally and starts with community. If you think back to Episode 470, when Dan says, You don't have to change the how the entire world thinks about charity, you just have to change the way your world thinks about charity. And I love that so much because there was a call to action. And it was very one to one, which is what I think is really trending right now in this moment is that need for personalization, that need for authenticity, that need to feel seen. And so I really love this idea about changing our world. Starting with small little actions, one to one.
I wish I would have saved the four minute long voice memo that y'all got from me walking from the movie theater to.
I may have kept it.
I would be like scared to listen back because it was all of my honest feedback after watching Uncharitable. And so episode 470 was kind of like a part two next step from that movie. And I definitely felt the energy that you're talking about Becky, you leave mad, excited, frustrated, because I was looking around the room and everybody in the theater with me, worked for nonprofits. So I remember voice memo and y'all like the wrong group is here. And that was like opening weekend, we obviously were the people that were the most excited to probably see it. And people have I'm sure taking friends and family since then. But I just I felt that energy of needing to expand our bubbles, because Dan got me fired up. And I know all the other nonprofit people in the room. But it's time to like, expand that circle and get the general public excited and on the same wavelength of that message. So I was feeling the energy and glad y'all got the four minute long voice memo of energy.
And I feel like from other friends in the sector, specifically. I mean, it just does that, like pumps you up, amps you up that. And that's the power of like talking about these things and being like, Oh, we could do this, like if we all got together on this. And that's going to be a theme that that comes together in today's conversation. But we got to talk about Seth for a minute.
Let's talk about Seth.
Seth Godin,
I like how we're calling him Seth.
Now I guess we are on a first name basis.
What is our life?
But he dropped one of the most impactful quotes that I think has stuck with me, I literally do think about it and quoted and share to my family often. So this is really like resonated with me. And he ended this really cool chat with saying, you know, what's your one good thing, Seth's like, Hey, you don't need more time. You don't need more information. You don't need all these things. You just need to decide. And I think there's so much power in that. And I saw that as almost a theme as it's kind of threaded through the season two and I'll talk about founder series because that one really resonated with me. But it's always people that just make a decision to go and do and quit sitting In thinking about doing something, but actually take the action and figure it out as you go. And so I've loved that part of the episode. But there's so many nuggets, we could talk about a whole episode worth of just everything that Seth taught us.
Yeah, I mean, Seth is such a legend. I mean, him getting in the green room and talking about firing donors and quitting your galas, like it will never leave me.
The chat was like erupting.
It was so good. But I think Caroline Griffin, who's marketer on a mission, I hope you guys follow her, she, you know, made, says interview was the most poignant moment for her of 2023, of seeing what is possible. And I thought she had some great insight about what she had gleaned from Seth. And she says, you know, unlike consumer brands, nonprofits don't have this tried and true formula, because we're literally out here trying to solve problems that have never been solved before. So what we're doing is a lot more experimental than like doing something like optimizing sneaker sales. So let's remind ourselves daily, let's channel our Seth Godin that this work is the great experiment, and that we have to pour into innovation, to be able to write that new narrative to sit in this moment. And I think someone who's doing that really well that we talked to in season eight was Vance Roush, this was episode 491. And we're talking about how do you make generosity frictionless. And he says this, in my opinion, is absolutely critical. We have to evolve and reach the new generation of donors where they are, which means making generosity frequent, frictionless, community frictionless, making our messages frictionless, so I'm here for that.
And it's just like how the world is, you know, you know, it's the things that we don't think about that are frictionless. It's like, it's really just kind of opening our eyes to be like, Yeah, that should be the experience for our donors, like the same level of experience that we see in our daily life, how we buy things and how things appear, you know, on our doorstep, we want there not to be the tech slowing down, people making a decision to support us or volunteer with us, or whatever it may be. Okay, so I really would love to just riff for a minute about the founders series. Like I love that we get to pour into this.
You were so excited about this, I am so excited you get to talk about this.
Because you know, everybody's story is always unique, that comes on the podcast, but we just have a particular huge part of our heart for founders, because, you know, early on, I want to say it was Season One, there is this definition of like, and there's a left and a right road to a lot of times in our journey. And the founder chooses the harder road, and the road that's less traveled the road that's less prescriptive, and say, I see this, I'm gonna step into this, and I'm gonna go for it. And so I just have a ton of respect for founders in this space. I think we learned a lot about that. You know, once you make that decision, though, it's no longer just about you. It's about building this personal network of support around you. And y'all I can tell you that from our journey with We Are For Good. Yes, it started off with the three of us sitting in Becky's bonus room on that really comfy couch. Thank you for having such a really comfy couch.
I miss it.
Happy to have it guys.
But you know, looking at each other, like, oh my gosh, we just jumped to start this thing. But what we didn't know yet was the names and the faces of the community that was surrounding this that took it to a different level that made it so much more meaningful that added so much color and vibrancy to it. And I think just recognizing seasons like I think that is a life lesson just in general of like, each season is for a different state of mind and for different areas to focus on. And Brooke Richie-Babbage did such a great job of breaking down that for founders and for new organizations. And when you're not mature yet, you don't have to worry about all of the things that you're going to have to worry on down the road. But having this network of support really does, like galvanize and give you so many more options and people to like lean on through these steps. So I gotta give some shout outs to my edge Mira, the idea of what is it like to come in with a founders mindset to an organization that's really old. So this can be really applicable to you. If you feel like you want to shake things up, you want to change things, that episode was just so powerful to think of how you can kind of come up with a new mindset of an organization that's probably going to collapse or close down if it doesn't have some new energy coming in. But then you can't mistaken Heather Salazar's energy. Oh my gosh, with Pink Ribbon Good. Just really you've got to go listen to her story, how something so personal can turn into something that's now like this national movement of just so many people pouring in from all different areas of life. And then how about the first comedian we ever had on the podcast. So we've had some funny folks, we had a professional comedian, Steve Hofstetter, really amazing human. And then he started this organization called Steel City AF, which is this amazing organization that houses comedians when they're kind of passing through the city or they just need help in life. But Steve, and this is not a new thing that we've seen on the podcast, when you have somebody that didn't grow up in development, like a lot of us maybe in the field, they just come in with a different lens. And they come in with kind of a purity of how this can really work. And we don't get mired in a lot of the bureaucracy and like a lot of the red tape that I think a lot of us know about but Steve just saw a different way and built a really vibrant mission. So go back and listen to that episode too, it's 467.
Well and Brooker to Babbage This is episode 463. I love to time I feel like these conversations were kind of like therapy for us just reflecting on our journey. But they really were applicable like it the same mindset can be used for anyone in any position. But in her episode, she's she's talking about how the two most important things and all of her work is intentionality and building the network of support. So I think why I love these episodes so much was because kind of going back to our comment about Seth Godin, just saying, it's time to decide, when we were in that bonus room, we didn't have any issues, deciding, moving, going for it, figuring out what to do, it's almost like now three years in, we have a lot harder of a time, like deciding or figuring out the next move. It's like this journey isn't like a because you decided to found an organization. That was the moment and that's your story. It's like almost like three years in it's harder than that moment. Because you have just like more feelings involved in it, I guess. So just connecting those kinds of two trends. That was something I was thinking about, because that network of support is so important. Because as we're talking to these other founders, I was like, Oh, that happened to them to on your 10 or your five or your eight. It's like a journey. And it's probably similar in any position.
And, I don't even think like you have to be a founder to listen to those. I saw so much of my development journey and every single one of those individuals. But I but I agree with John especially looked at like Steve Hofstetter, I mean, go back and listen to episode 467. One, he's funny as heck. And again, there is something about having fresh eyes, on your nonprofit, on your messaging, on your community, on whatever you're looking toward in 2024. You don't have to put yourself in these boxes. I'm a founder, you don't have to just listen to the old playbook. It is like have your open mindset keep learning keep growing? Because I think the answers are going to be there if you choose to lean into evolving.
Yes, this next kind of takeaway that I saw, it connects with the other ones that we've already been talking about. But business as usual, is gone, donezo, the words we put around, it was just rethinking and re-architecting your organizational focus. And so I think for me, at least just listening to so many of the conversations this season, and honestly over the last like three years in general have really illuminated this theme. I think the the ones that really like grabbed my attention are the leaders that really stick with me and I feel like I have their advice running in my head. Are those people that are changing up the status quo, they're creating a new business model like charity:water did just innovating in ways that we haven't seen before. And so I think I want that energy, like moving into the new year of
Yes, please.
How, how can we just rethink everything that we do and not have fear behind it? So a quick, quick story. I was so excited. I got invited to a vision night for a News Story back in October here in New York, some of their team was here. And they sent an email and said, This is not a fundraising event. We want to have a dinner, gather community ,share where we're going and how you can be a part of that vision. So already, like my guard was down as a 27 year old, I'm like, Yeah, okay, I want to hear what y'all are up to. I want to be a part of that in like, whatever way that I can. And I think of them already is one of the most innovative charities of today on Fast Company also agrees and there was an article that came out recently about them, too, that they had dropped the word charity from their title. I don't know if y'all remember
seeing this. I didn't replace it with homes, right?
Yeah, like instead of new story, charity, now they're just new story or new story homes. Fact check me on that. But in the article, they were talking about how like, they don't see themselves just as a silo, of a charity, like they are a innovative business solution. They have a whole like investment side that you can come and make strategic investments with them, and how much farther that will go for them as an organization. And all of these things, they broke down at that vision night. And so I don't know, I just left that night feeling so energized not only for them, I felt like a partner in it with them of where they were moving. But it's because they allowed community in and it was like the way they talked about themselves attracted me to it. It was how they saw themselves differently, how they were innovating. Like why would they do is different in the way that they do it. So just rethinking those traditional events, business models, even the way you approach a 27 year old in your community. How can you like totally reimagine that? Because I can only imagine the ripples that came from that event of just spending two hours with a room of 50 people and sharing your dreams of where you're going. I can only imagine what connections were made there.
That is so brilliant. I applaud them so let me be clear, there was no oversized check at this event, correct?
Not a one.
Foam check
Here're what I value about you Julie is like like you are so Gen Z, it's like, what's fun? What's meaningful? Where's my place in it? How can I use what I have whatever I have? And I feel like they just got it. So yes, I think that's a great call to not only how you're looking at events, but how are you sharing your vision in such a big way? Because I can tell you, I got a lot of texts from Julie that night.
Probably like another voice memo.
We love those. But to me, that tells me it worked. That tells me it worked and that it connected. So love that story.
I mean, okay, so this trend that I have to lift is not going to be a surprise, because we always talk about community is everything that's core to the values that We Are For Good. But I feel like kind of the 2.0 of like, where you start to put that together is there's power in the collective. And we just keep seeing this. This is like a through line of really any story as a movement is built around an organization. But I think back to like Episode 469, our fellow podcaster and friend, Steven Hackett, who had this passion for St. Jude, just personally right from his own life experience of his son. And it's turned into he turned in, he's launched this podcast a thon, that's now raised more than $2 million, basically, using what they've got, and getting started, which I think is such a powerful thing, using the importance of storytelling and how he can thread people together. It's about community and movement building. And we see so much movements happen in the power of the collective. But there's also like, the power of activating people, you know, we talked about it with me, uh, Henry, and I feel like we keep quoting me, and we're gonna have to start sending her royalties every time we mentioned.
Yes, she is so freaking wise. It's not even funny.
Like, definitely go back and find the episode with her because you think about your mission as a movement. How can you activate people to really accomplish whatever it is, is when we really challenge you to ask a bigger question. New Story is asking a bigger question like Julie just described there lasered in on ending global homelessness. They don't care if it's through charity or through business or through whatever, because their goal is to end global homelessness. So answering those bigger questions, activating community as a movement around it is is the where the power is at. And so also got to talk about proximity is power. This is like a such a mic dropping moment with Sasha Dictor. Do you remember when Sasha came on? That was this season now
that was an ungettable gets Sasha is so smart. So wise, he's been innovating impact in charity for I
don't think I believe that whole episode, I was taking notes like I was.
Because like, I think his genius and you need to go back and like find all the work that he's poured into through his TED Talk. And, but specifically, his work now is all about just like making sure that you are in step locked in with community and is community really guiding and it's central to what you do. So I want to read this quote that I thought was really powerful. Sasha said, it seemed crazy to me that there would be human beings involved in the change you're trying to make in the world in day to day practice, you would never listen to them and never speak to them. But I think you could describe that most work and social change is that way. And I want to ask you that. Yeah. You listening? How disconnected is the change in the actual work we're doing from the people that it's, you know, seeking even help? And I think that's, that's a bigger, better question that we need to be asking ourselves.
well, and connect that back to the Steven Hackett in the point before I have to give St. Jude credit because when I was an intern there, I was on the team that helps support fundraisers like this kind of like the unique bucket of someone that is a podcaster or a gamer or a college sorority, just those other groups that want to be involved like how can you support them so I have to give them credit and even Sasha to he spoke about this in his past work, acumen. It's a different mindset that the nonprofit has like being open handed with their resources. Because can you imagine if Steven Hackett had had this idea for that first year of that fundraiser and St. Jude was like, yeah, we don't really have like a podcast support arm. We've never done that before. Like, I know, they just rolled up their sleeves and got him any resources, any access to what they had to help him. So I think just on that same point, it's like a mindset that the nonprofit has to have have don't say yes to everything. You'll have funny stories of having to say no to like random things that you're gonna get. But just being really like open handed again, with how your mission takes shape. I think St. Jude does that. Really amazing. Being open handed with how their mission takes shape. So just wanted a really
good example, because can you imagine if they had said, Oh, we don't have the time or that's not that's not in our, our KPI, maybe next time or something like that? Because I mean, he's raised well over a million dollars to for that organization to okay, it's a million dollars for that organization. And they just help him with graphics, and they help him with marketing and they help him with reach, and he's driving it and get Guess what? His ownership of that narrative is so much more powerful because it's real, because it happened to his child, then because it's totally authentic. It was I applaud your point, Julie, because it's all about looking at influencers, not as just the random guy on Tik Tok, they could be to your point, the college, you know, sophomore, who was you, by the way, Julie, you know, raising money, or it could be someone who wants to get back to their community. So think about that community in new and diverse ways.
Okay, so we also got to give a nod to Emily, the founder over at Grapevine, because I mean, she has created this massive collective giving, like kind of mobilizing the collective giving movement through tech. And she came on and share the four C's of crowd granting. So if you're not familiar with that word, I love that word. So much crowd granting. It's the idea of community, collective resources, collaboration, and continuation. So as you think about like, how to really harness these movements, I mean, again, I love that you said open handed, Julio, because that, you know, I say that a lot on the podcast, I love the vision of just like, how do you keep your vision really clear, but be open handed to heart take shape? That is like involving community in a nutshell, right? Well, I love that we're not just like talking about this on the podcast, I think we really got to experience this firsthand. So about a month or so ago, Becky and I went to out near the San Francisco Bay Area to a community called Vallejo in Solano County. And we got to be part of this project that they're really you know, trying to band together, the community around not just uplifting nonprofits, but like pulling in government and pulling in businesses that are mindful of how do we help our community thrive, there's basically this huge development coming into town that could really push a lot of the residents of this community out side of it, or maybe, you know, cause different gentrification and different things in the area. And so they're trying to be proactive in this, which was such an honor to get invited to be part of this project, to, you know, go with Island maileg and Floyd Jones and spend the day with Leah Bernthal. And Chris Rico, they're in Solano County, and we got to be in community with you know, there is 30 or 40 organizations present, there is people that are involved in local government, there is local business, people like Wells Fargo Foundation was there handing out their business card saying, hey, we want to work with everybody in this room. And it was just this like, beautiful picture of the power of the collective. Like if we can just getting these rooms together, we realize that we're not as different as it feels like we are when we're in separate rooms, and we realize the humanity of each other, our stories, our personal passions, our organizations, how there's overlap. I mean, in that room, we saw people not only just talk about the services that they provide, but be recipients of services, understanding that there is resources available to them, like how magical is that to be like, Man, we should just talk more like a lot of us have something that we can offer to other people right across the street from us. And just to see it in real time, like made me believe more than ever, just the power of community in the most local sense, as well as the broader global sense to. So I guess the takeaway is, like, just community is everything. So how can you find it right? where you're at, you know, whatever community that you're plugged into, like, how can you build relationships there? And then again, are we just going to be make this an infomercial for the we're for good community? If you're looking for like minded people, like, Hey, we're gathered, we want to pour more into that community in this coming year, too. So please come come with an open hand. And I promise it's going to be amazing. And
I'm not going to apologize for community because it really dovetails into what our fifth takeaway is. Because I think we're going to talk about that there are no perfect outcomes. That is TAKEAWAY NUMBER FIVE, and I want to talk a lot about reflections that we had after going through mental health week in October this season. And I really appreciated how Dr. Thomas Curren came in and said, There is no perfect outcome. Do you guys remember we had the world's foremost expert on perfection. And in this house, Dr. Thomas Curran, it felt like he was talking to me. And he was like, we live in a world that celebrates the overachiever. And we need to start thinking about how we embrace average, because the expectations that we put on ourselves are entirely warped. They are functions of things that are way beyond our control. And so his challenge and I have to tell you, I've been channeling it for two months is how do we get comfortable with being ordinary? Why do we have to exhaust ourselves by always reaching for the extraordinary reaching for that goal that could be put upon us in our, you know, in our goals for the year that is absolutely ridiculously unattainable? And how do we find the courage to speak up and say those things I thought, Jeff shuck and Jennifer Mulholland, if you need a gift, right now, if you need an exhale, friend, I want you to go listen to Jeff and Jennifer's episode it was episode 473. there with the plenty group I swear they are our cosmic soulmate. It's just in how they see the world and abundance. And Jeff lifted this comment. He said, There's no problem with self care. He said, where people get stuck as they go right to care, and they jump over the self, and boys it I feel very seen and exposed in that moment. And he said, self care starts with self, the grand invitation. And the invitation that requires vulnerability is to see that we have what we want, what we desire on the outside starts with ourselves. And so our emotions are not obstacles to that they are such opportunities. So please go back, check out how to be calm, that whole leader that we know that you can be. And Jennifer also added in this extraordinary 10 minute guided meditation that is in our podcast cue John. Julie, how many times have you listen, I
was just about to ask that question I've done for like five and I got it sent by someone at our community to me. So that's what you do.
Amazing. I'm going to be really raw right now and tell you I've had some things happening in my life in the last couple of months that are very heavy and hard. And I just felt like I needed to feel my feelings a couple times. And twice, I have laid down on the floor of my office on my rug, played that guided meditation, cried my eyes out, breathe through it, and just felt so much better at the end of it. And I'm not saying this is a cure all but that is self care to take breaks. And I just want to lift that we also had ders Alexander on there who is amazing, this woman knows burnout. If you are sitting in that friends, please check in on episode 474. She goes through the 12 stages of burnout, how to recognize burnout in yourself and in others. I think knowing both will give us grace as we move forward. And she also talks about the role that community care plays in combating burnout, which is why I'd say I don't apologize for community because I think community is very healing. I think community and this one in particular has shown humanity and rawness like I've never seen it before. And so just an incredible Mental Health Week. Please go back. Check it out. We also had just high level Brianna Lightfoot on so if you want to know about moms and philanthropy moms as business owners, she's got some great tips there. And then we closed out with an incredible mission story with hailing Dennison and spill the tea cafe. But we also took a survey y'all. And I want to thank everybody on this podcast in this community who fed into the survey and that survey, we will be distilling those results coming out with what we gleaned from that in 2024. But y'all, I can tell you, I have read every one of your stories. I feel how heavy things are for you. I'm feeling it deep in my being. I know how hard things are for you. And I want to tell you, I see you evaluate everything that you're going through, we value it. And I want to tell you there is hope. Please listen to what Jeff is saying about don't just don't overlook that self piece of self care. We're heading into the holidays, I hope you took some time off, please take some time off, do things that fill your cup. And if you need more resources, please come check out we are for good.com backslash mental health, we have lots of podcasts that you can listen to articles, books, experts, we are we will always add to this every single year. It is a growing resource. It's all there. It's all free for you.
Yes, it really was such a powerful week and feel like it came at the right time for our team and from feedback. We've heard from other people, I think it was a good time for you to. Okay, the very last takeaway number six is to look over the horizon and create a future ready organization. And it's funny because in my notes, I'm sorry Seth Godin, if you're listening to this is like the 12th time we're quoting you, I promise. We have chill, I wrote down again the quote, just decide, because I think that is part of creating that future ready organization. You can't just keep spinning your wheels in what if could happen, just make a plan be ready for anything because probably that plan is going to change and the most recent drop on the feed actually with Aaron Davis in Episode 496. She was from Big Brothers Big Sisters, Southwest Louisiana. This episode was one of those as I was editing and I was like this is going to help some people this is going to be good. Like she had such a gift of storytelling and telling the story of how her team remained resilient and unwavering in their commitment to their community and mission. After so many natural disasters, so many things were stacked up against them. And they got a very mysterious email and phone call that ended up leading them to a really special gift that I won't ruin the surprise go back and listen to episode 496. But they were just so smart about the gift and the investment that they received. They immediately invested it into an endowment fund On so that they could secure the future of their mentoring programs. And just the way that she was talking about how to future proof your organization. Sometimes when I'm writing questions, I diabolically think we're going to get like a magical formula from someone like
it's always hope, yes.
But she didn't give us a formula, she's she was talking about how to future proof your organization or just not even future proof to prepare yourself for the future, is to stack your team around you. She said, I firmly believe in stacking your team, which means everybody in the organization I feel is smarter than me. So when disaster hits, you're all on the same team, you're all leveling up, you know who's in it with you. And then her second thing was to diversify your financial portfolio. So it wasn't a magical formula, it was get a good team in place, and diversify where your money is, and be smart about it. And I felt like I took a lot of that for our team, and just how there's not going to be some magical formula that you can like, prepare for the future. So I just felt that in closing as kind of our last takeaway, as we are moving into the new year, that was just such a theme of not only just those conversations, but of this whole season is just how can we look ahead and not just be like reactive to everything happening in front of us? And how do we like be smart about what we're investing in with our time, our money? Who are we investing in on our team, and just how that can amplify and move our missions forward? So those are the six takeaways.
Okay, I gotta brag on Aaron, one more time. So this is an episode you need to listen to and think about. Because for exactly what Julie is saying, about how do you live in an abundance mindset, looking over the horizon, because I'll tell you this about Aaron, when that major gift came in, she had less than $200,000 in the bank, and she was not even sure how that organization was going to stay afloat. And this was after for natural disasters that they had endured in one year. If you were living in a scarcity mindset, it would have been really tempting to take that $1.1 million, and put it right into where your programs and where your budget says it needs to go. But the fact that she had this incredible abundance mindset to say, Okay, this is future proofing. We're not going to live in that scarcity. And look at her now she grew that organization from five employees to 17. They have so many new programs, they have expanded how they are reaching out to youth in Southwest Louisiana. I just want more formidable executive directors out there to step into their abundance power and know that it will yield fruit. So love that Julie.
I do two more. Julie on the mic.
Wisdom bond, she comes up to the mic kicking and screaming, I want everybody to know that you're so good.
You don't see me wringing my fingers underneath my table, right?
I do. I do. And my mom's heart, but I'm so grateful for it. So we got to close out with some one good things. And John, yeah, Mr. CEO. Tell us what's your one good thing I love teasing John, about being CEO and make it so cringe to him. Tell us what your one good thing is? How are you going to roll up the season into a one good thing?
I mean, this is tough. And the dreaded question always feels really hard to Summit. But I'll say what I was feeling this morning, as I was reflecting on this. And it's it's not new to this conversation today. But I think there's such a through line of just using what you know, and we talk a lot about trusting our gut. Because, you know, there's a lot to be had in the data world. And we talk about data, and we need to know our numbers. But there's also some instinctual stuff in our gut, that, you know, you likely know what the right path is for you personally for your mission. But you've just got to like start and I'm gonna unpack next season are coming up soon. And in this big life family decision that we've been standing on kind of the fence post on like, do we stay? Do we go kind of in a literal sense, actually,
I would love for you to share this story. Yeah,
but I think there's so much power in just going find your people and just go because they got does not lead us wrong. Oftentimes, you know, and I think so many of the stories that wouldn't have happened if people had not if they'd stayed on the sidelines. So there's, there's the the message that you need to hear if you're on the fence about something. It's time to decide there's Seth Godin for the reference number 22 on the
coffee drink. Julie, what about you? What's your one good thing?
Can I go on a rant for like, just a moment? Here it is awesome. My one good thing is to make good mainstream. And this is my rant. Some of my friends have fallen victim to like an innocent Happy Hour turning into me like talking about this idea of why generosity and philanthropy needs to be more mainstream, but I just ever since we started We Are For Good. It Always irked me that as a society like true crime, pop culture, reality TV, all of that is mainstream. And let's be clear, I love all of those things. I don't want them to go away. But in that same level, we can make good and philanthropy mainstream. That's obviously why we started a media company why we started a podcast because we want these stories, these people, these leaders to be out there and in front of the public, because usually, we are not. So I I've just been noticing, and I'll let everyone in on my little game that like our world has so many different categories. And if you go to like, Apple podcasts, there's categories of all the different podcast if you watch award ceremonies, there's all these different categories. There is never a like philanthropy, social good category, it just like good. Just why just why is just watch for this, you can be on the game with me. Even like my Netflix queue, like where's the horizontal category? That's like, feel good media or like philanthropy get involved in good like, I will die on this hill? Have y'all seen the trend that like, people are asking guys how often they think about the Roman Empire? Or is this? Oh my gosh, I'm
obsessed with this. Yes. Joey, how do you not know about this? I should have sent you this from Reddit. This is my
I'll send you a tic tock after John. But everyone's like asking men how often they think about the Roman Empire. It started with like, one tweet or something. And guys are like, literally every day, this is my Roman Empire. Like I think about this all the time. It's so just anyways, I will I will slow this rant, but over just this past pod season, and like, also just in my current season of life, just with the way the world is the way that media is taken over and a lot of good. And a lot of bad ways. I'll be honest. Like, I think we just have to get out of our own nonprofit bubble and make good mainstream in the way that we can. And Seth kicked off our season sorry, against that pillow. And he said, Let's do something that matters. And I really, really think that this media matters to our world right now. So I know we're always telling people like, invest in media, get a tick tock, think of yourself as a media company. And I definitely think that's like part of this one good thing. But also, just like, normalizing stories of generosity be crazy, like be and bring it up at happy hour asking people by age what cause they're passionate about, because just the more we start, like integrating generosity and philanthropy in our normal conversations, I just think it will become as mainstream as true crime because I think it has the power to like, do that. And it also we'll just help our world if that is mainstream. So I'll just close out with my favorite quote from the whole season. Hi, Celeste Flores from giving Tuesday. She said if the world operates from a place of generosity, that is how systems change. And that's how we create a world in which we all want to live. So I've been waiting to do that ran for like three years. Thank you for giving me those five minutes. But just play that little game with the look for the categories because I think our community and like We Are For Good in general can play a part in making good a little bit more mainstream and top of mind. Okay, I'm done now that
I know I'm like laying the groundwork of follow your nudges take it to the change you want to see in the world.
I don't think we plan this but ours are all of our one good things are going to stack because I do think if there is an actionable point to Julie's rant, which by the way, Julie needs a pulpit because when she steps into it, it's so dang good. But it's crap. You had a happy hour one time, it'll be fun. Heck, yeah. And I like when I have happy hour with all of you and just ask that one question and see where it goes. Like, what, what cause Are you passionate about? But we're we're a community that says we don't want to have all the answers. We want it to be abundant. So if there's an action to Julie's rant, it's please add in your media, adding your story to the white noise that's happening now we don't want because it's not white noise when it hits. It is so divisive out there right now. It is so loud and mean, your feel good stories, your hope. Your possibility is the thing that is going to cut through the noise and guess what happens? This is back to the damn colada. Like just change your world. You can start to change your world. Through your story. It can start to ripple on and on. The awareness comes like here you go for the marketers. Step one, we're building awareness. Step Two are leading people to action. You know, step three, they're becoming a huge believer and that is how media is going to scale your impact. So my one good thing is you got to think about the movement, that it's not on your shoulders. It's This is not all on your shoulders. And I want to tell you that I guess I'm still in my mental health phase. It's not all on you. And guess what, when it's not on you all on you, it can become so much more powerful, because power doesn't come from you. It comes from the collective, it doesn't come from your major donor people equal power. And the more people you invite to your metaphorical party, the more power that you can spread around to the community. This means share your stories, collect them from the community, activate your action we talked about give people the gift of activation all the time, when you release control, and gosh, I hope 2024 is the year that nonprofit releases that iron grip on control, and allows community to take some of it, the interpretation is going to be more beautiful, the cognitive diversity is going to be more expansive. And guess what it's going to ripple Ripple ripple. And I hope that takes some of the burden off your shoulders, friends that you don't have to do at all. And so think about the power in the collective. And think about how we can all be a part of moving something that's bigger than all of us than our mission back to spreading that good activating that good. So you got this in 2024? Guys, are you amped up? Because I see the possibilities? What about you guys, I'm
fired, up, so fired up. And I got to think, you know, we're wrapping up the season, it's kind of like December, it gets the place where you're really reflective. And if you think back to the start of 2023, how we started this season, we came at you with some trends that we were forecasting. And I'm looking for all you avid rabid fans out there. Does anyone remember what Trend number one was that we lifted for the year? Prioritize self growth, right. And I feel like that is that is like everything in the world of AI and things that are changing so rapidly. And the world is evolving. The news cycle is like impossible to keep up with, we have to invest in our personal growth. And you're in like minded friends here. But let me just say, we want to invite you into that deeper with us. And that is why we have designed with an open hand. We Are For Good PRO in which is this way you can come in and grow alongside us. It's we call it capacity building in community. So if you're looking for how can I just understand what I should be doing the basics of what our work is in nonprofit development, come in to pro if you're looking to like up your ability to close your end. And we've got incredible classes of like how to make it better, you're in the ask how to make a better strategic plan, how to, like get unstuck. All of that is in We Are For Good PRO. And we want to have you join us for professional development all year long, not just on the podcast, but in a way where you can meet people you can ask people live on these live webinars and just kind of be in community with other people that want to be growth minded too. So we've got a deal going on, you can get it locked in for $297 for an entire year. And let me tell you, that is a that is a deal for how much people are going to be pouring into you in this environment. And so we'd love to have you join us at We Are For Good PRO. You can get there at we are for good.com/pro not to be confusing, but we are for good.com/pro to get that deal.
Thanks for pouring into yourself. Thanks for listening here. I feel like you come to the best of the season so you can get the cliffnotes we hope we delivered for you this year. And just know gosh guys, we are rooting for you and all things and so proud. When you look in the rearview mirror of what you've done for your mission this year, proud of you.
Thanks so much for being here friends, and you probably hear it in our voices. But we love connecting you with the most innovative people to help you achieve more for your mission than ever before.
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