107. The Power of Giving Circles - Kyson Bunthuwong

10:34PM Apr 15, 2021

Speakers:

Becky Endicott

Jonathan McCoy

Kyson Bunthuwong

Keywords:

philanthropy

circles

people

community

giving

organization

nonprofit

optimism

ways

collective

love

world

donors

support

college

friends

virtuous

gymnast

fundraising

malawi

Hey, I'm john.

And I'm Becky.

And this is the we are for good podcast.

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So let's get started.

Welcome. Welcome back.

What's up, man?

Well, I'm just excited to introduce the community to somebody that I've recently met. That is just an amazing human, vibrant, vibrant soul and just as someone who's had serving others kind of at the core of his being for forever, so it's my great pleasure today to introduce heinsohn bumped along, and he is the development and partnerships director at philanthropy together, which is a very new fledgling organization. You may not have heard of them, but they are so our people are going to disrupt they are creative rebels. And we are here for all the things that they are doing. But I want to give a little bit of background on Kyson because he has the most fascinating bio and background. So he is an explorer of connections of he's a design thinker, and a gritty optimists in the face of challenges. That's another reason why we like him. So he used to work over at CCS fundraising, which everybody knows it's such a huge fundraising firm. And before that, he really got his start in the social impact field right after college, when he did this thing where he co founded a startup venture aimed at tackling Malawi's illegal charcoal trade through a sustainable bamboo energy alternative if you kept caught all that. So this is what caisson was doing coming out of college. And so this just kind of led him into development and marketing for all of these really, really amazing NGOs taproot Foundation, village enterprise, my agro, and it's all focused around international poverty relief. So today, he's over at philanthropy together. And they're just this incredible new company that's taken on this challenge to strengthen and grow the collective giving movement. So their mission really is to democratize and diversify philanthropy through the power of giving circles and we're going to dive in to giving circles very deeply today. But the last thing I want to say because I love it so much is Chi since a former elite gymnast, he was co captain of the UC Berkeley team. He is comfortably retired living in Oakland, with his husband and his rescue pup, and just being a rock star of a human.

And can we say this too? I think we met Kyson on clubhouse assignments. So we can say this now we met on clubhouse how cool.

Yeah, I mean, clubhouse and all of these really cool tech platforms like bringing people together. And then we just got to listen to the genius of what he was like quietly and calmly saying, and we're like, we need to talk. We need to double click on the scammon. Yes, so Kyson. Hi, welcome to the we're for good podcast.

Thank you, thank you so much for having me. And the ambivert in me is like, Yes, I want to speak but then like, No, I don't really want to. So that's like that tug and pull of like, extrovert introvert. But, you know, you got to turn it on when you can. So yeah, I'm

just really curious about this amazing career journey. And I kind of want to start, you know, just with how you were brought up, I know, we've talked in the past just about this incredible heritage and legacy your family have built and how that's led you to where you are today.

Yeah, definitely. And, you know, navigating the nonprofit and philanthropy space was never on my radar until literally after college as a career option. So you know, my family never talked about, you know, giving or kind of, you know, social impact, quote, unquote, they just did it. And that's the really cool thing is like now I have some like terms that I can use for like, what my family and community was already doing. So for me, it was really a learning experience and self growth experience coming out of college and really diving deep into a bunch of amazing causes. So for me, fundraising has been the heart of that but really just witness to, you know, great leaders and really inspiring like programs teams has been like my fuel since getting started. So it's been such a such a wild journey, a roller coaster of many different like startup phases, national organizations, consulting at one point and now going back into startup mode. You know, I just love the dynamism of the field and spaces that I've been in. Good thing

you're a gymnast, you know, very flexible with looking for case and you know, today we want to just explore the topic of giving circles And I think the term wasn't new to me, but definitely my thinking of it look maybe a certain way, that's different than I think that really the radical way that you're approaching this, would you kind of give us some history and tell us a little bit about how you're democratizing this platform now?

Definitely. And I just back up to even say that giving circles and collected giving in large is not necessarily new or not even American in itself. It's definitely rooted in many cultures across the globe. And, you know, we see this through you know, giving circles are called be there in Eritrea, gay in Korea, tam tam are soo soo in West Africa. So for us, it's really taking on almost it's like strong cultural roots and philanthropy and then using it for today's modern world, right. And, you know, we have a really, really cool definition, and I'm gonna have to read it because we have this great partnership with amplifier, one of our giving circle networks. And the definition that we love is a giving circle takes your mind talents and financial abilities seriously, it makes giving a collaborative and social experience. They create caring, generous communities of people who act intentionally, thoughtfully and strategically together. So that is really a really great definition of what a giving circle is. But I would also plug that even if you want to just simplify the model even further, we have a website called What is it giving circle, comm which you can go to click that Yeah, so that everyone can learn about this model. And there's five easy steps for that too, as well. We say you gather your folks, your people, whether that's your family, your colleagues, people in your community, the second step is to discuss so discuss your values, discuss the types of issue areas that you want to invest in. And then you decide on where you would like to give your money, which is the fourth step, you pull a donation or pool funds, you pull your expertise, talents, and resources to ultimately for a cause. And then the last thing is to engage. So you're giving circles not only give money, but they engage beyond the dollar. So for us, it's really important that you step up your volunteerism, you step up, you're either board leadership, ways in which you can engage once again, beyond just the monetary value of what you're providing. So,

I mean, it's just such an evolved level of thinking that I love so much. And I think what really drew me to it was the inclusivity approach to the giving circle. And it just jives with our belief that everyone matters. And I, you had a really powerful statement on your website that I wanted to read. Because I do think it's, it's thought provoking for anyone and relevant for any mission in the world. And it says the landscape of philanthropy is shifting, and collective giving will continue to play a transformational role in bringing many more and more representatives and everyday donors to the table to create equitable communities. So this is people of color. This is women. This is LGBTQ AI, you know, people different giving capacities, I mean, are millennials, people in rural communities, religious minorities, and I mean, it just starts to break down the walls of the silos that exist within our missions, because when we're all collectively pulling in the same direction, we can do so much more. So I would love if you could give just kind of an overview of philanthropy together share their mission, and what are the things you guys are really focused on? Because you're a you're a new company. And you I'm sure you have very big dreamy dreams, especially if you're throwing down something like what I just read.

Yeah, so we're, we're a pandemic, baby. We just celebrated our one year anniversary. So we launched in April of 2020. And I came on board around the fall, September, I think, of 2020, to lead fundraising. And the really cool thing is that plant tree together is a brainchild of over 100 people. It's not an organization that had a one founders dream. It was literally co designed by practitioners, philanthropists, getting circle leaders. People were really invested in collective giving researchers so all of these people came together and co designed this business plan which and ultimately turned into philanthropy together. So we are just representative of a larger movement and desire for collective giving. And, you know, for us, we've ultimately landed on the mission of our mission is to democratize and diversify philanthropy through the power of giving circles so that those Two words democratize and diversify, I think the field at large, if you call it big key philanthropy can do a lot better job at both those two things. And for us, we really think that getting circle model means into those heavily and really drives those points home for us.

I love that would you give, you know, just some examples of what this looks like practically speaking, and maybe, you know, give some shout outs, maybe some of your favorite giving circles or collective giving groups that have formed as a result of this love to hear something story?

Yeah, definitely. So actually, one of the flagship programs that philanthropy together is called Launchpad. And what Launchpad is, is a giving circle incubator. So us as an umbrella organization for the movement, we've taken it upon ourselves to start a bunch of new giving circles. And this giving circle incubator is one of the ways in which we're doing that we're training new leaders, also specifically focusing on bipoc leaders as well, to kind of create space in the room at the table for people to start their own circle, whether it's focused on the environment, whether it's focused on black communities in the south, like there's a giving circle that you can start for probably almost any area, issue area, but we really feel like we needed to train people on how to do these things. Well, so I would say, Launchpad is our kind of bread and butter in which we're supporting the field. But, you know, we do know that there's a ton of existing giving circles in across the US and also growing internationally as well. So based on the 2017 research, was the most recent one we've seen, there's 1600, giving circles across the US referees, yeah, and representing about 150,000 individuals. And collectively, they've given over $1.3 billion over the past two decades. Those are some really great numbers. And if you think about them, their everyday donors, there are people that look just like you and me, they're not giving out the major major levels necessarily as the McKenzie Scott's. But I think, once again, that's the power of the model is this community, when you pull your donations together, you're leveraging community in a way that you can't do as a single individual donor.

I think it also speaks, you know, community is everything is one of our values. And we believe that philanthropy has the power to change, not just the receiver of the gift, but the person that's in the action of that. So to step through that with a community of like minded people, whether it's shared on values or experiences, or whatever, you know, pulls people together, I think, is a powerful, powerful force that we're just not harnessing, you know, and if you look around the world, we need more of that. So I think I love that you've stuck, put a stake in the ground around this so much,

and giving just feels better when it's in community. I mean, there's something about, you know, when you give a gift, and you see the impact of it, I mean, that creates a joy within you to know that you made a difference. But if you can do that in community, it creates conversation, I just think about, you know, when I've had a friend who, you know, they're fundraising for a specific cause or something, but when I go and do that, cause with them, I do a walk, or we pour into it, this is something that binds us together, and then we're having a different conversation when we interface. It's not just Hey, how are your kids? And what's going on in your life? It's like, Oh, my gosh, did you see the St. Jude, Instagram this morning? Because I know you care about it, because we fundraised for this thing together. And so I just think it creates a connectivity and an empathy that, again, breaks down those walls and those barriers of religion and gender and political landmines that are dividing us. And it sort of brings us together, which is why we're really really ridiculous idealists that really believe that philanthropy has the ability to heal. So I'm curious about like, the little nonprofit right now. Because I think you gave some excellent steps in terms of creating the bones of a giving circle model, I think the gather your folks discuss, decide, give and engage. And by the way, I'm glad you didn't end your steps with give because the engagement on the back end is probably the most important piece. So when you think about a tiny nonprofit who's really interested in sort of galvanizing the support, where would you tell him to start?

Yeah, definitely. So one of the cool things that we're revealing soon is a global directory of giving circles. So there will be now listed for the first time ever, ways in which you know, nonprofits could potentially seek out getting circle support. And, you know, we know that not every given circle might be open to inbound inquiries on on grant making, but we do know that Are and they do want to give more. And they do want to give more intentionally to organizations that might not have been on the radar. So for us, I think this global directory solves problems slightly. And we definitely feel that a lot more causes will also gain visibility, as giving circles in themselves start to see, you know, similar giving circles, and they talk to each other. And so as the once again, barriers break down, there's more talk, there's more collaboration, there's ultimately more money getting fueled to these great organizations. And hopefully, we're, we're pushing direction that's funding grassroots organizations. There's plenty of great national, or international nonprofits that have huge budgets, amazing staff doing such great work. But we know that at the grassroots community level, that level of support is often hidden. And especially for certain communities. It's hidden to a level that's just flying way below the radar for many philanthropists, so for us, giving circles consult that and the more that there's exposure and collaboration, we feel that that moves the needle.

I definitely think it's gonna move the needle very much here for that. Taking a quick pause from today's episode to thank our sponsor, who happens to be one of our favorite companies virtuous, you know, we believe everyone matters. And we've witnessed the greatest philanthropic movements happen when you see an activate donors at every level. And virtuous is the platform to help you do just that. It's so much more than a nonprofit CRM. virtuous helps charities reimagine generosity through responsive fundraising. And we love it because this approach builds trust and loyalty through personalized donor engagement. Sound like virtuous may be a fit for your organization, learn more today@virtuous.org Follow the link in our show notes. Well, Kirsten, we talked about it in your bio, but we just are so fascinated at this story of you leaving from a class project that took you really around the world to forming this nonprofit that served in Malawi would you share about that experience, and just how it's maybe informed how you view philanthropy today, and just kind of your life, how the

projects that you were working on, it was like a class project. Last

time,

I'm imagining all my class projects in college and I'm like, class project, gosh, I did not have this level of engagement. I have a vision to do this. So yeah, share that story. Definitely, I

feel very privileged to save I went to UC Berkeley, which was a very global and civically minded University. And one of the classes I took was entrepreneurship to address global poverty. So this class you were tasked with basically building a business plan around cultural venture. And two of my classmates and I co founded this organization after college to pursue this idea. I'm not sure if any other people in the class decided to pursue their ideas, but we knew coming out of college, we were going to make an impact, we were going to make a difference. And I think that post college optimism and idealism is something that, you know, gets lost pretty quickly once you enter the working world. But for me, I was also competing full time as a gymnast. So I had the time to really sit ruminate, build out the business plan further, tried to gain more funding, find ways to get ourselves over to Malawi, to do some feasibility studies and interviews to get this off the ground. So for me, it was a really strong exercise in utilizing that idealism for good. And then also, you know, finding my bearings. I think one of the crazy things about being a student athlete is you don't have time to figure life out in college, but all of a sudden, you're you're done with your sport, and you're like, Oh, my gosh, what am I gonna do? It'd be so cool. If we did this, use that extra time I had for some some good in the world. So, you know, that was that was a really great project to work on with my co founders, and no regrets there. But I would say that, as a young person coming out of undergrad, too, you have to temper your expectations of what you can do and what is pragmatic with the, the communities that you want to serve. Sometimes it isn't always best to fly halfway around the world to make an impact when you could do it in your local backyard, or do it with communities that you look like and you know, personally, so that was a really great lesson for me. But once again, a really strong experience.

I just love Jen's ears. I mean, I feel like Jen's ears and millennials get a bad rap. But I am telling you when you look at what Jen's ears, and millennials can do in the social good space and the philanthropy space. They are fearless. They run at things like sprinted things that align with their values and they will not allow them to fail in that level of courage. Oh, I just I just think that, hey, Gen Z is millennial You guys are going to change the world and I am here for it as an old fogy Gen X er, I want to talk a little bit about the recent hate crimes with our Asian American friends. And I would wonder if you would share a little bit about your experiences in the nonprofit sector and just wondering how our listeners can be allies.

Definitely. And it is a really tough time for the Asian American community, in particular. So I've, you know, over the past month or so struggled with like, keeping up with my workload and finding ways to just stay to stay strong. And one of the ways in which I was doing that was in community. I talked to my friends and API community, I listened to our allies. And the people that reached out to me so for, for me, it community was a huge thing to kind of get me through the really rough patches of seeing our elders being beaten down. So it's not a great time. But I also know that similarly, within our space in the nonprofit sector, there's, there's a reckoning that has to happen with some of the structures in place where they do support white supremacy or inequities, or power in black imbalances. So, you know, as a queer, Asian fundraiser, I already know statistically, it's harder for me to gain funding than a white, straight male fundraiser, like, statistically, it's proven that they raise more money than someone who looks like me. So, and there's been studies that have done been done on this. And it's, it's frustrating, to be honest, but I know what I'm up against. I'm an optimist. And that's why I'm talking to you guys. It's It's such a great time. And this is where I'm hopeful is that there's a there's a self reflection that's happening right now. That's, that's really powerful. And it's, and it's giving me hope, because we're having hard conversations, we're we're learning about our tough history, and then acknowledging it and finding ways to move forward. So for me, I think the, you know, the, the AAPI community may be hurting, but they're just so much more to look forward to, in buildings, you know, a stronger fabric of society together. So that's kind of where I put my

hope. I appreciate your optimism. And I think it's hard to talk about some of those things. So I appreciate you sharing shedding light on that. Because while you're finding hope, I know, it is a calling on us to have opportunities to speak into leaders and to our fellow professionals to say, we've got to go beyond drawing a line in the sand and lift this up, like it's not okay, that you're standing there and saying, I know statistically, this is how it is like, that's not okay, like we need to lean in and support and have these conversations. So we know how to support our friends that are facing this. So I appreciate you leaning in and realize this is just scratching the surface of this topic. But

yeah, and I wanted to point to a couple of resources for people who were really willing to dive into this because I do think lifting your voice is the most important thing you can do. And there's a couple of organizations that you can go to Salesforce put together a really good tip here. The anti anti defamation League, I think is somebody that always that always pops up to the top Asian mental health project is really trying to dispel the belief that is struggling as a weakness within the culture. Advancing Justice is an Asian law caucus, and then stop AAPI hate is another really great organization. And if you go well, we'll link up to all of that in our show notes. And you can get educated there, you can find out where you can go for other resources. But, you know, we we draw a hard line in the sand here that say that everyone is welcome at mom's kitchen table. And I'm really glad that we're able to have these conversations and people feel comfortable and safe to come into this space. So thank you again for sharing that story Kyson. I would really love to know what the dream is for philanthropy today. You know, we're also a pandemic, baby. And we're all just kind of rising up in the middle of COVID. To build these these large scale dreams that we have for our companies. What would you say philanthropy today's vision is,

one thing I really wanted to bring up as a point is that philanthropy could be fun. And it can be bold, it can show up with the dance shirt and rock out. I think there's ways in which traditional philanthropy shows up with this almost like perfectionism or this kind of buttoned up suit and tie type era where you're looking at impact specific through metrics. And if you want to look at philanthropy and the root word, its love of humanity. If we can go back to loving people and centering people, I think that's kind of a direction that we should be heading in. So that's something that guides us philanthropy together. But I think moving forward, the field could definitely find ways in which it could, once again, get back to that root in love of people and mankind. Good answer,

says Becky and her yoga pants who never wants to go back to suits. Again.

So case of we were lucky, we love philanthropy just at its core, what it means I think there's no bounds when you're focused on the love of humanity and perpetuating that vision through whatever different path and through collective giving. Is there a story that's happened in your life that really sticks out to you where philanthropy just changed you in a certain way can be personal or could be something that you've witnessed for someone through someone else?

Definitely. When I think of philanthropy, I also think about generosity as well, that word and I did have a friend that passed away from a rare form of brain cancer a number of years back and he was such a kind soul like his, you could see it like I can't see an aura. But if you could see or as it would be glowing, like his would be glowing, like all shades of the rainbow and to lose someone like that, it was really devastating. But what also drew me to keep a special place in my brain in my heart for that was the community that came together around him in his final year, final hours, all of this there was money that was poured into papers, medication and paying for kind of support just for daily needs. And you know, this community not only give money and donate also to some cancer printing organizations, but also got together and like we took turns, doing like caretaking, we spent a lot of time just being present and being generous with ourselves and showing up in a way that anyone would want, you know, in their final time on this earth. So for me that was to witness that was just so powerful, the way in which my friends and that community came together. So if we can find ways to tap into that level of generosity and philanthropy on a daily basis, maybe not going to deal with this on an annual basis, whatever that timeframe is, I think it would do so much good

for our communities, and you feel changed by it, as you're clearly demonstrating just by sharing that story. And I have no idea how many years ago that was, but it feels like it's gonna be something that stays with you forever. So and done in community. I mean, it's such a great common theme for today. What What would you say is your one good thing, Tyson a piece of advice, habit, or a quote, something to help bring a lot of goodness into the lives of our listeners,

I would point to a quote, one that I wrote down a number of years ago, and it's by Ernest Shackleton, he was an Irish Explorer, we lead multiple expeditions to the Antarctic quote that I wrote down was, optimism is true moral courage. And, you know, that's a really great way for me to think about the way in which I have to believe in what I'm doing or putting my time or investing in. You know, it's it's not enough to, to be jaded by all the things that could get this down in either nonprofit or philanthropy. And if you can say optimism, plea, like if you can say, optimistic, please, please, please, please practice that as much as possible. optimism is not blind, you can still be pragmatic, right. But I think all those definitely strong, great feelings that come with optimism and hope for the future, I think, is it's just super powerful and something that we would definitely should be practicing as much as possible.

It's not lost on me that Tyson's talking about his friends are and I'm literally thinking every time we talk to Kyson, he has an aura of optimism around him all the time, I can see why this would be your favorite quote, because you live this all the time. And I have to tell you, it's a great challenge, and a time of COVID when everyone has COVID, fatigue, zoom, fatigue, virtual fatigue, whatever it is, and just that challenge to just look for hope, look for joy and find find the good is a great one.

Well, hey, something I'd love to lift is that philanthropy together is has put together this incredible online event called the week of summit. That's a month long. Okay, so if you want to look at somebody brave, it's Kyson hosting a month long event.

He's got a stress look on his face.

I love it. It takes an optimist right? I know y'all are partnering with dozens of organizations across the country to do this leaders, advocates all that are pulling together talking about giving circles and whatnot, could you give our listeners a peek into that and invite our community, we'd love to be part of that.

Definitely, so that we get some It is the first time that we've invited literally the entire collective giving field, and anyone interested in the collective giving or giving circles to come and learn. I think that it's a growing movement once again, and there's still a lot of effort to get the word about the word out about giving circles and the we get some it's definitely one way to do that. So we're hosting many, many, many, many, many hours of contents among I think we have over 100 speakers now as well to really hone in on the areas of collective giving that that will push our field forward things like space philanthropy, how do we grow our membership is getting circles so that we have a bunch of skills based workshops, how do you do fundraising? What is kind of the future look like for collective giving ways in which that you could tap into racial equity work and social justice work as a part of your circle. So all these things are in service of supporting and sustaining this dynamic field. So we hope hope hope, hope that you would join us at the weekend summit. And we also say that no one's gonna be turned away, there is the first week which is free. The next polling three weeks of content is behind a pay as you wish, donation, but once again, if if you are unable to, to join through paying, we don't turn anyone away. So just email us if you would like to

join, you all, just live your values. So the exact

same thing, and I want to like name drop for you, if anyone was wondering about the credibility of I mean, we've got speakers on here, from the gates Foundation's they have, you know, women of color, who are us, Congress, women, the New York Women's Foundation, the Emmy Award winning documentary filmmakers, the Latino community foundation, I mean, this is just a wealth of knowledge. And people who really understand and subscribe to the values that I understand that your organization is living every day. And I have to tell you, it's just great. So if that resonates with you, please check it out. It's we give summit.org and we'll definitely be putting that in our Monday email. So make sure that you're subscribed at we are for good. COMM backslash Hello, sorry, I had to do a little plug right there.

Okay, so then how can people connect with you? With philanthropy together with you personally, I know people are gonna want to reach out and connect.

Definitely. So you definitely find me on LinkedIn. But also, if you wanted to direct email me, my email is Kyson at philanthropy together.org. I just

really appreciate you coming in and just giving us sort of a little spotlight on collective giving. It's such an important topic that I don't think enough people are leveraging. And to just know that we have the sunny optimist in Kyson, like, as a part of that core leadership team is just really inspiring. So optimism is

true moral courage. Thank you for that case.

Okay. This is your

last chance to talk tie with Kyson you want to drop anything cop,

cop.

cop. And also I will drop that I only know tie in the food sense and restaurants. So let me teach you the restaurant until they start saying something that's conversational. That I'm like, sorry, guys. I don't know what you're talking about. Well, I

feel like one of the highest compliment somebody could give me is when one of my Thai friends would say, JD meaning kind heart. I just I wish that upon you. I feel that from you. So JD.

Likewise, likewise, you guys are my people. And I'm so happy to have been here and shared.

Thanks for listening to today's conversation with Kyson about giving circles and the power of giving within community. 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 come join our good community. It's free. And you can think of it as the after party to each podcast episode. It's our own social network and you can sign up today we're for good. COMM backslash Hello. One more thing. If you love what you heard today, would you mind leaving us a podcast rating and review? It means the world to us and helps more friends find our community? Thank you. Our production hero is a champion for all people Julie Confer and our theme song is sunray by Remy Boris boom thanks for being here, everyone.