The Social State of Giving: How Digital Platforms are Shaping the Future of Philanthropy - Amit Meredith

7:30PM Dec 12, 2024

Speakers:

Becky Endicott

Jonathan McCoy

Amit Meredith

Keywords:

digital platforms

social giving

philanthropy insights

generational differences

impact creators

Gen Z trust

nonprofit strategy

community engagement

live streaming

fundraising tools

influencer marketing

social media

giving profiles

community activation

trust-based leadership

Hey, I'm Jon.

And I'm Becky.

And this is the We Are For Good Podcast.

nonprofitsare 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 rabbit fans who are striving to bring a little more goodness into the world.

So let's get started.

Hey everybody. Welcome to another edition of the We Are For Good podcast. Listen. We sat down with our amazing friend Amit Meredith with GoFundMe to hear more about how people are discovering, sharing and interacting with the cause that they care about. Digital platforms are shaping the future of philanthropy, and we can't wait for you to hear all of her insights today. Enjoy.

You know us. We want this to be really actionable and meaningful for you. I'm seeing some amazing change makers already gathering here, but we've brought our friends over from GoFundMe and Classy by GoFundMe, and they're going to share this new report that they've been working on, and they're really breaking down what's happening in the social giving space, and really having some breakthrough data that's going to help us be more targeted, be more intentional, and just build better connection, ultimately, with those that want to be generous with us in our missions. And so today is going to give you lots of ideas. We're going to share some beautiful case studies that I can't wait to wait for you to get your hands on, but first we get to announce our friend, Amit. Becky, you want to do the honor.

I am so honored to introduce our friend Amit. Look, I'm going to read this bio about Amit, but let me just say this one liner, she is wickedly smart, she's radically kind, and she deeply cares about the research and the data and insights in the for purpose world, and so you guys are in such a for such a treat, but Amit is this accomplished senior exec. She's got a wealth of experience in establishing brands, creating impactful campaigns that are really leading strategic impact for organizations around the world. She's worked with companies like Hello, Warner Brothers, Discovery, Samsung, Boots UK. I mean, in addition to all the higher ed nonprofits and NGOs as the President's Council on the National Foundation for Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, UCLA School of Economics and the Massachusetts Teachers Association. Shout out. Thank you for helping our teachers Amit. She holds a Bachelor of Science in advertising from the University of Florida and an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business. She participates in local community events Harvard Business Review's Advisory Council, and she's also in the professional women's org that we all know and love, Chief. Amit, we're so glad you're in our house. Come in here and teach us the way.

So great to be here. Thank you so much. I'm so excited to get to talk to you all today.

Oh my gosh. Well, y'all have been busy over there, my friends. I mean, y'all launched this Social State of Giving Report, and we're going to link it all up in today's chat, because we want you to get your hands on this. Also, it's beautiful from your design branding friend over here. But here's the thing, it's giving this lens on how people are discovering, how people are sharing, and how people are interacting with the causes they care about, especially on social media. So before we get into a lot of the key takeaways, I'd love for you to just like, set the tone, because what do you believe is at stake here? You know what's possible for those that lean into this data, that y'all bring it to us on this beautiful silver platter?

Oh my gosh, that's so kind. Well, you know what I would say is that this is the foundation of our social strategy, and we're sharing it with everyone, because we believe that that is what will empower our total community. And so that was the genesis of this entire research project, as we were looking both from the consumer lens and the nonprofit lens, and making sure we were understanding just what was happening in the social spaces, so that we kicked it off with some qualitative interviews, then we did 1000 person quant survey to validate some of the findings, and then started just spitballing about, like, what does this mean for us? What does this mean for our community? And so that was really where it all began and how it all came to us.

Oh my gosh.

It was an incredible report, and I love that you're talking about this in such a holistic way. It feels like the time is now, because even in the last two weeks, we have seen interesting things happen on social media. They're interesting happening in the social landscape of what's going on. But I really want to get into, like, the key learnings, because I want to give, I want to give Classy GoFundMe a little bit of a shout out, because we've already had an episode with Elizabeth Reika and Alyssa bover. We were diving really deep into Gen Z, into their motivations. And I want to, and we'll drop that episode in the in. Link, if anyone wants to go deeply into that, but we were really fascinated by generational differences in giving and social sharing, and it's like, would you just break that down for us and start to speak to how we can think of tailoring our campaigns to make the most of these findings that you all have culled.

Oh my goodness, absolutely. And you know what? I think this is something we should always be studying, right? Like, at the core of how we market as a marketer, we have to understand who it is that we're serving, right? And so that way we can bring them something that's valuable, that's to me, you know, a big part of our work, and so understanding what's happening specifically through the social lenses, was important for us to articulate back among generations. So we know that they're also more digitally savvy. They kind of grew up in this space. So when you look at those differences in terms of adoption, you're always going to see more in the Gen Z and the millennials, and then into Gen X and Boomer where it gets smaller. So what was interesting in this report is we looked at also their behaviors in terms of the balance between sharing content, for example, we talk a lot about the power of sharing. It's a superpower among Gen Z, and we found that boomers actually share a lot offline too. So this IRL component in the social spaces is also incredibly valuable, which I think for this community in particular, because there's always a nice balance of getting things together in a room, in person and having these digital experiences. It's incredibly important to kind of highlight that as part of it, there's so much goodness in there. So I invite everyone to just take a read through, and I promise you'll have something that you're like, oh, I didn't realize that.

Yeah. I mean, I love that you're owning the fact that iRL is reality also, you know, I think we can get really hung up, especially as like, digitally minded marketers, of how we're convening community and what we're doing from the campaign perspective, but we're forgetting this dark social channel, which is real life and people communicating in spheres that we still need to break into. So I think that acknowledgement is really powerful. I think obviously coming off of a national campaign, you see how all these different audiences are moving and processing information in different ways, too. So I'd love to get your take, you know, I mean, how can you know our listeners today, our change makers, think about, what does this mean in terms of how we target, you know, these different groups and different kind of areas. What? What would you start? Starting with, like Gen Z? What's a great way to approach them?

Yeah, well, you know, it was an interesting finding for us around Gen Z, here is how much they trust the what we're calling or what we're calling impact creators. It was coined, actually in our interviews, by Arjun Das, who is a manager for a number of creators that we work with. And we were like, Oh my gosh, we love this term. Can we start evangelizing it? He blessed it and so we're running with it. I think there's, you know, and what we define an impact creator as is somebody who is has a community and does good with it, right? And, you know, they share or fundraise on behalf of a person or a nonprofit. It's very like clean and clear, and it doesn't have to be a giant following either it's really just about the impact. So to your point, Jon, like the discussions are happening in sometimes in smaller spaces. And so when it came to understanding Gen Z, we actually learned through this work that they will try, not only will they share causes, typically about once a week, and they also are very responsive in crisis situations, and they would give money to an impact creator to donate on their behalf. And so they're essentially seeing those impact creators as curators and as sort of validating a fundraiser or a nonprofit community, and then supporting that, and it kind of takes a little bit of the work off of the individual if they found themselves in community with one of these impact creators that can just, you know, rally their whole following and create one large donation and impact.

Okay, there's so much there to unpack, and I gotta, I gotta lift a couple things. And actually, if you, if you're okay, staying with this, I want to go a little bit deeper, because you just talked about the power of the Creator economy. And I want to remind everybody that the Creator economy is set to grow to half a trillion dollars by 2027 we had a trend this year with We Are For Good, which is tap creators. it will grow your influence. And so one of the examples that we were pointing back to, and I swear y'all this is going to tie back to philanthropy, so hang with me. But in December, we learned that creators were selling more retail in the cosmetics industry than the actual endorser that the cosmetic industry was hiring for their own marketing. And so we're starting to see this switch where people are starting to listen to people that they trust. This is in Hello. Trust based leadership. Trust based action is everything right now, because we're not sure what's real on the internet. So I really am jiving with this. And so this challenge becomes to missions. Is, how do we tap those influencers? And there's a lot of people who are like, my gosh, I want Ariana Grande to rep my brand. Oh, I'd love to get Lady Gaga aligned with my mission. And what I want to say to you right now is that your influencers are already there. They are there within your organization right now. And we have to look at it not just from a sense of who has the most followers. It's like who has influence. It's not just about affluence anymore, and so I am going to tell on myself, and I swear I'm going to pitch this back to you, because I think a lot of the problems that nonprofits are stuck in, and this is kind of what I think we have to sunset a little and I was guilty of this is I'm going to create my my content. I'm going to create our perspective, and I'm going to push it out into the community. Y'all that has flipped. It is so much of a community build. And so what I want you to do, and you had this in your report, and I'm teeing You up for it, because I thought it was brilliant, and we're seeing this play out is the power of nonprofits giving their believers and their fans the ability to share. And so it's not just about what we share. And you know, we talk, and Seth Godin talks about this. You know, our influence isn't about what we say about our brand, it's what others say about our brand. So please talk about how nonprofits need to reorient around empowering their base to share with their own community, with their own thoughts, with their own insights into your or talk a little bit about that.

I mean, you just nailed it. I have nothing to add.

It's okay. It's happening.

No, I think it's so. I mean, we see remarkable examples, right? So I'll just pile on to everything that you just said, we, one of our nonprofit partners, To Write Her Love On Her Arms, the way activated influencers and in that community, they actually spoke with us on a panel at Z con, which is a Gen Z focused gathering of influencers and creators and really like, talked about how to, you know, leverage this community in a way that feels genuine and authentic, and that, you know, is really the foundation for the trust building that we talk about. The other thing that we've talked about as an actionable way to really empower the people to evangelize your message is, start with your employees, start with your volunteers. You know, they know your mission, right? They love your mission. Let them articulate it in a way that feels genuine to their voice, and then bring their communities along. It's a lot of what you saw we were talking about this earlier, around all of us at GoFundMe and Classy sharing our personal giving profiles yesterday. You know they just want we're so excited, and it's such an easy way to show all the things that you care about and that you support. So in terms of your causes, in terms of any fundraisers that you've given to whether they benefit a person or a nonprofit, and so just empowering the people who are supporting you to be evangelists of your message. It comes across just incredibly genuine, and it brings them into your mission without it to your point. Becky being like a push of like my very, particularly worded mission statement, or what that shows up.

What a relief we can let go of that.

Yeah, that this is bubbling up for me, Amit, that another trend like Becky was describing, one of the trends we lifted for this year too, was giving is identity. And I think that this is just so threaded together of we want to be part of who we aspire to be in the world, the things that we're trying to champion that connect to our values, our deepest sense of purpose, like it all collides, and I love that that this new launch yesterday, and we need to find the link. I don't know if we could share it, because y'all gotta check this out. If you haven't seen it, it's this whole idea of you have a giving profile that highlights your areas of passion, but then like literally linking to like campaigns that you care about, that you know have moved you or that you invested in. It's like, how do we actually allow and invite people to be active fundraisers for us, whether that is our, your own team, or it's those people that are kind of next to you or adjacent? I think it's like the perfect blend of all those things. So as we think about that, I mean, what else would you say is like a way to mobilize people like, when you read this report, what did you think about Amit in terms of, like, Man, this is low hanging fruit for kind of a next step for a nonprofit. I love the examples you've shared, and love seeing the chat blowing up over here, too. Thanks Nate.

Yes. Oh, I mean, I think that is why I invite everyone to kind of take a read through it. It something different will inspire some other action, right? So we shared it internally, and, you know, within our marketing teams, first and then with our broader, global go to market team, we had an excellent conversation with our product teams. And what different findings spark for different teams is remarkable. So for us, you know, we looked a lot at impact creators that sits within my organization. So we think about like, how do we activate that even more? How do we, you know, bring them to this new profiles product that the product team just launched, and how do we get them to see the value in it, in that internal pride of the things that they have supported. And so you'll see more activity from us in the next few weeks that really reiterates some of this. And I'll give you a little heads up, but it really is something that is, like foundational to how we're going to continue to move forward. And so I think that is the important part is, you know, kind of taking a look at the information, distilling it through the things that are important to you and your organization and to your community, and then activating that accordingly.

Okay, I love that you brought up the impact creator, because I do think that this is a growing level of human that is one, not in not in the in the frame of mind of fundraisers and impact professionals as a growing audience member. I think we think so traditionally about this is my donor, this is my board member, this is my volunteer, and this is the potential to unlock incredible influence. And so Amit you you've researched and the team have researched these impact creators. Talk about what you've seen that really sticks, and how do we build relationships with these individuals, and how do we create those connections of influence on social channels. What have you found?

Yes, I would say the highlight is it is not one size fits all. That's the most important thing. We work with micro influencers. We work with the biggest, you know, influencers on the internet when we can. We work with celebrities. And what is true about all of them is there's a little bit of a different motivator or condition for each person that you're going to engage with. And so it's very important that you understand what they care about as much as you want them to convey your message and become part of your community. And so you have to really find some alignment there. And that means be in these spaces, be on the internet, be in social and understand, you know, as you put as you curate your own feed, you know, who do you want to hear from? And the other important thing, I think that's worth mentioning, is they are not necessarily always using their platform in this way, right? But they have a community. They do good, and they will share on behalf of a person or nonprofit. And so I think that is important to also think about. I mean, one great example we have is, Do you all remember the big trend from this summer around demure and.

Oh yeah, oh my gosh. I saw that on my, my 14 year old's Tiktok, before I saw it anywhere else.

Right, Jools Lebron, was like the jam, okay, it was all over the place, and we were loving it, loving it, not really seeing how we, you know, at GoFundMe, and Classy from GoFundMe could fit into it. Until a few weeks later, we were working with our friends at Worthy, and they had a relationship with Jules, and we were working on the Puerto Rico launch. So GoFundMe is available in Puerto Rico. And they said, you know what, let's talk to her and see if there's something she might like to do. And wouldn't, you know, she did like to do something. She actually shared a fundraiser of another person who was going through transition, who is from Puerto Rico as well. And she just said, you know, I was lucky enough to fund my transition, and I want to pay that forward and raise on behalf of this individual. And so she shared that fundraiser, then did another video after that, and I think that is like a true way to interact with people in their platform, in their spaces, that are true to them, that are not just jumping on a trend for the sake of it, but that are, you know, tapping into that community in a way that makes sense.

Yeah, yeah, because it just lifts that, you know, influencers, and I don't think we have to define it as the Kardashian as influencers, but like, who is anybody that has trust, you know, around them, and that's all of us in some capacity, with our communities and understanding and thinking about how that's going to speed up the trust of getting bridging your nonprofit to the next audience too. So it's really like, kind of riding the coattails of trust of those that you partner with, and that's just an evergreen, beautiful concept. It's how we have always grown movements and campaigns, but now we can do it digitally and through a lot faster, maybe than ever before. But I want to ask you about Taylor Swift, because I'm seeing this in our notes, that there's a Taylor Swift example, and I'm like, we got to hear about the Swifty love right now.

Oh my gosh, you guys, you are serving, like all the best things on to me on a silver platter. I can talk about this, another, like incredible product innovation that we have. So it is a embedded it's a streaming widget that you can embed in, embed into your social platform. So if you are a streamer, gamer, you're doing a dance marathon, and you want to have people be able to, you know, give through your live stream. We now have a solution for that, and so we worked with Tess Bonnie, I think is how you say her last name. She's a woman in Salt Lake who actually has been doing live streams of the Taylor concerts, one of our team members in the UK actually was a fan. Followed her, reached out and said, Hey, would you like to test out our new streaming widget and raise money for anyone? It doesn't you don't have to start your own GoFundMe. You can. She created a fundraiser that benefited a local nonprofit in Indianapolis, where the where that concert was, and by the way, she's doing it for Toronto, so I will send you guys.

I mean, but it's remarkable so and during the opening act, she, you know, launched her live stream like she always does, and said, hey, you know, I'm going to raise money for for this nonprofit. And would you like to give? And you guys, her initial goal was $13,000 because go right, like so many donations in the amount of 13, right? Like a lot of community symbolism, you know, kind of in unity, and she ended up raising nearly $40,000 they raised for, yes, I mean, it's just so remarkable, the power of that community and the Swifties showed up. So if you're Swiftie.

Always do.

Tess B, O, N, N, E is her name. She's going to be live streaming and supporting, I think, the local YMCA in Toronto the next over the next couple concerts.

Wow, how beautiful.

That is an incredible story. I've got a question for you, but I'm going to go to Gary, because Gary has a really good question here for you and me? He's asking, What do you recommend to help reluctant leaders loosen control to allow more community, co-creation of content? Gary, I love you for asking this question, because releasing control is something we have got to do in this sector. Amit what do you say to that?

You know what I would recommend? Start with your employees. Start with your volunteers, because those are people who know your mission really well. And in fact, if you really are holding on tight, let them run it by you before they post it, if you really need that to gain your trust. But I think as you loosen that grip, you will see more and more people come to support because they're able to articulate, in their own way what your mission means to them, and tell their story of impact as part of your mission. And so that can be the easiest first step, like you got to be able to trust the people who work for you, to carry on your key points, the things that matter to you, and so that's probably a great place to start.

Amit, are you like poking us with a stick? Because this is one of our like

I was going to say this is one of your most famous quotes, Jon, is that the most powerful movements start from within, and they start with your own people. And I don't just mean your own donors. I mean your staff, and the way your staff feel about your organization, the way they feel emboldened to share. So Dan, thank you for that incredible Mic drop. Mike's got another question in here. Can you share a little bit more about this, the context on the screen, streaming widget for social and any links at all?

Oh yes, I can share the link with you, and it has the like, how you do it, and, you know, set it up, it embeds into your stream however it is that you're doing it. But what is really remarkable is how seamless it was once they got the integration in. And. And you still have the chat, you have a QR code that you can long hold, which I did not know to being able to give. And so she was able to also continue to talk over and see that number going up and up. And so it really became, you know, an additional experience to that live stream.

I think that's a really, one thank you for asking that question, because I think people are like, I want to do it. How do I actually do the thing? So please check out that link. And as we're sort of winding down, I feel like people are going to want to know who's doing this well? Who can I go visit and see? And I'd love to shout one out, as I'm going to question, because you already mentioned TWLOHA, and we love To Write Love On Her Arms. I mean, y'all, they literally have a week during the year where they bring creators on campus. I say campus, I think they it's a building, but they come into their headquarters, and they literally set up a week for them. They set up ring lights for them. They set up sessions for them to get to know the programs and get to hear from beneficiaries, from people on staff. They get, they get merch, they and and they get, they get all this training, and they are treated like the most important person at this organization. And these are not celebrities. These are people that deeply believe in this mission and align on the values and the cause. And so I want to drop TWLOHA in there. But we know, you know a lot of them and meet so would love to hear your suggestions as well.

I mean, I think, oh goodness, I I think that there's so many that are activating in different ways. So sometimes it'll be a bigger ambassador kind of program, and sometimes it'll be like, Hey, here's this one moment around, maybe one of our big moments. And so I think like Stand Up to Cancer does a great job of that, obviously, with their live stream and activating some of their celebrity partners, there's just so many great examples. And I would invite everyone to kind of just start looking with a little bit more intention, and you'll start to see them everywhere, especially this time of year.

Yeah.

I love it so much. Well, I mean, you know, you can't hang in our house without getting asked your one good thing. But I don't want to put you straight on this. Let me give you a second to think about your one good thing. What to take away from this conversation? But I'm going to lift one because Tammy Tibbetts the founder and CEO of She's the First, incredible girls empowerment organization that we just love so much. She came on our podcast, and her one good thing, I mean, she's written a book called Impact, literally, like, how do you live a life of impact? Here's your plan. How do you write it out? How do you define your values? But to our house, oh my gosh. Really. I love it for ripple on the cover. So Tammy said, something you can do today is all of us have links and profile, right? Whatever social profile, this is a chance to highlight as we come into the new year, put an organization that you care about, or put a cause that you care about, and link that directly, because we can all use our influence to help navigate people that are looking for more purpose in their life. It's such an easy hack, right? And actually, the community profile link that you'll have at GoFundMe is a great way to do that, to curate your passions and to point to different fundraisers, too. So meet What's your what you got for a one good thing, my friend?

I feel like you just teed me up on I'm like yes put that in your I mean, it's designed, link in profile. So absolutely, do that. Let's see. I think so I live in Park City, Utah, tomorrow is Live Give PC, where there is a big fundraising push to support all of the local nonprofits in the Park City area. And so one of the things I'll say is like, my one good thing is seeing the way that this whole community has really rallied around that there's to your point, or to our earlier discussion on IRL and on digital so you can actually engage IRL. There are signs everywhere. There are they had a light that shown onto the barn so you could, you know, kind of see that display just really created movement within the community. Live Give PC, and you can choose which nonprofit you want to give to, or you can give to a general fund that will then be distributed among the nonprofits in the community who who need whatever support to get over their goal or to get a kick start. So I think that's my one good thing, is bring that IRL and digital community together, make it easy for people to share, and get your GoFundMe profile and put it in your little short bio.

Link in bio.

I totally want to set mine up, because I dropped in my favorite right now. I'm really obsessed with Hope Booth, and I joined their monthly Giving Club, and I just think what you just shared right there is that it can be frictionless. It can find ease, and as long as you start with that value alignment and that trust, it's so easy friends. So give your community that gift of activation. Give them the gift of being the difference in the change maker that you didn't even know were sitting there. And so it's really about asking. We're at year end season everybody. We're starting to really ramp up to the biggest giving season. Let your people shine, let them talk about you. Because giving is not just what we give monetarily, it's the way we show up and storytell and network and share and create ripples that bring more people in. So can we give like a round of applause to the incomparable Amit who knows so much shows up with kindness and generosity and thank you for radically modernizing telling us what's on the horizon. This is really, really important for us, and we really want to be ready for to meet the moment that's really standing before us, my friends. So thank you.

We want to Amit the moment. Are you kidding me? Amit, how can folks connect with you? Obviously want to connect everybody to the report. What's the best way to connect with the report and all the report and all the things that y'all are putting together.

Oh my gosh, I love it. So absolutely. Connect with me on LinkedIn, also with Krista Lamp, who is in the chat and has been, you know, spearheading this report and as well. And then the to learn more about the report, you just go to gofundme.com/socialgiving. And that should allow you to get to that report. If you can't find it, hit us up. We'll point you to all of the incredible innovations as well that we talked about, the streaming widget, the profiles, however, we can help you find these tools that help you activate your communities and have fun with it. And I want to say, Becky, the last thing that you said is so important is like we are in giving season, but what we give is not only the money, it's our the power of our networks, the power of our voice, the power of our message. And so, you know, commenting on somebody's fundraiser, sending them a positive note, sharing their fundraiser, all of these things we have learned have so much value to a person doing the fundraising, and then also to the community that you're activating of your own. So I just want to double down on that as we as we wrap up today.

Thank you so much. I feel like I've learned a lot in this conversation, y'all use the power of that DM to get into that connection and belonging and check out the report. We dropped all the links into the chat. You can access the report. You can access setting up a profile. Go put your favorite nonprofit in there and start telling the world what really, really matters to you Amit you are a treasure we love, sitting in your orbit every time you come into our space. Thank you so much, guys, have the best week. Always rooting for you in all things.

Good to see everybody, take care. Bye.