We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits

Latest Episodes:

81. The Story of Rising Above the Storms - Alphonsine Anderson and Devin Hood Feb 22, 2021

Show notes

Meet Alphonsine. She may be the world's bravest sister. During the 1994 Rwandan genocide, her parents and two siblings were killed in the conflict leaving her to raise three younger siblings under the age of 10. It's a harrowing story of survival, chasing educational dreams and eventually landing her dream job at Cisco. Today, she's talking about paying her good fortune forward through a new nonprofit benefiting Rwandan children, and she's even brought a board member into the discussion. Love and hope reign supreme in this chat.
Episode Highlights

Alphonsine’s Story (5:00)
Alphonsine’s resilience and how she rose above the storm (9:00)
Alphonsine’s education and journey to the United States (14:00)
“Education is a top priority for me because of what it has done for me.” (15:50)
The founding story and mission of Rising Above the Storms (17:30)
The story behind the name of Rising Above the Storms (20:30)
Devin’s connection to the mission and how she became involved (22:00)
Rising Above the Storm’s digital strategy and what Devin is bringing to the organization (27:00)
Start with your audience. Hone in on how to market to them (29:00)
How COVID pushed them to move into the digital space to create a virtual fundraising event (30:00)
An overview of the programs within Rising Above the Storms and how they change lives through a message of hope, advocacy for orphans, and empowerment through education (33:00)
Impactful stories of philanthropy in Alphonsine and Devin’s lives (40:00)
Alphonsine’s One Good Thing: You don’t have to change the world. You don’t have to change a town. Have an impact on 1 person.
Devin’s One Good Thing: Networking is the single most important thing you can do to get knowledge and awareness out there. Be vulnerable and network.

For more information and episode details visit: www.weareforgood.com/episode/81

The We Are For Good Podcast is co-hosted by Jonathan McCoy, CFRE and Becky Endicott, CFRE and welcomes the most dynamic nonprofit leaders, advocates and philanthropists to share innovative ideas and lessons learned 3x a week!
Want to hear insider details and to get our best roundup of tips, freebies, resources and show notes from each episode? Join the Good Community - it's free! Visit www.weareforgood.com/hello

Join us at The Spread!

Givebutter's biggest innovation event of the year is here — The Spread, built entirely around co-creating with nonprofits like yours. 💛

We Are For Good is joining forces with GB to host in-person hackathon meetups on Friday, Oct. 2, in New York, Seattle, LA, Denver, and Indianapolis, so you can build alongside other nonprofits in the community.

Learn more and save your free spot today.

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Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free.
Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com

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80. An Impact Uprising: Expand Your Vision of What's Possible - Jonathan McCoy, CFRE and Becky Endicott, CFRE Feb 19, 2021

Show notes

Getting clear-eyed and full-hearted toward a mission and vision holds the power to fuel your work, give clarity of when to say "heck yes" to opportunities and when to give a hard pass too.
You've likely heard in our podcast intro that our vision is "to create an impact uprising"... but what the heck does that mean anyway? The answer just might surprise you - even if you are a ridiculous idealist like us.
In this Friday Convo, Jon and Becky give a peek behind the curtain of what's motivating us to show up and cultivate community here, and what's to come on the horizon. You better believe we have a seat ready for you at this table. Won't you join us?
Episode Overview

The story behind the creation of our “impact uprising” story (2:00)
How our dreams have shifted and grown since talking with so many world changers on the podcast so far (6:00)
How we want to plug into the current Generosity Crisis (7:00)
The act of giving leads to greater happiness, more empathy, and connects you with community (8:20)
By activating this sector, there is going to be so much more of a ripple happening (8:00)
An example of the power of being connected to causes and the meaning and purpose it gives to our lives (10:30)
What is your burden? What are you accountable to? That’s the cause you’re called to serve. - Sara Cunningham, Episode 7 (13:30)
If your life is not set up right now to include part of that mission, that can be a change you can make today. Whatever that may look like for you: volunteering, donations, or even just sharing why you love a mission on your social media. (15:00)
An insider look at things we are launching soon! (17:00)
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For more information and episode details visit: www.weareforgood.com/episode/80

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79. The Real Truth about Campaign Feasibility Studies - Beth Silverstein Feb 17, 2021

Show notes

Meet Beth. She knows the textbook approach to conducting campaign feasibility studies. But in this conversation she challenges us to throw out the old playbook, because our campaigns deserve our fresh eyes and creative minds to improve this planning process. Beth has reimagined the typical feasibility study by not just trying to predict future investments, she's leveraging storytelling in these meetings too (yippee!) to create a more inclusive and collaborative process that pays dividends. We'll break it down in easy steps, so don't miss this convo.
Episode Highlights

Beth’s story and journey to the nonprofit world (3:00)
The importance of inspired thinking in the nonprofit world (6:00)
Feasibility studies: what are they and how can we disrupt the way they’ve always been done? (8:00)
We should be having these conversations all the time, not just during large campaigns (11:30)
Advice for how to conduct interviews during a feasibility study and examples of questions to ask (14:00)
Using some of these strategies to connect more deeply with donors - especially throughout COVID-19 (20:00)
Suggested questions to ask to get to the heart of your donor (21:00)
Get to the WHY behind your donor. Why are they in the room with you? What connects their heart to your mission? (22:00)
The 4 steps of a feasibility study (25:00)
How to do this successfully virtually and what Beth has learned while implementing this throughout COVID-19 (28:00)
The concept of anonymity and the power of sharing about generosity (31:00)
Transparency is everything. Donors give when they feel as though an organization is worthy (33:00)
The conversations during feasibility studies become your road map (36:00)
A powerful moment of philanthropy in Beth’s life (38:00)
Beth’s One Good Thing: You have to have a big, bold, audacious, unapologetic vision. Tell your story in a way that is inspired and impactful. There isn’t a donor on the planet that wants to give to an “ok” vision. You will never be apologetic in asking for the big gift

For more information and episode details visit: www.weareforgood.com/episode/79

Join us at The Spread!

Givebutter's biggest innovation event of the year is here — The Spread, built entirely around co-creating with nonprofits like yours. 💛

Learn more and save your free spot today.

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78. Using Marketing Automation to Treat ALL Donors Like Major Donors - Gabe Cooper Feb 15, 2021

Show notes

Meet Gabe. He's a founder on a mission since learning the nonprofit sector was facing a generosity crisis. While major donors are pouring into the industry, the rank and file mid-level and lower donors are dropping off. And now Gabe's team is punching back through some seriously innovative and brilliant tech strategy that gives our annual giving programs hope. We're talking about leveraging marketing automation to treat ALL donors like major donors whilst building some seriously rabid fans in the process.
Episode Highlights

Gabe’s story (1:58)
The Generosity Crisis (3:45)
Responsive Fundraising (7:58)
Gabe’s Suggestions for Retention (12:17)
How to grow donor engagement through personalization (18:29)
Examples of easy personalization methods you could implement today (21:04)
Virtuous & their mission (23:27)
Gabe’s Favorite Philanthropic Moment (26:50)
Gabes’s One Good Thing: Create and hold onto durable relationships. (31:00)

For more information and episode details visit: www.weareforgood.com/episode/78

Join us at The Spread!

Givebutter's biggest innovation event of the year is here — The Spread, built entirely around co-creating with nonprofits like yours. 💛

Learn more and save your free spot today.

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77. The Power of Thinking Bigger - Jonathan McCoy, CFRE and Becky Endicott, CFRE Feb 12, 2021

Show notes

It's your time. Time to step boldly out and embrace the big thinking your mission needs to scale and grow long-term. We're finishing up our final entrepreneurial hacks series with one of our favorite topics: thinking bigger. Fair warning: it requires us to employ cognitive diversity (gosh, we love this expression!). By digging into big problems to debate root causes and solutions, we can eliminate roadblocks and find a clearer path to news successes.
Evolved professionals don't let challenges get in the way of achieving their goal - they let it inspire them to think critically. We're talking risk-taking and big, bold thinking that allows us to break out of "the way it's always been done." Join us as we share our own risks and how we channeled bigger thinking to seize opportunities. Hey, this company is living proof that big risks can yield amazing rewards.
Episode Overview

The power of big thinking (2:40)
Cognitive Diversity - include people who have different styles of problem solving for new perspectives (3:00)
Start with your values and understand what those really mean (6:00)
Take the risk that your mission deserves (6:30)
Quit looking for best practice case studies and just implementing them as is (7:40)
Jon & Becky’s 5 tips to embrace big thinking (10:45)
The role of community in thinking bigger (17:20)
Ask yourself: what community could you leverage? (17:40)
Thinking big is a learnable skill (18:44)
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For more information and episode details visit: www.weareforgood.com/episode/77

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76. Crash Course on Building a Strategic Development Plan + Raising $100M+! - Bill Littlejohn, CFRE Feb 10, 2021

Show notes

Meet Bill. The self-professed evangelist for strategic philanthropy just may be the godfather of healthcare philanthropy. With more than 30 years under his belt in the development sector, this CEO of San Diego's Sharp HealthCare Foundation wants us to stop talking about being costly and start talking about being profitable. We're talking about the intentionality behind syncing development and strategic plans and celebrating frontline healthcare heroes.
Episode Highlights

The power of philanthropy throughout the COVID-19 pandemic (4:00)
Bill’s story and career journey at Sharp HealthCare (6:15)
The intentionality of syncing your development plans with the strategic plans of your organizations (10:31)
Inspiration is the essence of philanthropy (14:15)
Always start with a story of inspired giving. Our organizations have large, complex strategic plans, but get it down to a powerful 5 minute story that will inspire (16:05)
Building strategy: Focus on vision. What is it that you see that you need to do? What are the investments that are required to achieve that? (20:00)
There are only three ways you raise money: you acquire, you retain, and you grow (20:55)
Sharp’s $100 Million Inspire Campaign (23:07)
Sharp’s Guardian Angel program and their acquisition strategy and a powerful patient story (30:00)
Bill’s One Good Thing: have people skills, a work ethic, and attention to detail. Be an officer for philanthropy.

For more information and episode details visit: www.weareforgood.com/episode/76

Join us at The Spread!

Givebutter's biggest innovation event of the year is here — The Spread, built entirely around co-creating with nonprofits like yours. 💛

Learn more and save your free spot today.

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75. Reimagine Corporate Partnerships + Discover The Lost Art of Connecting - Susan McPherson Feb 08, 2021

Show notes

Meet Susan. She is a serial connector, angel investor, and corporate responsibility expert who just happens to be the ultimate word weaver. We're talking through the new normal of corporate responsibility (it's no longer nice to have - it's essential!), and she's giving her best advice on networking. Spoiler: there's nothing better you can give someone than connecting them to others. This Girls Who Code and 19th News adviser and investor took our breath away with her compassion and wisdom. Tune in for uber inspiration!
Episode Highlights

Susan’s story and journey to where she is today (3:30)
Creating meaningful partnerships between nonprofits and corporations through shared values (9:25)
It’s not about what the for-profit can do for you, it’s what you can do for them (10:17)
The history of Microsoft and the beginning of Bill Gates’ philanthropy journey (11:20)
The opportunities are immeasurable, it is a matter of being strategic (12:15)
In today’s climate, companies are less inclined to write a check if there is not an opportunity for employee engagement (12:35)
Employees want to feel that there is more than the actual job that they are doing everyday (14:44)
The most philanthropic person on the spectrum is a woman at the lowest level of the socioeconomic scale (Women’s Philanthropy Institute) (16:10)
Susan’s article in Forbes: Corporate Responsibility: What To Expect In 2020 (16:50)
Susan’s new book: The Lost Art of Connecting: The Gather, Ask, Do Method for Building Meaningful Business Relationships (21:30)
It is important to give people options for how they can help (28:15)
How nonprofits can implement the Gather, Ask, Do method to create genuine partnerships (31:52)
Always take the meetings (35:00)
Susan’s work with The 19th* (37:00)
Susan’s One Good Thing: In the next hour, pick up the phone and call someone you love who you haven’t talk to. (40:04)

For more information and episode details visit: www.weareforgood.com/episode/75

Join us at The Spread!

Givebutter's biggest innovation event of the year is here — The Spread, built entirely around co-creating with nonprofits like yours. 💛

Learn more and save your free spot today.

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74. Fail More Often: A Growth Hack - Jonathan McCoy, CFRE and Becky Endicott, CFRE Feb 05, 2021

Show notes

Found yourself stuck in the vicious cycle of ‘playing it safe’ to avoid failing at all costs? Well friends, it’s time to flip the script. We believe failure just might be what's missing in each of us to grow into the people who take our causes and missions further than ever before.

In our Friday Convo, we dive into how to embrace a healthy mindset around failure, and how to build failure into your bold goals and actions. We also share our simple steps for turning failures into a springboard to growth. Of course you can expect to hear some of our most palm-to-the-face moments too as we embrace failing right alongside you. We’re in this together, friends.
Episode Overview

Taking away the fear of failure (1:15)
Thinking like an entrepreneur and embracing their unique lens (2:00)
Failure is just a label that we are putting on it about our missed expectations (4:15)
Failures are just missed expectations (4:40)
Jeff Bezos’ Story: Don’t let failure stall you (9:45)
This space is not competitive, it is focused on community (10:35)
Focus on being brave, not perfect (12:50)
Jon and Becky’s stories of failure (14:00)
What is staring you in the face right now that you’re afraid of? Recognize that it is your own personal expectations you are putting on it. (20:00)

For more information and episode details visit: www.weareforgood.com/episode/74

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73. How to Take Your Virtual Event to the Next Level - Lindsay Martin-Bilbrey Feb 03, 2021

Show notes

Meet Lindsay. While the rest of us are scrambling to figure out virtual events, she's been orchestrating them online for years alongside her nonprofits clients. And today she's bringing those tips to the show. She'll be sharing what she believes is the new normal for event fundraising as well as sharing innovative approaches to engagement. If you're looking for virtual event ideas - today is your day. Freebies shared too!
Episode Overview

Lindsay’s career journey (2:10)
The new normal for events in our industry (8:17)
Examples of successful, innovative events throughout the last year (17:32)
Lindsay’s budgeting advice: how create an outstanding event that is budget conscious (24:41)
A powerful moment of philanthropy and community in Lindsay’s life (35:12)
Lindsay’s One Good Thing: Never stop asking questions. (39:10)

For more information and episode details visit: www.weareforgood.com/episode/73

Join us at The Spread!

Givebutter's biggest innovation event of the year is here — The Spread, built entirely around co-creating with nonprofits like yours. 💛

Learn more and save your free spot today.

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LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter

72. Inspiring a New Culture of Inclusivity + The Power of Higher Ed Philanthropy - Kim Nyoni Feb 01, 2021

Show notes

Meet Kim. He's spent his career in university development from University of Arizona and Berkley to today at UNLV. He's talking about the future of philanthropy in higher education and trends for the sector - including efforts to encourage universities to embrace the Diversity & Inclusivity in Advancement Pledge. It's not just a pledge; it's a call to action. There's a lot to discuss even as he talks through 2021 strategic planning. Tune in!

Kim’s career journey (2:03)
The future of philanthropy in higher education and what trends Kim is paying attention to (5:37)
Power of Philanthropy in higher education & a powerful story of the impact (13:32)
The Pledge: Diversity and Inclusiveness in Advancement (19:41)
Less than 11% of professionals in higher education advancement are diverse
The vision and goal for The Pledge Diversity and Inclusiveness in Advancement (26:20)
Examine the culture of your organizations. Are you treating everybody the same, and are you providing the same opportunities for everyone?
Kim’s One Good Thing: People make great organizations, organizations don’t make people. (31:03)
Becky’s One Good Challenge: if you are someone of privilege, find someone in your organizations or circles and give people a voice. See how you can partner with them. (32:20)

For more information and episode details visit: www.weareforgood.com/episode/72
The We Are For Good Podcast is co-hosted by Jonathan McCoy, CFRE and Becky Endicott, CFRE and welcomes the most dynamic nonprofit leaders, advocates and philanthropists to share innovative ideas and lessons learned 3x a week!
Want to hear insider details and to get our best roundup of tips, freebies, resources and show notes from each episode? Join the Good Community - it's free! Visit www.weareforgood.com/hello

Join us at The Spread!

Givebutter's biggest innovation event of the year is here — The Spread, built entirely around co-creating with nonprofits like yours. 💛

Learn more and save your free spot today.

Say hi 👋
LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter