← Nonprofit Nation with Julia Campbell
Nonprofit Nation with Julia Campbell
The Power of Community in the Nonprofit Sector with Becky Endicott and John McCoy
00:41:40
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Narrator/Announcer
In a world hungry for change, nonprofit impact matters more than ever. Yet every day, you're asked to do more with less. Less time, fewer resources, and tools that weren't even built for the way nonprofits actually work. What if you could do more with more? That's the promise of Bloomerang, the giving platform built for purpose. Bloomerang integrates fundraising, donor, and volunteer management into one intuitive platform. It connects your data to reveal real opportunity, showing you who's ready to give, when to reach out, and how to deepen every relationship. Because when your tools are built for purpose, your mission goes further. More connection, more confidence, more impact. Now that's more like it. Learn how you can do more with more@bloomerang.com that's bloomerang.com. now on to the show.
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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
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experienced professional who's looking to get more
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visit ability, reach more people, and create even more impact, then you're in the right place. Let's get started.
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Hello, everyone. Welcome to Nonprofit Nation. I'm your host, Julia Campbell, and I have two guests on Today that I'm pretty sure you're going to be familiar with, especially if you spent any time in the sector in the last few years or listening to podcasts or attending events. I'm joined by my friends John McCoy and Becky Endicott, co founders of We Are For Good, which is a global nonprofit community and podcast dedicated to helping nonprofits of all sizes learn, grow, and lead with purpose. And we have known each other for years. How long have we known each other?
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Becky Endicott
Since you were episode one on our podcast. I love it.
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Julia Campbell
Okay, so I'm episode number one. How many episodes have you done? People ask me that all the time. And I never know. I never remember.
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John McCoy
Almost 700.
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Becky Endicott
Yeah, 700.
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John McCoy
But you gotta understand, you were like us, throwing a dart at the wall and hoping that you would reply when you said yes, because, like, an unlike legendary already. So I'm like, oh, that's. Oh, my gosh, will she come? And then you said, yes, and the rest is history.
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Julia Campbell
That's so sweet. Yes. I loved what you were doing. I Love the concept. I loved just everything that you stood for, and I got a really good vibe from both of you. And now, God, years later, like, look how it's grown. 700 episodes. That is. I mean, wow. And then you've built the podcast into. No, I think it's wonderful. Into a whole movement. So it's so much more than a podcast. It's a movement. It's a community. So many learning opportunities. When was the moment that you realized the sector needed something like this? I guess. Becky, you can go first.
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Becky Endicott
I think there was, like, a profound shift about six or seven months in, at least for me. We were churning out at that time, three episodes a week, and we had felt like we had a business plan that I would not recommend, or maybe I would. I don't know. I guess it worked. But it was not built on making money. It was built on how do we put out as much evolved, relevant, and deeply meaningful content and make as many friends as possible in that process while giving that individual the best wraparound experience in our ecosystem? So it wasn't just about the podcast episode. It was about what happened after the podcast, you know, and how do we speak, Syndicate this conversation so that others could come into it and see themselves in it and interrogate it and challenge it and talk about what worked. And I just remember seeing, like, the flywheel start to spin about six or seven months in, and we'd had, you know, I don't even know what number we were at. It was early in 2021, but people. I would start seeing it in other people's feeds who I didn't know, and it was like, oh, if they found it, then somebody had to create that ripple, and it was grounded in this. Let's give them an incredible experience. Let's let them feel like the VIP we've worked in 20 years in nonprofit. We know what it feels like to be a major gift donor. And it's like, how do we replicate that experience for the social impact professional? And how do we have it spawn, really into something that's so much bigger than this one podcast? And that's really where we started to see it on social media. We would see it in our email. We would see it when we'd walk around wearing a We are for Good shirt. And so that's, for me, when it started to really shift.
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Narrator/Announcer
I love that.
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Julia Campbell
I know that the last time I saw you both in person at a conference was probably 2024. And I remember we were talking and we just kept getting interrupted. People were like, oh, John and Becky, you know, like, everyone knew you. Everyone knew we are for good. And the brand, I think it was, it was just really special. Everyone has, like, really good vibes around the brand. But I don't think I know how you two met. John, do you want to tell that story? I might know, but I. Yeah.
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John McCoy
So I'll take you back like 20ish years. We're saying ish at this point because it's getting older and older and it makes us feel older.
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Julia Campbell
Oh, definitely ish, for sure.
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John McCoy
So I was about to graduate at Oklahoma State University out of the graphic design program. And I wanted to not follow the path of like going to work for an agency somewhere. I wanted to do something with purpose. And literally going down the stairwell, there's this flyer hanging there that says, graphic design intern needed Oklahoma State University Foundation. And I knew that they were like a nonprofit, you know, helping kids get scholarships, etc. And followed that flyer and it was. Can I just be honest? It was so ugly.
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Julia Campbell
It was probably Comic Sans. Comic Sans. It wasn't, but it should have been.
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John McCoy
But my mentality was like, if I can't get this job, I want to help them make a flyer that may help them get a graphic designer to come work for them.
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Julia Campbell
Oh, that's sweet though. You saw a need.
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John McCoy
So show up and walk into the interview. And I'd stayed up the night before, like spray mounting business cards together, pieces of paper together to look professional. I walk in the door and there is Becky Endicott, the director of marketing, who I thought had her life together. She was running this foundation's marketing department and she was in her young 20s. And I, you know, we found each other and I think not only did she give me the job. Thanks be. Appreciate that. But we just like realized how much we saw the world in the same way and like how we viewed philanthropy and how we viewed storytelling. And at that season of life, we were given the keys of the marketing department beyond what any other 20 year old should have probably gotten. But there was this like million dollar budget. There was a billion dollar capital campaign coming down the pike and we were hungry. You know, we were leaned in. We were so excited to just like be of service to this mission that we got to like be thrown into the deep end basically. And it was like a transformative time to see how like, philanthropy was changing the university that we both loved. And, and that season was a few years down the path. We were part of this campaign and it kind of grew out of that. We went to our Next jump together, we're happily married to other people. I should say that alignment and joy and I sure have followed each other.
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Julia Campbell
Your work spouses, work partners.
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John McCoy
Yep. And we followed each other together into healthcare philanthropy for a decade. And that was when it went from big budgets to no budget and getting publicly sued by Garth Brooks. And we were, like, at the bottom of the barrel in terms of a foundation that had little to no trust in the community, little to no trust in the healthcare system. And again, a couple of hungry storytellers, marketers that believed in the power of philanthropy. And so we just rebooted from scratch using the playbook that now is we are for goods values. But it's the things that we learned that it's like. It's not really about money. It's about belief, it's about scaling belief, it's about community, is everything. It's about everyone matters. It's about telling a really great story. And so the hallmarks over that next decade, working together came through this, like, employee campaign which showed us the power of, like, grassroots philanthropy and building community and seeing people. And, yeah, those are the things that ultimately rolled up to be the core values, the core beliefs that have been our guiding star of we are for Good now for six years. And it's the bedrock of the things we come Back to In 700 conversations, the Looking across the screen and being like, oh, my gosh, we see the same thing, you know, in the world, even though we're miles apart. And so it's been this, like, connective tissue that connected to us, and now it's connecting us with everyday change makers, people that are pouring into missional cool work all over the world.
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Julia Campbell
Oh, there's so much to love about that. And I love, Becky, what you said about the podcast being a space just to make friends, that's really why I started my podcast. I did it for network.
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Becky Endicott
I know. Great show. I. Oh, thank you.
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Julia Campbell
I did it for, I wouldn't say really even networking. I just wanted to talk to cool people about interesting things, and I wanted to learn more about certain topics. And I also, yeah, I just wanted to make new friends. And I feel like it's so hard when you are cold emailing people just for a phone call. Because I get a lot of those. I'm sure you get a lot of those. And I usually never know. Okay, like, what are we talking about? What is the point? Like, what's going to happen? But with a podcast, it's such a better cold approach because you can say, oh, come on, My podcast and promote your book, or come on my podcast and promote what you're doing, or talk about this article that you wrote. And it's really gotten me, like, this week, I'm talking to the president of the McKnight foundation about all the work they're doing in Minneapolis. And I just am so interested in it for my own personal iteration. But just to know that these people are out there and you're giving them a voice, and I'm giving them a voice, I think it's so important. So what have you seen in the sector in terms of community? How is it evolving, or how has it evolved since we are for Good started? Do you want to take that, Becky?
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Becky Endicott
Yeah, I just think the sector, the world I want to put myself in there originally absolutely underestimated the power of what community can unlock. And I don't mean from. I mean, at the most surface level, yes, it can unlock funding. Yes, it can unlock awareness. We know this is like marketers. We're thinking about all of the different ways we can get our brand in front of the right people and have it connect. But what it unlocks for individuals inside is the real power. When people can see themselves in movements, when they can see their unique lived experience, their expertise, and they can see what happens when it links with somebody else's and it links with somebody else's. And all of a sudden, your mission is not this standalone, monolithic thing that is reporting out. It is a beautiful, homogenous engine that is consistently listening externally, pulling it in, you know, taking what you have internally, pushing that back out. And I think something that you've done so beautifully, Julia, is just talk about the power of the story. And that is where we're all connected. And so we're trying to help nonprofits who feel so beat down and burnt out and burdened and that they have to hustle and grind into this. We're actually saying, oh, your superpower. And the unlock is not at the top of that pyramid with that major gift. It's actually at the bottom. It is the everyday change maker who has a currency that we're not valuing completely. It's not just the currency of cash. It's the currency of story, of network, of amplification, of volunteerism, of, oh, wait, I know somebody at that foundation that I could open that door to this person. And we all have these in life. And it's about alignment and making sure that people have that cta, like, this is what I need right now. And allowing people to step in to their Generosity and be that change and something magical happens. And, and that's what we. That's like the, the thesis. But the thing we don't want nonprofits to miss is what comes after.
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Julia Campbell
Right.
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Becky Endicott
It's telling the story of afterward, allowing the collectivism to feed in. And so when we talk about, like on our podcast, we very rarely take a cold pitch, like you have said, because the community is self curating for us. They are lifting people. Oh, we liked this. Have you thought about talking to this person? And so because we already know we value a line, that person, we don't have to do as much vetting because somebody in the community says these are our people and we need to like, make the table bigger, make the conversation wider. And let's talk about how to activate into it. That's how we want to shift mindsets and hearts to be more collective.
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Julia Campbell
Okay, John, do you want to add to that?
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John McCoy
I mean, yeah, Becky. I always hate following Becky. Let's be completely clear the story of my 20 years. It's very hard, but I think you captured like the power of community. Like, it's a force multiplier, you know, And I think especially in times like this, you know, that are so dang trying. I'll say We Are For Good was born out of a season of we looked around like the professional development space. I'm putting air quotes if you're watching this, that there was so much like, pontificating and like, figure I have it figured out energy. And the person with the mic holds a ton of power. And I think we just wanted to flip the tables on that and hand the mic to someone who's vulnerable enough, humble enough to admit that they don't have it all figured out. And that's the energy. We walk into rooms still today because we don't clearly have it figured out. And there's an invitation when you're in community with people that are willing to say they don't have the answer, but we really are aligned on, like trying to solve for these problems, you know, and we really are aligned in making people feel seen and supported and that people matter and humanity matters. And so it's just like a force multiplier because we're so much stronger together than sitting in a room listening to someone explain that they have it all figured out by us just saying we can figure it out in community. Like, there's somebody here that can help open a door, speak some encouragement that I need today, or open up an opportunity that I wouldn't have seen in any other way. And that happens, honestly, now, every day, like, something happens in the community that I'm like, I can't trace this back, but, like, wow. The pat. The fact that we got to be in the same place and this happened created such a ripple. And we say what starts here, Ripples. Because we, like, believe it and we see it, you know, every day.
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Julia Campbell
Absolutely. We've talked a lot about the challenges and some of the obstacles in professional development in the nonprofit space. And it's like you said, it's a lot of experts talking about how they're experts and what they're experts in.
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Becky Endicott
Vacuum.
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John McCoy
I will not name names, but I've seen someone quote themselves on a slide deck while they're on stage. I'm like, wait, through the.
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Julia Campbell
Quoting themselves.
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John McCoy
Quoting themselves.
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Becky Endicott
Like, put some mails on a slide
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John McCoy
in the last 12 months.
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Julia Campbell
It's like, can't we just say that out loud? I think that for me, really kind of what set me apart and why my work with social media has resonated is I share a lot of, like, case studies and examples from real non profits, like, small non profits, not just charity water. I mean, they're doing fantastic work, but nonprofits want to see what everybody else is doing, what their peers are doing. And often when I'm invited to a conference, I want to pull a nonprofit in to talk with me, but they always think that they're not qualified. They think, oh, they're not qualified. I know this imposter syndrome. Qualified.
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Becky Endicott
It is crazy.
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Julia Campbell
It's this imposter syndrome. So when you're building a community like you have built, how can you make it, this, feel meaningful and not feel sort of like. I know some communities feel like it's just listening to one person talk or how do you make it meaningful rather than just like a chamber of commerce? Wine and cheese and John, you can start. No offense to chambers of commerce. I throw a lot of shade on them, but sometimes the wine and cheeses, it gets to be a lot.
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John McCoy
Yeah, I love the analogy. And I think it would be friends with the rubber chicken dinner, which is at every gala we've ever been to. Gala, whatever.
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Becky Endicott
Shivari chairs. Yes. Yes. That took, like, three hours for a committee to decide. Yes.
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Julia Campbell
With a brochure at every seat that everyone throws away. Yeah.
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Becky Endicott
Yes. Yes.
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John McCoy
They're all on the floor.
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Becky Endicott
We also visualize it.
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John McCoy
I think, you know, some of the hallmarks of what creates that experience with community. I will take it back to, like, elementary school. I was never athletic, and that fed into an identity that I'M like, I'm not an athlete. I'm like as a 43 year old now, having to be like, I'm an athlete when I'm lifting weights. Like, I can do this. I can have a different identity than what I was built in. But in the same way, like when you are last picked, when somebody doesn't take the time to know your name, when you feel like you're not invited to sit at whichever table, like those experiences like never leave you, you know, And I think you start to put that together with professional development. I'll say I was a young person trying to figure it out. I had Becky who believed in me, which was, I don't want to overstep that. But it's not like we went to every professional development experience out there. So it's like I would walk in a room and feel like I didn't belong, feel like I didn't have a place, was intimidated. There wasn't like this open table. So I think something we try to do is get to know people, like always, like get to know someone's name. You know, we were in New York for this summit a couple weeks back. Something was said there by the production team. We're, you know, working in the studio that they have all sorts of people use the studio. Like we get name names that are like, what this, this person's used this studio.
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Becky Endicott
Like how cool was in there the week before?
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John McCoy
Like legendary. But the team was amazing. Like these people were like, knew their stuff, were so prepared, were so kind. We're hilarious, had great energy.
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Julia Campbell
Oh, I love that.
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John McCoy
And we left and we're like making the rounds, giving everybody hugs. And I got stopped by one of them and said, hey, thanks for looking at us in the eye this week.
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Julia Campbell
Oh my gosh.
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John McCoy
That like gut punched me because I'm like, that should be minimum what you do. Look somebody in the eye to know their name, to maybe remember their kid's name occasionally, you know, to remember their pet's name or remember that they drink Diet Coke. Becky always brings up that example, like that's where you start.
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Julia Campbell
Diet Coke drinkers. I'm one of them. Yeah, we're very strict, we're very brand loyal.
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John McCoy
So I'm in a roundabout way saying creating spaces of belonging doesn't look like earth shattering stuff. It's like kindergarten principles. But that are often vacant in adult situations where somebody can feel like they belong there. And that starts with eye contact, knowing someone's name and just being generous enough to sit across and ask somebody's Story, you know, and really actually want to listen, not scanning the room of who's coming in at the same time. So that's maybe very basic, but I would say that is the energy we try to create in any situation.
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Becky Endicott
And I think I can break that down for how that looks and how that's different because here's what we know. Like most online groups are built around engagement. They're measuring clicks and posts and replies and people feel that, they feel it, they feel it. They're feeding a machine rather than feeding other. And so that belonging, it feels like it's been relegated to the side in our industry. Like it's a soft skill and we actually think it's everything because belongings, when someone feels safe to be human, seen for who they are, they're invited into this meaningful contribution. And so we literally employ a belonging index. We are for good. It goes into, I mean literally, we measure it, we measure that more than the vanity metrics. We want to know someone can be safe, you know, I can be here without fear or that they can feel included. I'm known, I'm not anonymous. And you, and you start to like say that these things are important, you know, that reciprocity is important, that it isn't about extraction. It's. It's mutual. And when these things are present, something shifts and people stop consuming and they start belonging. And they. This sector is so isolating because its professional spaces are really built on performance. You show up, you share your wins, you network, you grab the wine and the cheese that you just referenced. And this is sort of an algorithm era training that has made us perform. And we believe this next era is about participation. It's a fundamentally different invitation. It doesn't ask what, what can you contribute to make us look active. It says what do you need and who's in the room that can help you get there? And it's just a network that turns into a real relationship. You said that like being real, you are an incredibly real human being, Julia. You pulling your lived experience. You talk about things that are challenging and people feel that. And so this is really where learning turns into leadership and where generosity is going to turn into culture. So we believe that belonging is infrastructure and it is not a soft feel good claim. It's how the movement begins to churn.
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Narrator/Announcer
Absolutely.
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Julia Campbell
I want to put that on a slide. Can I quote you? Sure, go for it.
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Becky Endicott
I just won't quote myself.
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Julia Campbell
Just have a level of awareness or
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John McCoy
just say it because that's what you're doing.
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Becky Endicott
Oh my gosh.
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Julia Campbell
I'm thinking of a. The podcast I listened to. I mean, it really probably was in 2020 with Seth Godin. He doesn't do a ton of podcasts. He was on my podcast and he was on yours, but he was on a podcast, an online marketing podcast, and he basically completely just disintegrated the host, because it was one of those traditional online marketing podcasts where it's like, how to get more clicks, how to get more conversions, how to do this, how to do that. And he said, really, a lot of what you said, he said it's about participation. It's about making people feel like they belong in the community. And then it's not just about selling stuff to them. Like, it's really about what they want and what they need and how they're interacting. And if they're not interacting without you there, then it's probably not as successful as you think. So I'll have to find that. It might have been Amy Porterfield's podcast.
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John McCoy
Oh, really?
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Julia Campbell
I'll try to find it. I'll find it. I'll make a mental note. If anyone listening remembers that podcast, send it to me. But it was so interesting, because I do. I. I completely agree with you. I think putting it in practice is hard. So, actually, you know, John, maybe you can give nonprofit leaders some tips of how to put this into practice when it's so scary to put yourself out there online and try to say anything and try to build a community. Because nonprofits are so scared of pushback, and they're scared of controversy, and they're scared of, like, you know, people fighting. And, I mean, they're just. I find that nonprofits right now in this moment, are very terrified of putting themselves out there, and they're terrified of speaking their truth and trying to build a community honestly, because they're afraid of what could happen.
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Becky Endicott
Yeah, that's a very real fear. I acknowledge it, and I see it.
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John McCoy
So, yeah, I acknowledge it, too. I think that the reality is we're going to build spaces that are not for everybody. You know, there's. There's people that are annoyed of us. I'm quite certain of it because of our probably outlook and positivity and energy in the world. But I think that you have to show up according to your values with the belief that you're going to build connections that care about similar things, and that's who you don't want to let down. Glenna Testone came on the podcast. Am I saying her last name right? She's amazing. Testoni with the nonprofit leadership lab, awesome human. And she said that, like, you have to decide who you're willing to disappoint. You know, are you willing to disappoint? And I think that that is tough, especially for my personality type that I like. I'm peacemaker, people pleaser, people please find
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Julia Campbell
people at the core.
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John McCoy
I like to do that. But I think it's like, an imperative for the missions, the work that we're trying to solve. Like, we have to tell the truth. That doesn't mean that we have to do it in a way that just, like, I don't know, sidelines everybody. But telling the truth is, like, the thing that we have to do to be able to, like, cut through in the world in this moment. And so in terms of, like, practical spaces, I would just say what really helps is inviting story, because nobody can argue with lived experience. Nobody can argue with this is the story of now, of how this is directly impacting us. And I think the greatest threat to this moment is going silent, becoming invisible, and not talking about what's actually happening, because the people that do want to rally around you and support you maybe don't understand the impacts that you're experiencing. So I think the story of now for your mission is critical and inviting and amplifying lived experience stories. People who are brave enough to share that. You know, we used our platform this past week to talk about immigration and not about the issue, which I'm putting in quotes again, but about the human, the humans behind the stories that behind the policy, like, how does it actually impact a single person in a community? And what is the fear? What is the toll that it's taking? What are the blocks to getting funding and access to resources and all of that?
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Becky Endicott
That's the misinformation we want to rewrite and make sure. Sure that the narrative is clear. Yes.
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John McCoy
And I think we asked Carmen, who's leading this kind of resource group for immigrants, what's the greatest thing we can do right now? And you know what? She asked? I would love it if she's like, set up a monthly donation and do it. But her number one thing to do right now was, you're doing it right now. Go ask for someone's story and listen and get in proximity with people to hear those stories. And so it takes bravery on both sides. I came from a very small bubble in Oklahoma that it's brave sometimes to ask the question. I get that. I'm not bypassing that, but it's also brave for the storyteller to tell the truth. And so it's taking all of us. And I think the more we can get into those kind of dialogue, the healthier outcomes we're going to come from it all. But we gotta, like, tell the truth.
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Julia Campbell
We absolutely have to tell the truth. It's needed and it's required. And I think nonprofits have a responsibility to do it. So that's what I usually say in my communication teachings.
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Becky Endicott
Too much at stake.
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Julia Campbell
There's too much at stake to be quiet. And doing it imperfectly is better than not doing anything. So, okay, let's talk about shifts that are shaping the sector. So you've Talked to over 700 people on your podcast, people in your community. So what do you see as some of the big shifts that we should be paying attention to right now? Becky, do you want to take that?
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Becky Endicott
Sure. We just at the top of the year, I'm sure, like a lot of media companies, we. We do sort of a trend series, which, honestly, we called the shifts. So thank you for helping us be on brand with that. And we did 12 shifts this year. I think probably the biggest one that I want to lift right now is probably our most prolific, prolific one, which is trust is the work. And we are watching certain parts of our sector just erode in this world where people are not stepping into their power, not stepping into their story. They are not taking the risk that their mission deserves. And so we sat down with Abby Felix, she's the co founder and CEO of the flight school. And we just talked about, like, as institutions fracture and as, like, technology accelerates and AI is coming into the world, it just feels harder to find that trust. And so it's incumbent upon our leaders to not only rethink it, but ground it as a core leadership practice. They need to be activating into courage, into inner alignment, into their authenticity. And by not embracing, like, false certainties, you know, and releasing this, like, grip that we have, this death grip on performative control and just trying to control narratives and outcomes and really start to build organizations that are worthy of trust from the inside out. So we want courage to be this contagion right now. And the more we show up in vulnerability. I like John telling the story of now. And I think you can say, I'm telling this story scared. I'm worried about these things. Guess what? That's going to connect to somebody else who feels scared to say the thing. So we really want to shift from, like, fear to flourishing in our communities and making sure that we are who we say we are and showing up to show that improve that day after day is going to build this restorative muscle where people keep coming back to us because we don't know if the media is real, we don't know if what we're watching on our phones is real. But this work and who we are, that is as real as it gets. And so inviting people into that, I think is a core one. John, which one do you want to lift?
- [32:04]
John McCoy
Yeah, I'll link up to we are forgood.com 12shifts is all of the different shift episodes, episodes that we lifted. I guess for me, I would probably go with Merge to Multiply. So this one hits close to home because we shared like the, the beginning story of We Are for Good. But this last year was really transformational for us because, I mean, yeah, we've grown like a community and a movement and activations that happen every quarter around the world and this podcast and this ecosystem and it had, it had gotten to the point, point that we knew like to continue to grow. Like we needed to find like a partner that could help us get there, but we didn't want it to be transactional. I mean, not only are we just like fundraisers at our core and marketers at our core, but it's like we needed to be aligned at a deeper level because this is also like our baby. So like we're so intrinsic to like who we are as well. And so this last year, part of our story is we joined forces with Give Butter at the end, near the end of last year. And why this was just such a heck yes for us is that we had been building a value aligned partnership for almost five years with Max, the co founder of Kibbutter. And as we started to like dream and iterate about how do we like democratize access to professional development spaces and community and infrastructure and make it accessible. Like this idea of truly making it accessible to where anybody has a seat, their coming together with them just like was a no brainer because they were so aligned. That's what they're doing on the tool and kind of like technology side. So while that storyline's playing out and we are for Goods world and we can say six months later, like the amount of like resources and kind of like shared vision of what happens when it's like one plus one equals three or seven or eleven or however your math is, it's a massive unlock. And we believe that's the story of now for a lot of nonprofits like Merge to Multiply. Looks like, who are you locked arms with? Maybe already or do you need to find this year that you want to see the same change in the world? But there is a lot of duplication of how you're showing up, and it could be so much better if you come at this together. So we highlighted on the podcast, she's the first and Girl Rising, and they're coming together, like, they're merging to become Girl Rising, but they're bringing, like, the impact infrastructure and the story infrastructure and like this global team together to actually achieve the same thing that they're both aiming for, you know, to empower girls and women worldwide that wouldn't have been possible alone. And I think that there needs to be a lot more of those conversations. Not that it feels icky or weird or too businessy or something like that, because if you really care about achieving, like, the change that we talk about, it's like, we have to lock arms. We know that as marketers and fundraisers, so why wouldn't we do that with our organizations? And I hope we model that to others to think outside the box of what that could look like. And I hope people like, she's the first Tammy Tibbets, like, such a visionary that we've gotten to follow her story over the years. And we're. It felt very serendipitous that we closed in within, like, 30 days of each other for this. Both of our storylines to be like, going into this next chapter of this is what it looks like to build a true ecosystem and lock arms with people that you're aligned with. Because the world's changing so fast and we need each other to be able to make it, you know, and like, actually accomplish what we're hoping to do in the world.
- [35:26]
Julia Campbell
Oh, wow, that's so powerful. I think that even just the smallest collaborations can be hugely powerful as well. Like, there's a nonprofit in Boston that provides fiscal sponsorship to smaller organizations, but they also provide, like, an HR director. Because the smallest non profit doesn't need their own HR director. They can share it with someone else, or they can share a printer. Like, they can share office space, they can share like an accountant, all those kinds of things. Because we tend to think, oh, no, we have to have a director of marketing, a director of development, a director of this, of this and this, and we have to replicate everything and we have to get our own piece of the pie. But the collaboration aspect and even looking forward to looking towards merging, I just think that also helps build trust with the general public because they see, oh, organizations are working towards a mission, they're doing similar things, but they're going to join forces. And I think that is really powerful to, you know, the average donor, the average person that, you know, might have some skepticism about the sector. As we kind of wrap up here, I wanted to ask you, what's next for We Are For Good, and where can we. Where can we learn more and find you guys? Becky?
- [36:46]
Becky Endicott
Well, right now, we are doubling down into community. We want to make it as accessible and as welcoming as possible. We launched a sort of 2.0 version of our community. You can find it at we are for goodcommunity.com it comes with an app, so you can take We Are for Good with you wherever you want to go. And. And it's not really that you're taking Weir for good. It's like you're taking this collective marketplace of ideas and people, and whenever you run into a problem, we want you to get in there. And, like, we want to help people get unstuck. So we're building radical community inside of it with office hours and speed networking and just gathering people. We gathered people, like, almost 30 people on Friday who just wanted to get together and talk and emote, and people were finding funders, and they were finding people who could help with very specific tasks. There was somebody that said, I want to get involved in your mission, like, as a volunteer. And it. And there is just such a celebration of humanity, and we just want the people to power the engine. So that's something really, really big. John, do you want to tease something up?
- [37:55]
John McCoy
I love that you lifted the community. I would say this is the year of the everyday change maker. Also, like, we are working on a few projects. I think it's a little early, but, like, pay attention in the podcasting space because believe in the power of story. We've been asking for. One of our hallmarks of our show is asking for a story of philanthropy that's changed you in your life. And I gotta say, like, Julia, the
- [38:20]
Julia Campbell
fact that, oh, my gosh, remember my story. People still talk to me. People still talk to me about that
- [38:25]
Becky Endicott
story, about that story. I think you should link to that story specifically because it is so deeply powerful.
- [38:31]
John McCoy
But that that alone is an example of the power of just sharing a story of philanthropy. And we define that as a moment of generosity or kindness. It is sadly, so disruptive right now. Like, so we believe in the power of just sharing more of those stories about getting everyday humans that want to pour into good together. So there is a really fun project coming down on that front this year. And yeah, we're all about content, community and convening. So every quarter we're gathering with Impact Ups. So there has now been more than 200 meetups around the world, which blows our mind.
- [39:05]
Julia Campbell
Incredible.
- [39:06]
John McCoy
Some of the largest are on in the continent of Africa, which shout out to Simon Karanda, who's expanding Impact Up Africa this year in South America and
- [39:15]
Becky Endicott
Latin America, building a massive community there.
- [39:19]
John McCoy
It's just these are not people that work for We Are for Good. They are people that we found similar values and they just want to get people together in community locally to be the change. And so Impact up. You can learn more at we are for good.comimpactup but there is an opportunity to host. There's an opportunity to join. And I hope the message is like, don't do this work alone. We don't want any more lonely fundraisers. We want to, you know, be a scaffolding for your learning growth, but mostly just so you feel less alone in the world.
- [39:49]
Becky Endicott
Well, thank you so much.
- [39:50]
Julia Campbell
Thanks so much for all the work that you do. I'm taking notes. I'm going to put all the links in the show notes. And if you want to hear the story that I shared on their podcast, you're going to have to go and listen. Scroll to number one. Oh, I have been one.
- [40:07]
Becky Endicott
You are literally our number one. That is, I love every time we can come back in here and circle back to like that launching moment and you'll get to see, we'll get to
- [40:18]
Julia Campbell
see each other in person this year. So I'm excited. All right, well, thanks you both so much for your time, for your generosity, for your spirit, for your positivity. I mean, you bring so much light and love in the world and I appreciate it. I know my listeners appreciate it. And yeah, just thanks for being on the podcast.
- [40:35]
John McCoy
Dory, my friend.
- [40:44]
Julia Campbell
Well, hey there. I wanted to say thank you for tuning into my show and for listening
- [40:48]
all the way to the end.
- [40:50]
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 a 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. Juliacamble77. Keep changing the world, you nonprofit unicorn.
- [41:31]
John McCoy
Sam.