Nonprofit Nation with Julia Campbell

A Revolution in Nonprofit Professional Development with Jon McCoy and Becky Endicott

May 25, 2022 Julia Campbell Season 1 Episode 38
Nonprofit Nation with Julia Campbell
A Revolution in Nonprofit Professional Development with Jon McCoy and Becky Endicott
Show Notes Transcript

Celebrate! 🎉🎉 My live nonprofit training course, Storytelling That Sticks, is open for enrollment! Class starts May 30th - and I'll only run this ONCE this year - so get in now! Learn more and register: www.StorytellingThatSticks.com

Nonprofit organizations live daily in working to outpace need. Yet, the nonprofit fundraising landscape is one that hasn’t changed much in the last several decades. What if our dreams are bigger than simply hitting revenue goals? 

To better help the sector dream big and escape the status quo, Jon McCoy and Becky Endicott started the We Are For Good professional development empire. They're on a mission to reimagine the nonprofit professional development space, to flip the donor pyramid upside down, and to rename our industry in their spare time.

After dreaming of a full-fledged company aimed at empowering and equipping this generation of nonprofit leaders,  We Are For Good launched in 2020 through their podcast of the same name. The podcast debuted as the #1 nonprofit podcast on Apple iTunes and hosts some of the industry’s most respected thought leaders as guests. 

Here are some of the topics we discussed:

  • The biggest changes in the nonprofit sector in the last two years
  • How they record and release new podcast episodes three times per week (wow!)
  • How we can get people to care and to embrace our ideas
  • What nonprofits get wrong when it comes to professional development - and how We Are For Good aims to change that  

Connect with We Are For Good:
LinkedIn - @Weareforgood
Instagram - @Weareforgood
Twitter - @weareforgood_
Facebook - @Weareforgood
Pinterest - @Weareforgood
YouTube - @Weareforgood
https://www.weareforgood.com/

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About Julia Campbell, the host of the Nonprofit Nation podcast:

Named as a top thought leader by Forbes and BizTech Magazine, Julia Campbell (she/hers) is an author, coach, and speaker on a mission to make the digital world a better place.

She wrote her book, Storytelling in the Digital Age: A Guide for Nonprofits, as a roadmap for social change agents who want to build movements using engaging digital storytelling techniques. Her second book, How to Build and Mobilize a Social Media Community for Your Nonprofit, was published in 2020 as a call-to-arms for mission-driven organizations to use the power of social media to build movements. Julia’s online courses, webinars, and talks have helped hundreds of nonprofits make the shift to digital thinking and raise more money online.

Connect with Julia on other platforms:
Instagram: www.instagram.com/juliacampbell77
Twitter: www.twitter.com/juliacsocial
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/juliacampbell
Blog: www.jcsocialmarketing.com/blog

Take Julia’s free nonprofit masterclass,

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Julia Campbell:

Hello, and welcome to nonprofit Nation. I'm your host, Julia Campbell. And I'm going to sit down with nonprofit industry experts, fundraisers, marketers, and everyone in between to get real and discuss what it takes to build that movement that you've been dreaming of. I created the nonprofit nation podcast to share practical wisdom and strategies to help you confidently Find Your Voice. Definitively grow your audience and effectively build your movement. If you're a nonprofit newbie, or an experienced professional, who's looking to get more visibility, reach more people and create even more impact than you're in the right place. Let's get started. Hi, everyone, thrilled to be back in your earbuds in your car speaker wherever you're listening today. This is another episode of nonprofit Nation. I'm your host, Julia Campbell. And I have two fantastic guests for you. Today. We're going to talk about all things content creation and podcasting, and future trends for nonprofits. I have John McCoy and Becky Endicott from we are for good with me today. There are two Oklahoma business partners and friends who have 35 combined years of experience in nonprofit development and marketing. He's the designer and if you have seen the we are for good content, the website, the podcast, that emails, you know, he's a fantastic designer. She's the writer but they call themselves marketers disguised as fundraisers. And they cut their teeth working at two of Oklahoma's largest foundations, leading teams in annual giving events, stewardship, major gifts, and they built a groundbreaking employee giving campaign model that's been internationally replicated by development shops around the world. After dreaming of a full fledged company aimed at empowering and equipping this generation of nonprofit leaders. We are for good launched in 2021 a year to launch a business through their podcast of the same name. And I was the first guest on that Podcast, episode one. And the podcast debuted as the number one nonprofit podcast on Apple, iTunes. And I absolutely love that their favorite thing is teaching. And they launched we're for good Pro, which they coin, the term Netflix for nonprofits. And I love that that's exactly what it is. And that's where they bring the best thought leaders and innovative disruptors to an online classroom in order to empower professionals to do more for their missions. So welcome John and Becky.

Jon McCoy:

Oh my gosh, it is so hard to sit here and not emote and say thank you want your talking. That's so kind.

Becky Endicott:

Our guest number one. Do you remember when we were so excited to land Julia on our podcast and we had such impostor syndrome? Hello, my friend.

Julia Campbell:

Wow, how many episodes as of this recording? Have you done? 242? Amazing. So yeah, I mean, let's begin with your story. I said a little bit about it in your bios. But what inspired you to create the we are for good empire and it really is an empire right now?

Jon McCoy:

Well, I mean, like a lot of things just kind of has snowballed over time. And it's our story really starts as me walking into Becky's interview office wearing a necktie trying to impress her, because I was trying for an internship at Oklahoma State University Foundation. You know, I wanted to get into something, you know, in the nonprofit space. Becky's leading this marketing team, I think she has her entire life together. She not only gave me the job, but we became friends. And we just kind of both were starry eyed dreamers, love philanthropy, love what we saw it do at the university that we both loved, because we were like embarking on a billion dollar fundraising campaign. So a formative experience of ours was just seeing huge philanthropy make huge change, you know, and be a driver and a catalyst for so much that we just kind of thought that's how philanthropy was everywhere. And, you know, our story continued, because we followed each other to a health care foundation here in Oklahoma City, which we both still live today. And we spent the last decade there, but it was a completely different experience. You know, it was a lot of the employees at our organization didn't even realize we're a nonprofit. We were in the kind of the middle of a big lawsuit from a really famous philanthropist that just kind of set the tone for a completely different experience there. And it took time, but it kind of almost restored our belief in what the power of philanthropy, as we saw grassroot movement really begin in front of us and that was an employee giving campaign because there's so many passionate people that just wanted to plug into philanthropy that it kind of broaden our dreams of what was possible and we grew up a lot during that decade. And again, just wanted to like perpetuate That kind of lessons we learned but also just the energy and the power of philanthropy and how it transforms people and the you know, whatever you're trying to impact. And so we kind of just took that and turned it into what we are for goodness today. And there's been a lot of iterations along the way that you want to jump in.

Becky Endicott:

I mean, that was beautifully said, I think you could just call us the creative rebels of the sector, who were just constantly looking at everything through almost a marketing and community lens. And I think just the basis of our friendship was looking each other going, why are we doing it this way? Why wouldn't we do it in a completely different way. And we've just always felt that nonprofit had so much potential, but that it was so antiquated, in its process, and in its engagement and in its ability to awaken and inspire. And we just wanted to thread in heart, and our hustle. And we love whimsy. And we love just the joy that philanthropy can bring. And yeah, so we had this idea, actually, John had the idea. He cultivated me for three years until I was like, Okay, I guess I will try to be an entrepreneur. And we made this leap. And inadvertently, yeah, we built a media company. So we're just here, our main goal is to create an impact uprising. And we want to fundamentally elevate drastically Elevate, not just the nonprofit sector, but you know, be corpse and social impact and anything that is pouring more good into the world. And so, yeah, we want to democratize it and evangelize it and bring as many people along as we can.

Julia Campbell:

I love that. So 240 episodes, definitely, probably more after this recording, because you do three a week, which I think is so phenomenal. How did you come to the realization that you needed to do a podcast? And how do you determine, you know, what kind of guests you have on your show? And what kind of things people want to learn?

Jon McCoy:

Well, you know, it's funny to look back now, because, you know, my initial pitch to Becky was we need to do a five day a week podcast, like a new episode, every day,

Becky Endicott:

and I told him to slow his roll. Yeah.

Jon McCoy:

goodness for that, because I think this is a good cadence for us. But I mean, this, this kind of thought process behind it is what I love about podcast is that you get to know the person, like it can be so much of a human conversation, not just the strategy or the tactic, but understanding like, what's the value proposition underneath the surface, and what's motivating and driving these people that we see success on the surface, but getting to know them as humans to, like, give so much color. And I think, you know, I, I'm a big follower of all things, entrepreneurship. So I was listening to a ton of podcasts at the time when I kind of came up with the idea for it. But I just thought, Man, this is really untapped in the nonprofit space, definitely at the pace at which that I thought we could have conversations and really create a really inclusive table and lift voices that we feel like, you know, don't have an opportunity to really spread their message as much. And so we just wanted to create that place. That's really the lens, you know, we really like to let our community and that we're forget community like is the heart and soul of this, you know, because as we connect with people, and we people reach out and say they've been impacted, or maybe they implemented something that's really changed the trajectory of their nonprofit or the way they think about something like, you know how this feels really, it's just like, it makes it all so worth it. And we try to just be in touch with the community. So we have live events, and we'll be in discussion to understand what are the pain points, you know, what are the things that they're facing on the frontlines? And how can we elevate that conversation, and you just lift one example. Because, you know, mental health is something that's not talked about enough, and especially in our sector, especially in light of the compassion, fatigue, and then you lay on the pandemic, and you lay on all the factors that had been the last couple of years. And we just wanted to take that head on, you know, and Becky, and Becky, I don't want to share this for you, but you can hop in here. But you know, Becky had a real personal story of this. And you've got to jump in be I can't tell your

Becky Endicott:

story. No, I mean, I just I was one of those individuals and nonprofit that just worked myself to the bone. And I didn't understand what I didn't understand until I was at rock bottom. But I was just not built for a corporate environment. I wasn't built to be in a box. I'm just a creative and trying to work in a culture that was just not affirming of that and it was very closed off and it was so hierarchical and patriarchal um yeah, I just had a nervous breakdown and and I don't know if that's the correct term, but I tell John, I lost my marbles and it always makes him really uncomfortable because I would pretend to be picking them up and putting them back into my head. Yeah, so I just shared the whole experience and it actually happened. My trigger, ironically happened while I was studying for the CFR II Men, I'm not here to say that the CFRE will give you In a previous breakdown, it was just kind of the the last straw. But we you know, John called this one time the kind of progressives and I love that because there just isn't an option right now it didn't feel like for people in nonprofit to just come and share, you know, what's bogging them down? What is holding them back? What is it like, you know, to not be paid equitably, to not be able to have the freedom to innovate and to grow and to try things. And there's so much work and the power dynamics are, are often and there's racism in our sector. And, and we just thought, what if we show up and attempt to equalize this in a really kind way that sees all people, but we're going to push the envelope, because we want to get to that impact uprising, and we cannot get there, unless we equalize and bring everybody along with us and allow them to have a voice in that. And that is really what drives how we pick our guests. How we put our content out. And yeah, it's just the response has just blown us completely away.

Julia Campbell:

So I need a shirt that says, in fact, uprising, can I get one coming?

Becky Endicott:

That's absolutely.

Julia Campbell:

I need a bumper sticker. I think it's a fantastic way to really espouse what you believe, but also to really provoke nonprofits to understand that no matter their mission, no matter their cause area, it is going to be viewed as an uprising, it's going to be viewed as disruptive to some people, and some people are going to love it, and some people are not going to love it. So there's no way to toe the line anymore. And we need to really embrace what we stand for. And draw a line in the sand and plant our flag and all of those, you know, little cliches, but I think we need to be much stronger in standing up for what we believe in and espousing that. And I, I love the the point you made about elevating voices that maybe are not heard, and that was a big reason why I wanted to do my podcast. I wanted to have guests on that. I don't feel like we're often featured in the sector. You know, you don't usually see them at conferences, maybe they haven't written a book or they're not really hugely famous, and get their perspective because I think it's unique. It's so important. And speaking of mental health, I had Ian and Darren I'm no, we love Ian. Yeah, he's great love Ian and Miko Whitlock, the mindful techie. He's amazing as well. So he talks about how to use technology in a mindful way. But Becky, I want to ask you this question. Just to bring it a little bit more back to a tactical tips for our listeners, you say that you fell into development from Marketing, and you both call yourself marketers disguised as fundraisers? So in your experience, working with and in and talking with dozens of nonprofits and nonprofit professionals through the years, in your experience, how do you really get people to care? And how can we as communicators get people to embrace our ideas?

Becky Endicott:

I think the key to that is vulnerability, and authenticity. And I love that that is such a burgeoning moment right now in the world, not just a nonprofit, but people are tired of getting on their, you know, their Facebook, or their Instagram, or whatever it is. And seeing this Norman Rockwell sort of something played out, we can't relate to that. And when we actually start to tell the stories of the people, and we pass the microphone, to those who are affected, not necessarily, you know, our board chairman, we can't relate to him or our top donor, we, you know, we don't know what that's like. But we do understand what it's like to see struggle. And we understand what it's like to feel other ized or to feel left out or to feel that there was a gap and you wish you would have had something or someone. And so I think we're seeing this just a moment and thought leadership rising in the idea that everybody can be a thought leader because you have a unique lived experience to draw from whether you're a young professional or a seasoned professional. And so we're really trying to create a space for people to feel confident and comfortable to speak into that. And as you pour your passion, the thing that matters most to you into your words what or a video or whatever it is. People start to, you know, it's a kind of a scroll stopping kind of effect. And people see themselves there, they want to know more, and they're waiting for that moment of uplift. And they want to be a part of that moment of uplift. And that is where you build community and as you start to do that in your network, people react, they're sharing other people are coming along because that viewpoint is magnetic and you pointed to the fact that we have to stand up and and say things boldly and Know that it's not going to resonate with everyone and I say that is okay. You know, our house is not going to be for everybody. And that's okay to like, find your people find the thing that stirs your heart and get you moving. Because when you're in community with like minded people, it just lights a fire under you. And I just think your life becomes more vibrant. I love bringing my kids into these discussions about philanthropy and cars. And it just starts to make a little bit more harmony. And I just think doing it alone. There's just no room for that in our sector anymore. So we're just trying to figure out, how can we curate the tools, the frameworks? How can we bring in story to illustrate what we're trying to do? And we're just seeing this rise of people stepping into that, and it's really, really heartening of what that we think that's going to do to uplift the impact community.

Julia Campbell:

Do you want to add to that, John,

Jon McCoy:

I affirm everything that Becky's saying I just see a shift, not that values have not always been like the basis for all major shifts in our society. I just think it's more on the top of the surface than ever, though, you know, with a great resignation happening, like we're all kind of taking stock of what really matters and where we really want to invest our days and our hours, and our commutes and all that. And I just think it's such a unique special time for our nonprofits to step forward boldly into where those values and start attracting their people, because people are looking for purpose. And we uniquely can offer that more than any other like for profit entity can bring to the table there. That's why they're wanting to partner with us, you know, at Crazy levels. And so we just need to lean into that superpower this moment. And I just think the time is now like, I just there's so much this is why we're probably idealist optimist, but I just think that we're missing the possibilities that philanthropy brings, as we kind of lift all these things together.

Julia Campbell:

I love that. And that brings me to my next question, which I guess we can start with you, Becky, you published your open love letter to philanthropy, which I adore. And I have read and downloaded and published inside put inside a lot of my Facebook groups, because I love it because it really does sort of affirm your values expresses what you stand for what you're all about. And I wonder if I can put you on the spot? Can you talk about the donor pyramid, I love your perspective on this.

Becky Endicott:

I have to give John some credit here, because he was the first one that like made me think about this. And we were just talking about how mentally debilitating that donor pyramid is, and how stifling it is and how you put so much power and pressure up on the very top that you kind of ignore what's at the bottom. And so when we built this employee giving campaign that you referenced at the beginning, we built it on the impetus of what would happen if we flipped it upside down. What if we gave the power to the people with it and all the attention and all the love and all the stewardship to the people that were at the very bottom of that pyramid? What could happen if you could awaken their passion and bring it to life through story through giving through what's important to them. And we committed just we thought, you know, if we could flex everything we know about marketing into that movement. So put people in videos, start telling those stories, you know, shoot emails and brand the heck out of everything that we buy, you know, putting little stickers on it. So there's philanthropy, you know, like bread crumbs all over our organization, what would happen? And it was a moment for us because our theory proved to be true. And I think everybody would think well, of course, that's going to be true, because you're asking people to invest in the thing that matters most to them. You're not saying administration wants us to give to the unrestricted fund or the employee bereavement fund or things that we just can't grab. We can't understand what that is. But if you tell me Oh pediatrics or hospice or cancer, yeah, I can absolutely get behind that. And so watching that come to life and awaken, shifted everything for us about the way we looked at philanthropy. And we thought, what if we could start again at the bottom and build something so grassroots? Could that actually use SERP? What's happening at the top of the pyramid and we're seeing that happen now? And because they don't just bring money and I think that's the problem with nonprofit as we think of it only financially. But this is a bigger world. It's a digital world. And so people are now bringing network their network with us. They're bringing volunteer, they're bringing advocacy, they're showing up, you know, they bring their friends along. They talk about it in thought leadership and wherever they are digitally. And that has a trickle effect. And so I mean, I'll share this one example. You can look at, you know, somebody who gives me Maybe a $15 million gift to university. It's a massive gift. And certainly it's going to be transformational. But we were watching in December, this YouTuber, Mr. Beast had no idea who that was. But my child watching trans trees team sneeze, he flexes his community raises $30 million for the arbor foundation and Ocean Conservancy. It was $1. Every dollar you give is a pound of trash we can get out of the ocean that was the team sees. And all of a sudden, these two nonprofits have 40,000 new donors who believe in this. And it's like so we're trying to get the nonprofit ready to say, Okay, what do we do when we get something like that we want to warm them, we want to onboard them, we want to make sure they feel seen and connected. And so that's the again, like we keep saying it impact uprising that we see happening. And that's what we think happens when you shift that donor pyramid because it's not just a shift of strategy. It's a shift of mindset.

Julia Campbell:

And now a word from our sponsor. I'm here to tell you that this podcast episode is sponsored by my newest free training social media in 20 minutes per day. This is where I give you my exact framework and process to schedule and organize your time, so that social media does not take over your entire day. And to do list, watch the replay for free at social media in 20. That's to zero the numbers to zero.com. And be sure to tag me on social to let me know what you think. That's social media and twenty.com. Thanks for listening, and enjoy. And small dollar donors are growing oh my gosh, it is growing by leaps and bounds. And I believe that any way you can democratize philanthropy and giving and make it accessible to more people and make it fun, and make it exciting, and not make it something where people think, Oh, I have to have millions of dollars, I have to be rich to make an impact $5 can really make an impact.

Jon McCoy:

Yeah. And it's so much more sustainable to I mean, as you look at some kind of a recurring revenue model, just from like the entrepreneurial mindset, you know, you've got 1000s of people that are invested based on value, even at a smaller level is so much more stable than going after some big grant that you may or may not get year after year. So yeah, it all fits together. And I don't know if Becky use this word, but something we say a lot is that we're trying to grow believers, not just donors, because donor is just only money focused. But if you believe in something like powerfully, like what does that do to unlock all the channels that you have? And I think it's so fascinating now that the people that maybe have the most influence, it has nothing to do with money. You know, at this point, in this day and age, I think it's just it's all converging. And you're right, and impact uprising is gonna take all of us and we wouldn't want to do it with the elite top one person anyway, you want to do it. The people that

Unknown:

win are people. Yeah, exactly.

Julia Campbell:

I love that so much. I think that it's so important for nonprofits to really understand and for anybody trying to do social good to understand that if they don't believe in your cause. You can't convince them to participate or to give so that becoming a believer first is what goes before becoming a donor and I and there's going to be so many more believers in there, our donors, it's just the way of the world you'll have a lot of people that believe maybe they donate now, maybe they donate later, maybe they never donate, maybe they just take an action, maybe they talk about it, maybe they actually change their behavior based on something that you teach them. So growing believers is fantastic. And that that leads me to my question around professional development, because I know that we are for good creates a ton of free content that is incredibly useful, and a lot of paid content that is very useful. So I want to ask you, and maybe John, you can start, why are nonprofits so hesitant to invest in professional development? And how do we sort of get them on board? With how important it is?

Jon McCoy:

I mean, gosh, I wish I had a really great answer for me, too. But you know, I think this is also we talked about cognitive diversity a lot, which is why we love the podcast platform, because we can surround ourselves with different brains and minds. And I think you can kind of create your own soundboard in your own life. I mean, what podcasts do you have in your queue? And who people are you kind of putting in your feeds that you're listening to? And I think, you know, I've been in so much the track of entrepreneurship and people that want to build something that's scalable, that is following a passion that they have. That community doesn't think for a moment about making an investment in themselves to grow, to hack time to cut off, you know, something that maybe would take a year to learn If you could learn it in a weekend, why wouldn't you want to do that? And so I think it's this weird dichotomy when I think about my experience, 15 years and nonprofit, being a manager sitting at a budget table, trying to advocate for professional development for my team, that was always the first thing to get cut, it was always the first thing to get frozen, it was the first thing to get on the chopping block. And I didn't have enough in me, you know, had those years in my early career to fight for that to understand what that's doing. But now I look at it, I'm like, this is easily the highest ROI thing in your budget. Because if you can break through anything, if one of your courses, you know, Julio, even like, if somebody can make their courses are so great to get you from A to B, you could spend years googling to try to put that together,

Julia Campbell:

you could go to YouTube University, right every day.

Jon McCoy:

And that's the reality of our world. But if you can pay somebody like yourself, that's an expert in in one hour, cut off all this time, why are we not doing that? Do Why do we not value our time enough, and our mission enough to say, let's make this investment. And so we're just evangelists for professional development. That's why we wanted to build a platform that would feel so easy to access, because we don't want it to feel like it's just happening in some hotel, you know, across the country, that's only to a small group of people. We wanted to democratize it and make it really accessible. But I don't know how to get people over the hump, other than to just keep talking about there's power and investing in yourself and having a growth mindset and growth mindset was just the idea. And I can learn and grow the things that I don't know. It's okay. Like it, let's let's be honest about what we don't know, and lean into it and learn and evolve. And we can get there so much faster, if we just would admit that and make some investments in our teams. So I wish I had a better answer than that. But that's where I'm at.

Becky Endicott:

I mean, to me, it's exactly what we're seeing a nonprofit when we say that we're 10 years behind everybody, or we're not elevating up that is a direct reflection of our ability to learn. And if we're not learning, we're not innovating. And I love that John brought up abundance mindset, because we're just trying to get people out of the scarcity mindset. And I will just compliment you, Julia, because you are doing this, and you've been doing it for years, so well. And then you added a podcast as another layer. And I think that's so smart. Because podcast listeners are learners, they're curious, they want to learn, they want to take the extra step, our listeners do this, largely, we found on their free time, while they're commuting while they're cooking while they're going grocery shopping. And so they want to learn and these are the people that we think are going to innovate the sector. And if they can bring their friends along. If we can kind of just create a ripple, then that's how we're going to elevate, but it's going to take a lot of us to be able to turn that tide.

Julia Campbell:

No, I absolutely. I completely agree with that. I had that struggle when I was a development director and marketing director, because I remember wanting to invest in the course I don't know what it's called now. But it was called raising more money. It was very famous course was a series of books. I think it was books and DVDs

Becky Endicott:

at raising more money. I think

Julia Campbell:

it's called raising more money, but now it's called something else. But then a fall or banana. I don't know. Anybody know, Ben avant Beneful though the Ben avant model that avant Yeah, gone models. Yeah, Ben avant model. And I had just started out as a development director, I knew how to do the staff, but I didn't really understand how to create a strategy and a plan. And I didn't know what I should be focusing on. And I didn't really understand all of the facets of building a thriving development program. So it was $500. At the time, I'll never forget this. And I knew that it would really level up and I was going to do it on my spare time. I was going to get the books, and then I wasn't allowed to do it. And so I kind of piecemeal things together and figured it out on my own. But I always think if I had had a roadmap starting out, I would have saved so much time. And well, I agree with you about the scarcity mindset versus the growth mindset. Nonprofits are, we're just conditioned that we have to be we have to be struggling. We have to be bootstrapping. You know, if we have a great website or great design, we're going to look bad to our donors, because where we look like we're spending money on things that are frivolous. And I just think it's really interesting, because I don't feel like younger generations see that younger generations. Don't care about your logo, if it's fancy or not. They they probably do if they want to put it on a shirt, but they care about different things. Are you making an impact? Are you actually driving change? Are you accomplishing what you set out to do? They don't care how fancy or not your your website is necessarily. They do care if it's mobile optimized if they can make a donation into clicks and things like that. So we have to get away from the scarcity mindset. And I think that's important. And I want to touch on the The Netflix for nonprofits model? Where did you come up with that? And tell us about that?

Jon McCoy:

Yeah, I mean, you know, this idea happened before the pandemic. I mean, we launched our company in 2020. But we obviously had been working on it for a few years. And, you know, it just kind of stuck out to me that why is there not a place that's real consumable, where you can really kick back, throw it on your conference room screen, which happens so much less now. But I mean, I just had this vision of like, why wasn't there the investment of production quality? And like, all the engagement techniques that we know about from storytelling? Why is that not threaded into the way that we learn and grow as an industry? And how could that be holding us back. And so we just, you know, knew that with this podcast, we'd had this opportunity to meet so many people, especially at the cadence of three a week, that we were able to, you know, highlight people that really connected, you know, at a heart level, but also came with something really disruptive to say, and a framework behind how to do it. And those are the people that we've invited to come on to pro platform to teach. Because we want, we want to turn out inspiration all the time. And we want it to be a place where you can come and pull up a chair and always feel welcome and that you're going to leave inspired and with some ideas. But to go to the next level, we thought you really need intention with that you really needed to have a place where you can sit down kind of clear your mind, this is not a multitasking thing as much as it's let's let's get in the zone. And so Pro was kind of the convergence of all that to make it really accessible. We've also introduced live coaching, which is kind of void in our space, at least at scale, which is the idea of bringing on the thought leader and allowing them to answer questions live in front of an audience so they can take people on stage, and I'm using my air quotes here. But you can come up and talk about a problem that you're facing and get real time feedback in community. Because we feel like there's so much more that can happen as we lean in vulnerably, and share and encourage each other. And so live coaching is a real core component of pro and it's all kind of bundled together in one membership. So that's the offering and it's every week, it's you know, getting new pieces added. And we're refining it and figure out what works. But it's just a place to grow. You know, it's a place to grow and community that we always wanted to see in the world. So we just created it.

Becky Endicott:

And it's entertaining. It's like we call it edutainment like we want people to be light we want. We want to threaten humor, we want them to be a we want you to see them as a human being. So we create, you know, just a little bit of space for them to talk about themselves and the things that are important to them. Because once you know, someone's heart and intentions, you can see that threaded and what they are teaching. I mean, you bring up the open love letter to philanthropy, that was my I'm going to use a Gen X phrase here. That was my DTR. That was my defining the relationship. You know, it's our why of why we do this work. And when you understand the heart of that, it's like, Oh, I really believe in that. And I want some of that. So and here's the topic we're gonna dive into. So we just we'd like to revolutionize the way that we teach and engage. It doesn't have to be stuffy. You don't have to go to a conference and have 42 flags underneath your conference badge to give yourself legitimacy. And so yeah, we're ready to just shift the narrative. And I'll just say, I feel like if you're a nonprofit right now, and you're listening, this is your moment. And we use this analogy with Oliver, like, we're the nonprofit is always all over, like coming out with their bowl saying please, there may have some more asking donors to buy a table or, and it's like, no, no, the power dynamics have flipped now, and you are in control. And corporations and communities and sectors are looking for your expertise. They're looking for your passionate people. They're looking for how you communicate purpose, we have something very big to give right now. And if you are brave enough and bold enough to step into this moment, we're telling you that we have interviewed so many people who have chosen to make that step and their success is just skyrocketing. So we're just trying to replicate that for as many missions as we can. What I

Julia Campbell:

appreciate about the content that you put out with we are for good is that you really are elevating all sorts of different perspectives. So you have people that work in the trenches in nonprofits, you have people that are investors and donors, you have people that are consultants, you have people that are staff members that are volunteers that are working towards social causes from every aspect. So there's always something to learn. And there's always just a unique perspective in there. So I really appreciate that.

Becky Endicott:

Well, you know what we play too well, to play too much in our own sandbox healthcare, philanthropy, only talks to healthcare, philanthropy, other fundraisers only talk to other fundraisers. There's a lot to be learned in the entrepreneurship level. We really believe in thinking like a business.

Julia Campbell:

I absolutely love that. So what's next for we are for good, what's sort of on the horizon? Buckle up?

Jon McCoy:

So I mean, we're going through this right now is like we're now a toddler company. So we're trying to find our way and not fall over but We're leaning more into impact uprising like that's our North Star. It's literally on the TV in my office every day and what we really think about. And so our vision is to really touch 1 million people like to impact 1 million people through the platforms. And so Becky alluded to that we're now a media platform. And we really are seeing ourselves and kind of this moment to lift conversations. And so we're gonna go deeper into the podcasting space, it's, it's struck a chord, I think it's how people are learning right now in a real passive way. So we're gonna go deeper into the podcasting space, you're going to see a reimagined website, a place where you can really come and learn and grow. And it's really integrated, where you can go deeper, and get resources and be a content hub, for you to really just get connected with the people and the resources that are fueling movements that you can follow to. And I'm going to teach this, I don't know, I don't have a date in mind yet. But we're putting together an event where we're going to, you know, bring together all of the best thought leaders and the people that have been on the podcast, and just some of the flow that we're forget has become, you know, put a flag around of these ideas and the tenants that we've shared today, and be a one day virtual event that's reviewing it as a global audience. I mean, it's a global community that wants to create an impact uprising. And so it's going to be disruptive in that way, it's going to look a little different than your typical conference, that have a lot of the things that people have come to know and like from our content.

Julia Campbell:

I love that I can't wait while I will be highlighting that content, sharing it out. And where can people find you? I know that you did the best practice where you are the same handle on all your social media sites. It was amazing.

Becky Endicott:

Can we talk about that for a second? Because John is whole. I mean, he is the branding guru. How many how many URLs? Do you have in your GoDaddy account? John?

Jon McCoy:

URL about every 10 days? Due to

Becky Endicott:

various So yes, we you can find us that we're for good.com. We are certainly on where our favorite platform is LinkedIn. We're also on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest. Did I forget any all the

Jon McCoy:

interwebs join tick tock soon. So watch for the Tick Tock is coming.

Becky Endicott:

And someday I want to read it thread. But that's like my dream, the dream but we also have a community that's free that you can come into it's we're for good community.com. And it's literally hundreds of people not necessarily just in the nonprofit space, but writers and impact investors and philanthropists, and we're all talking about things that are working and ways that we're stuck and we get unstuck and it's a massively supportive and empathetic group that lifts each other. So if you need a little bit of good in your life, go there and you'll find a community of people who automatically love you just for joining.

Julia Campbell:

Thank you so much. I know you're busy. You probably have podcast episodes to record and other content to create. Also, we are forgotten as a fabulous weekly newsletter. So go to we are for good.com You'll find all the goodies. And thanks so much John and Becky for being here today.

Jon McCoy:

My friend is an honor. Thank you,

Becky Endicott:

thank you for doing what you're doing to uplift the community you are always forever our number one episode number one in our hearts. Keep going, watching, following and listening.

Julia Campbell:

Well, hey there, I wanted to say thank you for tuning into my show, and for listening all the way to the end. If you really enjoyed today's conversation, make sure to subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast app, and you'll get new episodes downloaded as soon as they come out. I would love if you left me a rating or review because this tells other people that my podcast is worth listening to. And then me and my guests can reach even more earbuds and create even more impact. So that's pretty much it. I'll be back soon with a brand new episode. But until then, you can find me on Instagram at Julia Campbell seven seven. Keep changing the world you nonprofit unicorn