9 Revelations After Two Years of Interviewing Nonprofit Allies

In Aug 2020, two lifelong nonprofit colleagues and friends left their steady nonprofit jobs to form a digital community. These marketers-disguised-as-a-fundraisers, Jon McCoy and myself, turned on our podcast mics and turned them toward our guests. Who were they? They were fundraisers, donors, founders, entrepreneurs, activists, big philanthropists, tech geniuses, community-builders, consultants, coaches, social change agents, people who still believe in changing the world, and just good folks looking for hope. And we asked three seemingly innocuous-yet-disruptive questions:

1. What’s your story?
2. How does that play into how you’re changing the world?
3. What can we learn and activate from that story?

We underestimated the power their stories would awaken.

After more than 300 conversations, these stories illuminated some obvious revelations outlining the potential and future of nonprofit and philanthropy. It’s progressive. It’s exciting. It’s going to take an open mind. It needs a MASSIVE community. It’s going to require us to move at a pace we fear and have never known. And the question of “who will evolve?” and “who will divest?” is looming large.

9️⃣ Revelations Emerging in our Community

Digital community is the future. I don’t care what industry you’re in — if you don’t have a safe digital space for your people to gather that’s trusted and genuine, you are missing the greatest opportunity for customer/donor/human connectivity. This presents an incredible opportunity for nonprofits. A digital world means our donors can be convicted and connected to us from nearly anywhere in the world. Telling our story in the right places with the right people with the right tool becomes critical. Nonprofits need to get online, get social, drop the robotic voice, engage humanlySpoiler: And why your next move could determine the sector’s future and leverage story.

1. Storytelling is the most powerful tool in the nonprofit arsenal. Without question, the greatest asset to building your digital community, attracting corporate partners and finding your people is through story. It’s not not found in your tech, training, social media posts, events, etc. — it’s harnessing the power of story to share who you are and why you exist. And done ethically, vunerably and authentically — will allow prospects to see the humanity in your work as well as their own shared experiences. Storytelling is not one-dimensional nor limited to one medium. Syndicating that story will be key to watching your brand and mission scale massively online.
2. Your nonprofit friends are not ok right now. The absence of the mental health conversation in most nonprofit shops is one of the greatest modern tragedies of the sector. We expect our nonprofit workers to accept low pay, long hours, unrealistic workload demands and ongoing compassion fatigue as “personal sacrifices” made in the name of a good cause. No longer. HARD STOP. Those COVID survivors in shops are exhausted and struggling with motivation. We dedicate a week on the podcast to diving into the dangers, realities and coping mechanisms needed to create more healthy employees. Burnout is at an all-time high, and your workers are sharing their mental crisis stories to raise awareness and create a sense of belonging (including my own nervous breakdown story). Investing in mental health training, tools, encouraging sabbaticals and boundaries, fighting for better pay and leave policies help address this elephant in the room. We must stop settling for culture with little to no upword mobility and long-term attrition sitting at 16 months for the average worker. That overhead you don’t want to pay for? It’s people. And they deserve a living wage, time off and support when the work gets too heavy. Self-care is not selfish. Let’s normalize it.
3. Partnerships are evolving in new, exciting ways. As we continue to watch the steady rise of the corporate social responsibility era, there’s an obvious power dynamic shift opportunity that’s building. No longer does nonprofit need to stodgily walk into the Community Relations department of their favorite company with bowl-in-hand a la Oliver (been there!). Nonprofits bring much to the table during this modern social impact era: inspiring missions, subject matter experts, advocates, volunteers, donors, community-builders, rabid social fans, networks, influence, stories, and trusted brands. Some of these partnership stories are evolving in beautiful and inclusive ways. You can help by opening doors and opening your mind to creative ways we can co-build meaningful partnerships alongside each other.
4. Nonprofit leaders must evolve quickly and humanly. Our landscape is changing rapidly in this digital moment of new work. The human worker has evolved. Their needs have changed. Donor motivations are changing. Connecting all your believers to each other is getting harder. Bottom line: nonprofit leaders are overburdened. We need to break the chain of tactics holding them down. We need to loosen grant restrictions, reporting requirements and (over)visioning sessions. Nonprofit leaders need to be empowered to do their thing and mobilize their people. Boards need to soften budgetary restrictions and encourage investment in continuing education and technology. We need leaders to be able to move more quickly. Long chains of command, massive iterations, and overthinking are slowing our progress. Leaders need to give trust to their team and check-in often. They need to stop sheltering the org first, and begin sheltering people and mission equally. Lastly, leaders — you need tech right now. Trust us on this. But relax — lots of tech-for-good friends waiting in the wings to help you.
5. People need a break from the world’s heaviness to hear a story that’s good. Stories about empowering girls, solving the water crisis, throwing birthday parties for unhoused kiddos, upskilling Syrian teen refugees, teaching foster kids how to fight for their rights, tech/govt/nonprofit converge to raise millions in days to fly 300 high-risk afghani refugees out of the country, an inspiring school for homeless kids, and how love letters and insulated drinkware have the potential to change the world. We all need something good to restore our faith in humanity. Find those stories within your mission and share them widely.
6. Nonprofits investing in professional development and marketing are winning right now. The world is entirely different than it was pre-pandemic. Public health, social justice, human rights, financial insecurities, and political unrest invade every digital space. Nonprofits must invest in technology that automates, integrates, amplifies, and flexes to connect to their right people. They need new digital marketing strategies, an understanding of how to work within these social channels, how to use the tools, how to cut through the white noise that’s hitting us at 5,000 branded messages a day, etc. We need your help clearing a pathway to cut through that noise by flexing our tools and messages in the already-crowded digital space. Upskilling and investments in professional development need to be the first thing added to nonprofit budgets — not the first thing cut. Investment in digital marketing is paramount to targeting these messages and activating them for good. Marketing is no longer icing on the cake. It’s the most essential tool in your modern fundraising strategy toolbox. Normalize its investment.
7. We must commit to thinking differently. The traditional methods of fundraising have served us well, but we must evolve our thinking, our methods, and our investments. We place emphasis on honing hard skills we often forget that prioritizing soft skills may be the great humanizing multiplier of our work. Explore coaching and mentoring for your people and yourself. Leaders who are working to 1) build an abundance mindset, and 2) invest in culture-building are the ones shining. Why? Because they’re trying stuff. That stuff — targeted ads, collecting 20k videos from students to alums, creating one-sheet strategic plans, diversity training, incredibly engaged monthly giving programs yielding 70,000 donors, flexible work environments, having founders talking about their mission on TikTok, understanding each other better through Enneagram — it’s powering a brave new world that we’re hearing heart-wired people want to join and support. It needs bold leaders and advocates.
8. Just be nice. We’re from Oklahoma, so naturally we’ve got a bit of that laid back, aww shucks attitude. But seriously, 300 episodes have illuminated kindness to be the great disruptor. Brene was right. Vulnerability leads to connection. Connection needs authenticity and trust to survive. In this era where everyone is craving what’s real — no digital artifice — simply being genuine and caring about people is what we all desire. (BTW, Brene, you’re totally on our Ungettable Get List🥹)

The sector is in flux, but those who are rising to meet it through innovative solutions, social engagement, investments in leadership, DEI, professional development, mental health, and building healthy cultures are winning. Big time.

Do your favorite nonprofit a favor. And think uniquely about how you can help them by sharing what you have. I’m not talking solely about money. Follow their social accounts, share your story of connection with a friend, volunteer, donate your birthday gifts, gather your friends to fill a table at their next charity event, talk to your kids about philanthropy, or just do a random act of kindness. We lighten the load of community when we become a part of community.

Bottom line: Everyone can be a philanthropist.

Help your nonprofit rise. The moment is rife for disruption, architecture and evolution. We need you. Because community is everything.

Nonprofits, we see you. You’re doing great. What you’re giving is enough. Make some time for yourself. Once you’re recharged, keep pouring into things that matter. We’re rooting for you🚀