How to Activate Your Personal Network to Grow Your Mission - Prabhat Gautam

10:03PM Aug 6, 2021

Speakers:

Julie Confer

Becky Endicott

Jonathan McCoy

Prabhat Gautam

Keywords:

people

oprah

events

world

person

life

friends

bone marrow donor

meet

mission

big

creating

fundraisers

child

love

rory

connector

email

speak

oklahoma

Hey, I'm john. And I'm Becky. And this is the we are for good podcast.

nonprofits are faced with more challenges to accomplish their missions and the growing pressure to do more, raise more and be more for the causes that improve our world.

We're here to learn with you from some of the best in the industry, bringing the most innovative ideas, inspirational stories, all to create an impact uprising.

So welcome to the good community, where nonprofit professionals, philanthropist, world changers and rabid fans who are striving to bring a little more goodness into the world.

So let's get started. Welcome, welcome, Becky, what's happening,

I'll tell you what's happening. I don't ever want to make it but the a contest at all, because everyone should embrace empathy. But it is possible that today we have the king of empathy, the curator of kindness, and the individual who can go into spaces has the clout, the network, the brain, and the compassion to go in and make missions incredibly engaged to make the people who are tied to those missions feel incredibly seen and important. And I am just so excited today, because we have probably Gotham on our podcast, and he is the Rockstar founder of positive television. And if you're out on the west coast, you probably know him because he is one of his leading voices in the world of entertainment and activism. And he created positive to television, which has produced Mike drop 800 charity events in LA and the 21 years that it's been an existence. And he's just this incredible key connector that has helped all of these wonderful organizations that you know, in love, like the PA project Forks Over Knives, Game Changers animal advocacy Museum, and what he has done to be able to ignite movements, and just really feeling good hope creating wholesome moments that people are gravitating toward is just something I think that is going to be incredible that for us to dive into today. And he has been described as the most well connected person in LA when I feel like yeah, we are little fish in a very big pond today talking to problems. And he's famous for giving his cell phone number to strangers, because he wants to help them find solutions to complex problems within 24 hours Is this our people are what? Love it. Thanks for coming on to the we're for good podcast, I cannot wait for what you're going to inspire today and the stories you're going to share with us.

Well, thank you so much. I'm excited to be here. And now I'm leaving that was I

leave your phone number. Yeah, I'll leave my phone number at the desk.

I'll get back with everybody and within 24 hours.

What I definitely want to start with is first we got about we're for good. Okay, you all are doing is amazing. So I get this wonderful opportunity to speak on all these podcasts are these interviews. And then you know, some of them I knew about some of them I'm learning about I get to deep dive. And you guys are such a wonderful, comprehensive resource for people in the nonprofit world. And the reality is, especially this last year during COVID wherever we have to deal with everything. They're thinking about how do we give back? How do we make a difference so giving back doing it as smartly as you possibly can and finding resources and people that inspire you so valuable so I think we are for good is an amazing podcast that I recommend everybody out there that's already listening. Keep listening and then tell your friends about it cuz I love what you guys are doing.

what in the heck No, Mom, did you pin that on the fridge? profit Gotham told us we were awesome.

Oh my god,

I'm not get my head through the door after that.

You guys are awesome. Your whole team. Thank you. Julie is great. And what I love is you guys, that's it from a marketing background. It's like really, it's one of the things that I see so often is people they wouldn't they want to do good to have this wonderful mission. And like, Okay, well, here's an idea. How do I make it happen? Like, it's not that different than if you're launching a business? Or you're, if your child is selling lemonade? Well, alright, how do we make lemonade? How do we get people to come to the lemonade stand? It's the same kind of formula of like, you got to build it. My Everything is here. Like if you build it, they will come. And I would say to people, if you build it, it's just build, like, as you can, but also have a strategy in place of how do you get traffic there? And

yeah, it is true. How did you start to become a movement maker and a connector. And I want to know where this heart for other people comes from. So yeah, start at the beginning of your journey for us.

So I would um, you know, I grew up in Oklahoma, which I'm so thankful to have grown up there. And I think, you know, I was always interested in wanting to make a difference. But at a young age when I was 16, my father passed away from a heart attack and that's such a big You know, experience for a child to go through? And I think that was sort of the pivotal step of all right? Do you want a regular life? Or do you want a life where you're all in, right? You put all the chips in you like, I want to try to make the biggest impact. And then I just think a series of life events happen. And I always think, you know, life is what happens when you didn't plan for it and things just and each door is the next door to the next door. And, you know, I think we'll talk about some of it later. But you know, I think being in Oklahoma, especially in the, in the 90s, there are so many big kind of events that had happened. And it just took me on this journey that brought me to Los Angeles. And I'm a lifer. Now. So

well, you mentioned that you're in Oklahoma in the 90s. And we've talked about it a little bit on the podcast, but one of the formative things for all of us that were in Oklahoma at that time, was the Murrah Building bombing on April 19, which was the, you know, the largest terrorist attack on American soil to that point up until 911. And so I know that's part of your journey was just that experience and your connection to 911. Two, as you kind of thread that in and kind of add some context around that.

Yeah. So So I grew up in Oklahoma. And, you know, I went to the University of Oklahoma. And I remember, you know, that day, and I remember, you know, hearing about it, you hear that there's a building that blew up and you know, you're you don't think it's a terrorist that you're part of this, you don't want to think that. And also at that point, you know, we had never seen anything like that in America, like it was, it was just so unheard of. So I think it definitely shakes you and you really start thinking a lot about, you know, that 168 people that passed away that day. And then from there, I remember at the time, I was volunteer with ACLU and I met by the Welsh, I don't know if you all know but Walsh's story. So bud is a super outspoken person against capital punishment. So he went in, met Timothy McVeigh, his father, like after they, you know, realize McVeigh was the one with his fault. He goes to New York meets them, and I was like, and he tells a story. He's like, either I'm crazy for wanting to meet this guy, or I just need to know what happened to this child and make him do something that's terrific. And I was just so inspired by bud. And I remember, when I was at University of Oklahoma, I put an event together, where we had a person that was living with HIV and AIDS, we had somebody else that was an organ donor. And we had been well she knows the whole sort of theme was how do you deal with death? And how do you deal with loss? And, and how do you channel that for good. So that was just a huge moment. It was the first big event ever did I want to say it was probably 1998 1999. And that kind of took me on this journey of, it's not so difficult to put events together.

And events that have meaning, like, I'm just sitting there thinking that I'm so sad, I missed that event, I would have loved to have known that. And to think that you were doing that, you know, at the college level when you were so young, I think sets really a great tone for what happened with you to build this incredible organization and company and positive television. And I would love if you could just kind of share the history of it and the work that you do there because it is groundbreaking. And it is feel good.

Well, thank you. So the last year college, I went away, and I did an internship with Amnesty International. And that was amazing that I came back and I interned with the vice president of the university's office. So I learned a ton about fundraising. And I think sort of having that window into the world of fundraising was so valuable. This is really my big advice to everybody all the time, start writing out what you love. And then you'll figure out what that turns into. So back then, you know, MTV was really big. And I love that they did all this stuff with celebrities, professional athletes to raise awareness about issues and just fun events. And I thought, okay, I love that I love when people when you hear stories about people giving back, that's always inspiring. And I just love when super famous people help. And I love when just the everyday next door neighbor helps. And they both get a ton of exposure for being good and doing good. And so that really took me on this journey where I thought, Well, what does that look like? And I said, I think that's a television network. So I'm 23 at the time, I have this job that allows me to be mobile. And so from there, it's really what positive television initially was. The idea was you take this, this platform was all good. turned into a television network. And again, a super naive, I started looking into how much a network cost, and it costs $200 million to start a television network. Okay, as the first $2 I'm good there, but the other, you know, 198 whatever. 200. I don't know yeah, million 990,000 is missing. So I was like, Alright, this'll, what do I do? And I thought, all right, I don't have the money to start a network. But if the whole sort of mission is take these fundraising events, and highlight them and highlight people that are kind of visionary people, I need to meet as many of those people as possible. So I just started going to fundraising events. And then after a while you learn all the pieces. It takes To put an event together for me, I've just got to meet just amazing, really good people. And now at this phase of positive television, you know, we've produced 800 events, it's book launches, restaurant launches, fundraisers, and I love fundraisers. And one of my favorite things is, it's the everyday person you meet, and they have an idea. And then a year later, they launch five years later, you know, the game changers I met the the executive producer years ago, I had him speak at a fundraising event. And from that event, two people ended up becoming, you know, major donors for that movie. And that movie, as you guys probably know, is huge on Netflix now. So now to know your part of that process is exciting.

I just have to say that one, I finally found the person who loves fundraising events, because it is not me. And I am so glad that's your jam, to probably you could do an entire class on teaching nonprofits, on how to flex and build a network because young professionals, I want you to go back and listen to that, again, if you are someone that's trying to get networked not only into your city, but into certain social circles, if you're trying to be someone who's actively trying to serve and understand how you can be a blessing to your community. That right there was a mini masterclass on how you can go in just kind of with your hands open and understanding that your heart needs to be open. And you're just listening. You're listening, you're meeting people. And so I just think that that was like a mini wow moment on how you can start to build your own little movement and honestly, build your own brand.

Just echo that you've said is that this idea of people, especially nonprofits are always focused on acquiring new and you're saying Look around you. I mean, who who do you already have in your world that you can activate on and you don't know what those connections are going to lead to and what, you know, passion, you could strike. So I think that's a really insightful thing that you've leaned into.

So you've been producing fundraisers with celebrities and philanthropist in LA for 20 years. I mean, I am just so leaned in wondering, what are the inspiring stories that you've heard over the years and just hit us with a couple I would love to know.

I mean, uninspiring. It was this amazing. panel, it was called creating the next the next generation of world changers in the panel was this, this movie producer named Peter Samuelsson, one of my favorite people. So Peter has a foundation on Steven Spielberg called starlight starbright Foundation, his first star, which is for foster kids, that's what I'm super involved with, where they're on nine different college campuses, they take high school aged foster kids, and they put them in that kind of environment. And there is a philanthropist named Jim Greenbaum. on that panel, Jim has given over $44 million to charity at this point, his areas are human rights, animal rights, he's done a lot about, you know, fighting child trafficking. And when Jim was on that panel, and I've been friends with Jim for years, and I said to Jim, you know, what is a hardship that you worry about, that you face that people don't know, you face? He said, every single day, I have to figure out where am I going to give this money. And if I'm giving it to this charity, there's four that I'm not gonna be able to give it to. But he said, that's an enormous amount of stress on a person. And because you're constantly thinking, like, Damn, these people aren't gonna be able to do the kind of work they want to do. And I never thought about it that way. And I'd been in this space for so long, because a lot of people believe once they're super, you know, hugely wealthy, like Jim, they'll be able to do all this good. And they realize they'll do good, but there's a lot of responsibility with that amount of money and a lot of stress that comes so that definitely was a powerful moment, and, and people still will talk to me about it today.

Okay, I love the gym, green bombs of the world. I love that you take such ownership over their giving. I love that they have an accountability and it probably aligns with his values. And I think what you're doing probably is so smart, because what you did was you completely humanize Jim Greenbaum. And I think that's what probably triggered people is, oh my gosh, he's a real person. He is just another human being like me putting his pants on one leg at a time right now. But he has the propensity, and the influence and the affluence to be able to stand up and get someone's attention and say things that matter but knowing his story, and knowing his struggles, and allowing him to have a platform where he's vulnerable, immediately creates connection with everybody who's listening. And that's the people we want to see. We don't want to see your most beautiful social media post. And it's very well written and put together we want to show up authentically, we want to tell the struggles that we're working through with our missions and how you can be Be a part of it. Hey friends, we wanted to take a moment to thank our amazing sponsor gift butter, the world's fastest growing online giving platform powering more than 35,000 causes. One of these is family reach a national nonprofit dedicated to eradicating the financial barriers that accompany a cancer diagnosis. Like many of us, they were unsure how they were going to replace their critical in person fundraising events during COVID. Family reach put give butters virtual fundraising tools to use by hosting of super fun and engaging celebrity chef cooking challenge where they raised more than $350,000. And if you think this was a one off success, think again. They just did it again and raised more than $600,000 family reach raves about give butters ability to livestream video alongside their real time supporter feed, and saw how the threaded comments engage their audience beyond what was possible on other platforms. It's buttery goodness at its finest. Don't miss the full success story in our show notes. Ready to explore how gift butter can help your organization take your online fundraising to the next level? Check them out at gift buttered calm.

I just like it your career, you're such a seasoned accomplished producer connector leader in this space. Could you kind of take us through your approach? How do you take these ideas, you know, this idea to make an impact all the way to a launch? Like what's the key phases you feel like with putting together one of these powerful events or campaigns?

Yeah, so So I think the first week is everything, whenever you meet with somebody that has an idea. And I think what you see is, if somebody is really excited about an idea built, they'll do all the steps that are important to be done. So I try to do an initial call with people. And you know, it's usually probably about an hour and and say, okay, what's your What's your idea? What's the mission? What's the goal. And then I'm a big believer in launch events, I love launch events, it's the world I kind of live in, because launch events are just a great opportunity to get everybody excited. And you figure out really quickly, who are the people that are coming for the party, who are the people that are gonna help support you, who are the people that are your like, diehard group that they're in for life to help you. So I just think those events are so valuable. And what we talked about earlier, is you can have all these sort of periphery people that they like the idea that think it's good, they might contribute, they may know somebody that'll help you, they're not as actively involved. But the second they know what you're doing is real. You're now on their radar. And then next thing is okay, make a list. So Mike, who are the people that you know, today that you believe are all into help you, it's your cousin, it's your friend from college, it's the person that you're dating. It's the person you used to date 10 years ago, that just you know has a heart for what you care about, make that list. So I always tell them, send me your list. And I say to them, who is the dream person to be the spokesperson for your organization. Now that person is Angelina Jolie or Brad Pitt or Alyssa Milano, just write it down. And then it's like, Okay, well, who's your dream person that you have access to today. So it's figuring out who is the person in your circle, that's going to be an advocate for you, if they see that what you're doing is sincere, and it's something that they're going to care about. Oprah is not going to change the outcome of what you're doing, you think you'll meet her, you're not even going to know how to pitch to Oprah. Because Because you're gonna be so nervous, because you're in the same room with Oprah. But if you pitch to a bunch of people, like mini Oprah's, before you get to Oprah, you don't even need Oprah is at that point. You're known in your local community, you're known by this person known by that person, you basically, you know, it's I think of it as you're building, you're building a road, you're building a walkway, you put all the all the steps in place. And then by the time you get to Oprah, Ellen, they probably already know about you because you're already in the space doing stuff they love, and that they care about. If you go through all of your own resources, all your own contacts, first, you're learning your pitch, you're learning your your 32nd elevator pitch,

you know, you're speaking our language, you're speaking our values. We talk about everyone matters we just talked about your greatest donors are probably right around you. But I love that you're talking about working through believers, because people that believe in your mission can be the Oprah you know, can literally provide that level of tidal wave when there you're mobilizing many people around the same cause. So I am just drinking this Kool Aid

believers can sometimes be more valuable than your current donor because believers are going to stay forever. They are lifers. They are bought in, they will not let you fail. And I have to tell you, I agree with everything you just said there because you cannot start out on the varsity team. You have got to start out on the freshman JV team and cast your net there. And from there, you're casting it wider because the pond in your network is getting bigger and bigger and the ripple just keeps expanding. We dropped a couple weeks ago the fact that we put publicly out on our website Are ungettable guestlist? Yeah. And when we posted it, and it has Oprah on there, by the way, but it also has a ton of people. I mean, there'll be names that you know, but there are also names you don't know, on there of people who have done extraordinary things in this world, by creating a nonprofit by going out and sacrificing and giving to someone else. And our thought with putting that together is no one is untouchable in 2021. And as our community expands, we know that somebody probably went to summer camp with somebody who knows, you know, I don't know, Melinda Gates, his mom or you know, something like that. And it just makes the world so much smaller. And again, to your point, if we can humanize and bear our hearts the way I feel like we do a lot in our company and say, This is who we are. This is what we're about. If you're about it, too. Come on over. It is such an easy olive branch to extend, extend to somebody.

That's wonderful. Yeah. And I think it's exactly what you said. It's it's everybody is gettable. And the other side of it is sometimes they don't need to be gettable. my really good friend Rory Friedman. She wrote this health and nutrition book, and her dream was to be on Oprah. And I remember seeing that Maria Shriver was going to speak at a Barnes and Nobles in LA, and I said, Rory, Maria speaking at this event, you should go because she's best friends with Oprah. And she said, Oh, I have another van. I can't go. So took a copy of her book. I hand it to Maria Shriver, and I said, hey, my friend wrote this book. And her dream is to meet Oprah. And Marie as a, you know, the author of the book, and I said, I do. And she said, Oh, we'd love her to speak at our women's conference. And so I go to the corner, I write down Lori's email. I give it to Maria. A month later, I get this beautiful email from Rory saying, You won't believe it. Maria's assistant emailed me, and I'm one of the speakers at a women's conference in Long Beach. And I was like, I do believe it. Because when I saw her, she said you want she wants you to speak at the conference. I gave her your email. But I just remember that whole thing of Yes, sir. Marie never got on Oprah. But she got to speak at Maria's conference. And that conference, a few years later, Oprah and Michelle Obama spoke at the same conference. So Laurie's, you know, been featured, and again, what did it cost it cost $20, to buy Ray's book, to hand it to Maria Shriver. And if Rory had to settle for being a keynote at a conference, that's not a bad place to settle, ah,

I just think you did the five minute favor. That's what we call, that's what we call it, it's like you did something that took very little time, very little of your resources. And you change the trajectory of Laurie's vision of not only herself, but what she could do for her company. And that is such a beautiful thing.

As fundraisers A lot of times, we don't go to this big vision that we should be dropping all the time, because you never know who's got the connection, or the passion or the backstory that that is going to resonate with, and they are going to grab your hand and go running with you. So it's like fundraisers, we got to drop the big dreams, you know, and I

just think dream big and go for it.

You're leaving stuff on the table by not sharing that every opportunity.

Here's the thing that I geek out on probably is when I meet someone who is an incredible storyteller like yourself, not only do I basically have a proverbial bucket of popcorn, and I'm just like, furiously eating and listening and soaking up everything that you say, and I want to give you a little bit of love, because I saw a story about you. And I it brought all three of us to our needs needs. And I want to know about your story and your connection to make a wish and, and the bone marrow community.

Yeah, so. So really, it's after the Oklahoma City bombing, you know, he's really studying about how do I make a difference? What do I do in the world. And I remember I was working at a college cable TV station, and I said, we're going to start doing PSA is to raise awareness. So from that I learned about bone marrow donation, so I filled out a bone marrow donor card. I didn't hear anything. And then in 2001, you know, moved on, I moved from Ohio to California, I was volunteer at all these charities. And I really want to get involved with helping Make A Wish Foundation. And I remember so you know, you go on these wishes with these kids. And so, in 2001, I get an email saying that you're a potential match for a child that needs a bone marrow transplant. So I said I'm in I'm doing it. So then I go to New York to visit my sister. And I'm scheduled to fly back from New York to LA on September 11 2001. And, you know, in you know, luckily, my sister's notoriously late for everything. But I remember like if we would have met up early that morning, who knows if we go to the World Trade Center to go see that those buildings, and if you're there, right, anything can happen. falling debris can hurt you. You could be in the buildings whenever they're hit. So I always think About that, you know, and like, whenever you have these chances where your life could have been taken and they didn't, that wasn't taken, you're living on and I think we're all living on borrowed time. At that point, you know, you need to step up. So, so then I ended up, you know, all the match, October 3 2001, I became a bone marrow donor for a child in Anka monsal. So that's, yeah, October 3 2001. And then Anka passes October, end of October 2002. So a lot of times when people need bone marrow, their body is so weakened, that, you know, it's the last resort. And sadly, sometimes they don't survive. So to me, it really affected me, I was like, This isn't fair, this child's life shouldn't have been taken so early, where her parents said, Well, we got an extra year because you were a donor. That's an extra, you know, 12 and a half months we get to spend with our child we wouldn't ever got to spend, she got to do all these activities with our classmates, she got to go to Sweden, one of her favorite places. So Anka passes, October 2002, and then one of the children whose wishes I worked on Rachel, she passed in January 2003. It was really a huge shaping a moment. And I always tell people, you know, I've got to me, I get to meet President Obama, I get to meet people like Jim Greenbaum, I get to meet these big celebrities. But to be able to be a bone marrow donor, and like nothing compares to that, like that is the highlight of my life. And it's not even close, you know, I tell people, you should sign up, because it's one of the best things you're ever going to be able to do. Like, hopefully, you could save somebody's life, they'll live for 80 more years. But even if they live for a year, that's still an extra year that they got that, you know, it's gonna be that year that their family's always gonna remember.

You're such a good person, and you have such incredible capacity to love. And I think that's the thing that's striking me the most about you is that you have all of these distractions in front of you, which I'm like, gonna call the glitterati. And it's like, that is the thing, that that's not the thing that's motivating you. The thing that's motivating you is Rachel, you know, Anca is is motivating you and I just I want to thank you for being a bone marrow transplant donor, I have a dear friend Marshall, if you're listening, I love you, Marshall, who was saved by a he was someone who was from Oklahoma, he got a terrible form of leukemia. And a woman in England saved his life through a stem cell transplant. And it's like, Holy smokes, I think, you know, I'm an optimist. I believe that most people would choose to do good. But I love meeting people like you whose hearts are so big. And it's not enough for you to just love, you have got to activate your love. And you've got to figure out a way to just keep making connections. So thank you so much for sharing that story. Thank you, I just have gotten so much out of this conversation. And it's gone in so many different events, and I and I love that it has just because you have had such a breadth of experiences in your life. And I'm wondering how you're going to tie it all up with a pretty little bow cuz we ask our final question of everyone. What is your one good thing like a life hack? Maybe it's a mantra or a quote? What could you leave with our community is your one good thing? Probably.

So it's a two part one good thing. One is we always are looking for people to help us. But try to help introduce, do five introductions every week. Like think of friends that need help with something and do an email introduction. And I'm obsessed with don't say, hey, Becky, meet john. Becky, meet bill, say Becky, I want you to meet bill because this is exactly what Becky's doing this is what Bill is doing. This is why I think he has to work together really set the plate of why these two people should meet. And it takes an extra 30 seconds to do that. But when you set the table like that, it's so much eye to see that things move along so much quicker. So I'm just a big believer in reach out to people that inspire you

such practical and it just all builds this whole conversation I think is about connectivity with each other seeing each other and just lifting the sails of others. So I feel so boosted by just this Convo with you today. Hey, how can people connect with you and you're the master connector and lol

what's funny is I I hate all things social media, even though we all have to do it and you guys have more pain standpoint, I refuse to do it. But I tell everybody in you know whether you paste it at the bottom or I'll just my here's my email a number call me message me and I'm happy to talk to you and I'm obsessed with whatever you're doing. If I'm not the person to help you, I want to connect you with them. Because the more I can hot potato you over to the person who's going to help you make your mission happen. I'm happy to give my number it's 310-872-0669 that's 310-872-0669 And my direct email is by first name provato pra bH at period and ga utm@gmail.com. So privasi got them@gmail.com. And if you're really committed to doing good, I want to know you because I really believe you can never have enough good people in your life. And as my friend, Kimberly Dreyer said a few years ago, if you want something done, find busy people, because busy people will always figure out how to carve time out for you, and put you in touch with other people that'll help you make it happen.

And I just want to throw out one good thing for everybody else today. If you take nothing from this conversation, besides how amazing and kind and visionary promises, please go sign up to be an organ donor or sign up for the bone marrow registry do something. Nothing may come of it. But Holy smokes. If it does, you could have your entire life changed in the most extraordinary way just as our friend has right here. Thank you so much for your time today. You are a gem of a human. We love you all. Thank you guys.

Hey, friends. Thanks so much for being here. Did you know we create a landing page for each podcast episode with helpful links, freebies and even sharable graphics. Be sure to check it out at the link in this episode's description. You probably hear it in our voices but we love connecting you with the most innovative people to help you achieve more for your mission than ever before. We'd love for you to join our good community it's free and you can think of it as the after party to each podcast episode. You can sign up today at weird for good calm backslash. Hello. One more thing if you loved what you heard today, would you mind leaving us a podcast rating and review? It means the world to us and Your support helps more people find our community. Thanks friends. I'm our producer Julie Confer and our theme song is sunray by Remy Boers boom