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, what's happenin?
You know, I love a good attorney. You know, I love someone. I am married to an attorney.
I was going to say we should put a disclaimer there, you are married to an attorney.
Yeah, let's put a little asterix on that. But we have got a guest in the house that is going to knock your socks off today, everybody, I hope you're buckled up.
Yep. You know, we love breaking down the walls around the We Are For Good Podcast. And we publicly said we should have never named this the podcast for nonprofits because we believe in the Impact Uprising and that spans across all the sectors and its businesses coming together with people who just want to make a difference in the world. And so is a huge honor to have Scott Curran in the house of this. He's the founder and CEO of Beyond Advisors. This is this incredible organization. If you don't know it, go find them and figure out the work because we're going to talk about it today because he has just this way of simplifying talking about how we make social impact, a more simple process for philanthropy, social enterprises, business, and even in the legal profession, too. So let me tell you a little bit about Beyond Advisors, this consulting firm that specializes in simplifying social impact across sector clients, we're talking about some places that you really know the Clinton Global Foundation, UN Foundation, Clean Cooking Alliance, the Starbucks Foundation, and I could keep going on but he works with these incredible teams to drive impact. And today we're going to tap into Scott's mind and also we're going to talk about his personal passions. We've already talked about his rescue pups that are at his feet right now.
I am obsessed with his rescue pups. I know we don't need to go down that rabbit trail.
We do need to go down those because, you know with an accomplished guy like Scott, he still says he spends the best part of his day is being inspired by his wife, Amy, their two kids and their multiple rescue dogs. Scott, get into this house. We're delighted to have you on the podcast today.
I love it. What an introduction. Thank you both for having me. I couldn't be happier to be here. Love you. Love the podcast. Love your work. Love the audience. Love the mission, love being with other people who are rocket fields for good. So this is a happy place indeed.
Dude. Thank you. Yes. Nice.
I mean, we're geeks for storytelling. We're geeks for people and just we want to hear your story. I didn't want to share much of your bio, because I just love hearing the whining journey that got you to this place. I wonder if you'd take us back to Scott growing up? Like what made you pour into this impact at such a deep level? Take us back?
Yeah, that's a great way to approach it. Right? You can only connect the dots looking backwards. I remind folks that that who asked me how did you wind up here at any one point or another in my life. And I you know, I was born into a family that were service was a priority. My grandparents lived a life of service. And in many ways, my my parents were both in the medical profession. My mom was a prolific volunteer growing up. So it was always part of the school community and environment. And, you know, we were we were always pretty deeply involved in our community. So I, you know, I'm very fortunate I was born into a life of service in dynamic ways across multiple dimensions of service, right? Because, like you said, you're not it's not all just nonprofits. And it doesn't need to be it often is and some of the coolest, most amazing, great things have happened as a result of nonprofit work and for nonprofit leaders, those who love and serve nonprofits. But I was really lucky to grow up with great examples of service in my life. I didn't have any plan to wind up in philanthropy.
None of us did, Scott.
Yeah. Or, or at once I did wind up in philanthropy. The plan I had is not the plan that resulted. So it has been a winding journey. In a lot of ways that are pretty typical upbringing. I was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, went to University of Illinois in Champaign Urbana got a speech communications and sociology degree. That was after I learned my lifetime dream of becoming an astronaut was not going to happen. Turns out there's a lot more math and science involved than I had really, truly absorbed until college visits started. So I pivoted, went into the social sciences wound up in law school with no expectation to become a lawyer. I thought I'd go to law school, it's a good time to go to law school and thought it might take me on an adventure. I wound up as a 24 year old practicing corporate law but always looking for what might come next. And after five years of loving corporate law and absorbing everything it had to teach me through a series of what seemed like the most, you know, that butterfly effect of the most random small events that turn into a seismic changes, wound up applying to a grad program to want to be in the first class of the newest presidential school to get a master's degree in public service. And so I looked at my then fiance and said, I have an idea, let's, let's have our salaries, double our living expenses move to Arkansas the month we're going to get married. Live in two different cities, you can fly back and forth, right? And I'm gonna go to this, this this master's degree and get a program and get a master's of public service that nobody knows what anybody is going to do with it. And that's how I stumbled into a life in Arkansas that 18 months turned into five years, the Clinton name was on the name of the school was the University of Arkansas Clinton school of public service, I had no plans to stay in the Clinton world. So that's where I stayed for the next 10 years, I became a 31 year old intern around mostly 18,19, 20 year old college students. I was getting lunch for people and doing what interns do. And that was how I sort of stumbled into the world of global philanthropy at a time when, you know, Bill Clinton's post presidency was in its nascent years. And so it went from being this small sort of, you know, presidential library focused nonprofit to a global juggernaut. And over the next 10 years, I accidentally started the legal department one day story there, built it to a team of 16 people in house and 10 years later was General Counsel of what was at the time, the most scrutinized nonprofit in human history, during the 2015 2016 presidential election. And then I've had an adventure since there, but I'll take a breath and unpack anything you'd like from there.
I mean, I have so many thoughts. And I want to start with Amy Curran, thank you for saying yes, following your husband, to Arkansas for this grand adventure, and anyone that has a master's in public service, like, let's just talk about how cool that is, like how you want to go and live service and community. I just think the winding journeys of all of us are so interesting. And the way that they unexpectedly shape us, I think, is the great flavor of life. It's just so unexpectedly wholesome. And so love your journey. And you just hear some of these names Scott, and it's like Starbucks Foundation. And I mean, you literally have like the Clinton Foundation on your coffee mug for any of those watching on YouTube right now. And it's easy for maybe somebody listening who's a small nonprofit that say, Oh, I can't relate. But really, they can relate because you've worked with all these different types of organizations, big philanthropy, small nonprofits. And I just want to get your hot take on this, like, what are some of these universal observations that you've made throughout your career of what makes a team an organization truly dynamic, ready for whatever is going to come like a 2015 election of scrutiny level, you know, have a focus, talk to us about how organizations, teams in 2024 can start to be dynamic?
Yeah, great question. And there's great news. And I'll speak directly to the small nonprofit, too, because I've worked with those. And it's exactly the same. There's, of course, variations, there's, of course differences. But there's 1.8, give or take million nonprofits in the United States, they start the same, they operate the same and they end the same without any exception, they all have to follow the same form to get started with the same kind of information. And they do the same informational reporting every year, they effectively operate against the same framework. The challenge is, so many of them go into it unaware of what that looks like. And I'm on this mission now to give away sort of the best advice, guidance and tools, I just got lucky to sit in the seat and aggregate and simplify, we had some of the, you know, the better part of working in global philanthropy to big name nonprofit is, you know, you get a lot of assistance. And not all of those pro bono, a lot of it was, but it was so dynamic. We had 4000 people in 40 countries and 35 states working on 14 different initiatives. 24/7 365. So the sun never set on our work. And I got to sit in the seat that like sort of got all the advice, guidance and tools to make that work happen. I didn't create any of it, I helped curate it. And my obligation was secure, rated for simplicity and ease of understanding, easy for my colleagues to understand and put into practice with limited or no handholding from me or our team or, or the global legal teams that were supporting us. They needed quick one line answers, not 10 page memos. And so
Thank you
what I learned over sort of that 10 years of all star game and what I've learned since sort of taking that framework and toolkit out into the world with the organizations you've mentioned that we've had the great fortune of working with in the in the past eight years since I left the foundation is that it's all the same. So big nonprofits, small nonprofit Gates Foundation, or a small nonprofit on my street corner that I literally got off the train one day opened the door it rang the bell that was above the door like old school neighborhood style. I walked He said,
I can hear it.
Yeah, I said, Hey, I'm Scott, I saw your sign, you're a nonprofit, I'd love to learn more about what you do. And then they became a client, their friends today, they're still on the street corner, same door, same bell, they're all the same. They are all special. But none are unique. They're all special, but none unique. Every single one of them has to have a board. Every single one of them has operations. Every single one of them has programs. And every single one of them has partnerships. That's my sort of four part frame for looking at any organization, I have yet to have it fail on me. So the fun part is that acronym is BOPP. So I invite every single person to become a bopptimist, that nonprofits are actually simple. But I don't think it'd be told them that I think that when you start one up on your own, or you're dealing with a struggle, you sort of get that little tunnel vision on whatever it is your greatest struggle is or what you think the greatest opportunity is, you sort of miss the forest for the trees of what you're dealing with. And so, my good news messages, I've seen the big ones, I've seen small ones, I've seen great ones, I've seen those that are struggling board operations, programs and partnerships. That's the core every day. And that's the good news message. If there's something going wrong, we're going to find it one of those four categories. And if this is news to you, if it resonates with you dive into it, you're gonna find your greatest strengths and your greatest challenges and the greatest opportunities for addressing those challenges. In that four part framework, I've seen it work, international nonprofits, and again, the street corner nonprofit. So work for anyone. That's good news.
I mean, Scott, this is why we're kindred spirits are one of our banners that we waive as community is everything. And we want everybody that's listening today to know that you are not alone. It feels like insurmountable. We're starting the year, a lot of our fiscal years, you know, dollars raised have been wiped clean. But we're in this together, and we have people we can lean on, I love that you kind of called that out. And so it's like, you're kind of like my personal cliffnotes. And I was that kid that just read the Cliff's Notes version, I need the Scott version of everything in my life, like keep it simple. So I want to keep going down this vein, because the way you think about social impact and kind of simplifying is just so powerful. And I mean, we think there's a secret sauce here of how philanthropy and government and private sector all fit and work together. Can you kind of unpack that for us?
Yes. And I just also want to say one other thing on that sort of like through line success leaves clues. And there's no trophy for the struggle, right? So success leaves clues, borrow success from those who've done it well. And there's plenty of nonprofits that have done it well. And because this frame is true for them, and for you, no matter who you are, where you are in your nonprofits, life cycle, journey or or growth, borrow the success of others. And that's all I'm doing. I'm saying here. Here's this framework and toolkit that I've got fortunate to observe and sort of collate and simplify, but borrow the success clues from others. It's it's there for you. And there's great power in borrowing, and there's no trophy for the struggle. So don't be shy about leaning on those who've gone before you as it relates to the world of social impact. Because like you said at the beginning, it's not just nonprofits, let me be clear, there are super powers in the nonprofit sector. And I love it, I am happy in it, I love to be a part of it. It's one of the greatest happy accidents in my life and in my career, and I spend the majority of my time there. But I look at social impact as the umbrella that covers all of the do gooding in the world, on an individual organizational basis, across sectors in the cross sector work that we're increasingly doing more than ever, I teach a law school class on this trying to teach the next generation of lawyers to adopt this mindset that every lawyer is a social innovator, every lawyer has an obligation and opportunity
Bless you Scott Holy smokes. Thank you.
It's, it's fun. I love being a lawyer. I'm not one of those people that laugh at any good lawyer joke, but I am one I'm married to one, it's a wonderful thing. lawyer jokes are less funny when lawyer lives and careers are more inspiring. And there are so many of them that don't get enough attention. And so when I teach this class, I make a simple point on day one, the very first thing I put on the whiteboard, is on one side of the whiteboard. I have nonprofits. On the other side of the whiteboard, I write businesses. And in the middle social enterprises, I say this is the world of doing good. Nonprofits are acting more like businesses than ever before. And revenue models, hybridized entities, different approaches, etc, etc. And businesses are acting more like nonprofits than ever before. corporate foundations, social enterprises, buy one, give one models, etc, etc. And then the middle you have social enterprises, which are kind of these hybridized either actual legal entities that are hybrid entities or the functional equivalent of it, over all of that I put the phrase social impact. So social impact covers the entire universe of doing good in the world in which I live and work every day. And so that is inclusive of nonprofits. But it's also included inclusive of corporates, some of which have their own nonprofits, but some of which have social enterprises or just bake good into their business model. And there's lots of really tangible, readily available examples Tom's shoes was buy one give one which has proliferated many, many different business models now, et cetera. So there's all kinds of good happening under the, under the umbrella of social impact. And then I look at them as pillars you have the nonprofit world, or philanthropy, you have the for profit world or the private sector, you have social enterprises in the middle. And then you have these amazing partnerships and cross sector collaborations happening between and among them all, which is so, so cool. So that's how I look at the landscape. And that's how I see things fitting within this space. From there, you drill down on things like you know, actual philanthropy or, and donor issues and all the things that can fall under that umbrella. Under the the business side, you might have impact investing, social finance, et cetera, et cetera, dei initiative, ESG initiatives, all of which are in the news right now, and very hard to get right all the time. But knowing where and how they fit in the world of doing good, is super helpful to sort of charting the course of where any single organization or initiative might go.
Okay, we just gotta like, put a pin in this because I want to applaud you, cheer you on, like, pound my fist and get some energy and awareness around this. Because I think we've been pushing so hard on think like a business and approach your mission work like a business, stop living in scarcity start planning for abundance. What do we do with that abundance? How do we pour into risk and innovation and scaling? And I think like, all of us want to sit in Scott's class, because we all want that. I mean, I actually kind of want to sit there, and I've had no desire to go to law school. So good, right. I do think it's so helpful to talk about those pillars. And I want to say to the audience right now, are you crossing into all of those pillars? Are you connecting the dots, you know, across social enterprise, across business, across philanthropy, and nonprofit? Because there is so much potential there. And I think even just the focus we talked about so much last year, and 2023 was like on micro niche content, micro niche communities are really something that's bubbling up right now. And those people are out there in your community. They're out there in the digital world. And this is the year we really want you to embrace it. So if this is getting too heavy for you, don't worry, because Scott's about to break it down for you. Because I want you to like talk about some use cases, maybe some case studies because you've had a wide range of, of clients that you know, and I gotta like, break some of them down. And can we name drop just a little bit? Because I'm just curious about a couple of them. Like, you know, Watts of Love. Have you guys heard of that such an amazing foundation?
They're the street corner nonprofit, I stumbled into one day, it's a great story.
I read that on your bio, it's so great, and Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation, United Nations Foundation programs, Sean Penn's CORE, the Marguerite Casey Foundation, like talk about some of these cases, you've seen maybe in some of these or others, how have you seen this principle like come through in action?
I'll first start by saying like what I think is true for all of them, right? Don't let the names you know, they're always cool and fun. And they're great case studies and everything else. But at the end of the day, just think about the origin story, the intent, the desire to do good. I mean, it's right there in the name, right, We Are For Good. And I think that's the mission, the common through line, the red thread that unites them all is that any one or all of those big names could just keep doing what made them famous. But instead, they made this hardcore pivot to good, right. And I was very fortunate to sit at the Clinton Foundation during the sort of early 2000s into the the mid, the mid teens of the 2000s. When sort of this global movement, and philanthropy happened, where all these people who rose to prominence doing something else decided to pivot towards good. And that's amazing for the rest of us, because it's what gives us these resources and these success stories that we can pull from, and then put to work in the other lesser known ones. So the first thing I'll just say is they all involve people who made a conscious choice to go do good. And I think for the list here, these are all for the most part, nonprofits, but there's also corporate entities that have also infused good into what they do, whether they have a corporate foundation is a nonprofit or not. So the first thing is they have the same desire that we individually have is to how do I take this and make something meaningful from it. And some of them do it for business purposes. Some of them might do it for optics, some might do for marketing, but at the end of the day, everybody had an intent to do good. And I just think taking a moment to think about how we all share that in common that you know, one of my favorite quotes is there are no passengers on spaceship Earth. We're all crew. And so, when you see these big names, you know, you could go get on a jet and go sit on your beach if you're a billionaire, but to pivot towards doing good is pretty awesome. And so, you know, the Clinton Foundation's, the Will and Jada Smith, the Starbucks, the United Nations, Clean Cooking Alliance, these are all big shots, or at least big names with their own shops to do good. So the great thing that all of these have in common is that they start with this great intent to do good. And then from there, they drill down into what they do uniquely well. And defining that is so important for every single one of us. Because we live in this really competitive marketplace, even in the nonprofit world. We don't think of it that way. But it is, it's a super competitive space, it's very crowded. There's lots of organizations addressing the same issues. And so it does become a competitive marketplace. For organizations that make grants, they have more applications than ever before. For those dependent on those grants. They're all boxing out and throwing elbows and trying to get in space for some that sweet sweet Mackenzie Bezos money among other cash that helps keep them going. And so they have to define what makes them uniquely interesting in this marketplace. And going through each of those names. It's really cool, right? Because the Clinton Foundation was neat, it was a youngest former president in history at the time, left the White House. And on day one had to wake up and decide what's next. And you know, again, you have choices, there's lots of different avenues in front of you Will and Jada Smith can easily keep living the life they live, they can keep making press for all the reasons they make press for better. And for worse, they can write their books, make their music, their TV shows, the Red Table Talks, but to decide consciously to devote some of that towards good. And in their specific case, they focused on representation within the industries that gave them their success representation in music and arts and entertainment, and made a meaningful difference there and opened up avenues for people who came from their communities and their backgrounds. You know, we'll focus first on Philly are from underrepresented communities in the entertainment industry. Amazing, fun work and for me, just a service provider to come in and to be able to help that team. Yes, the name is great, but the names fade pretty quickly when the work gets stacked up in front of you. And so the goal then is the same thing that's happening in every other organization across that same framework of board operations, programs, partnerships, and making the work work. Well. You know, Sean Penn, what an interesting story, right? Obviously an amazing celebrity who's who's had a great career and jumped into hate post earthquake Haiti, like literally went in himself lived there for a substantial period of time. And since then, if you follow the through line of core, that that organization used to be JPHRO it rebranded as CORE some years ago, when a hurricane came through the Caribbean, and really took down other far more developed more popular resort destination islands, they turned to core for help because their experience working in Haiti was experienced that success leaves clues was very true in this case, others concept, hey, if you can do this in Haiti, you can help us here. And it pivoted over time from just disaster relief, to disaster preparedness, knowing that this won't be the last time this happens. And that to me as a huge nerd for what makes philanthropy work and work really well and how they differentiate themselves. That's a focus on scale and sustainability of that kind of work. And so core pivoted from disaster relief and community engagement development into disaster preparedness and community development around that, then the pandemic hit, and they expanded far beyond Haiti or the Caribbean, and wound up nationally running testing centers, and eventually vaccination centers on a massive basis, and went from being like a couple million dollar a year organization to being 100 plus million in just a period of years. And so it can happen very quickly. And look, they didn't do it without some stumbles and without some challenges. And there's some news about that the past year or so, that reflects those challenges. But those challenges also aren't unique to them, or that profile of an organization. And so preparing against those kinds of challenges. Also, sort of that sort of preparedness model is super important. So those are a few and then there's, you know, the big philanthropy examples like the Marguerite Casey foundations of the world, which you know, the Casey Foundation for those who aren't familiar, there are several cases they are they are the family that founded UPS. And so there's quite a bit of resources in their philanthropies and MCF. Marguerite Casey Foundation is one of them. They're, you know, a quote unquote, traditionally large grant maker, but trying to do what they do differently in this current landscape we're facing and here in 2024, you only need to turn on the news for about 30 seconds to see the the multitude of challenges that all of planet Earth is facing in many, many ways. Whether that's climate or war, or geopolitical strife or domestic election year, and we all have to navigate our way through it.
I mean, I want to create space and go talk about the kind of just the uncertainty that you feel at the beginning of the year with so much happening on the global landscape but I cannot call out I love how you're talking about really know who you are, as an organization be really clear on this impact is something we talked a lot about last year in the trend of locking arms for impact, you can't really be a good partner until you know what you're bringing to the table. And I think that's such a powerful concept. But I'm also bookending it with word of the year last year was authenticity, right?
From Webster's.
This is trending not only people can see through that, but when you're authentically showing up as your unique superpower in the space, you're positioned to do really incredible work. And then you go back to the BOPP, and you dial in the BOPP, and everything works out, right. So when we want to spend the last part just getting activated on this, but before we before we miss this opportunity about uncertainty, I want to give you a mic to say, yes, it feels like sometimes our dei initiatives are under attack, it feels like the pandemic obviously flipped the script on so much. We have compliance issues, we have all these things kind of coming to a head. How do you double down on core functions in that? And what's your insight?
Yeah, I've been through that. And I've seen others go through it. And that's the thing is that the one constant is going to keep happening. And so and we can drill down into any one of the challenges that are that are facing us. Any given day or any any part of the sector, right. DEAI initiatives are in fact under attack. There's lawsuits right now, and Supreme Court cases that are impacting those, but there's a way through it. And so the first thing on the core function is to protect, protect what is uniquely yours to give, what do you do better than anybody in that world that authenticity focus, right? And hopefully, every organization can answer what they do uniquely well in the world or in their space or on the issue that they they focus on. And then from there, drill down with great specificity. And I hope the same level of rocket fueled well caffeinated enthusiasm we all have about it. And if you can't, if you're struggling with that, take that time, spend the time there, that's the first most important thing because otherwise, you get lost, you don't have that Northstar pulling you forward. And so that's probably a great sign right there that we really need to be able to in one line or less articulate what the thing we do uniquely well, it's I simplify the hardest parts of doing good well, so it's easier to understand and even easier to action. And I can drill down for hours from there. But that's the one thing I do uniquely well, I didn't say lawyer, I didn't say governance, compliance operations. I didn't say philanthropy or privates, I can drill those places. I simplify the hardest parts of doing good. Well, you know, a food bank would say we feed the hungry in our community, or we house those experiencing homelessness in the following unique way. Whatever that thing is, that's the first most important thing is let that charitable purpose that Northstar that that guide, pull you forward. Because you've gone through 100% of the hardest days of your life and your work to date, you're going to get through the rest to from there, your board if your board is not strong. If your board is not the board of your dreams, if you are not turning inside out with excitement and enthusiasm in the nonprofit space about how awesome your board is spend the time working on it.
I think I just heard some gulps from the audience.
Yeah, I took a gulp.
Double gulps.
If we're endeavoring to get it perfect, we might get it 80% right. So don't worry if it's not perfect, but you should be excited about it. You should be on the other side of the curve. If you're on the oh, this is a problem for me side of the curve. That's okay. You're not alone. It's totally normal. But commit to that being one of your SMART goals for the New Year commit to that being the thing you take your next right step to make better and know that that is going to pay dividends over time. It absolutely does. And will I usually use other people's quotes one of my quotes because it comes up a lot is not every organization with a great board will achieve its highest and best purpose. But no organization without a great board will ever achieve its highest and best purpose. So important, you have to have a great board. And it's not just having it, it's engaging it you got to meet at least once a year, once a year you have a problem because you're not checking the right box on your 990 Ideally four times a year if you're wondering size, I'll give you a quick Scott take on this one, which is no bigger than 12. Most of them are between three and nine. Try to be somewhere between five and seven. Just use that number. If you're wondering what the right number is, that's not the magical part. The magical part is engaging it I look at board success across three dimensions, growth, development and engagement, growth, development and engagement have the right sized board. And since terms and term limits are sometimes an issue, we have to always be thinking about what our board membership looks like even it's not growing in size. It might be changing in in composition over time. So always be thinking about what growth what growth looks like. It's a normal natural thing to do. It makes it less awkward when it does become necessary if you didn't expect it to or if you lose a board member and need to hire a new one or recruit a new one. Development how Do we make our board better over time, and then engagement, your board is no good if they're not meeting and not supporting you, and you don't have that amazing relationship between the board, and at least the executive leadership, hopefully your whole team to one degree or another. But that's it, spend some time on your board, it doesn't take a lot to have a lot of positive impact and attention to the board. And it doesn't cost much either. So really focus in times of trouble that Northstar vision driven mission that puts rocket fuel in your heart, your soul every day, a great board that is as excited about that mission and committed to helping the organization's leadership get there. And then operations until the robots or AI fully take over, which I think is a while away. Human resources remain your most important resources. So take care of the people that take care of you spend a ton of time on HR, we're huge nerds for HR, we do a ton of HR work, don't have a really an HR background, except when you have 4000 people in 40 countries, the legal and HR team worked very, very closely together.
I can't even imagine. That is making me sweat.
It's all the time. It shouldn't though, because the same thing is true success leaves clues. And there's really predictable and reliable patterns for what great team member engagement looks like. So take heart, just like there's simple formulas for great board success. There's great formulas for great HR success, too. And if you take care of your people, your people will take care of you that Northstar, you'll all be in it together. And that's an amazing play. If you can get those two things, the board and the HR piece of operations, well, everything else will flow. So that's that core, Jon, that I would say, you know, if you're if you're really a time challenge, use that four part framework, focus on your board, focus on your people, and you will go great places together.
Okay, if the social impact world ever organizes itself well enough to have a main cheerleader leader, I want to nominate Scott Curran to be that social impact leader for all of us, I just think there's something about your energy, your optimism, your joy, your accountability. And I think even just this commitment to growth and structures and things that we need to grow it, you make it seem like it's all tenable, like we can all reach in and touch it and do it. And I think that's the point that you're trying to make is that anybody can touch, create, make any of this and as someone who had a Advisory Board, many advisory boards at my nonprofits that I served and not an active working board, that really strikes me what you're saying about the board, because if we can look at our board, not as like, people to be managed, and high level volunteers to be managed, if we can look at them, as massive amplifiers, and ambassadors that could be activated in very large ways, the ripple effect of that could be absolutely tremendous. And I don't just mean, on philanthropy, I just mean, on everything they can bring to the table with network connections, partnerships, it I mean, the sky's the limit. So I am here for the Scott Curran world that you are living in. And I want to just blanket everybody in it. But I want to get really tactical on something. And I want to talk about like a calendar, where at the top of the year, and knowing that we have all of these issues in front of us, we are trying our best to try to keep up with the changing landscape of the sector, of the world. Talk to us about what you think, would make a great annual calendar for an organization like how can we activate on everything we've talked about today, and still manage, you know, the strategic plans that we have, and these great aspirational ideas, I would love your take on that.
Sure, we can do a whole hour on that alone, but I'm not I'm gonna stick with the same two part frame of what we can sort of protect that core, we'll use the board, and I'll use people and we're going to get a really practical, actionable, every single organization, no matter how big or small, can use exactly this schedule four board meetings now, one a quarter. That's what you should shoot for one a quarter schedule for board meetings right now, if your board is just two of you, or three of you. Great, send that email right now and say, four meetings this year, our first one is going to happen in the first three months. Just go down and just schedule it, get it done. Momentum begets momentum, get those scheduled, get them on, well, what are we going to meet about what do we hate? Figure that out Next, take the next right step. And the next right step at the board level right now is schedule your four board meetings and let your boards and board members NO YOU WILL cannot wait to see them at the next meeting. You'll be sending the agenda within 30 days of the meeting date. Start that right now. Anybody can do it that cost nothing but tiny bit of your time. Schedule your four board meetings and let your board know that this year is going to be your best year ever. Because where focus goes energy flows, right? So keep that focus on the positive great year. The second thing, the HR front, the human talent front of this. Hopefully, you've just come out of year end reviews. Hopefully you did that between October and the end of December. That's what we recommend year end starts October 1. And by the way, real quick, think about last year at this time. Didn't this year go quickly?
It went by so dang fast. Yes.
Like didn't it go by in like a blink? Would you believe? Do you believe it's, we're recording this now in January 2024. Next year, it's going to feel the same way. So we've got to prepare for that. Now, where do we want vision drives mission? Where do we want to be this time next year? What do we want to be true? What do we want to have true for our organization for our board and our team and our programs and our partnerships this time next year, that's what that's where you're gonna wrap your priorities around your calendar. So we already know the board, we're going to meet four times when a scheduled quarterly meeting, we're going to come to be the best year ever as a board, we're going to work towards that. The next thing we're going to do is pick up on those year end reviews that we did. And if we didn't, we're going to commit to doing them. October 1, we're going to start our year end process. So we're going to put that on the calendar right now go ahead and do that right now. Write down October one, put a calendar reminder on whatever calendar app you use October one write down year and start. Now, here's a quick pro tip, start with self assessments, have each person on your team assess their performance against the essential functions of their position description, and start there, that way they are leading the year end process with a self assessment of their own performance, and that's gonna be a positive experience for them, they're going to give that to you. And that's going to be their review. So so if you don't hopefully already do that, if you don't already do that, go and write that down as your new process. I'm gonna start year end on October 1, I'm gonna have everybody start with a self assessment where they're gonna give themselves a score on one to five, however you might do it or have your system might be set up against each of the central functions and their position description, PS pause. If you don't have position descriptions for each of your team members, go ahead and put right above that line develop position descriptions with three to five essential functions for each position for every person on the team, including me. So but once you have those in place, and hopefully you do, that's how your year end process is going to look. Now we're going to back up a little bit closer to where we are now put on June 1 mid year check ins, we're going to do mid year check ins in June and July, it's a great time to check in with people because it's going to be six months from now, which is going to go really really fast. It's literally middle of the year where it's summertime, people are chilling out a little bit, we've come out of the intensity of the second quarter, we're taking a breath, we're enjoying some warmer weather, it's a great time to check in. It doesn't have to be a mid year review. Most organizations with which we work, don't do a full review that's kind of heavy, it feels like a lot if something would be easy to put off or procrastinate. Let's just make it a touch base, just to get a mid year check in. How's it going? Let's look at your PD. Look at your central functions. How do you think is going the next six months are going to go really quickly? We're going to be in Year End come October 1, what's going great. What would you like to have go better? And how can we support you so that when we start this process in October, it's high fives all around. That's what you can do today to solidify the core on your board. And your team members, the people who are helping you do the work that your organization is famous for and is always focused on. That is something tangible, actionable, and none of it costs a penny, no consultants, nope, no heavy software required. No purchase necessary. No coupon need apply. Just That's it. That's what the best in the world do. And if you're struggling with any of this, some of what I just said is probably missing an engaged board, regularly meeting board. Maybe you don't have PDs for everyone in your team where people sort of show up and do what they think their title is supposed to do. But they don't really have three to five essential functions underneath what that is, which define what success look like, which is the gauge we're going to use at the end of the year to say, did we achieve success? And so that's something you can do today back I hope I answered the question in a really tangible, actionable way that everybody can use right now. And by the way, the best in the world follow some version of this with out fail success leaves clues, you can borrow it and put it to work for you. It costs nothing.
You guys, Scott has more enthusiasm than we do. We're like tame today.
I'm a nerd for HR.
I thank you so much for and I also think you're just like the Ted Lasso of the sector because you've got these great quips and ways to think about things. And yes, I think sometimes some of us just need somebody to say, okay, October one, put this on your calendar June one do this. And and I think the thing that's resonating most with me and I want to thank you for it is the way that you're centering people at the heart of all of this because we're looking at an extreme retention crisis here in the sector and when people feel like they are involved with the board, they know what's going on when they feel like they're getting there. reviewed. They feel like there's clear expectations about what they're supposed to do and how they're supposed to perform, when they feel support in that in not criticism. I just think all of these things are so right for this moment, and I'm just obsessed with it amazing.
I am, too. I mean, I want to take all of your classes Scott and I do not want this interview to end. So we're gonna have to have a part two coming up at some point, but
Happy to
we create space to just talk philanthropy. I know you're a geek for this, and you've been alongside so many incredible big philanthropist. But I want you to take us back to a story. It could be big smile that happened in your journey just to celebrate, like the power of philanthropy in everyday life. Take us back.
I came to philanthropy, you know, in my mid late 20s, right where I was practicing corporate law. So I'm not you know, if anybody out there has impostor syndrome, me too.
All of us.
Yeah, I think we all do really, and at different times. And by the way, sort of those big names, right. But when they pivot to something new, they're nervous about it, too. And so I would just say, you know, for me, it's the quiet moments with amazing people doing well intended sincere work. And I have a few examples I can give somebody names so much, probably shouldn't name but I'll anonymise a little bit. One of my earliest where I was still new, and trying to make heads or tails out of all of this, wondering if I really was bringing any value to this space and what my future would be like and really unsure where life would take me, which I've learned to lean into by the way, it's I still feel like I'm trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. But I'm loving every day of it in between.
We want to be you so there you go.
There was a day I was a young staff member, I think was my one year fellowship out of the Clinton School of Public Service. And the Clinton Foundation didn't quite know what to do with the well caffeinated enthusiasm of Scott Curran, who, who I every job I had there, I basically asked for or created the entirety of my decade there. And so I said, Hey, you know, I had this great internship, and I'll be graduating from the Clinton school here. But I would like to do some program work here. And so well, most of those people in our New York office and through a confluence of events, they gave me a one year fellowship focusing on rural philanthropy in Arkansas. And so I was at an event at the Clinton Library where Bill Clinton had to be present. And and it's a very exciting day, especially back then when, you know, Bill Clinton is in the library that with his name on it, and so hordes of people are there just attending anyway. And he leaves the event in the Great Hall, the event space, and he comes out, you know, there's pipe and drape, and there's ropes and there's things to do away. But, you know, he loves people, he loves meeting with people and and there's a whole bunch of people who just happen to be visiting that day, we're up against that rope line. And were so excited that they got to see the guy whose name was on the door, and, and, you know, whatever anybody might think of Bill Clinton, and for whatever reason, it's kind of disarming to see those people in the flesh and real life at times. And so there were a lot of people having that moment for themselves. This is like 2007. And the way it was set up was for him to leave the great hall and go to the elevator bank to go to his next event. Because those his schedules super packed. And he, he takes the moment that you can see the you know, the collectively described handlers sort of go, Oh, now he's doing it, he veered off, veered off the trail that he was supposed to go on and went over to shake hands and say hi to these people who are happy to see him. And there was one girl who, who made for me a very familiar fairy, atypically loud noise. And I knew because my high school had a really special program for the hearing impaired. And so I recognize that sound is somebody who was hearing impaired, expressing great enthusiasm, and she was signing to him. I think she was signing I love you to him, and he, he signed back, I love you, or thank you, and I love you back to her. And in the moment of all these people and all the things he could have picked up on, I thought it was such a neat thing that a person took a moment for another person and out of a crowd, pick that person to connect with. And that's not the end of the story. He eventually left the rope line, went in the elevator and departed and so did the rest of us as staff and our offices were just a walkway away from where we were. So I was going down the escalator to leave to go back to the office. And it turned out I was right behind the mom and the daughter who had that experience. And it was a profound experience for them. I'll just leave it there and it was a profound experience them the mom was on the phone I assume to dad and saying, well, where are you? We're just you, you're not gonna believe this who we just met and the daughter was crying. And I just thought what a privilege. I've never Facebooked this I've never talked about it. I've never about it. I don't have a picture from it. I don't think I've ever told the story to anybody other than sort of like what I, others who might have asked a similar question like what's one of the coolest things you've ever seen? It's those moments. It's or when you learn a story about someone for Watts of Love, right, a solar lighting nonprofit that got its start because this woman Nancy went to the Philippines on a work trip with her husband and realize more people live without electricity today than when the light bulb was first patented. Take a seven second on that data point more people live in darkness today without electricity than when the light bulb was first patented. And they rely on dirty, dangerous and unhealthy kerosene, which has all kinds of problems. It's a really interesting issue that I found out about when I walked in that door and the bell rang, and I said, Hi, I'm Scott, it's nice to meet you. What do you do? Nancy had this profound experience learning that these people were, you know, sick and burned of their productive hours. And the ability to learn and educate or do work ended when the sun went down, and the power of light after the sun sets and what that can do as a transformation for a family or for education for kids. And she said, I have to do something. And today, Watts of Love is and incredible organization. Still in the street corner in my community, doing this amazing work bringing this message and this challenge to people in a difficult world. Those stories matter. And I'm gonna so that to me is my answer is it's these quiet moments. I once had a billionaire, nicest billionaire I knew. Only one at a time. Sit in my office, throw his arm over the back of the chair and he goes, Scott, I give away a billion dollars in the next year to five years. And I don't I don't want to do it in the best way possible. What do you think that should look like? Guys, I was not prepared with an answer.
No pressure. No pressure. Scott, don't get this wrong.
What a question right? What a fascinating problem set, what an interesting thought process to go through from there still today. Right? How would any of us answer that question. Just for me, what a privilege it is to be in the space where we have these experiences big or small. But now here's the nugget for every person listening. Every single one of these things involves a story of a person whose lives were impacted by an opportunity to make the world a better place. So if you ever hear anybody talk about the imperative, or the importance of impact storytelling, it's right there. It's in each of those stories, that's what's going to hook the person about your work. So start with that story of what you do uniquely well, how you show up today and everyday after in the world for good. Because that storytelling is what those grantmakers are interested in. It happens to be a competitive advantage for your nonprofit, or your social impact work, it's going to be the thing your board members are excited about are going to say yes to you on the excited to come to the meeting to talk about, it's gonna be the thing your team members are excited to show up and work with you towards every day in every way in everything they do. It's going to be the things your program teams and our partners are excited to engage with you on. And it's going to be the thing your partners and most importantly, your funders, if you are relying on outside funding, are going to be excited to give to you to help you achieve so my greatest moments in philanthropy are those quiet moments, those curious questions, those incredible stories of lives and communities impacted by work of people just like those on this podcast now, and listening to it. And that's the power of your individual story and your organization's story, the story of your work. And it also happens to be the best part of my days and my work in philanthropy.
I mean, same and, and when it all comes back to it, it's about humanity. And I think to me, that is everything. That is why we're here. We're here to stop the anguish. We're here to eradicate moments. We're here to bring joy. We're here to allow people to live the fullest, most vibrant lives. And I think that story, these stories just never get old, and you're such a brilliant storyteller. Thank you for ending with the power of storytelling, because I just think I was there with you. While you're talking about this young girl, I feel like I could feel my chest welling up with so much emotion as if I was standing behind her. And I think that is what great storytelling can do. It can transport you. We're at the top of the year y'all. I know you're it's a hard time for fundraisers, we start back at zero. We start in and out of trying to accomplish all of these things. And I want this message right now to be as we talk about boards and tactics and calendars. I want you to remember your joy, whatever that story is for you. And I want you to take some time and center yourself there because that is the driver. That is the why and we're sad to ask this question is good because it means this conversations about over but we ask all of our guests to give us a one good thing. It could be a piece of advice, a life hack. I cannot wait for your Ted Lasso like comment. One good thing, hit me.
Stay curious. Just stay curious. Find the things that light you up about the work you do, the life you live, the people you live with in your home and your community and in your work communities. That curiosity has led me everywhere I've ever gone. It's what led me to leave the law and go take a risk and moving to Arkansas for 18 months and stay for five years and pitch a couple jobs that didn't exist and took me on this wild ride. It's, it's what led me to overcome impostor syndrome and a couple of key moments and say, I think I might be able to help here. So let your curiosity take you to amazing places, and then tell your story because your story really matters. And the most beautiful thing is that all those things that are hard marketing, annual reports, newsletters, they're all made better by those stories. So it's not just a feel good moment. It's not, it's when you introduce the people whose lives you impact or the way in which you uniquely do it as an organization or as an individual that's going to make everything from that annual report to your newsletter to your marketing collateral to your own LinkedIn profile or CV, jump off the page. Again, there are no passengers on the spaceship Earth, we are all crew. And if we can leave it better than we found it. We are doing something good with our days.
Scott Curran, I am just sitting in the gratitude of this moment. I mean, what an incredible conversation. What cool human that you are. Thank you for going to Arkansas, you know, that is close to our hometown of Oklahoma.
Taking that leap of faith.
Yeah, I mean, just so much that I think is inspiring for our entire community. The work you do at Beyond Advisors is truly remarkable point as to the ways you show up online, how can people follow your work connect with you all the things
Yeah, the best and easiest places on LinkedIn, I am actively engaged on LinkedIn. Because again, my goal is to give all of this away, none of it belongs on my hard drive or in my head alone. And I didn't create it, I just curated it. And you know, very fortunate to have been in all the positions I've been in. So I'm on LinkedIn, trying to give it all away, I am working on a book not promoting one, it's probably a year or two away. But I'm trying to put it all in a book to give it away so that anybody can go get it at their local library, it'll all be there. For now. I'm just putting it out in little bits and pieces on LinkedIn with with no asked or no strings, just but that's where I am. And that's where I'm trying to give it all away as quickly as I can. So you'll find me there on LinkedIn.
I just think back to the power of your parents serving. And what that has led to in the ripple, ripple of what we're seeing with your journey and how you're giving it away. And I just think it's a gift. And I like you so much Scott, I want to invite you and your dogs and your family to my Thanksgiving table. And that We Are For Good Community is really lucky that you are in this community.
I'm privileged to be to be with you today and be part of it and be among friends who are similarly wired. And we are the people we've all been waiting for. And we are the example for others. So I'm happy to be there with you. And I thank you for your leadership in this space.
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