Pretty much every stereotype you have read about Millennials is false. Many are skilled, up-and-coming professionals in their 30's & 40's with deeper pockets and vaster networks than you might think. Plus, they are the inheritors of $42 trillion by 2030.
In this episode, get to know the Millennial generation, understand what inspires and motivates them to get involved in mission making, and start to ensure effective inter-generational collaboration at your organization with Alyssa Wright.
Having spent time as a human rights activist in Eastern Europe and Africa, Alyssa brings over a decade of experience in international philanthropy to Wright Collective. With a background in community organizing and the arts, Alyssa leads the Collective with skill, creativity, and passion. As an accomplished facilitator, consultant, and coach, she builds new revenue streams, shifts cultural perspectives, and inspires people to believe that change is possible no matter what.
She has helped hundreds of both domestic and global social change organizations successfully launch major gifts programs, capital campaigns, and create sustainable funding models resulting in over $60,000,000 of resource flow. Her experience and wit has also allowed her to become a sought-after speaker on philanthropy and fund development as well as a regular contributor to ForbesWomen, Global Giving, and Network for Good. Alyssa is a powerful Millennial voice in the social change movement.
Connect with Alyssa:
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 keynote talks have helped hundreds of nonprofits make the shift to digital thinking and how to do effective marketing in the digital age.
Take Julia’s free nonprofit masterclass, 3 Must-Have Elements of Social Media That Converts
Take my free masterclass: 3 Must-Have Elements of Social Media Content that Converts
Pretty much every stereotype you have read about Millennials is false. Many are skilled, up-and-coming professionals in their 30's & 40's with deeper pockets and vaster networks than you might think. Plus, they are the inheritors of $42 trillion by 2030.
In this episode, get to know the Millennial generation, understand what inspires and motivates them to get involved in mission making, and start to ensure effective inter-generational collaboration at your organization with Alyssa Wright.
Having spent time as a human rights activist in Eastern Europe and Africa, Alyssa brings over a decade of experience in international philanthropy to Wright Collective. With a background in community organizing and the arts, Alyssa leads the Collective with skill, creativity, and passion. As an accomplished facilitator, consultant, and coach, she builds new revenue streams, shifts cultural perspectives, and inspires people to believe that change is possible no matter what.
She has helped hundreds of both domestic and global social change organizations successfully launch major gifts programs, capital campaigns, and create sustainable funding models resulting in over $60,000,000 of resource flow. Her experience and wit has also allowed her to become a sought-after speaker on philanthropy and fund development as well as a regular contributor to ForbesWomen, Global Giving, and Network for Good. Alyssa is a powerful Millennial voice in the social change movement.
Connect with Alyssa:
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 keynote talks have helped hundreds of nonprofits make the shift to digital thinking and how to do effective marketing in the digital age.
Take Julia’s free nonprofit masterclass, 3 Must-Have Elements of Social Media That Converts
Take my free masterclass: 3 Must-Have Elements of Social Media Content that Converts
Julia Campbell 0:00
Hello, my nonprofit unicorns real quick. If this podcast has helped you at all in the past year, can you do me a favor and leave a rating and a review. This helps the almighty algorithms determine that my podcast is worth showing to new people. I appreciate it. And I appreciate you now on with today's show. 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, then you're in the right place. Let's get started.
Julia Campbell 1:14
Hi, everyone, welcome back to nonprofit Nation. I'm your host, Julia Campbell, thrilled that you're here with me today. The topic, engaging millennials to raise big money. And I'm really excited to have an expert on fundraising and expert on community organizing, and an expert on engaging Millennials with me today with us today. Alyssa Wright, having spent time as a human rights activist in Eastern Europe and Africa. Alyssa brings over a decade of experience in international philanthropy to write collective with a background in community organizing in the arts. Alyssa leads the collective with skill, creativity and passion. As an accomplished facilitator, consultant and coach. She builds new revenue streams shifts cultural perspectives, and inspires people to believe that change is possible no matter what. And Alyssa is a powerful millennial voice in the social change movement. So she knows what she's talking about. I'm sadly non millennial, I'm a Gen X er. And we often get forgotten. So no one does podcasts on how to raise money for Gen Xers, but that's okay. We're like the neglected generation. Alyssa, welcome.
Alyssa Wright 2:32
Hi, Julia. I'm so excited to be here.
Julia Campbell 2:34
Yes. So what I want to talk about first, you have such an interesting background, both in theater and community organizing international relations, how did you get started in the work that you're doing now.
Alyssa Wright 2:45
So it goes all the way back to a coffee shop that I was working in, in college, I think it was, oh my goodness, 2006 seven, way back when, but I was swinging lattes, and really interested in raising money for a theater program that I was a part of. And so even though I was going to school for the theater, I was like, Oh my gosh, like the arts need more money in the area. And I think like a lot of folks had a very natural sort of desire to get out and tell our story of this small organization that I loved and was a part of. And so I just started going out and raising money from individuals. And turns out I was pretty good at it being a storyteller and having that be the core of my identity at the time. And so that was my very early, early on, beginning in sort of the nonprofit fundraising space. And we tripled the budget of that small theatre company in a couple of months, when folks said it couldn't be done just by raising money from individuals and asking for what we needed. So my roots are definitely in doing that sort of community organizing arts oriented work. I was part of a couple radically awesome theatre companies and got to raise funds for them. And then when I graduated from school, I actually got recruited and invited to join another consulting practice that was focused on fundraising and philanthropic advising work. And so got to continue my journey there and had an awesome portfolio of organizations that I was helping with a variety of different capacity building strategies in East Africa and up and down the East Coast. So that's why I kind of joke at my bio that I've worked from Kennebunk to Kenya, because I also love alliteration.
Julia Campbell 4:18
And I've been to Kenya, I love that. I think that's fantastic. So tell me about right collective.
Alyssa Wright 4:23
Yes. So I launched my own practice after leaving that larger consultancy about five years ago. And the impetus to do that was two things. So first and foremost, I just noticed that as somebody who is a millennial, myself self identify millennial over here, I recognize that in many of the conversations where decisions were being made in philanthropy, I was often the youngest person by sometimes 30 years, definitely by at least 20 or 25. And so I started about 10 years ago coming in, like where's my generation? So I finally got the bravery, the courage because of the amazing community that surrounds me in this work to take the risk to start my own practice. And so I did five years ago. And right Collective is it's more than a company. It's more than the services and products we offer to nonprofits and donors. It's really a community, we have a model where we offer a lot of services out to organizations from capacity building campaigns, capital campaigns, development, audits, board, development work, we do all of that in that services. But we also run cohorts two or three times a year, bringing everyone together and community because we believe that there's much more power and collaboration amongst folks in our sector. So we've got kind of a unique model. And we're really proud of the community that we're building the collective. And we've seen seven figure gifts come in, just because folks are talking about the resource needs that they truly have.
Julia Campbell 5:45
I love that and you focus on Well, one of your many focuses, millennials. So who are millennials? What is this generation? And why this specific focus?
Alyssa Wright 5:59
Yeah, so I'll just share first, personally, again, as being often the token millennial in the room, everybody's like, Oh, look at that young person eating avocado toast in the corner with
Julia Campbell 6:10
I know, you know, what, my daughter is 13 and loves avocado toast? So I don't know. It's intergenerational.
Alyssa Wright 6:16
Yes, so many stereotypes. But I know I sort of was always the millennial in the room. And I personally took an interest in this area, because I remember one time, someone having a conversation about needing to raise $100,000, for something to close the gap on a program. And they talk to everybody in the room sitting around the table, except for me. And I remember this feeling of like, not that I necessarily had the financial capacity at the time, I think it was 24. To do that, to give that kind of gift personally, or to cut that check myself, but I just had so much more social capital than anyone else in the room. And I just remember being like, well, I could probably get out there and try to do something with my social network and fill in a piece of that pie to hit that six figure goal. And the fact that I was overlooked, just really struck me and I felt like it was this, you know, form of discrimination. In a way there's ageism, that existed in the room. And turns out, you know, I'm a, I'm a rebel. So rebellion is always an option. So I left that conversation that day, and I went home, and I sent out probably, I don't know, 5060 emails to a bunch of different people that I know. And the organization ended up bringing in almost a quarter of a million dollars, because of my effort when I was originally overlooked, because I wasn't just the check writer. So I've seen a lot of power in millennials in my generation, being able to mobilize those types of resources. And I think it's really important for folks to pay attention to, and then just to share if it's helpful during share a little framing on millennials. No, I think sometimes folks still think that we are, I don't know 1819. No, over here. But you know, truth be told, we are getting older, I myself am sitting here in my mid 30s with two kids. So millennials are, you know, we're 25 to 40. Born between 1981 and 1996. The way in which most of us I think, are aware at this point that millennials did have a lot of giving power during 2020. There were so many reports that came out showing that millennials gave the most during the pandemic. And also were the generation that is individual giving channeled the most that same year towards racial equity work as an individual base. So citing stuff, we're doing the good work out there to move money.
Julia Campbell 8:27
So that's really interesting that millennials gave the most during the pandemic. And also, I read the statistic doing some research, that there are poised to be the inheritors of $42 trillion by 2030.
Alyssa Wright 8:41
Yeah, they actually just increase that number, if you can believe it to 68 trillion. So while we're sort of looking at the next decade, and this is what I say to organizations all the time is, you know, we can't be unrealistic or not be pragmatic and move forward and realizing that donor bases are aging out, especially major gifts work in a huge way. And so you know, there's inheritors, that are going to be stepping in next in line to steward those dollars towards social impact and social change. And it's really important that you're having conversations with the next generation, who will be mobilizing those dollars for good. So really important to look at, for sure.
Julia Campbell 9:19
So we're going to do sort of the who, what, when, where, why, and how we did the why. Also, I do think it's really important for organizations, especially that say, well, all of our donors are getting older, all of our donors, we don't have any email addresses, we don't have any way to contact them other than the phone. It's important to be expanding, not just your donor base, but really your constituent base and your stakeholder base into different generations because you can't just put all your eggs in one basket like you can't just put your eggs in the Facebook fundraising basket, but you also can't put all your eggs in the direct mail basket as well. You need a lot of different ways to reach people and a lot of different messaging So on that note, what are some things that recognizing that obviously, millennials are all individuals? But what are the trends? Like? What do they seem to care about? What drives them and motivates them to get involved in Mission making?
Alyssa Wright 10:17
Yeah, it's such a great question. I think one of the things to just kind of frame this entire conversation is just a reminder that, you know, millennials are the most diverse and educated generation that we have, especially in the United States. And so I think it's really important that, you know, you're really focused on creating an inclusive culture and community around your organization before you try any creative tactics, any fundraising event, to get millennials to come, you really have going that equity and inclusion work, and laying it as a framework and having it be the lens through which you see everything going forward. So I sometimes see organizations, you know, they'll reach out to us at write collective and they'll say, Oh, we want to design a next gen giving circle. And I'll say, Well, where are you at in your broader dei process? And there's, you know, a little bit of a, did a training back in 2020, like, okay, no, so just really making sure you're invested in that broader process. And it's a lens on which your brain to any everything, because if you are looking to engage younger generations, you know, a reminder that they are the most diverse generation yet. And it's important that you're creating a place where folks feel comfortable, and have a sense of belonging and connection to your work. So I'll just share that. And then in terms of some of the things that we, you know, we see with some trends or themes, the first I think, is millennials really like to be alongside you, and all in. So it's really important that, you know, we've I think moved in many ways from checkbook philanthropy, right? We're invested in the relationship now, you know, and we're thinking about giving more broadly and this like, sort of sense of being all into the work. I think, for millennials, something that I see a lot very often is that millennials really want to know how they give live, save, spend, and invest for your mission and your cause. So I had a client when I was working on the philanthropic advising side of things a few years back, and I had a client who, yeah, he made a donation. And he volunteered some of his time brought some relationships to the organization. But what he was really interested in was looking at the infrastructure of the organization and looking at particularly HR policies, and he was like, hey, like, what type of 401 k's are you offering? You know, to your staff, if you're an environmental organization, you should really have an environmental lens on the retirement funds that you're offering, you know, to your staff harm out there, you know, with the options that you're giving them, you know, why are we on the other side of things, working towards a sustainable planet? So these are the questions I think millennials bring to the table. I think they're culture changers, and really trying to make a shift in terms of having folks think holistically about the organization, the impact that they're having. And then the second trend that I'll just name because I think it's really important for fundraising professionals to hear and superduper encouraging, is O'Neill's really aren't afraid to talk about money. I think this generation has been raised very differently, having had to kind of birth ourselves during the recession, and sort of launch our careers during that time. I think we have a different relationship to money, we think about it as sort of flowing in and through different entities, we want it to be connected to our values in a really powerful way. And so I have raised more money faster, working with volunteer leaders who are millennials than those of any other generation yet, you know, they will call up their CEO and say, Hey, like our company should give this organization and grant or, you know, they will write letters to family members and cousins asking them all to match their strong level of philanthropic giving to a cause, you know, there's no sort of hemming and hawing and sort of polite society, things that we're used to seeing around money. Millennials are really much bolder and much more assertive when it comes to resourcing causes they care about.
Julia Campbell 13:57
That is so true. Now that I think about it, I want to pull out, the first point you made were millennials really want organizations that have their mission baked into everything they do, like you said, they don't just sort of play lip service. They're not doing performative, dei performative, inclusive work. They're actually really doing the work internally, so that they can better serve their clients or help their mission or solve the problem they're aiming to solve externally. I think that's hugely important. And also just what you said about how they want to be really invested in all aspects of what's going on. So that doesn't mean, micromanaging, that doesn't mean controlling, but really understanding. Okay, so this is the problem because what I what I saw as a trend that, I think is maybe less so but I'd love to ask you about this. I know that trust in institutions and trust in nonprofits as organizations is really deteriorating. I know I read a study where 50% of Americans of all ages they surveyed all generations are very skeptical that nonprofits can do the right thing. And I wonder if you see that with millennials, like, do you see them? Really kind of saying, okay, nonprofit, if you are not, you know, if you're not really walking the walk, then we're going to find another organization that does or we're just going to start our own.
Alyssa Wright 15:27
Yeah, I think Julia, it's a really important trend to name and, you know, if we, if we think about like, shop local, right, like there's a whole movement to be local to invest more in, you know, in your area. And I think what I see with millennials, and what a lot of the data suggests is that millennials are doing just that they're looking for community based organizations, they're looking for a place where, you know, you can bump into someone at the farmers market or the grocery store, and you sort of know the people in the organization and know exactly what is happening in the community that you're supporting, not just where you live, but also say you're supporting international cause. You want to know, the people who are living there, you know, that is their culture, that is their life. And so much of that work. I think that localization of the work that's happening, I think millennials want to support that, again, just anecdotally, having worked with a family a couple years back, I saw a big shift, you know, they were working with a very large organization, large institutional organization. And they decided to make a move and say, This organization has gotten so big that our dollars and our energy, and the expertise of the folks within the organization isn't getting into the communities in the way that it should. And so I think that there is a big movement of that with millennials, where they really want to give to organizations that are being led within the community. And I also see them wanting to get behind real visionaries and systems thinkers of our time, you know, so I think I've shared with you are working a lot in the birth equity move went to help open some of the first bipoc LED community based birth centers in the country. And as we're doing that work in Boston, Detroit, and Florida, I'm just consistently impressed by, you know, folks really believing in and resourcing the vision of an individual who carries the vision of their community. And so I think that's really important is that we're investing in those systems thinkers, and millennials are excited to do that. More so than they're going on GuideStar. And checking to make sure that all the
Julia Campbell 17:19
oh my gosh, Charity Navigator, yeah, gets a 100% rating.
Alyssa Wright 17:24
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Julia Campbell 17:26
I see that to what I have seen just with my efforts, my clients and helping them, you know, kind of build their plans. And I want to talk about creating a donor communications plan that effectively engages millennials and other generations, but what I've seen is just what you're saying, it's totally about the impact. It's not that we spend 35 cents on overhead per every dollar, whatever it is, that is just not something that I think younger generations, first of all really understood, like they think, Oh, well, obviously, you need to have counselors to have a counseling center, like, obviously, you need to have people working in the food bank, and you need electricity and refrigerators to have a food bag. That's the vibe that I've gotten from them. So when you're creating donor communications, trying to take all this into account, do you have some tips on creating these kinds of communications that really speak to this generation?
Alyssa Wright 18:25
Yeah, I think a couple of things. So one, I think that's really important is to think about sort of where you as an organization land in the ecosystem, so to speak, like in your movement overall, and make sure that, you know, you're not sort of speaking in a silo just about your organization all the time, you know, so it's, no, no one organization is going to save the world. You know, and so I just feel like, you know, I think millennials are very, you know, some of the best results we've got on communications that folks are actually open and reading and engaging with have to do with, you know, saying, Hey, we're at this conference, we were on this panel with this other organization, check them out, we're going to partner with them around that, or, Hey, you know, we went and presented a white paper case study on our work in Boston in parallel to the same projects happening in LA and here's what we're all learning together to create a nationwide strategy. I think inviting them to other conversations and other causes versus consistently just speaking in your own silo is incredibly important. And honestly, quite frankly, and Julia, you and I have talked about this. It's genuine, like you have to be genuine. And then the other thing that I think is really fun for communications. And, you know, I definitely have gotten pushback from folks in the past, you know, not wanting to even attempt this, but I think some of the less risk averse folks who have have seen a great return on it is talking about like how the sausage is made, so to speak, to polish. So anytime I can bring up like cabasa and sausage. I love kielbasa.
Julia Campbell 19:51
I love all kinds of sausage. I'm French.
Alyssa Wright 19:55
Oh, there we go. Well get a good good Merleau to go with it. But I definitely think it's important to talk about like how the sausage is made, and to show the messiness of scaling and growing your organization and your mission. We put out a newsletter a few years back, and it was about it was a three part blog series about the messiness of a founder transition to its first executive director. And we got so many warm responses from that. And we actually had people reach out and say, I want to be on the board, I want to join a committee, like they wanted to give their time because they knew the, again authenticity of where we were at. But they also appreciate that we said, this wasn't perfect. You know, like, here's some of the things we had to really work and think through to sort of decentralize our next generation of leadership and also to, you know, build off of the amazing things that the founder had done, but also acknowledge some of the not so great things in the first few years of our conception, that led to some unhealthy, you know, behaviors or dynamics that we had. And I just thought it was so beautiful. And everyone's voices were seen in that. And we got great responses from a lot of next gen xers particularly connected to some of the family foundations that were funding us who said, Oh, my gosh, y'all are so real. Like, let's continue to
Julia Campbell 21:05
it's refreshing to see that, because you think, wow, people really work here. That's what I think, a lot of nonprofits at least if they're more traditional, more into the status quo. They're so scared of being authentic and real, because they think that means offending people on purpose and being provocative. But what I always tell them is that your mission offends someone out there, I do not care what you do you help older people in the community get free meals. Well, what about the veterans? What about kids with cancer? What about dogs, someone is going to challenge you, someone's going to think you don't deserve funding, you are offensive to someone, I just, I hate to say it, but I tell my clients that all the time. So don't shy away from talking about what you really believe in. And I love that idea of the messiness, and sharing kind of the bumps in the road, and sharing learnings and sharing that you are a real genuine organization made up of actual people. And, you know, sometimes things happen that you didn't anticipate. And we just wanted to kind of let you know, and what you just said about the ecosystem, I think, really might be the most powerful marketing tip that I have heard at least on this podcast, I swear, I really want to pull it out. Where are you in the ecosystem of your mission? Like you said, Alyssa, no one does this work alone? What do you think you're going to solve? You're going to end homelessness by yourself, just, you know, your own little piece of the puzzle? No, you're working with other organizations. And I distinctly remember working at a domestic violence shelter. And when we did Domestic Violence Awareness Month, my executive director was like, Well, I don't really want to feature these organizations at our event, because they're, they don't work in domestic violence. And I said, Well, yeah, but they serve our clients. And they believe in this and we're all in this together. Like, why wouldn't you want them to, you know, be at our event it and the silo mentality is so destructive and so pervasive? That I just think that's incredibly, incredibly powerful and younger generations are not going to put up with that.
Alyssa Wright 23:19
Yeah, I mean, I also think there's a different sense of urgency for us, right? You know, you know, I'm sitting here looking at my, my two little girls, who are they're three and three months, and they're generation Alpha. I don't even know what to think of them yet. I'm like, Who are you? I'm starting to work with a lot of Gen Z colleagues, you know, folks between I think it's 16 and 25. Right now. And, you know, as I'm working with the next generation, myself, there's a sense of urgency because of what's happening to our planet, right. So there's a little bit of a, you know, we we can't just make this fun and light and charitable anymore. We've got to change the system. So I think there's that urgency that manifests a lot in Millennials where, again, like I said, that that room that I was in, where I was like, hey, like I can help you reach. I don't know, maybe 20,000 People in the next couple of weeks between my social media following and my newsletter, you know, is that a value to you? I think we just need to always remember that everyone has something to put on the table that can help accelerate change, and millennials will search for the time talent treasure ties, anything you need, like we will go digging, we have our shovel.
Julia Campbell 24:23
And what you said about not being as afraid of money conversations. I think rings really true as well. Like people I can't imagine my mom's generation or even I mean, I guess I'm very I'm different from my generation. I've always I've always been a fundraiser but not many people are but I do see my younger friends people in their 30s even people in their 20s constantly being like hey you know there's this drive for baby formula. Let's all go out and buy gift cards to target or, you know, there's this like this friend is in need or they're and they use These social media tools, these organizing tools, whether it's peer to peer, whether it's texting, whether it's social media, and they leverage them, because they're digital natives, you know, they grew up using these tools. So they're very comfortable sharing them to ask for money. And I do are using them to leverage their networks to ask for money, like you said, either your time talent or your treasure. So that's something that nonprofits really need to make a shift towards, where we need to start leveraging this comfort, it's not even a technical skill level, it's just, it's a comfort level.
Alyssa Wright 25:33
Totally. And I think the other thing is, you know, millennials are, you know, we're the largest generation in the labor force right now. And we will also push on companies and push on our employers, you know, to put their social values at the forefront of the work they're doing to retain us as an employee. And so that's where I've also been really impressed. You know, just to see some of my millennial colleagues, like, you know, go back to their employer and say, it's not enough to plant trees, you know, like, let's actually look at our supply chain ourselves, you know, like, let's look at fair wages, let's look at family leave, you know, all these different policies. But I also think that's where, you know, a lot of times, organizations will send out very traditional, you know, kind of donor surveys, you know, basically being like, are you happy with us? Do you like what you see, will you be at the gala?
Julia Campbell 26:18
That sort of thing goes out by a table at the gala? What? No.
Alyssa Wright 26:22
Yes, yes. Do you like our new logo? It is the 15th?
Julia Campbell 26:25
Do you like our new logo?
Alyssa Wright 26:28
But you know, in those donor surveys, if you have a captive audience that fills them out, like ask some really strong questions, you know, would you feel comfortable going to your you know, your employer and starting a, you know, employee giving day or, you know, how many people at your company do you think you could invite to join $1,000 club? You know, I, I've started to put a little bit more direct and specific questions, no, towards the demographics of folks that fall again, in the millennial age range, really asking them to push more on their employers, and then following up and saying, awesome, like, we'll come and do the Lunch and Learn and present the $1,000 Club. And we did that a few years back for a client and we left downtown Boston with 12 members joining up at 1000 bucks, like, that was 12 grand for $75, with a gas in and out of the city and a hamburger. So I think that that's another thing is just getting more creative and asking stronger questions. You know, once you start thinking about more segmentation into the future, and talking to your next gen
Julia Campbell 27:22
100%. I love that so much. So while we could talk for hours, I do want to give people a few tangible tips, if they're all excited about this. And I know for a lot of my clients, I'm guilty of giving them a lot of ideas and getting them excited about a lot of these things. So how can we combat maybe that inertia, that status quo? And how can we bring these kinds of ideas and plans, to our boss, to our executive directors to our board? That might be a little bit skeptical?
Alyssa Wright 27:57
Yeah, I think the most important thing is to just remember, you know, this, all of this work is a journey, you know, so no one has ever done this work in 2022, on September 13, that time of day in this landscape. And so I think embracing that journey mentality is really important. I think one of the first things you can do, you know, to combat stereotypes within your organization, or if you see some pressure points across generations, I mean, that is very real, particularly when it comes to communication and technology internally, is just always remember to look for the commonalities in each other. And I think Julia, that's why I connected so warmly with you, when we first started talking a few years ago is like storytelling heals. And to support so many things in the universe, like it is amazing what can happen when you get people sitting down sharing story, whether it's no more broadly, or just two people sitting across from each other with a cup of coffee, vesting, and finding those commonalities in your team and amongst your donor community. And cultivating them is really important. So when you you know, you have the millennial that might be a little frustrated at the pace of how things are going and you have the other generation, you know, maybe the wants to Excel, you know, wants to slow the process down, and whatever it might be, you know, just pause and really think about how you can find commonalities share story and say, We all really care about this, you know, here are our values. Here's our shared vision for the future before you make some decisions. So I think first and foremost, that's really important. And if you're really looking at engaging millennials, like we kind of kicked it off today to raise big money. I think it's important to get them excited about the the amount of money they could mobilize towards a cause they care about. I'm a theater artist, I'm a highly imaginative, wild, rebellious thing. Moving through the universe.
Julia Campbell 29:38
I want to know what your Enneagram is. But you're such a creative you probably don't even believe in personality tests.
Alyssa Wright 29:44
No, I'm an ENFJ. Okay, I think the F is like a huge bolt of a feeling. I'm a wild Empath, and that was the name of my blogging, wild empathy. But you know, I just really think it's important to invite people to use their imagination. In this space, I was sat down one time with a colleague of mine, he was the third generation of wealth and his family. And I said, How much money? Did your grandfather moved towards this? Cause it was an environmental cause. And he said, this month and I said, How much did your father move? And he said, this month, I think, and I said, How much do you want to move? I said, Do you think he could triple what your dad did? And he just looked at me, he goes, Really, we could move that much money? And I said, Yeah, we could. And what difference would that make feeling into the world that we're living in right now? So, you know, don't be afraid to sit down with anyone anywhere and say, what if we could raise a million dollars in the next decade for this work? Because I'm seeing Millennials get energized by that and time and time and again, step up to use all of the capital, social, financial, physical, spiritual, everything they have to put on the table to try to drive change for causes they care about.
Julia Campbell 30:50
It's that abundance mentality. That's so like, it's just refreshing and exciting, rather than the scarcity mentality that I think has driven nonprofits for so long, so many decades. And for good reason, right?
Alyssa Wright 31:04
No one's gonna get mad at you. If you say I'm going to try to raise a million in a decade. You go Oh, darn it. I only raised 998,000 wish I didn't try. Right.
Julia Campbell 31:14
Oh, big lofty dreams. I love that so much. Thank you so much, Alyssa. How can people find you get in touch? How can they work with right collaborative?
Alyssa Wright 31:24
First and foremost, I'm always open to a warm email. So Alyssa A L Y S S A at wrightcollective.co
Julia Campbell 31:32
I'll put everything in the show notes. Everyone, as I always do.
Alyssa Wright 31:37
Love it. Love it. Yeah. So I'd love for folks to shoot me a warm email if you have thoughts or questions after today, if you want to start a conversation within your org as an organization, and then I love folks to follow me on LinkedIn or Instagram at write collective. And there's a lot of good conversation going on there. And I'm just grateful, Julia, for you for creating this space where we can really talk about and think future forward. I'm definitely sitting here looking at my two littles and saying, oh my goodness, maybe 50 or 60 years left on planet Earth to do the best that I can in this work for who's coming up behind me. And so I just appreciate the space you make for us social change agents to get out there and do this.
Julia Campbell 32:14
Oh, well, we'll have a working mom parenting podcast.
Alyssa Wright 32:18
Oh my gosh. So another time.
Julia Campbell 32:21
I love that. So Alyssa, she is at writecollective that's W R I G H T collective, alyssa@wright collective.co. And the website, I'll put all the links in the show notes. And this was just such a fantastic conversation. I really appreciate you all the work that you do. And also just for keeping my sanity many times when I get pushback for some of my views that I share publicly, and then you send an amazing email out and it just validates everything that I think and everything that I that I do. So I appreciate you, as well, Alyssa.
Alyssa Wright 32:57
I appreciate you. Thank you, Julia.
Julia Campbell 33:00
Thanks, everyone for tuning in. And we'll be back next week with another episode. All right, take care.
Julia Campbell 33:12
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 and 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