Welcome to the nine nonprofit trends that matter in 2024. Sponsored by our good friends over at Arkady group, we love this value align partner that's helping nonprofits build long term donor relationships through next generation tech data and marketing strategies that are driving omni channel experiences and donations. Learn more at Arkady group.com.
Hey, I'm Jon.
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're 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. Oh my gosh, we're back.
We're already dancing like that is how excited we are to roll out this epic episode that we hope you guys have been waiting for at the top of the year. Happy New Year, we're glad you're back.
Happy New Year, it is fun to be back on the mics and like unpack and hopefully thread together a lot of the things that have been on our hearts and minds over the last year, just putting together these different conversations. You know, we love storytelling, we love getting to chase alongside organizations that are disrupting the space. But what we love even more is that little moment when we see that glimmer of connection of people that are thinking the same things and moving in the same direction, that are disrupting the status quo. And that's what this episodes like truly all about is like how do we step into some of those things that we're calling trends. I don't know if that's the right word. But it's the nine trends that we're really watching that really matter in 2024. But y'all, we can't just keep it at that we've got the most epic of one good things coming at you. And I can't wait to unpack it today.
Okay, so this year is really about embracing bravery. And that starts with you. Because bravery not only fuels our growth, but it's going to ensure our survival as well. So John, can I take us down memory lane just a little bit, because there have been some themes that have bubbled up over the last couple of years. And I think it's going to be helpful to go back in retrospect, and talk about how they've been leading us to this moment, because 2020 was really about, what are we doing? What is the world on? Yeah, and how do we navigate it 2021 was about building back better. And we were getting all that energy momentum trying to really weather the pandemic 2022 is sitting in that new reality that this is the brave new world. And last year was really about how do we innovate? How do we evolve and disrupt and repeat every part of that. So this year, we are really hyping and amplifying you to have a year of bravery, a year of boldness, a year of embracing risk and getting activated.
I love it so much. And I mean, we're not just to podcasters talking about this, we try to live this out in our own life, too. And so I gotta say, like, McCoy family is right here doing this in real time, trying to set our intentions and step into a brave new world. And so I gotta like riff on this. Right?
What can I sing my song real quick? Please do? I don't know what in the world is the McCoy family. So for every Carmen Sandiego fan out there, that is what we're going to say when we bring them on to the podcast, please tell us your story.
I mean, so this is what we talked about the podcast, you have a vision that you kind of get captivated by you set some intentions around it, and then it comes down, it comes down to the day that you have to decide. And you may have heard me dropping some breadcrumbs because we were really navigating a big personal decision of our family over the last few months. And over the break. Our house officially sold in Oklahoma and we hit the road on a 500 day family road trip to see all 50 states and at least 50 national parks. And y'all we're doing it we're doing it scared, but we're doing it because we love community. I'm so excited to hopefully meet so many people along the road and continue to just like storytel and experience the Impact Uprising in every corner of the US along the way. So I'm feeling the bravery. I'm living it out because I'm shaking in my boots at the same time but also having a blast.
I am so dang proud of you and as your friend I just want to like tell you way to go. You were to take that leap of faith. You and Candice have been talking about this for years we were bound and determined to make sure it happened. And it is an epic journey. Please if you're not following John on LinkedIn, he's dropping little breadcrumbs about it and it's just content gold. So so proud of you for that John friend.
I mean, tell me Take me into your headspace. I mean, what are you thinking as we go into 2024?
Well, my word for 2024, this year was change. And I haven't talked about it very much on the podcast. I'm not sure how much I want to talk about it. But the last six months have been the hardest six months of my entire life. We've been dealing with a lot of things personally with our family. We're having medical crisis. So anyone that's dealt with this, particularly with children, it just kind of sucks everything out, it takes the wind out of you. And I have been trying to be as flexible and adaptable, and getting active, what is my game, and because I think that knowledge is power, and so, you know, I'm really heading into 2020, for one trying to breathe, trying to do a ton of self care do I am looking and researching so much, so I can be a knowledgeable expert to help my child. And yeah, but I bet at the end of the day, like, I always have so much hope, I see so much joy, I see so much vibrancy and potential, not just in my child and in my house. And in myself in this company, I see it in this community. And that is what gets me up every single morning. And we just keep seeing these trends, you all there are things that are just bubbling bubbling up, some people are talking about it, some are not. So these trends that we're about to dive into, none of them are tethered to products we want you to buy, no one is endorsed any part of this, this is literally what we have seen as you sort of bring 500 episodes into a focus lens and say what is happening right now. And what is there for the taking.
B, I mean, thank you for sharing that. But I hope we can reflect back half of the amount of like love and care and support that you provide everybody in our community. So I just thank you for sharing that. But we're in this together and just appreciate you modeling that our team to just like how you walk through life. So intentionally, so we're just gonna get all lovey dovey.
I know, I'm just like trying to breeze past it, because it's like, so uncomfortable talking about me sometimes. But I will say that there is no team on this earth who has been more supportive, and more loving than the We Are For Good team. So thank you, John, Julie, Abby, Andie, for everything you've done for me for the last six months.
Love you deeply my friend. So I mean, how do we transition into this with it with that, but I think it it will maybe make sense in the context of the one good thing. So that's kind of our teaser to like, stick around for this. Because, you know, if you hang around us much we do not the last thing we would want for you to do is to walk away today and feel overwhelmed that we're just giving you more to do more to stress about more to strain. I hope this is aspirational, inspirational. And kind of just that you can see in community, this is possible that we're all facing similar challenges, we all are trying to figure out the plan in front of us. But that in the community like this, we don't have to go alone. And so there's going to be some ideas we're going to share, I hope some of them will kind of be a Kickstarter for your team. But the one good thing is going to connect it all that I hope is going to provide a lens. So that's enough teaser and enough tone setting. Let's jump in and like start sharing these themes.
So here's what you need to know, before we dive into the trends. Today, you're getting the 10,000 foot view of the top nine trends that we're seeing across the sector. But this is just the taste, because we're going to be diving into every single one of those trends at a very granular level. And we're going to be diving into what is going on in that area. What are the key details we need to know about it? Who's doing it? Well, what are some case studies that we can pull from, and we want to give you pro tips and playlist and everything you need to know so that if one of these trends is really something that you want to put your focus on for this year, you are going to have ample tools, experts content data points, to make the case and go for it and 2024. So John, you want to kick us off.
Without further ado, let's start with number one. And y'all. It's no longer business as usual, period. And this, you know, can be somewhat of an overused expression. We kind of know that. But y'all, this is our reality. I mean, this is the moment to reimagine how we work. And so I want to be clear, we're not talking for most of us changing what our Northstar is you hear us talk about this all the time, what our purpose is our guiding light or our vision for our organization. That is what's keeping us on track. But the way that we're getting there, the way that we're growing the way that we're showing up in the world of the tactics that we may use, or the approaches or the revenue strategy to get there. That's what we're saying it's no longer business as usual, it's time to lean into this kind of growth mindset that we talk about all the time. So I think like where to start with this one is really looking at self improvement. You know, we're a very much a growth mindset community, which just means we have this rhythm of learning and growing and coming at this work with an open hand that what we don't know we can really figure out especially in the power of community, and we've talked to a lot of organizations that I would say this is their MO is showing up as business as usual is over, look at Charity Water with their two bank account model. Look at new story that just keeps iterating how their program delivery to end global homelessness looks. I mean for everything from 3d printing houses to really building kind of reimagining the community design. And then you've got people like FarmLink project that have been on the podcast and shared their story but they're reimagining how you are partner with each other how you partner with influencers and creators, and how, of course, you're investing in media. And we're going to talk so much about that today. So to sum up, number one, the way it's always been done, let's not say that this year, right, let's lean into really reimagining how we show up. Keeping our Northstar in focus.
I love that we started out number one with it is time to break from convention. So I hope that resonated with you number two, activating the one is going to equal growing your movement. That is number two. And so I asked you how does a movement begin simply with one human being, and making that first experience personal value aligned, and embedding the sense of belonging into that experience are keys to turning that one into the many. And so it's really time to begin building a strategy to welcome to introduce to onboard and then activate, I want to put like that in neon letters, activate your believers into expanding whatever your vision and your story is, and allow them to take it and expand it forward to other people. This is going to require an intentional engagement strategy. And then a deep commitment to stoking if you are new to our community. And stoking is a new word for you. What we mean is we cannot just put something out into the digital universe and just let it sit, we have to go in and engage with that content. When people respond to us, we respond back, it's a way to say, Hey, I see you the one. And I'm glad that you're here. And so I think one of the greatest quotes I've heard John on the podcast about this was from Darren Isom with Bridgespan, who's just such a brilliant individual. And this quote, he said was, ultimately, if you have a sense of belonging, and a space, you will cross town, you will pay whatever the cost is, you will go see things that aren't very interesting, just because you should be there. And that is the kind of experience we're talking about. And so this year, we're really going to be focusing on how do you take the one and multiply it into the into the many and I always use this analogy of like, when you take that stone and you throw it into the pond, we want something that just ripple Ripple ripple ripples. But it can't be, you know, just this one dimensional strategy. It's gotta be multifaceted, which we're going to talk about that and a couple of trends are so activate, the one is going to equal growing your movement number two.
Okay, from growing and movement to looking inside. I mean, you know, we love to talk about the internal dynamics, that is the setting for number three, retention is an inside job. Okay, you know, it's time to name this elephant in the room of retention. And of course, retaining donors is like the lifeblood to supporting and to growing our organization. It's about the movement building, you just talked about B. But we're also not talking about just retaining donors and believers here, we're talking about the greatest retention issue that we believe very few people are talking about, and that is that of our nonprofit staff, are we creating thriving ecosystems within our organizations that are built on relationships, both externally and internally? And I mean, how often have we talked on the podcast and interviewed people that our culture inside of our mission becomes a magnet to those outside of our mission. And so by really focusing in growing the retention of our staff, we're going to grow their attention outside of our walls, too. And I mean, you don't need us to tell you all of the stats are out there, the Fundraising Effectiveness Project comes out annually, showing that we consistently across the board are losing more donors than we're retaining, but just the anecdotal evidence and the you know, surveys happening within our community to are showing that the retention of staff is almost just as bad or maybe even worse. And so this is a season that we are going to really put our flag in the ground and and figure out, what is it what sets these shops apart, that are really driving retention internally, and y'all it's going to be stuff that you love, it's about leaning into our humanity. It's about understanding and remembering that our data is actually people I saw Tim San Antonio, I gotta give him a nod. I love that stuff that he pulled out, and just knowing our people and paying attention to them, because that's gonna give us the signals to continue building a thriving culture. So that's number three.
Love that one and love how we're gonna love on people for that one because we want you to love your job. We want your nonprofit to have a healthy culture. So number four, media scales impact you knew this one was coming. It's probably long overdue, but y'all, it is time to invest in and fuel conversations that activate around your mission areas through the power of media, influences currency, connection is currency. But most importantly, activation is currency. So we really need to start embracing the tension and releasing control of our message and handing it over into the media. What Can influencers say about us? What are people in our community saying about us? But we need to push those messages into the media. So there's a greater conversation, there's a greater opportunity to connect. How do we become as central to modern media as all the disaster crises, the political upheaval wars, and just like the general sensationalism that we're all seeing currently in the media, I think Julia had this incredibly articulate and passionate rant about this on our wrap up of Season Eight, John, I know you remember that. So please go and check that out. This surely writes, I love it when Julie rants and she was literally like, good is trending good is where it's at good is what we need. Good is what fuels us and helps our bodies and gets us motivated to connect and do good. So we really need to embrace that. And so bottom line, we as a sector have to become a more dominant force in the media. So last year, we talked about marketing as mission was one of our trends. And this is really a 2.0 of marketing is mission, like using that power of media to scale your mission. So think about how are you going to embed more media into your company? How are you going to connect with people who can amplify your mission further. And I think flexing the power of media is so powerful, because the road to acceptance, awareness to activation begins with that visibility and understanding. So I love this quote from Alyssa Bolgar. Over at the persona and allegiance crib sheet, we had her on in Episode 432, for an absolutely wonderful conversation about Gen Z. And she said, almost half of Gen Z is going to learn about a cause and be influenced by a cause by the influencers they follow. Traditional media is so diversified at this point. And using media to scale your impact is going to be one of the key drivers for you to grow into a global world.
Great. I love seeing these nonprofits lean into this and almost like baking media to just like kind of your core strategy because it ties into marketing as mission so well. So I love that one. And number five is not going to surprise you. It is upskill in the age of AI and new tech. I mean, AI is everywhere. And machine learning is everywhere. And I think it's it's really easy for us to just flip the switch and be like, hey, that's over my head, I don't understand, I'm gonna go ahead and tap out of this conversation. But I followed a post from Evan Wildstein, who's an awesome community member and pro subscriber all the things in the We Are For Good community. But he said, You know, I wear so many hats that I don't know which one AI is going to replace today, which cracks me up. Because the reality is, it's probably has the power to replace a lot more than you think. And that's not a bad thing, because we need to lean in to the skills and the most important job that we have to play that started relying on tech to take care of the things that are the thorn in our side, and that slow us down. So this year, we want to focus on how to upskill our capabilities across our entire organization. So in response to the influence of AI and tech, it's time to work smarter and not harder. And we're just always here for that. And again, if we're starting to sound like a broken record, a growth mindset allows anything to be possible. And so all of us here are trying to lean in and learn. And Newsflash, none of us really know what this playbook is. We're all learning in real time. But here's a couple of things to keep in mind, understand the power of AI that's out there. And secondly is know what the ethical frameworks are in Stay curious around it. You have incredible friends@fundraising.ai There's a lot of people that have poured into that movement and the conference that happened last year, you go to fundraising.ai/framework, they put together this really great framework that's going to give you kind of some guardrails, to think about how do we do this in a really ethical way that's going to just amplify and uplift and make sure dignity is centered in all of our activities. And then third is know your superpowers that are uniquely human match your creativity, your empathy, your emotion, those soft skills that we love to rant about on the podcast, that is what's going to set you apart. But don't waste your time with scheduling and with things that Grammarly can correct for you, or whatever the different tools are, because we're going to equip you this season with leaning into the tech tools that are going to make our life better allow us to stay more in touch and be responsive to our donor base, but not lose our humanity along the way. So upskilling is where it's at.
Okay, I gotta keep going with that tech trend because the next one is a dovetail to that and don't be scared by the tech y'all. Tech is so our friend when I think about the way it's always been done with tech with that mindset. It was old, clunky tech and that is not what we're talking about. And today I want to talk about number six, make generosity, frictionless. We have a matter of seconds to capture someone's attention digitally and I remember this like Julie saying one time to me like as Gen Z. Like if you don't have Apple Pay on your on the way that I can give to your organization. I'm probably not going to make that donation. So it's really about how can we pay for things in a matter of seconds. by simply tapping our phones, we order something and it's on our doorstep. By the end of the day, we have got to embrace that mindset as a cent as a sector. So simplifying and streamlining the donation process is going to be imperative for nonprofits this year, we're going to make generosity frictionless for your current and future supporters. And what that's going to do y'all it's going to do number two, it's going to grow that movement, you're not going to lose somebody because your tech is clunky, because someone can't find it because they don't feel seen because they don't have a way to pay. Long story short, we're going to make giving easy this year tune in.
I love it so much. Well, okay, this one, number seven, I'm gonna tip a little bit of our playbook of just honestly how we see the world and why we think that it's so imperative to like, add this to the nonprofit space, because the most of all nonprofits are doing this. Number seven is tap creators to grow influence. And friends, if you realize it or not, the creator economy is here. It's been here for a while. And let me break this down for you. It's really disrupting just traditional media and the way that people trust and consume news and information and recommendations. And so so many audiences, particularly your younger demographics, and can I call them Millennials young still, because I'm gonna be forever young and this demographic? Millennial? Yes, you are yo. I mean, now these groups are turning to and they have always been turning to creators or influencers or content rather than traditional media outlets. Why does this matter? Because that is an incredibly huge force in our marketplace, and people that can power the movements of our mission. And so by really opening our hand and saying, How can we work with creators this year, to grow our mission? I'm going to go back to step one of trend, one that we talked about, you have to look with a broader scope of what are you really trying to accomplish the tactics that we're going to try this year, not the same old playbook. But it's like, if we're really trying to end global homelessness, that we need to have a bigger conversation, which means a lot more people telling the story through their own lens to their own micro communities, wherever they have show up online and gather and convene people. So working with, you know, creators is only going to grow your influence. And that's really what this is an unlock that you can lean into. And here's just a little stat to kind of whet your whistle here, the creative economy is projected to grow to a half a trillion dollars, in just a couple of years, half a trillion. So this movement is growing massively, and corporations and brands have already been jumping on board. And so it's time for nonprofits to lean into this too. We have a ton of content already on the podcast about this, but expect some really light kind of, of the moment conversations happening this season. And I can't wait to further impact this and see you rock this one this year.
I was really excited about that trend. And we're gonna have a ton of content around that. So excited about it to John, number eight is engage dimensionally. Do you remember in 2022, and we were chatting about how the sector needs to stop thinking one dimensionally.
I do. I love that.
Okay, so we're going to take that concept to the next level, because the future success of nonprofits is going to hinge on our ability to adapt to this changing landscape, we got to understand the complexity of what our donors need, how they want to connect with us, how they want us to engage with them on a more personal level. And so we have to understand how identity is informed. And but the way to do that, is by gathering so many tiny data points and engagement, like we're marketers, you know, at heart and storytellers. And so I remember the time when all we would measure was somebody's like demographic, and maybe something that was really transactional about them. And now we're going much deeper, which means that today's donors are going to demand a deeper approach to engagement, that's going to recognize their interests, their behaviors and motivations and the values that they share with your cause. So what's the answer on all of this, we're going to dive a ton into it this year. But it really is about the more data points you add, the more possibilities are going to emerge. And then we begin to engage dimensionally. So we're just going to focus on three things with this trend, how we're going to evolve donor expectations in the age of personalization. And we're at number two, how we're going to leverage all of these analytics to understand our donors. Don't be scared by the word analytics, we're going to show you how you can do this simply within your database. And three, we're going to integrate this sort of dimensional thinking into our strategies. And we're also partnering on this trend with our friends over at the RKB group. So hi, Justin and Ronnie. Yes, yeah. And they're going to be pulling some of their data and insights into ours. And I just hope it's going to be like this huge cacophony of understanding about how do we engage differently to go deeper into this and drill down into what's important to our donors and how we can connect meaningfully with them.
Okay, that one is so good and so deep and so dimensional, like I'm just obsessed with that word. So get ready So Okay, number nine, our sector needs whole leaders. And this has been such a heartbeat of We Are For Good. One of the reasons we wanted to create this company, the way that we did is to to really talk about our mental health and our care for ourselves as people and as humans, not just the forward facing executive directors and fundraisers and program officers out there. Because we've already talked about the fact that we are in a retention crisis. And on the staff side, specifically, and nonprofit leaders. I mean, look, you're responsible for aligning mission and engaging stakeholders making really hard ethical decisions sometimes and fostering innovation. All on top of these societal pressures and our family pressures and our friend pressures. I'm feeling the pressure, just like honestly, listing all of all of them.
Same, and it's like, don't get overwhelmed, because we're going to break, we're going to eat this elephant, one bite at a time.
Absolutely. And we need the heartwired humans who work in social good to stay and to thrive. And so what we've noticed personally and in our friends in the space is that too often we're neglecting our personal needs, for the greater good. And so we're not realizing that our lack of well being makes us and our teams less effective. And so we just want to provide some real talk to be good leaders, and I'm talking to all of us whether you have an actual leadership role in your title, or a C suite in your title, like, you must be a whole leader, because each person has the capacity to lead in whichever area, whether that's in their family or their friends, or their community or in the organization. And we need to lead ourselves first. Because when we don't do those things, we really aren't leaders we're following. So if we truly want to transform the world we're living in, let's start from within this gets us back to values work. So understanding what are the values that you want to perpetuate in your life and in your leadership? And then really centering those and being honest, and having friends that call you out? Which Becky and I call this out in each other to which is really good. So
To be candid is to be kind. Yes.
Absolutely. I love that one.
And I hope that one makes you feel seen friends, all of you who are working so hard in in this frontline mission work, whether you're on the marketing side of the operation side of frontline fundraiser, we want you to be healthy, we want you to be whole, if you're a leader, we want you to create a vibe and, and an energy that perpetuates throughout your culture. And we think that that's going to be not only healing and restorative, but it's going to take your mission to the next level. Retention is absolutely key. Let's build those hole leaders. Okay, so those were the top nine, right, we've got our nine trends, we hope you wrote them all down. But if you didn't, it's okay. Because guess what, we're going to be breaking down every single one of these individually with an expert. Again, we're going to bring those pro tips, case studies, playlists, ways to get started. But bonus, little bonus, can we drop
some bonus music here. Because
nine, there's just something that we wanted to embed in every single one of these trends this year. And our bonus this year is lean into joy. It is always trending. Joy is a strategy. Joy is a vibe, and joy is trending, y'all. It's a bonus, because it's a part of everything that we do. And it always will be. It's gonna provide inspiration and motivation. It's going to help you emotionally connect with your audience. I mean, can we talk about that content that we see that is so joyful that gets inside us, and it starts to give a positive brand image, you can put this incredible storytelling impact on through celebration and joy, we're going to increase donor loyalty with it, it's going to help with our community building. And ultimately, it gets back to it feels good. It feels good to us. It feels good to the mission, it feels good to the person who's pouring in at whatever level that makes them feel like they are a part of bringing that joy into the world. And so I want you to think about how do you infuse joy into absolutely everything? How do you chase it in those really, really tough moments, bring it up, integrate it into your engagement and communication strategy. I guarantee you it will be trending. And there's potential it may be viral, we want you to go viral and enjoy because that is how big movements start.
I know it's like one of those things that like is so good, like at the internal individual level, but it's also so good for our teams internally and it's so good for our external like our donors, our believers, our volunteers and our communities. Joy is something that we just see threaded so naturally into all these trends and it's something that we're excited to kind of pull out over the course of the year as well.
Okay. 2024 trends are in the books and if you want to go deeper, you can get slides you can get community feedback, watch our free workshop at weareforgood.com/2024.
Yes Don't miss that workshop. Our team really pours a lot of thought power. And we thread a lot of past conversations. So it's really kind of like a playbook so to speak that you can go and find playlist and definitely love the community interaction. So definitely attend that weareforgood.com/2024. But you know, we've teased this, this is our first season of the new year. So season nine is kicking off with these trends. And you know, we're forgetting never about just our voices, like we're kind of like your curators over here trying to help, you know, break these ideas apart. But we are tapping some of the most evolved minds, and I am so ready, guys, they are so brilliant. I just can't wait. Like we're taking nine weeks to unpack these individually, where we can go deep and like talk about what's actually working when organizations are doing this, where's the blocks to implementing this. And again, I started this episode saying this and Becky and I feel this really deeply. We're not doing this to create overwhelm. We're doing it so you feel like you've got a handhold in this journey. Like there are people we're in this together that are walking through this, that want to implement and want to be of this moment to be relevant for the people that we're trying to impact in our work. And so the next nine weeks are going to be so lit we can't wait to invite you back into these conversations. And definitely come find us in the We Are For Good community, this is a space for just finding that one to one connection, find the person that you can walk through this with that you can hop on zoom on a stressful day had to weareforgoodcommunity.com It'll also subscribe to our weekly mailing list, which is going to get you connected to all the podcasts and all the cool stuff dropping in our community.
Amen to all of that and good for you millennial for saying that you were so relevant.
And I didn't even plan it. That's how
y'all it is a vibe this year. I hope you feel so loved, supported. And in remember, this is not a community that just talks about things. We're a community of activation. So get ready to learn and get ready to come with tools of understanding so you can take this knowledge back and infuse it into your own mission. We are rooting for you every step of the way. You've got this friends, so glad you're here.
Thanks so much for being here friends, and 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. Sign up today. Weareforgood.com/hello.
And 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 your support helps more people find this community. Thanks so much friends. Can't wait to our next conversation.
