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. Becky, your favorite topic on the podcast today, right?
It is truly one of my favorite topics. And actually today we are combining two of our favorite things that we talked about, quite consistently here, which is our like Avid love of Gen Z, and what they're doing to completely reshape the philanthropic landscape. So we have this beautiful partnership and collaboration that is on the podcast. Today, we have Elizabeth Ryka, with classy on the podcast along with Alisa Bolgar. from pursuing giving DNA, they really dove deeply into the power of engaging Gen Z learning about their nuances, learning about their behaviors, they put it all into an incredibly comprehensive report. It's free, it's accessible for you today. And we're gonna dive deep. So before we get into this incredible report, I gotta give some background on Elizabeth and Alyssa because they're just two stellar Hallmark marketers and communicators in the sector. And I'm gonna start with Elizabeth. Elizabeth has been this incredible strategic marketing leader with more than a decade of experience across digital and own marketing channels. And her joy really comes from advising nonprofits on how to maximize the impact of their online fundraising strategy. And boy, Elizabeth, have you brought that to bear today in this report, we're really excited about it. And Alyssa is the Senior VP of client strategy over at pursuing giving DNA prior to joining pursuade she managed Pepperdine University's Annual Giving Program. And I absolutely love that. Alyssa, your connection to that sort of Southern California is intersecting with Elizabeth, also who's living out that way. And so Alyssa is really just one of us, y'all. She's been in the trenches, she supported all aspects of the annual fundraising operation from coordinating direct mail and telemarketing to all the things and renewal acquisition and stewardship. So we've got some experts on the podcast today. And we're going to talk about the evolution and awesomeness of Gen Z. So ladies, thanks for joining us on The We Are For Good podcast.
Thank you for having us. So thank you excited.
Well, before we dive into this report, which has so much rich data, we want to get to know you all. So Alyssa, I'm going to start with you. And if you can just kind of give us a brief little background into who you are and how you fell into this work. We would love to hear it.
Yeah, thanks. I've been thinking about this. Because I know this is a question you guys start with, like, how do I share about myself? And I think it kind of comes down to I've always just had this desire to help people to help others. I remember in like projects, I wanted to be a doctor and like first grade, and then that became a human rights lawyer by middle school, and then like international relations by college, and
we could be friends. All of those passions are great. We could be friends. Yes,
yeah. And so it kind of just continued down that path of how do I try to make How do I contribute to a world that can be more equitable, and more just a more loving? And I was thinking about it the other night, like, where did that come from? And I was reminded of an event in kindergarten of all places, my family had moved over the Christmas holiday from Austin to Dallas. And if you know, Texas, you can kind of appreciate the total culture change away. That is Austin to Dallas. And, you know, I rolled up into kindergarten and you know, a new semester. And ribs really met with like the Mean Girls of kindergarten, and wanted to play like house with them, and be you know, one of the family members in the House. And I was told that I wouldn't always would be the maid of like, this pretend group. And it was really like the first time that I felt that my value was in question or that it was somehow tied to my circumstances or to like perceived have versus have nots. And so, I think from just that moment, I had this feeling of I don't ever want to feel like this again, and I don't want other people to feel like that. And so I think it's just been a recurring theme of of what I've placed into are insane and the roles that I've seeked out, have sought out and the opportunity I have to be in fundraising now today to be a small part of making the world a better place and trying to open people's eyes and perspectives and hearts to the causes that we get to advocate for and fundraise for. And it's why I stay in this sector today. It's it is a crazy place to be. But I don't, I don't know that I'd want to be anywhere else that just, you know, kind of in the trenches of being able to make an impact and in the organizations that I get to partner with it personally.
You are so much more than a made my friend, you are the world changer. Glad you rose into it. What about you, Elizabeth? Well, I
don't have a memorable story like that from kindergarten, although I will say that, that scares me a little bit, because my daughter is 14 months old. And I've already kind of seen some instances where there are some mean three year olds that don't want to play with her yet. And it's it can, it can be a tough world out there. But I would say that my journey, you know, I, I grew up, I really wanted to be a vet. That didn't happen, because then I was faced with reality that animals die and could not stomach that as a human, that I wanted to be a lawyer and then really switched to journalism and marketing towards the end of my college career. And I kind of landed it classy. by happenstance. Right out of college, I was hired by a tech company in San Diego. I wouldn't say it was my dream job. But I just really wanted to stay in San Diego after school and I made it work, the technology powered registration for large endurance events. And ironically, shortly after I started there, the company was acquired by a private equity firm and was relocating to Dallas. So I could have been your neighbor, Alyssa. But I did not want to pursue that. And so my boss at the time and gave my name to Scott Chisholm, who was the founder and CEO of classy, it was actually called stay classy. Still, at that time, I thought it was a little bit of a joke. But I met with Scott, he really sold me on his vision for how technology could really positively impact nonprofits and ultimately help them raise more money to fund their missions. And I was hired as their first full time marketing associate, I started, I was the 25th employee. So I've been through several iterations of the company, we've evolved over time, because today we have over four 400 employees on our team 1000s of nonprofits leverage our technology. And as a marketer, it I you know, I work in b2b marketing, that is my job, but it is so rewarding to work in this space, and that our customers are nonprofits. I mean, I'm not pushing, you know, cyber security software, like we're talking about fundraising, technology and the positive impact that it can have. And I'm just so incredibly grateful to still be here. I have a fantastic team. And I love the space. And I hope to be here for a long time.
Goodness gracious. I mean, this is when we ask that question, when you understand the motivations behind people, it just gives depth to everything that comes after. And that's honestly where we want to start with the Gen Z conversation. We all know the stereotypes. We all know the things that are like, put on this generation right now kind of in mainstream, but we see something different. And I know y'all do, too, from putting together this report, because you understand below the surface, their identity is really tethered to really cool engagement around causes that that they feel passionate about. And so as we kind of dive into this conversation, I want to talk about, you know, what is motivations that you're seeing? And what is why studied Gen Z? And why now kind of answer some of those things to get us started.
Yeah, it was so fun diving into this, especially working with some Gen Z's like on my team, who just bring this passion and energy to the work that they do. Just at a general level, Gen Z are ages 12 to 26 today, so they span this interesting time. And a number of them are in the workforce or are about to enter. So they're not like these, just all these young kids. They're actually adults, which is what's really engaging for the nonprofit sector is we've had this, you know, downward decline in acquisition now for quite a while and they're this they represent, I think, in a lot of ways opportunity. With, you know, being the largest generation, there's this continuous coming of age of potential donors that we might be able to create connection and relationship with. So just from the perspective of being able to grow, you know, your org As a nation, your donor base, there's just a lot of potential. But I think beyond that they also represent really unique qualities. They're the most diverse generation. And so they have unique perspectives around diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and the importance of that at like a human level, because they live it, and they see it, and they're amongst it. And our research we saw, I think 22% come from homes with at least one immigrant parent. And so that brings a different perspective there, maybe speaking more than just English at home. And so what does it you know, look like to come from a place that's multilingual or multicultural, and it has all of these different ways of looking at the world. So I think it's just a very unique set of characteristics and just personality that they that they bring to the way that we approach strategy. And then they're also just very generous. So they're, they're prioritizing philanthropy, they're the least likely of generations to actually stop they're giving if they have some type of financial stressor. So as we're met with reports about the economy, or inflation, you know, a lot of organizations, donor files are built around the worse and older donors. And so as they have fixed incomes, and they're having to make difficult giving decisions, maybe scale back on their level of philanthropy, we have this generation that is prioritizing, giving back and sees that as a part of their identity of like making a difference and prioritizing that above, maybe other financial decisions, because it's just so core to who they are. And I think that that core part is that they've, they've just been emboldened by growing up in a world that's just been drenched in like media and sensational headlines and this constant connection that they have to people through their devices. And so for so many of them, the world just feels so insecure, and so unsafe, and so unstable, and that it's up to them. If if no one else has been able to solve that, then it's up to us as a generation as Gen Z to solve for it. So I think there's so much more of advocates and like trailblazers, and feel like they have to step up and be part of the change, especially when it comes to causes like racial justice, or climate change, or gun legislation, those things that are so key to the experiences they've had as they've grown up. And now they're at the stage where like, if no one else is solve for it, then we have to solve for it. And you know, we can't, we can't just wait for someone else to step up. It's got to be us. And I think that feeling of like ownership and advocacy and power to change is is more amplified with this generation than maybe we've seen in others.
I could not agree with you more and is sitting on the sidelines watching Gen Z, literally not just reshape this sector, the way that we approach them, but the way that they are reshaping the world. And I think the aha for me with Gen Z was was when I found out that the iPad debuted the same year that Gen Z was born. And it's like holy smokes like that was like 2010, you know, and it's like this group has not not grown up with connectivity, they have not grown up without technology, they are learning and connecting in such interesting ways. And the thing that is so powerful and encouraging to us is they are truly heart led, like they really lean in to the things that they care about. And I mean, we've done a big series on like giving his identity and you talked about that it's not just a thing they do it is a part of who they are. They do it socially. They want to go and fundraise or go to the 5k with their friends. They want to get in cohorts, they want to get in giving circles they want to talk about it on their socials. And it's just it's such a fascinating like experiment watching it unfold. So Elizabeth, I want to I want to ask you about this report because I think this report on engaging how to engage Gen Z and just putting it that simply nonprofits this is how you engage them. You put together this brilliant combined data and I just want to like create some space and say bravo, classy and pursue it for coming together and pooling your data and your expertise, you know, in this evolved partnership to build such a data rich report. So you really talk about the authenticity of Gen Z. So can you give us a high level overview of your key findings? And kind of just tell us, Elizabeth what stuck out?
Yeah, I mean, I think that it's probably Elissa touched on this a little bit. But I think it's good to start with our just propensity to give you know, while you know, Gen Z's total donation volumes is lower than other generations, we are seeing that increase over time you're seeing baby boomers, some of them are starting to hit their giving ceilings, and we actually saw donations decrease in 2022, in comparison to prior years. And then you contrast that with Gen Z, and the amount that they gave from 2021 to 2022 actually increased. So as Alyssa was saying, as they're starting to become more established in their careers, they do have that propensity to give. And we can only assume that that is going to increase over time. And when you're looking at just their spending habits, they are prioritizing, giving, we have data that backs that up 57% of Gen Z donors plan for donations in their financial budgets every single year, which is just awesome. Like, that's awesome. And you couple that with, you know, 40% have made small changes and sacrifices in their daily expenses to have the funds to donate. So again, I don't think that we can expect them to surpass boomers as it relates to the total, you know, volume in which they're giving. But there is that really high propensity to give, which is only going to grow over time. And so I think nonprofits can sometimes forget the value of those micro gifts, right. And you know, it might not be a huge one time donation out of the gates, it might be a small monthly donation, because they grew up in this subscription based world. But that can grow over time, right? If you have a really strong stewardship and engagement strategy. So there's just a lot of opportunity. And I think the other thing I would add is, you know, I think of my mom, she is a boomer, she's got the nonprofits that she donates to in her Rolodex, she is never shifting away from those organizations, if you want some share of her wallet, it's got to be, it's got to be a really good appeal to get in there. But Gen Z, they're not overly committed to any particular cause, yet, they're actually out there looking for causes that they can be an active participant in. And so it's now is really the time to get in front of them, there is an opportunity to capture their attention to get them engaged with your organization, and then grow that engagement over time. So again, I just think, you know, for me personally, it's just so there's so much opportunity, and I think that that can be overlooked. And I think that this generation is going to be very committed to making a change in this world for all the reasons that Alyssa shared, which is really exciting.
Well, I love this conversation, because I feel like this is happening, this evolution is happening at the same time, our tech opportunities are so much different than they were 20 years ago. So our ability to engage at scale is a lot different than what you know, we had the tools to do even when we were starting our nonprofit career. So I want to talk about how Gen Z right now is connecting to these giving opportunities, like how are they gathering? Where are they gathering and who's really inspiring them to join right now, what's that look like?
Yeah, that's a great question. I think, as we work with some organizations, when we talk about like your social media strategy or digital strategy, it's a lot of okay, how are we using Facebook to connect with donors, that is not where Gen Z lifts at all, so they would be on YouTube or on Tik Tok or on Instagram. And that's really where you've got to start cultivating some type of presence or personality. I was talking with one of a colleague get to ride on her arms just a few weeks ago. And yes, she's amazing. And she was talking about being able to create like a personal connection. So as you as I think about like the types of organizations that are like national nonprofits or their their entities, even maybe regional organizations that lead with brand, how do you start to maybe lead with the voice of a person or an individual or beneficiary? So do you have someone who does your Instagram stories or your Tik Tok videos or YouTube ads? That's that's a consistent, warm, authentic individual that can cultivate a relationship between people who might be consuming your content and the organization because that personal connection is so important to Gen Z. They're going to be a lot more weary of Have brands that feel too corporate or not human or not authentic and transparent. And so being able to be a little bit maybe more vulnerable and more personal in communications, I think is going to be really important to creating those types of initial connections with Gen Z individuals who might be searching for, like Alyssa said that next cause that they want to connect to and learn more about. So it's kind of that like teaser to get them interested and really connected and starting to learn more about who you are and what you do and how they can be involved. So I really, it's gonna be a bit of a mind shift. You know, I'm one that I probably shouldn't admit this, but I am not on Tik Tok. I have tried to like scale back the social media consumption. But it does require us to like get in those spaces. And you may not have a tick tock profile, and you don't need to post things. But you can at least like see what other organizations are doing or other people are following? And how can you really start to bring those learnings into the way that you lead your nonprofit or guide communications as a team?
I agree with you, I don't think every platform is for everyone. And we're not saying today that you need to go in immediately create an account on Tik Tok, or Snapchat or YouTube or wherever it is to engage with this group. Because I think your point about authenticity, is it they can sniff that out. I mean, my kids are Gen alpha, but like their generation 100% sniffs out people who are phony and fake and want something from them. And I will say if you are interested on getting on tick tock, I gotta give a little plug to this nonprofit, because I just think they do an amazing job. But Pencils of Promise has an amazing tick tock, and they are created by Jin Jin Z staffer who is amazing. And I mean, there's great nonprofits that are out there doing this, I think what you're saying really resonates both you ladies, it's that Gen Z is the ultimate long game play. And I mean, that's our core value, too. And our in our company is we do play the long game. And so what we want you all to start doing is thinking and prioritizing this group, because to me, this group, can help us get away from building the donor pyramid where it's just so steep, straight up to that top donor, they widen that base in a very profound way, to the point where I think the base can grow straight up almost, and not, you know, shift and get so microscopic at the top. So I want to talk a little bit about, like how nonprofits can start to begin building their Gen Z donor base. And we know this generation has a really deep penchant for wanting to be seen for who they are and the gifts they bring to the table. And whatever form that gift may be. It might be their their financial gift, it could be their time or their story network, like how do we flex our database and build these intentional engagement funnels? will still giving these Gen Zers that one to one experience that they value so much, so help me with that?
I think first of all, you know, we've talked about this already, but it's not just all about the money with Gen Z, right? Gen Z donors are the most likely to support a cause through advocacy, they're actually six times more likely to advocate on behalf of an organization in comparison to boomers. So I think, you know, if you can operate with that, in the back of your mind, it's not always about driving that conversion, right, or that first one time donation. If you think about how you're leveraging your social channels and how you're really activating, you know, Gen Z supporters to advocate on your behalf. It can kind of, you know, your mission, your impact, your story can spread like wildfire. And ultimately, that just increases kind of the network of supporters that you can then tap into and make an appeal a direct appeal to so I think that there's a lot of opportunity there. And I think that that might be difficult for some people, right, like, we're so ingrained, I can say this as a marketer, you know, we've been so ingrained over the years to drive performance to drive conversions to drive ROI. And a lot of what we're seeing happen right now with the shift to more user generated content to more authentic storytelling, data privacy laws, and you know, AI, that's the whole thing. conversions are actually getting deprioritized right and connection is elevating to the top. So I think first and foremost, really think about how you are connecting with Gen Z supporters. How are you elevating your story and how are you activating them to be advocates on your behalf? And then once you do that, yes, you do need a strategy to capture support. I think that peer to peer fundraising is a fantastic way to activate Gen Z donors. We know that Gen Z, Gen Z is more likely to support an individual directly versus a, you know, big behemoth organization. So how can you activate a Gen Z advocate on your behalf to fundraise for you and then expand your network, your donor pool through that, it's there's more work that goes into after you know that acquisition takes place. Because we do know that it can be harder to retain people that give through peer to peer campaigns. But if you've got a strong stewardship strategy in place, if you're thinking about how you're elevating your story, really bringing those people into your community, the likelihood of them giving to your organization, again, will increase. And ultimately, that's just going to, as you were saying, Becky, increase this base, right and present more opportunity for giving over time. So it's, it's a hard one to move away from, you know, thinking about conversions, and that you know, that one time gift conversion all the time, but again, there's a ton of opportunity, if you can kind of shift your mind away from that, and really focus on advocacy, awareness and just connection, it will translate into dollars in the long run.
I mean, that's a beautiful answer. Because I do think like this is what evolve leadership teams are talking about of like, how do we find ways for meaningful engagement. And I love I want to go to like the first it was like one of the first pages of the report that y'all outlined, the top three values of Gen Z donors, I just want to lift this because I keep thinking these words. And then y'all are like saying them and threading them. But it's like, it's core to this, that the values of Gen Z donors are authenticity, transparency, and three political leanings, which I kind of want to double click on that a little bit, too. I didn't see that. But I think like if you start to think holistically, and we encourage people to think about, like, what's the bigger right question, you realize that making whatever impact or difference we want to make in the world is a lot more than just money anyway? So how can we like have strategies that activates people that maybe don't have money today, but they have their social capital and their influence and maybe their hustle, and finding meaningful ways transparently to get them involved and using their voice and even politically, so when you talk a little bit about that this is kind of getting into the part of the conversation, we talk about impact, you know, how do we really activate and create an impact with Gen Z years at one to surround our mission, so I want to throw it to you, whichever one of you the ones to hop in?
Yeah, I can speak to that a bit. So in some of the research, we've seen, almost half of Gen Z is going to learn about a cause or be influenced to follow one by the influencers that they follow. So there's so much trust that's placed in people that they have never met, it's not their friends, usually, that is that are telling them or their family, it's a it's a person, it's a personality, it's an influencer, that has this like, like a social capital or just trust that they have built over time. And so I think finding ways that you can tap into that influencer network, and I mean, it's a business people are making money, they have teams behind them, that are supporting their work. And so you can send them a DM, direct message, or you can reach out to their team. And you can see, you know, develop partnerships with those individuals that you feel like can align genuinely, with your mission. It's not just about trying to find the influencer with the most followers or the most popular, but someone who can really speak with that authenticity, about their connection, their passion for your cause, that can really amplify your mission to others. That I think is a way that you can stretch your dollars and your investment if you're looking into this area further, because that one voice could reach 1000s or hundreds of 1000s as opposed to focusing on maybe just ads where you might get a certain number of impressions, but it doesn't carry that weight of someone actually promoting your your organization. So I think that's like one aspect of strategy that has not been in our normal like in our toolbox, no acquisition, direct mail and stewardship campaigns that oh, what's your influence your strategy and your influence or budget, like that's just not on most organizations radar or expense sheet? And so I think that's going to be a shift in just how we think about the way that we're engaging with this generation. And the way that we can really start to build those connections at scale.
I think that there's also an opportunity for nonprofits to elevate their state All right, I think that Gen Z wants to learn from the people that are actually working at your organization. And so who in your staff can can act as a voice for your organization, while it might be uncomfortable, but can they start to elevate, you know, their day to day or elevate stories of impact that they're seeing, you know, firsthand, there's a lot of opportunity in that. And I think that that is where you can really play into that authenticity, and really drive connection with Gen Z, because again, they don't want to hear from your big a big brand corporate voice, they want to hear and learn from other people. So giving your staff the opportunity to elevate their own voices, and directly connect with Gen Z is a great opportunity to drive further connection with them.
Elizabeth, you have my heart for that comment, because that is where it's at. I mean, I think we are so used to just putting our CEO as the mouthpiece of our organization, and that just does not seem tenable to the majority of human beings, because we are not that. However, if I got to know, Alyssa, at my local nonprofit that's working on food insecurity, and I find out oh, she actually access this, when she was a child through her family, the work becomes so much more powerful, or what Alyssa has seen draws me in. And so I really value what you all are saying, You ladies know your stuff. And I would, I would honestly give like one little pro tip for the community. And it would be like that long technical to do list that you have, you know, and maybe it's, you know, creating a lot of content for things hand that off, you can literally put a strategy in place for what Alyssa was talking about with user generated content, where your rabid fans and your believers are the ones supplying you with that story. And guess what it becomes so authentic, vulnerable, you get their network plus your network, you can just see how the ripple just continues to expand. So like, let's work smarter, not harder.
I think what you just said, Becky vulnerable, that is a really, I feel like key word that for for prior generations, that one, it's still uncomfortable, I feel like for a lot of like senior leaders for probably the CEOs of a lot of organizations, but that is so much of what Gen Z is rooted in, it's in like, the heart and the people and sitting in that discomfort of people's reality, and how can we come together to change it, and it may be hard now it may be difficult to hear, it may be not the ideal, and it may be may be polarizing and may be you know, challenging, but like that's where they want to lock arms to then move forward. And so if you're always presenting these, like very beautiful, you know, glossy, safe, full arc stories and content there isn't that like, I feel that connection for them of like, How can I join you in the problem? How, how is this really, like rooted in the reality of what people are experiencing? When we try to, to just make it feel more safe or more comfortable. And that's a that's something that a lot of organizations, I think it's gonna be interesting to see how some people step into that fully. And like own it and others that it's, it may take a while to get to that space of being more vulnerable. I got to
share a quick story. And Jon, you will remember this story of exactly that. So Jon, and I like tin, okay. It was longer than that more than 10 years ago, we were building this employee campaign for our health care organization that everybody on the podcast has heard about. But one of the things we were trying to do was really humanize our CEO. And part of that process was trying to get him to be vulnerable to share. And we have written this beautiful letter that says this is why we're having an employee campaign from him. And we wanted to put the personnel in it. And he wanted to extract every adjective, every personal everything out of it. And we finally compromised when we said, Put your passion icon at the bottom. So we had 26 areas where people could get pediatrics burn cancer transplant, and we said you need to pick a passion. And he finally said, my mother had cancer. And we support that as a family. We do these walks that we didn't put anything but just that little cancer icon and we put his name, we didn't put his title. We just put passion, cancer, and he came up to me probably two weeks into the campaign. And instead, I've had more people ask me, What is my cancer story, and they didn't know that I had this. And so sometimes we just have to take our administrator, our leader, our board, our volunteers, hands and say, this is actually the way we build community. This is how we build humanity. This is how we build connection and impact. So I believe Gen Z is showing us the way on this and we need to lean into it. So thank you guys for letting me share.
Thank you for sharing, I got goosebumps, because ya know, I
haven't read and I'm like, I think it's so good for all of us. Like, we hate to like pigeonhole generational things. Because if some of it, you know, is resonant, and some of it's like, an all of us are better when we show up vulnerably. And I know from just when I share online, the time that I get the most engagement and the most DMS or when you're talking about something that was deeply uncomfortable, or awkward or weird,
a lot of those I feel like
that gives you a little bit more wind, a little more safety, say, hey, that helps people. So I think we can have these better conversations of like, how this is mission aligned. And so, you know, we create space for stories, and we want to hear a part of your story where philanthropies interacted with your life, maybe given you a gut punch moment, or maybe just a sweet moment that you take us back to where philanthropy is really moved to you. I'll start with you.
All right. So I put a lot of thought into this, and I have a recent story. But I have to start back in high school to give it some context. So in high school, I took a baking and catering course, from a teacher, Miss Cardenas,
she left you miss Cardenas for your service,
she left an incredible impression on me. She was such a dynamic and engaging teacher, I'd say she is the reason why I can go to my fridge today and without a recipe, figure out what to make with a few random items and whip up something really good. And so she also taught baking and catering for special ed students. So she is retired. But in 2021, there was a woman in Houston, whose daughter had intellectual and developmental disabilities and she was getting ready to graduate high school, and she didn't really have any job prospects, just you know, given her disability. And so her mom wanted to create a safe environment for her to have, you know, a career and something to do with her life after school. So she founded belong kitchen, which is for children, or young adults with disabilities. And they, you know, can participate in making meals, it's all to go meals. But Miss Cardenas came out of retirement and was the program director for belong kitchen and it you know, I kind of want to shut it tear it thinking about the impact that she's having on those young adults life is it makes again, it makes me want to shed a tear. And so it's one of those stories that warms my heart and just reminds me of the greatness in some people in this world and the impact that they can have on our communities. And so, next time I am in Houston, I am going to the belong kitchen. I've heard they're making the pumpkin rolls that she taught me how to make for Thanksgiving and I want to pick them up. And I am also very excited to support them financially because I just think that they're doing great work in the community.
Who else has a pedal on the floor? Thank you for that story. Elizabeth. Yeah. Alyssa, what about you?
I think one of the things that has really stuck with me all these years would be in college. I had like the extreme privilege of being able to study abroad my sophomore year, and a group of us on I think it was like our spring break decided that we were going to do some type of service project we did that regularly at Pepperdine is just kind of a an aspect of their culture. And so we helped to put on a like a little camp for a few days in a community in Switzerland. That was was with refugees. And so it was this like apartment building that was full of families who had fleeing war torn countries, areas of conflict. And they were all together in one building. And it was individuals who would come from like countries that were at war so they were living amongst really like their enemies and a lot of ways but they were all together in this like experience of being away from home and having to depend on others for support and for clothes and for education and finding community and people who used to be like their adversary. And we were doing this camp and like very rudimentary French I'm you know, trying to speak to these kids who have some semblance of understanding French at this point, who are like pro correcting my grammar, you know, we're playing games of like, musical chairs, and they're just so full of joy. And I'm like, I'm gonna get emotional speaking about it. But it was just, I was, you know, in that moment, you have like your own worries. And, you know, feeling like you don't have this or don't have that, or there's these problems or challenges. And yet, you're like, surrounded by people who literally have fled everything and still find joy, and happiness and peace and connection. And so I try to bring that to my mind when I'm having difficult days. But it was just such a perspective shift in how even if you don't feel like your, your, My French was not great, my game of musical chairs was awful, but I could at least make them smile and laugh. And so being able to like have a positive impact, but then knowing that, that you could learn and be reminded of the goodness, in situations like that, and from people all around us, I think really just further influenced my desire to be part of this space and the sector, to be part of just those moments of joy and happiness and strength, despite what people might be facing in the challenges that are all around us.
I mean, I'm just sitting here with a with a complete heart of gratitude for you to and I'm so grateful you found a way to get into this work in a way that aligns with your skills and your values. Because y'all this is what it's all about. It's about sharing our story sharing our convictions like uplifting one another getting together and community. I know, we started with this just incredible Gen Z talk, but it's like, this just feels good. This work should feel good. And we need to get back to the heart of that. And I'm just thinking both of you for sharing so vulnerably and authentically. So way to live your values. And you know, we like round out all of our conversations with the one good thing and so I'd love to know what your one good thing is. And Alyssa, I'm gonna kick it to you first. That's great.
So my one good thing I was thinking about this, my colleague when I first started out pursuing her name's Renta price. She recently actually passed away she lost her battle with cancer. And she, she was just like an amazing person. She pursued that was her second career she had retired from the military was like an officer. And so she just had this commanding presence about her. But also this like softness kind of Mama Bear. So as like a 20, something figuring out corporate life and all kinds of craziness that goes along with being part of a an agency. I remember her telling me when it was a really busy season. I'm more of a doer, and a pleaser. And I want to take you know everything on and do everything that I can. She was like Alyssa, no, is a complete sentence. And it was just a mind shift for me like as we are so busy, and were, I think trying to create boundaries between personal life work life, and what can I reasonably take on and what can I be good at? or in what can I be great at and how do I maybe let someone down to be good in some other place? It was just like a really something I go back to a lot of that, like I can say no, and I don't have to justify the No, I don't have to do a lot of explaining and trying to rationalize the No, but like, no is a complete sentence. And I think that's just been helpful for me as I've grown in leadership and trying to be a great coworker, a great leader, a great colleague, a great mom and wife of being able to like know that i i have the ability and power to say no, and that is good enough.
Man that's hard for this Enneagram to I can tell you that I know Julie. Julie says that two titles to Howard. Well, what about you, Elizabeth?
I think for me, I thought a lot about this. So I am still a relatively young leader. I manage a team of 10 people at classy that are all fantastic. And I think what I've learned that has contributed in large part to my success is that you want to hire people that are smarter than you In some ways, right? I cannot have all the answers on everything. I am not an expert on every single digital channel, I have an individual on our team that runs email marketing, she is smarter at email marketing than I am, even though I used to do that in my career. And so for me, I really think it's about surrounding yourself with really smart people. And they will end up elevating you and elevating everyone else around them, and really contribute to the success of the team. And I remember, you know, what I saw was a few years ago, when I was first starting to really build out and hire for the team, I kind of got in my head about that, right? I was like, What's my role here, I'm hiring someone that has more depth of experience in their resume. And so what is my role in a year, you know, if we hire this individual, and I quickly learn to stop thinking about it that way, that that individual was going to inevitably elevate me and teach me a lot. And I have a lot to learn from those that I manage. And so I carry that like really close to my chest every single day. And I really lean into that. Because I think that, you know, the more that you can learn from others, the more successful you'll be in your career, even if you're not a people leader, you know, sometimes you need perspective from people that are not in the trenches with you, that you can bounce ideas off of. And so I encourage everyone to, you know, proactively reach out and find those people in your life because they can get you through really challenging tough times, and they can celebrate the successes and wins with you. And that's, that's the one good thing. I'd share
friends Oracle's of wisdom here at the zoo so much good here. And I think what cool posturing like closing up the Gen Z conversation to just realize we all have something to learn from everybody around us, you know, and like, what a better way to go about this. And so, as we're rounding out point to the ways that y'all show up online, we want to hear about class, you we need to talk about pursuing giving DNA, how can people find out more about your awesome organizations, and find you as people as humans is really empathetic people to follow. And the report,
which we will put in the show notes, Howard Shore report. Yeah,
you can find classy online classy.org, follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, those would be the two channels I'd recommend. In addition to that, we're also hosting our annual event in Philadelphia next week, the collaborative. So really looking forward to connecting with leaders from across the entire social sector, it's always just such a great time to be able to, you know, really spend time one on one with our community. And if you want to follow me, you can find me on LinkedIn, my Instagram is kind of reserved only for friends and family. I've done that for intentional purposes. And I also, I also rarely post so I'm not that interesting. To be honest, you're off. But um, reach out and connect to me on LinkedIn, you can find me there and would love to continue the conversation with anyone that's interested. Yeah, same for me.
And then for pursuant, you can find us online, you can also find getting DNA on YouTube. So if you're ever curious about the platform, we have a lot of different demos and videos online to be able to see what that tool looks like and how you can leverage it. And then we share all kinds of great content on our LinkedIn page as well.
Please go connect with these incredible ladies and download this report. It has so many interesting nuggets in it, like why Gen Z abandons their giving online and what you need to do. There's so much rich content in there. So I want to thank you both for coming to visit with us. Thank the teams for pulling this comprehensive report together and keep going and doing more good. We just want you to get out there and do your thing because you're doing it so well. It's lovely to meet you.
Thank you guys. Thank you. Sounds great.
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 shareable 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 we are for good.com 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 Borsboom
