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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. We are nonprofit professionals, philanthropists, world changers and rabid fans who are striving to bring a little more goodness into the world.
So let's get started. Becky, what's happening?
I'll tell you what's happening. I scoured my house for a red nose to start this conversation and I don't have one that man oh she's got one.
She's got one . Of course, she has one.
You know this is an audio medium. But people, visualize the red nose campaign, put that front and center as we start to dive into the most amazing conversation with a serial convener.
Like we are so excited to have Alison Moore on the podcast today, she is the CEO of Comic Relief US. And if you don't know Comic Relief, trust me, you've probably given to one of their campaigns, or you've certainly seen the viralability of their incredible campaigns, most specifically Red Nose Day, but also American Idol Gives Back I'm a big AI fan over here. So so many ways that they really interrupt with our culture and dovetail beautiful campaigns. But at the heart of this organization is something that I think is really cool. They're about really breaking cycles, specifically focused on intergenerational poverty. And they use the power of entertainment to drive awareness and amplify voices to some of the most under resourced communities in our country. And their DNA is like just so good. I was telling Allison right before we started that, you know, listening to kind of how they're talking to their friends and their impact investors. It's about investment. It's about going out on kind of a ledge with them and saying, Hey, putting money here, investing in this idea is the only way to move forward in today's really complex world of trying to break through the noise and really resonate with people. And I think today's story is going to be really interesting as we tap Allison's mind because she has one of the most incredible paths, like your pedigree is so fascinating. In the media space, most recently at Conde Nast, but also at Glamour and Allure and NBC, Universal, HBO, we could keep going. But she understands the power of media. And it's something you hear us talk a lot about on this podcast because we believe in it too, that if we can get our voices aligned, we can get celebrities even aligned and influencers aligned. We can really make some ripples for these deep rooted problems that we're all trying to unpack. So we're excited about this conversation. Alison is a powerhouse she's also active in the entrepreneurial space. She works with socially conscious startups and incubators. She's a board member of Trace which is the leading global media entertainment and plan platform for connected Afro urban millennials. She is so our people get in this house Allison, we're so glad to have you.
Hi, thank you so much having me I really appreciate it and that was an amazing intro. I hope you follow me everywhere. Would you like to come to my family dinner?
We got it. When's your renunion?
Right No, totally. I've got like my 35th God, whatever reunion coming, this coming summer so I'm bringing you with me.
Yeah, so I think you're gonna be the belle of the ball. I'm just going to throw that out there.
Awfully kind. Well, thank you for having me. It's great to be here with you guys.
Well, it's hugely an honor, I mean, would you take us back to your story what informed this work when you made this jump? To come over to Comic Relief? I feel like it was a seminal moment when this Titan comes over to pour your expertise and vision walk us through the growing up, like what informed you wanting to have this really incredible life?
That is, is a gracious question to ask. And I guess I would say, yeah, my path, and my journey has been informed by just kind of a series of of unlocking things. And I would say, an insatiable curiosity, of trying to, you know, look, we're all humans on a journey to kind of understand what is the world around us, and not only our own sort of space, but everyone else's space in concert with us, or even just adjacent, you know, as we see from afar, and I feel like I've just constantly been on a personal mission to sort of figure out where my space is. And then as I entered into work, and you know, I graduated with the political science degree from University of Georgia that made me qualified to do basically one thing, I'd go to the Hill and do something with that. And that was not really that interesting. I had some connections who were frankly, not, not the party I was sort of aligned with at the time. And I thought, you know] I mean, it was a real interesting Minute, where I thought, I actually don't think I can subvert my point of view and my, my feelings about something to kind of do it just to have the job, which was really a brave, declarative statement. And then, you know, then I had to find a job on someone's couch. And I was like, Oh, great. Well, now, what am I doing? Maybe you could have thought about that before you actually, you know, maybe I could have had some free thought to that before getting to that, like, Aha moment. So, you know, look, I ended up in media because I was, you know, curious about getting it started at the very basic job, you know, at like a marketing assistant level at Turner in Atlanta and kind of had to learn on the fly. I did not, you know, these days, you have a bunch of young people that now that, you know, I want to be a media executive, so they're, you know, at age 16, they're entrepreneuring. And they're, you know, interning and they're this and they're that, but, uh, you know, I had, I was like, media. Yeah. Okay, what's that again? So I, but I was like, that sounds kind of cool. I certainly like content. I like narrative. I like storytelling. Let me get into it got the bottom rung. And then that just to just unpacked what was a very, I would say, tacking upstream journey to you know, jobs and interesting, meaty roles that interested me. And then, you know, as you can sort of the litany of places that I've been, I came to a moment in 2018. And that was after, you know, I had left Conde Nast and I had a kind of personal moment. So after this sort of journey of somebody that kind of tapped upstream and ran their own sort of like path and with curiosity, unlocking opportunity, but then also really realizing, I need to be involved with something that feeds a passion for me that I can build that I can feel like I've got an element of transformation in it. And so that was has always been this kind of core thread and narrative across everything that I've done is like, How can I transform and build and sort of next gen something, but then how can I do it, where it feels like it has a sense of purpose, right, you know, and purpose can be like small p purpose, which is what I would say any job at HBO SoundCloud's, Conde Nast, NBC Universal, those jobs that was felt like business building business opportunities for makers and creators. And I think people who make things, you know, whether it's writing or you know, video content, or music, or all of that, I think that's pretty purposeful, with a small purpose. And that felt very centered for me. And so that was all the through line up into 2018. And then I lost my father suddenly and said, I'm sorry. Well, I appreciate that it was a, you know, it was a unexpected moment. And that gave me some pause. What I went on was, frankly, a, a kind of journey for about like, nine months or so where I was like, Okay, let's figure out what I really want to do here. We were very close. And and, you know, he was my kind of North Star on business conversations, you know, and we kind of shoot the shit about the sorts of the, he didn't do anything. And he was in marine insurance, which is like this very specialized type thing. And so we but we could always just talk about the dynamics, right. So as I started to understand that sort of square of where I occupy where other what, what lights me up, that idea of purpose kept coming back, and I was like, in particularly after losing him, and then going through that experience, I was like, You know what, let's be really careful about where I land next. And then this opportunity with comic relief came through. And, you know, I had an opportunity to talk to Richard Curtis. He's our founder. You know, he founded comic relief in the late 80s. He is a filmmaker. He's a writer. He's a director. You're he's a Creative At Heart. I mean, you don't come up with this red nose without being a creative person. Yeah. But he's also a philanthropist. And he is a UN Global advocate. And he, you know, he really walks the walk and talks to talk. And I met him. And he was like, I, we, we need, we think there's so much more potential with comic relief here in the US. What do you see? And I'm like, yeah, yeah. So yes, I, me too. Let me see what I can bring to this. Let me see what I can bring to this conversation. And I felt like all those years or 20, some odd years of media experience and sort of building business operations to support creative content, and narrative and storytelling, and all those kinds of things. And you know, with a real focus on digital and multi platform and all that stuff, I, the way we raise and I will get into that the way we fundraise the way we engage consumers or consumers slash donors, the way we galvanize individual people is not dissimilar from how they sort of like media, activation, amplification, you know, all that stuff. It's just we raise, instead of buying something we asked you to donate. And in that donation, there's a the largest percentage of that goes to all programs to support folks, as opposed to coming to the bottom line of the, you know, corporate thing and that, so the mechanics are very similar to what I've been used to. But it's all in a different direction. That's pretty good.
What winding journey.
What a long story on my part, I could have made shorter probably, but Well,
well, I have a question first, what is your father's name,
his name was Hartwell more. But he went by topper all of his life, so topper more.
Okay, I think we need to name all the influential people who bring us along who are part of the uplift, because I am just listening to the story and do not, you know, chide yourself for going that long, because I think all of it is so relevant to where you are. And it's like, I just see the salmon. You're like the salmon swimming upstream, like going against the grain. And and I think what's so special about your story is how true to yourself, you were. And I love that con that that that phrase that you gave, you know, I could not subvert my point of view. And I think that if that is your north star from from a really early stage, I don't know that I could have been 22. And had that like moment of pause. But I think everybody can relate to these moments of pause that we have where something doesn't feel right, or something feels so right that it feels like it needs a leap of faith. And so I'm just so glad that you just kept listening to your nudges, and kept walking to where you cut, unlock. And I sent some of your data in that spirit. And I think that's cool. We should like talk about your dad and this because he seems like an important part of it.
I appreciate that, by the way, thank you. And he should be named and that that's his spirit is definitely with me,
you know what we don't talk enough about how family influences business and the way we walk through life. And we should, because the lived experience informs everything. So thank you for sharing that. Thank you for getting vulnerable and personal. And I think that's kind of the strength of what Comic Relief US is I mean, it's irreverent. It's light hearted, it is joyful. And to take that bit when you're working towards something like breaking a cycle of intergenerational poverty, which thank you for diving into that we have not seen poverty, like we've seen in the modern era, right now in a very long time. And we have got to come at this issue from so many different points of view to get so many hands and oices in it. So talk to us about Comic relief us, you know, for someone who may not know your work, could you start by kind of giving us an overview of your mission and the scope of your work? Because I know you're going to have a lot of fundraisers leaning in to say how is this different than the way I walked through my process and my nonprofit shop?
For sure. No, I appreciate that. You know, we so comic relief in the US was as I mentioned, you know, there's there's a there's a if you're a if you're American, there's a and you have a certain age, there's a memory of comic relief that was on HBO in the late 80s with a an event with Whoopi Goldberg and Robin Williams and you know Billy Crystal and it would raise dollars for homelessness and I can remember very clearly watching that event and the late 80s on cable and being like blown away by a the sort of the Yeah, sure levity, but also people cursing and like all having fun and being a little and being cheeky, but doing good at the same time. Right. And I remember that experience because it was this entertainment sort of extravaganza, but then everything was you know, and I think you can remember you know different initiatives that happened and across the globe and like we are the world, I mean, there were all kinds of things that started to have happen particularly around music events where people started to understand you can have entertainment, you can have engagement, but then do something good at the same time. Well, Richard was onto that before actually, in in parallel in the UK, had this experience in Africa, he was already a thriving kind of writer and screenwriter and producer and director and that kind of thing. And with it, as he kind of describes it a bunch of creatives, I think, the blue in the back of a C 130, or something to Africa on a on a mission trip, you know, it wasn't like a fancy kind of thing, it was sort of like a bunch of maybe ragtag creatives kind of going in and seeing and what they had heard was some really awful things happening on the continent and came in in the 80s, and came back a changed person. And with that started Red Nose Day and kind of came up with if you can think about it, yes, this is kind of this absurd context of this knows, but it's sort of like a creative response to how do I may not be able to write a white paper about the right kind of programs to solve something and down on the kind of, you know, on that level, but I can certainly build awareness because I know how to pinprick somebody in their skin and say, wake up to this, whatever it is. And he did that. And, you know, fast forward to today, they've raised over a billion and a half dollars at the UK cow since the late 80s. Two that have been given to programs through their grantee programs, you know, as comic relief in the UK. And 2015, he made the decision to stage this up in the US and came to the US to launch Red Nose Day, which is funny in many ways, because as a brand and content marketing person, like what why exactly did you not launch like comic relief as your event? Why did you launch an entire new brand, Red Nose Day, like, just when you
could have sub brands, right, like separate sub campaigns.
Just like we're getting at the chart, you know, to kind of outline like, here's the model I and you know, he really was just like, because this is this is the thing that breaks through more than anything. And you know, I have to I, there's a lot of right and goodness in that, you know, so we came here and then NBC Walgreens and Mara's were the original sort of three that came together to kind of help in 2015. We continue on with our relationship with Walgreens, and NBC two, fast forward that now you know, Red Nose Day, I mean, we're calibrating number, but for all intents and purposes, almost $325 million for Red Nose Day since 2015. Which, you know, that's inclusive of the dollars that we raised this year. I mean, that's phenomenal. That's bananas. And Allison
has a huge portion of that is the $1 buying the nose at Walgreens? Right. Yeah, I mean, what a grassroots movement,
you've got it. And when I think about So, part of the way that has happened historically, and this is sort of really ran for the first I would say, four or five years as an individual campaign, two months, a year, April May, activating at the beginning of April, end of May 9500, stores to Walgreens and I'll talk a little bit about that, because what and a fundamentally like, unbelievable partner seriously to just and they enter it dream partner, and also just values very aligned with making impact at a community level, and understanding how to use what you have, which is, you know, 9500 points across the nation, to engage someone to do something to help someone else, right. And in a very kind of, in a retail environment. I mean, it's a very interesting kind of partnership. And I've never, I've had partners, all of my working career, never seen anything like this before, this level of dedication, and commitment and alignment is very different. I would say, you know, NBC was very committed on a creating a night of TV show, like the next gen telephone, and as we've kind of, you know, continued to evolve our relationship with them, you know, the viewing habits have changed, people don't sit back and watch things on a net to our special as much anymore. So we're figuring out all those different intersections and they're very committed to, to purpose in their space as well and kind of figuring out how we think next gen and how we use Red Nose Day to kind of within a multi platform environment, right. So some, both of these partners are kind of like as they start to evolve and diversify their space are taking us with them, and working together in collaboration about how we can kind of continue to do good together to kind of look at that number, and just say, okay, almost 325 million since 2015 is impressive, but what's what more, you know, what more can we do? So that's, you know, and so, it started out as one that as I mentioned, April May campaign timeframe and then kind of went into sort of stasis mode, I would say after that. So June till, you know, March of the following year. And then we'll pick up again. And really the conversation became like, What? What? Always, like people don't think like that. They're like, Oh, will you let me mark my calendar the retinas Day campaign starts in it. You know, I mean, you can have a physical manifestation of that clearly in what Walgreens and that helps because you see these things sitting around and it activates. But gosh, there's a lot of things that we could be doing throughout the year. Right. And and giving and thinking about giving and talking about the issues and God knows the issues don't go away, after April, May. So how do we turn our retinas day into a 365 a day kind of opportunity where we have these major sort of activations be it April, May, that still very active and strong for us, but like June, July, August, September, we're still thinking about partners that we can bring on board, we're still thinking about scale, or we have or we're talking about the issues that we are really focused on for Red Nose Day, which is all around child wellness and and really centering on the child across all four of our areas empowerment, health, safety, education, and trying to think about children specifically and more and more increasingly thinking about health as it relates to Red Nose Day. But from that point, and you think about how strong and and kind of creatively lit Red Nose Day is, what more can we do? How can we build what is, you know, now under a comic relief umbrella, right. And having intergenerational poverty is our very true north star, understanding that there's so much more work that can be done. Yes, along those four areas health, education, empowerment, and safety, but how do we how do we broaden that? And how do we get more places to meet donors and people who want to engage and want to give and want to kind of really immerse themselves in these issues? How can we meet them where they are? So we do this with Red Nose Day? What more can we do? And where else can we do it?
Are we gonna brainstorm because I told him
pull up the whiteboard right now, forgetting the wall, I just I need to like pause and reflect back some values that like are really core to us here that I see in the story is that we say, you know, everyone has to matter, everyone matters. And this campaign is so inclusive, that everybody's invited that Walgreens employees feel part of this, they feel connected to the community, anybody, it's an accessible point that they can be part of this campaign. But then you pair it with something so much bigger and meaningful. And that has the story that is growing, you know, unbelievable amounts of believers, which is something we say we don't want to get donors who aren't believers in this. And the impact that you're having is like transforming people. But Okay, last one, I'm not going to go through all of our values, but your growth, disrupt, adapt, repeat is something we say all the time. And it's like, you're not resting on the laurels either. And I'm so curious about your brain, because you're coming at this with this media, almost media empire brain, to the nonprofit space, which is probably like the furthest removed from trying to be progressive, not in this space.
But in general, lovingly, yeah,
I love that you're coming at this to say we can't rest on that. We have got to embrace these hybrid, different models. It's not always going to be this. What is this look like? What's the horizon look like? As y'all are embracing and pushing your own people to embrace a more digital and more holistic way to do these campaigns?
Yeah, I, you know, one of the things you said AI is at the core of this, you know, again, when we talk about the dollars that are raised it at Red Nose Day in retail, with one five or $10 increments, there is almost $32 million in this last campaign that was raised as just individual giving, you know, some of the some of the, I mean, this is some of the things that people don't realize is that we are not funded. And this is what makes again, a media executive of pretty interesting person to be in this space. Because we have not raised through Gallas and big direct mail campaigns and large endowment. We are we are we have a generous support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which we're very grateful for. But they would say to you sitting here that it's not, you know, some organizations are fully funded by a foundational kind of thing that's not been the construct here. And part of the thing that makes the Gates Foundation interested in us and a lot of the collaboration we have with them is really long, this kind of like how do you democratize philanthropy, you know, they're very, very interested in that. They're very interested in that conversation, how you operationalize against democratizing philanthropy. And now we this is what we have said, it's the kind of core of what we do. And we just uncovered some stats recently, which I thought was really interesting is that, you know, when you say, democratize philanthropy, it sounds like a very fancy sort of way to describe it. Right? Sort of belong somewhere. I don't know written some books. Yeah, exactly. What it really means is it plays out Yeah, totally. But what it really means is that you don't have to be rockabilly you don't be at Carnegie, you don't have to be a Bezos now, you know. To to give. You can give, anyone can give and anyone can make a different give and then make a difference. And so young people, and I guess I have to call them that now because now I'm old and energetic, but young people like millennials, this is a step that we read the 75% of millennials call themselves philanthropist. How cool is that? That's awesome. Which I thought was like an agenda actor. So I was saying, would I call myself a philanthropist? Like, I don't think to me, because in my mind, it's always been like, well, that philanthropy that people are the people their names on the big thing and the, you know, whatever. They gave, like a bazillion dollars. No. Are you it's philanthropy is about like taking on the kind of action yourself and then doing it, and rinse and repeat. And if you have a kind of cohort, whether it's millennials and then Gen z's, right, overachieving probably exacerbated on how the percentage there it's probably even higher. Like, they're like, Okay, I'm a philanthropist. Meet me where I am. You know, by the way, it's not at a gala. And it's I have a totally down callus I'm not you know, but it's not it's like I'm I want like a differentiated one like,
whatever gala the gala, please. Oh, my, you're gonna get like x and on Gala.
True, it's kind of like I, oh, man, I got a lot to say about that. We got to go there. But I do not there. It's sort of like a digital, right? It's like, think about it. So. And if we're not there, if we are not there as a sector, then they're gonna go there themselves. And this is the other staff that kind of came along with in concert with this that so many of them are taking the kind of like ball on their own and going to Xcel going to crowdfunding going to demo. And they're, they're going ahead and donating and their act of philanthropy through that channel. And you know, where that's not it's not going to charities, it's not going to the 501 C three, like that's not where their brain is. And this is why everybody should be like really nervous about it. And including us. I mean, I'm not, you know, I'm not in a glass house here. $30 trillion of generational wealth, from boomers, to the Z's Millennials category 30 trillion is happening by 2030. Whoa, so if those dollars are only going to Zell, yeah, like Zell to, but like, you can just kind of feet, you know, so what's the antidote to that? I think it's the old what are the what the headline is that the old ways to spark engagement, inclusion, like a heart understanding of what your mission is, and the why, right, but then also, like, make it accessible? And frankly, engage me? I mean, that's the other thing too, because it's, look, look at our culture. I mean, how often we spend on these stupid things like, you know, these hold up the phone. Yes, the Instagram. I mean, I'm not immune to it. But that engagement, I can't tell you how many things I bought through Instagram, just because I've been engaged in a different way, and I acted from it. So if you take that as a model, it's not enough to kind of have a cool gala or have all that. But let's start to create spaces and framing and environments. And you know, that it's not only fun and engaging and eye opening and thought provoking and heart wrenching, but there's also like ease and transaction and, you know, individual bite size increments, and rinse and repeat opportunities, you know, all those things.
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Okay, I've made a friendship bracelet. I want you to be my friend forever, Allison, because what you are saying is so exactly what we're seeing right now in folks we've been seeing it's been coming. It wasn't it wasn't the pandemic that brought it here. It was happening before the pandemic just threw it to the forefront of what we are seeing because thank you for talking about the power of the small banded together gifts. I mean, John and I saw this when we were at our health care organization when we threw out our employee giving goal We were like no financial goal whatsoever. How about $5? You know, you can get this t shirt, you're part of this community and you share your story about what you're passionate about. And it was like those $5 gifts when banded together, you know, in a little while I say little 10,000 people in a health care system, it amounted to hundreds of 1000s of dollars from nurses, from techs from the housekeeper who cleans your your hospital room. And the thing is, it's not enough to just say thank you for that and send a gift receipt. When you circle back and say you were part of a movement. Yeah, you are part of a collective that was able to move the needle in this way something happens, something sparks insight. They feel like, well, what else did I do? Like what what are we what does that mean? And then to your point, you guys are so smart. Because the opportunity to does not ever end with the campaign. The campaign is the beginning, the campaign end is the beginning. And that is the beginning of how you start to communicate, educate, create awareness. And then every fifth time you give them an action, you know, go buy something, go activate, lift your voice, I mean, clearly, I'm on my soapbox here, because I'm telling you that I feel you. And when you say that, if we don't create space to not only give them these opportunities to be seen in the place that there are, but give them voice and give them appreciation and gratitude and give them community they will go build it somebody else. And I do not want the nonprofit, you know, to divest into crumble because it's too damn important. We have expertise, we have generations of research, we know our people, we know our man's, we just got to frickin innovate and go for it.
I couldn't. So back to what the preach because i You're spot on. And you know, it's funny. Capital Investment spaces are very comfortable thinking about dumping cash into a B Corp, social impact organizations that are for profit, but social impact, whatever that rubric is that sort of describes what social impact organizations are. But when you start talking about dumping that kind of money into a nonprofit, to innovate, for r&d, scale, growth, all the kind of nomenclature that comes with commercial environments, people get a little squirrely, you know, why does
the highbrow quirk it's like, Why? Why do we
not understand it. And I think it is such an anachronistic way of looking at nonprofits. And what you just said, which is like the expertise to move the needle on big issues is here. I have folks on my team, we have partnerships with the 20, some odd grantees who are in the field every day, we are deeply aligned with their work. And we know exactly the kind of work that's moving the needle across some of the world's largest issues. For real. Yeah. And yet, there's a much more and I know why, because it's a math and that's, you know, safety of the dollars and the investments and all that it's just it's what it's it's so it's the dynamics of return, right? Like I've been, I'm investing my of dollars over here. And at some point, even if it's a beak, or it's going to yield something down the road, and blah, blah, blah, and I'll be able to do a math project on that. You're not going to get your here's the newsflash, you're not going to get your cash back if you put it into nonprofits. But I'm hoping that people are pursuing less than or more than cashback,
yeah. You are doing effect? Yes.
And that's, and we've got and hold nonprofits accountable to that. I mean, you know, I mean, you can't, you know, there is there's a level of accountability. And then there's a level of, you know, we just have to put in with good faith that we put it through, you know, we support programs, and then that yields in effect on my human level. But if you need accountability for the dollars, I think there's nonprofits, I, all of our grantee partners were readily say, Yes, I understand that. But that's where the dollars go to operations to scale and grow, right? And that's where the kind of circling the dog bed question always comes up.
I gotta give you a shout out. And I'm going to drop the video link in here because I watched you make the most compelling case for we need $10 million to do exactly that. And we want to get you alone in
the house at 2am. To be visualizing that,
because you just called it out and cast vision. It's like that's the kind of conversation and leadership we have to have in the sector and you're like living it out loud. So don't mind
sharing that out. And I had to ask you quickly just about collaboration and innovation. I mean, you are think we sit at the serial connector and convener, and we love that you don't see the walls of our sector. What kind of advice would you give to our listeners about collaboration? You know what That's with the public, corporations, nonprofit partners, what would you say? How do you deepen that impact?
I, you know, I think one of the worst things about collaboration, partnership, the all those things where it's like the, you know, the obvious, everyone kind of buys into the fact that he needs B, because that's why you're in conversation to begin with. But it is the lack of I mean, you said it, it's the lack of sitting with the whiteboard, understanding all all every everyone's going to need something. Right. So that's what you know, that's an it's a standard of coming in with partnership is being open to like, what's on the table? Who needs what, you know, what, what's in it for you what's in it for me, that kind of stuff. But we need to go a step further to kind of really fuel that curiosity and not accepting the status quo of like, here's how your category and my category have extremely worked. So let's find something in partnership that fits that usual definition. I don't think this is a time for usual definitions. I think it's a time now for like, okay, let's think, let's, let's push the envelope on a few things. Let's do things a little bit differently. Let's kind of make ourselves a little nervous about stepping out on a limb to do something differently. And I you know, the thing,
sorry, I just had to blow my party popper. I'm so excited.
That's what I feel like I, this team that I work with, and I'm really grateful to work with. Every one of us here has this sort of insatiable curiosity to figure out, okay, how can what? How can we figure out to do something a little bit differently? And do it do the do the next thing? I have to tell you? My challenge? Always, is not ever? Can we think of a cool way to partner? Can we think of a different way? Can we think of the next gen for lack of a better way, putting it way to do it? That's not my challenge. My challenge is, as a nonprofit, you don't have the sort of dollars of investment to just go build it and they will come.
That's the problem. But you don't have all the levers.
I don't have the capital, right. And so I mean, not not the kind of free flow capital, which would be kind of under an operational bucket to say, I'm gonna go build. I'm gonna go build something in the metaverse and I'm going to invest a modest amount of dollars to do that, because and then I guarantee you, not only will donors come, but sponsors will come. Right. But that's a very, that's a very commercial, you know, I would go to my board, and I had another company and they would say like, Well, alright, that sounds good. Like put together your right, well, they, you know, well, they make you defend your thesis if they're a good board, but then they would say, Where's the numbers? Where's the trajectory? What's the, you know, blah, blah, blah. But I think that's the challenge for me. And to your point, you know, so I do think that organizations are open to kind of like thinking about partnership, convening and collaboration in different ways and utilizing different ways to innovate and think but I think in the nonprofit sector, that it's that plus, how do I feel it? How do I feel the early state? How do I see this? How do I see it? You know, I mean, I worked at an organization a long time ago, that was a startup and got, I believe, $6 million wired on a what was essentially a PowerPoint presentation. Like, okay, the sound done, great.
If the vision is there, if if the data is there, anything can be achieved. Yeah, work on that case for support and fuel that passion in amazing. It's got to be, it's got to be
okay, Allison, I mean, everything you're saying, we're just like jamming with and I just gotta think in your life, you've had witness to a lot of powerful philanthropic moments. And small ones, too. Is there one that you would take us back to like, a moment in your journey where philanthropy was like, Wow, that really, that really mattered?
I've been kind of noodling over that question a little bit, because I did get a little bit heads up that you're gonna ask me that. And I, I have to say, and it's there have been experiences over my past for sure. But I if I might, I'm going to answer that question with something that's very recent. That's in my head right now. Yes, I
love it when that's happens.
I can't get this the only thing that comes to my mind when I asked myself that question. It's like, it's not the things that I've seen in the past. It's actually something that's happened now. And it's it will seem odd. I have been struck by Vanessa Bryant's.
Yes, this has been hard.
What she went through and what she revealed in order to hold folks accountable and the anguish and pain and anger that must be associated with that and unbelievable pain. Yeah. And to turn that into what will be $16 million of a donation to the mamba and Mapa see to find Asian, I can't get that out of my head.
Same.
And I think because I have a visceral reaction and relationship to what it is a tremendous loss and the anger and of wanting to hold an entity or people accountable for that loss, and how much that can just really route you through in your heart, you know, when you have to go out through something like that. And then to recognize that I could perhaps be doing some good, this actually will not just be teaching somebody a lesson, it will actually do some good for a whole bunch of other folks that I don't know, I it was a very interesting thing to bear witness to me from a distance. I don't obviously know Vanessa Bryant, but I watching that and following it closely in the news that has struck me and stuck with me,
you're so human,
that there's so much anger and anxiety and vitriol right now, that that held it up to me is like this really interesting way to sort of turn all that and, you know, just in our society and all the things, you know, wow, that was powerful and very human of her.
So human of her think thank you for picking that. I have a daughter that age. And, and it's it is really a poignant story. And to know that there are people out there who can turn such incredible pain into lessons that will help improve and take care to not relive those moments. What a visionary and, and bless her for her trauma. You know, yeah, he's working through. And thanks for bringing it back to like how we can pour a little bit of good onto a complete dumpster fire. Yeah, this situation, you know, and there's a lot of them right now in the world. So find a way to take your gift, pour it into something, everybody can be a philanthropist, everybody can do something. So Allison, we round out all of our conversations with one good thing. Tell us what you would give for a one good thing to our community, whether it's a quote or a life hack, what would you offer up?
I think it's a I think it's a life hack. It's, you know, I say what I said at the beginning of the call about curiosity being that sort of like leading thing for me leading thread for me, I, I think the anxieties of today, the pressures everyone's under this life, but you know, sometimes curiosity, that childlike quality of curiosity gets sort of submerged into all the other crap that you know, we deal with every day. Don't let it submerge and unlock it. And then use that curiosity to create spaces of meaning and impact. And I don't mean that everybody needs to be in a nonprofit, I don't put i but nothing. We shouldn't be existing in a plane without meaning and impact, you know what I mean, as defined by how you need to define it for yourself, but only curiosity is going to tell you that what that is, and continue to feed it. You know, because I think you get old I mean, man, I'm overfit. Oh, come on video. Yeah, I wish I wish, I wish I wish that was all true. But you know what? You you may reach the 50 year old mark and it's a minute to take take that in you know what I mean? And you realize that you you better let you better live the back nine a little bit with your head thinking about all these things a little more.
I mean, I hope everybody listening if you're at a crossroads reconsidering what to do with your life. Like I agree, everybody has to come in to nonprofit but gosh, I'm thankful that you did. I'm really thankful that you took pause and what a you know, an honoring of your dad in this conversation and this just kind of this next step for you. I just love where this conversation is taking us today. I know a lot of people are gonna want to connect with the amazing work healer doing. connect us up, you know, where do y'all show up online? Where do you show up? Personally? How can people connect?
Yes, so oh my gosh, comicrelief.org and is our website and we are all over the socials, all them Instagram, Tik Tok, I know Facebook, Twitter, you name it, whatever else wants comes out. So we you know, and there you can find all the information about our, our journey, our work, our supportive, intergenerational poverty, our Red Nose Day work, which is sort of nested in there and amazing work that we've done the work of our partners and a little bit about this amazing team that I'm you know, pretty lucky to be working with so you can find us there for sure.
Soldier On warrior. I mean, we are so here for everything that you're saying and doing thank you for lifting these conversations. And these incredible thought provoking ideas which we are here for. This is a brave new world that we are ready to step boldly into. And I honestly think it will feel better for you when you just let go and lean into it. So we honor top or more legacy that started here with this conversation with you and what you're doing in the world. So, thank you so much and just rooting for you guys in all things to
Thank you, Jon and Becky. I really I've it's great. It was such a such a pleasure to chat with you all. And I appreciate y'all having me on. I really do. Thank you.
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