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We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits
700. What 700 Episodes Have Taught Us About Generosity - Jon and Becky
00:23:17
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A
Hey, friend. Before we get started, we wanted to invite you into our global gathering. Four times a year, we bring the we are for Good community together for one day, one focus. And this Impact Up. It's all about storytelling. Impact up story is happening on Thursday, May 14th, and we'd love to have
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B
you there because the stories you choose to tell have the power to change everything. And we want to help you tell them better. So join us online from noon to 1:30 Central Standard Time for a free virtual session, including a keynote with storytelling phenom Afdel Aziz and a roundtable conversation with four amazing nonprofit leaders. Then that evening, in nearly 50 cities around the world, we're gathering with local meetups to keep the conversation going in person.
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You can find a meetup near you or join us virtually@weareforgood.com ImpactUp what starts here, ripples.
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B
That is what generosity has taught me in this moment, is that we thought we were building a movement in the nonprofit space to do things differently, to modernize and reshape the things that didn't make sense to us. What we didn't anticipate was understanding that the unlock of generosity and community changes everything.
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A
Hey, I'm John.
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B
And I'm Becky.
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A
And this is the We Here for Good podcast.
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B
Let's get started.
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A
Hey, B. Big day around here, right?
- [01:34]
B
We, like canceled everything we had on the schedule and we were like, julie's right. We need to have a conversation after 700 episodes and put a little line in the sand here. Wow.
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A
Yeah. This isn't a bow. This is a middle of the road juncture of like, what the heck happened? You know, like, what, what happened? I think it is very like me. I'll say. I'm not going to put you in this boat, Becky, because I think you're better at this than me. It's just easy to just get in the grind and the hustle and not take stock. Like literally not stop to create space, to celebrate, to reflect and be like, what the heck are we actually even learning? Because we're in so many conversations that have moved us, have touched us. We've met the most amazing people and you one of them, listening. Like, we are so grateful for this community that's surrounded by this show. 700 episodes is today, and we wanted to have a little conversation behind the scenes with you about what's top of mind and what's lifting for us and what it all means.
- [02:32]
B
I mean, what a journey. And I, I still have a memory as we're in going down memory lane when we Did Women of Impact week one year. And our little daughters were reading that intro, you know, and their little voices, which was so sweet. And it's just like you look in the rearview mirror at 700 episodes. And yes, they were life changing episodes. But the moments in between and the moments of what was learned and the way that we were evolving in real time with you all, with these brilliant ideas, with the way that we were reframing generosity and philanthropy and the way that we wanted to show up in the world. But I also just want to say thanks, John, for stopping us and Julie to celebrate, because I think this is something that we don't do enough in our work, is look in that rear view mirror and say, look how far we've come. Look at what we've built together. Look at the change that's happened within me, within my organization, within my community. And that's something that we really need to celebrate. And we're proud that you're still with us.
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A
I also remember when we started the podcast, we were like, hey, we need to have a cadence to the show. And this was your idea, Becky, you're like, we should have a story. We should ask for everyone's story of generosity or philanthropy. And I'll be honest, in my head, I'm like, really? I thought we were trying to get to practical takeaways. And Becky's like, always like, no, this is the holy grail. This is what this is all about. And you knew. And I think it speaks to, like, the storyteller and the lover of humanity that you are. But we've been asking now this question hundreds of times. Seven hundred. At least 700 times of like, what's a story of generosity that has stuck with you or that has moved you? And dang, if it hasn't moved us, man, so many this community. Yeah. I'm curious, B. What's one? If we think back to, like, all these episodes, like, what's a story of generosity that's really stuck with you, man?
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B
You're going to make me pick out of these 700 episodes, you know, make
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A
Julie pull up the archives even.
- [04:43]
B
I know. Well, actually, yeah. Yeah. I want this story to be told through the lens of the person who told it. The one that really stuck with me was episode 163. We had Sarah Lee in, who at the time was COO of New Story. If you're not aware of who New Story is, it's just one of the most incredible, innovative nonprofits. They do a lot of innovation in this. Specifically, they were talking about 3D printing homes for people in Central America, in Mexico and in the Caribbean. And she had this story, and I've brought it up a couple times because to me it's the nuance of you don't just tell a good story for the good feels that it has. You take the story and it elevates the mission to a higher place. And she had this story not about getting a house built. It was not about opening the house and the family walking in. It was about the moment, moments that happen afterward and why that connects to the bigger mission of new story. So take a listen here.
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C
I have been able to be at quite a few different kind of move in ceremonies for our homes. And it is always shocking and so memorable and really just encouraging to see the life change for families. One of the most recent ones that has really stuck with me was in El Salvador and we went to this one house and a little boy was wearing these monster slippers. And somebody was like, oh, you know, look how cute your slippers are. And the mom said that he had gotten those monster slippers two years ago and he wouldn't wear them in his old house because he knew they would get ruined immediately, right? Dirt floors, water coming in, all of this kind of stuff. And so he put the slippers away until they got their house. And he had not taken the slippers off for 48 hours. And so to think about, of course there's the, you have a roof, you have a door, you have all of this stuff. But what always gets me is those micro moments, right? It's the all little kids want their monster slippers. And to be able to walk into an environment where they can proudly have them on and not want to take them off is what drives us toward the innovation. Because without the innovation, we're going to be able to slowly impact more kids who want to wear their monster slippers around the house, right? If we can figure out how to scale our work in an exponential way, well, suddenly everyone gets to know and love their monster slippers and get to wear those in the house. So that was a long way of leading into why we care about something like 3D printing homes.
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B
Okay, that story, right, John, to me, that's what generosity is all about. It wasn't about the house, it was about the little moments in life that allow us to fully be vibrant, live these full and vibrant lives. It's the gift of giving a kid monster slippers and seeing how that changes people. And by the way, can I just say on the back end of this new Story did donor relations 2.0. They went and found everybody in their monthly giving club who had children. They bought monster slippers for their children in their sizes and sent this story along with it and said, thanks for being a part of our mission. We wanted your kids to be connected to this story, like, boom.
- [08:13]
A
Steward relentlessly. Yeah, I gotta build on that. Like, I think it's down to the small moments. And of course, episode one of the podcast, which featured Julia Campbell, one of our favorite digital marketers in the space and an incredible storyteller. And she even got emotional even though she shared this story so many times. So I want to play this one.
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D
I want to tell a specific story. And I remember I said I was going to cry. I'm surely trying not to, but there was a suicide prevention and addiction treatment center that has since unfortunately closed that I worked with locally in the beginning of my consulting career. And so, you know, I'd go in and have meetings with them and we talk on the phone.
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B
And you.
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For some reason, we would have meetings usually on Fridays, like around the end of the day, and I'd always be there around like, four or five o'.
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B
Clock.
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And this man would come in every. Every Friday at like, 4:00', clock, and he would just give a $10 bill to the receptionist. So after I noticed this a few times, I said, what is that about? Like, shouldn't we talk to this guy? He's probably got a really great story. And it turned out that his son had died of a drug overdose and he was in high school and that was his allowance. Like, I can't. I know. So every Friday, he gave the $10 and he wanted to come in person with the cash. And they'd never. They'd never thought to ask him, like, why are you doing this? What is this about? And it turns out, I mean, the. One of the most impactful stories I've ever heard. And now, of course, when they started to talk to him, he really wanted to share the story. He got more involved. He even got on their board. I mean, it was a whole thing that just showed me that these unbelievable stories are just. They're in your community, they're in your organization. And if we just step back from, like, putting out fires every day and trying to wrap up what we were doing and, like, really just take a good look at even some of our donors. I mean, these stories are there. So I know I've told that story so many times, and it still chokes me up.
- [10:33]
A
Wow. That's exactly why that story has never left us. Like, it's. It speaks to the core and it speaks to even how I led into this episode that it's so easy to move so fast that we don't take stock. And we were both in such a big organization at a time that it's like $10 can easily fly under the radar when you got a lot going on and to slow down and to realize not just the story, the human of that's carrying that bill in and what that unlocks for him personally and for your mission, that's like, that's the. What we're talking about here. That's the ripple effect, and that's how we met so many people, is just by leaning into what moves us, what. What tears us up inside and. And not being afraid to step into that.
- [11:19]
B
Yeah, I. I never Forget that story 699 episodes later, and there's so many like that that stay with us. And it has just given me an entirely different. You all have given me an entirely different belief system around generosity about what it can unlock, about how it can empower, about its ability to heal on so many levels. And I. I just. I want to talk about, like, the bigger story of generosity that we're writing here. And you all have shaped this for us. And I hope you know that every time you put a liked on a LinkedIn post, every time you opened our newsletter, every time you hit play on that podcast playlist, every time you invited a friend to an impact up local event, every single one of those things has one thing in common, and it's that you're activated. And we never wanted this community to be passive. We didn't want to just talk about stuff. We didn't want to punch, pontificate that we had all the answers, because we don't. In fact, I can tell you now, John, 700 episodes in. I feel like I know less than when we started, you know, but I've grown in so many different ways. And so, yeah, I mean, I. I just want to ask you, John, like, what do you feel like you've seen as the bigger story of generosity that is unwinding and. And really starting to blossom in a beautiful way within the We Are for Good community?
- [12:51]
A
I mean, what a question. I think that the leaders that I respect admire most are those that show up generously in service of others. You know, we see this all the time. Those are the leaders that give credit, like, start there, right? Giving some credit, sharing power, sometimes even giving up your seat to make space for someone else, opening doors like it's so easy to just say yes. And we've seen that exhibited the people that have come through we are for good. Like this is a generative community. It happens every week in the we are for good community where we see people reaching out a hand and giving help and we believe that's just the way. Like that is leadership and that's generosity in action. What about you, B? What's one that's lifting for you?
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B
I just think there are things like that that have been kept in the shadows of our work so much. You know, like leaders who show up and give credit, people who show up in quiet generosity. And yet those are the acts we all remember most. We remember when a stranger was kind to us. We remember when we thought nobody saw what we did and we got lifted. And to me, you can only do that when you have real value aligned community that helps you feel this belonging, that helps you feel that TR and that safety. And so the thing that I probably want to talk about is that trust, because the work runs on trust. Hard stop generosity is how trust is built. So if it runs on trust and it's built by generosity, that tells me that we just need to keep being good to each other. We need to keep working and walking with integrity. We need to have that moral courage to say the hard thing. Not just because we're scared to, but because we are scared and we know that others are facing it too. And then that. That fear that we had becomes something tenable for someone else to glom onto. And then they feel seen, they feel that belonging and then trust is strengthened. And we are completely irritated and angry about the fact that every report we see says that nonprofits have lower trust than businesses for profit businesses. And I. I just think that's gotta be a communications and a cultural problem, because what we are doing in this work is nothing more than building that muscle of trust, that muscle of agency, that muscle of community is the answer. And trust is the work is such a big theme for us right now. It's our number one shift for 2026. And I think that trust and generosity, I have found, go hand in hand. And it makes you absolutely unstoppable and it makes you a magnet to other individuals.
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A
I agree. And I think of magnets, I think of, like locking arms, like locking arms for impact has been a huge part of our story. I think that starts with low ego, high impact. Like, those are people in this community that are willing to give it all away and share what's working and what's not. Generously, but really being committed to doing transformative work by listening and building with community. Getting in those postures allows us to lock arms for impact. So if you're looking for leaders to aspire to, that is the curation of library of We Are for Good. Like We. Julie does an amazing job of figuring out guests that come into this space that teach frameworks, that are living this out and doing human centered leadership. And so I hope this podcast has been inspiring. I know as we think back, we look back and we're like, yeah, it's not only these leaders, but it's our shared humanity. It's like our personal, individual agency that all of us can lean in and practice generosity today. And I feel like all this is like the through line, right? Like, there's the big work we can do together by locking arms. But it comes down to what can we do individually in this moment today?
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B
So here we are, episode 700. We're sitting in the awe of the generosity movement that has been built within the Impact uprising. And so one, thank you. Thank you so much for showing up in the way that you've shown up. Thank you for pouring in. Thank you for not sitting on the sidelines, but getting back on the field and playing and giving your gifts to the world. And I gotta say, we would love a one good thing from the community. If you're listening to this and you have never left us a podcast rating or review, can you just like, head over there right now, hit those little buttons, those little stars? Yeah, do that double tap and leave us a review. It helps more people find our community. It helps us understand what content to bring to you. It helps us understand how this is serving you. And we don't aspire to just be talking heads. We want to move the needle on shit. I said a cuss word in the 700th episode. We want to move the needle on shit. Put that on a hat.
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A
Is that your quote card?
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B
I guess that's my quote card for this episode, but it's. We don't want to be stagnant. That's what I want to tell you is that if we're constantly iterating to great, that's one of Give Better's awesome core values we're also adopting. If we are iterating to great, it means that we're moving. And some days we know you can only do a little shuffle and a little step. And I'm telling you that's enough because I'm willing to take two steps to year one because I'm Feeling a little more pep in my step today. So we're asking you today. Thank you for listening.
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A
Sounds like we're dancing.
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B
I know it does sound like I have so many dancing metaphors this time. But please head over, leave us a rating and review. We would treasure it so much. That is the one good thing we would love from you today.
- [18:43]
A
And we're gonna add a little 700 goodness. If you take a screenshot of that review, we want to send you a We are for good T shirt. So as you're writing the review, screenshot it, email it to hello, we are forgood.com and we're gonna send a T shirt over to you because swag is
- [18:58]
B
the softest T shirts ever. Yes, you want this T shirt. I sleep in it every single night, which is probably tmi, but these are great shirts and we want you to rep. But you know, we're coming to the end, John, where we gotta do the thing we always do. We gotta put those anchors in there. What's your one good thing? What's. What's bubbling up for you today?
- [19:18]
A
You know, I think we just listened to these amazing stories that stuck with us. I think I've learned so much about storytelling, and it's never about being polished. It's about being honest and allowing others to see ourselves in the story. If you think back, the way Julia framed that story is that the honesty of, like, we missed this guy for maybe months or years. And it's just like those small moments are like, oh, that could be me. Like, you know, it's not like people are so polished and have it all together. It's like when we show our vulnerability, it's like it creates that connection. And just like this understanding that all of our stories matter, you matter. I hope you listening, really believe that we all have something uniquely deep to offer this world. So lean into that. That's my impartation on episode 700. You're like, we're all storytellers. What do you got, Bea?
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B
That is so strong. I have this quote that I'm going to read as my one good thing. I actually have two of them, but they dovetail together. And I have referenced this before in the past because I was just so moved by this graduation speech that was given by this woman at Harvard. And it was following a couple of weeks after Harvard had been threatened with taking all this federal funding away. And there was just so much chaos around it. And this beautiful woman walks up. She is an international student. Her name is Yurong Luana Jiang. And she says this is what I've learned from Harvard, is to sit in discomfort, listen deeply, and stay soft in hard times. If we still believe in a shared future, let us not forget those we label as enemies. They, too are human. And seeing their humanity, we find our own in the end. We don't rise by proving each other wrong. We rise by refusing to let one another go. And that is what generosity has taught me in this moment, is that we thought we were building a movement in the nonprofit space to do things differently, to modernize and reshape the things that didn't make sense to us. What we didn't anticipate was understanding that the unlock of generosity and community changes everything. It heals, it helps, it evolves. It is a cure to loneliness. I hate to say cures, but it is definitely a balm. And my second quote that I had that goes with this I'm a big. I love reading, I love film. For all of you who's read Steinbach's east of Eden, he has this beautiful quote that I want to leave everyone with now that you don't need to be perfect. You can be good. And I just felt like that's what we're all about. That's what this company's name is. It is not Becky and John's company. You know, it's not Julie's podcast. It is we are for Good now that you don't have to be perfect. And we've let that go. Let's just go. Let's be good. Let's live generously and let's rise by refusing to let one another go. Let's grab our hands.
- [22:37]
A
This is exactly why I never follow you, but what a beautiful bow. I said we weren't going to put a bow on this at the beginning, but I'm like, I feel like you just put a bow on.
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B
This is the ripple. This is the ripple that keeps going.
- [22:48]
A
Yeah. And it's a guidepost of. Of this moment, but also where we're going. Like, we want to lean more into generosity and locking arms and leaning into the hope. I think we have so much hope collectively, you listening to for this world. So we are so grateful you're here. If this resonated with you, if one of the episodes resonated, please help us get the stories into more hands. You can subscribe on your favorite platform or share it, send it to someone who needs an uplift today. We are so thankful to have you as part of this community.
- [23:20]
B
We are rooting for you in all things. We absolutely adore you, even if we've never met you, because we see your expansion. And yeah, go be the hope. Be the generosity you want to see in the world. Thank you for being in community with us. It's 700 episodes, but I get the sense we're just getting started, you know, so let's keep going together.
- [23:44]
A
Hey, friend, thank you so much for joining us today. If you find yourself looking for a place to stay connected and keep learning between episodes, I hope you'll come and join us inside the We Are for Good community. Yeah, it is free. It's full of incredible nonprofit leaders like yourself, and it's now an app in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. So you can take this community with you wherever you go. Head over to weareforgoodcommunity.com to find us. We cannot wait to see you inside.