We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits

We Are For Good
We Are For Good
  • 4.9 (274)
  • Non-Profit
  • Updated Semiweekly

The We Are For Good Podcast brings nonprofit professionals + everyday changemakers into conversations with the most innovative, heartwired leaders in social impact. Hosted by Jon McCoy + Becky Endicott, each episode unpacks fresh mindsets, practical skills + inspiring stories designed to help you work smarter, build healthier cultures + accelerate our collective impact. Join our value-aligned community—it’s free—at weareforgoodcommunity.com. About We Are For Good We Are For Good is a storytelling, learning + activating community built for nonprofit professionals + everyday changemakers. Through our podcasts + media, purpose-driven activations + global gatherings, we equip for-good leaders with the connection, skills + inspiration to grow their impact. Because we believe community is everything—and together, we can create an Impact Uprising. Learn more at weareforgood.com.

  1. 1d ago

    748. How One Founder’s Lived Experience Created 116,000 Anchors - Ali Borowsky, Find Your Anchor

    A note before you listen: This episode discusses suicide and suicide prevention. If you or someone you know is struggling, you’re not alone. In the U.S., call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7. Outside the U.S., visit findahelpline.com to find support near you.  Ali Borowsky used to design for the NHL Winter Classic. Now she designs something far more personal: a small blue box that tells whoever finds it that strangers care. 🩵 Rooted in her own lived experience, Find Your Anchor brings color, creativity, and humanity to suicide prevention. Guest co-host Aila Malik brought Ali to the mic to share how a grassroots nonprofit with a product reached 116,000 boxes through handwritten notes, community box builds, and partners from middle schools to the San Francisco 49ers. In this episode, you'll hear: Why letting partners lead is the fastest way to reach communities you could never reach aloneHow staying "unapologetically analog" helped a small nonprofit scale without losing its soulWhat happens when 3,500 requests arrive in 24 hours and your business model is karmaHow to protect your own wellness when your heart work becomes your jobYou'll walk away with a fresh take on partnership, scale, and the small things that keep people going.  Episode Highlights: (4:42) Ali's story: creating what she wished she'd had(5:41) What's inside the box, and what an "anchor" really is(10:39) Three ways the boxes get into the world(13:17) Customizing boxes with nonprofit partners(16:21) From box one to 116,000: staying unapologetically analog(21:37) A nonprofit with a product: when your business model is karma(24:05) What Ali has learned about win-win partnerships(27:04) Staying well while doing heart work(35:41) One good thing: learn three people's anchorsEpisode Show Notes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/748 // Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free. Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com Say hi 👋 LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter

    748. How One Founder’s Lived Experience Created 116,000 Anchors - Ali Borowsky, Find Your Anchor

  2. 6d ago

    747. How One $14,410 Fundraiser Became a Global Movement - Jeremy Vallerand, Atlas Free

    Jeremy Vallerand and a few friends turned a Mount Rainier climb into a fundraiser: $1 for every vertical foot, $14,410 total. It was supposed to be a one-off. It wasn't. Today, Atlas Free is a global network of 160+ organizations in 67 countries fighting sex trafficking, still fueled by the community hikes and climbs that started it all. 🩵 In this Possible in Practice episode, you'll hear: How one climb became hundreds of community-led hikes and climbs every year, and the simple idea that made it spread: do what you love to fight what you hateWhy Atlas Free stopped sending Americans overseas and started backing the local leaders already doing the workWhy donors can tell when you only want their money, and why community has to come before the askWhat a $1 million gift and an $18.37 piggy bank taught Jeremy about stewarding every act of generosityYou'll walk away with a blueprint for inviting your community into the mission, not just the fundraising. 🩵 Episode Highlights: (3:09) Refugees in the spare bedroom and the trip to India that changed everything(6:52) Climb for Captives: turning a Mount Rainier climb into a $14,410 fundraiser(9:00) "Do what we love to fight what we hate": how one climb became hundreds(10:48) From one climb to 160+ organizations in 67 countries(14:00) Ethical storytelling: what you choose not to say(17:52) Monthly giving: why community comes before the ask(20:51) A $1 million gift and an $18.37 piggy bank(23:39) The one good thing: who you're with matters more than what you're doingEpisode Show Notes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/747 // Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free. Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com Say hi 👋 LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter

    747. How One $14,410 Fundraiser Became a Global Movement - Jeremy Vallerand, Atlas Free

  3. Oct 5

    746. 1 in 2 American Adults Struggle with Social Connection. Nonprofits Are Part of the Solution. - Aaron Hurst

    1 in 2 American adults is struggling with social connection, and fewer than 20% are thriving. Aaron Hurst, the social entrepreneur behind the Taproot Foundation and the pro bono movement, says that's why volunteering and giving are collapsing, and why nonprofits hold the key to reversing it. Guest co-host Susan McPherson, author of The Lost Art of Connecting, joins us to dig into the U.S. Chamber of Connection's Six Points of Connection report, the first national index of its kind.  In this episode, you'll hear: Why the sector doesn't have a philanthropy problem or a volunteer problem. It has a social connection problem.The six points of connection every person needs, and the one the data says matters mostWhy your nonprofit should start measuring connection outcomes now, before the funding arrivesYou'll walk away seeing your organization for what it already is: connection infrastructure for your community. 🩵 Episode Highlights: (4:07) Aaron's origin story and journey to where he is today(7:34) "What do you most want in the world?"(12:30) The Six Points of Connection report(15:48) 1 in 2 Americans is struggling, and philanthropy is feeling it(18:19) Nonprofits as connection infrastructure(19:20) Start capturing connection outcomes now(22:24) Why loneliness shuts down empathy(25:27) One good thing: hopeEpisode Show Notes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/746 // Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free. Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com Say hi 👋 LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter

    746. 1 in 2 American Adults Struggle with Social Connection. Nonprofits Are Part of the Solution. - Aaron Hurst

  4. Sep 30

    745. 3 Case Studies on Using Data + Storytelling to Grow Your Org's Impact - Urina Harrell

    A pandemic relief territory that grew 39% while every area around it went red. A fund that deployed capital fast and couldn't prove what it did. A 55-year-old nonprofit still running on paper. Urina Harrell, founder of Vox Pop Branding, walks through all three — what was broken, what she built, and what happened next. 🩵 In this episode, you'll hear: Case study 1 — Long Beach: Why workshops and education stopped moving the needle, and how rolling up sleeves alongside founders produced the only green zone on the mapCase study 2 — JLH Fund: How to build impact measurement backward, after the money's already out the door, using grantee interviews that double as marketingCase study 3 — Pools of Hope: The digital numbers the grant report never asked for — email list, reach, clicks — that turned into renewal after renewalThe two lessons that show up in all three: start from a baseline you already collect, and let a third party ask the questions your grantees won't answer honestlyThe lowest-lift first step if you have no data at all — QR code stickers, not a new CRMThree different orgs, one repeatable playbook for connecting data to story to funding. 🩵 Episode Highlights: (3:18) From nosy kid to Vox Pop: curiosity as a career strategy(5:33) Case study 1: Long Beach, when workshops stopped working(9:21) The two lessons: baselines and third-party reporting(12:25) Case study 2: JLH Fund, measuring impact after the fact(15:47) Case study 3: Pools of Hope, digital numbers as grant currency (18:30) Where to start if you have no data story yet(20:08) A quilt with her name on it (22:03) Stay curious: the one good thingEpisode Show Notes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/745 // Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free. Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com Say hi 👋 LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter

    745. 3 Case Studies on Using Data + Storytelling to Grow Your Org's Impact - Urina Harrell

  5. Sep 28

    744. Make the Problem Bigger: A Different Way to Build Community - Greg Tehven, Emerging Prairie

    Greg Tehven runs a $5.5 million nonprofit with 40 teammates in Fargo, North Dakota — and his advice to leaders is to stop working on problems they can solve alone. That instinct built Emerging Prairie into the heartbeat of a region's entrepreneurial ecosystem, launched Grand Farm, and turned TEDx Fargo into an event 1,000+ people build their year around. Guest co-host Stacy Huston, CEO of SixDegrees.org, brings Greg on to talk about what it actually takes. 🩵 In this episode, you'll hear: Why "make the problem bigger" is the fastest way to get more people working on it — and more fun besidesThe business model Greg borrowed from a Buddhist teacher: if a tree adds value to the community, the community waters itHow Emerging Prairie designs for radical inclusion — childcare, food choices, time of day — and why those small barriers decide who shows upWhat Greg learned about receiving, not just giving, in a gift shop in IndiaHow serving the board first changed what the board gave backYou'll walk away with a way of building that doesn't require permission, a finished plan, or a bigger budget. 🩵 Episode Highlights: (4:05) Gravel roads and good neighbors: the making of Greg(7:38) From burnout to the Fargo thesis(11:17) Designing for generosity: the business model(14:09) Tolerance of ambiguity (and the TEDx story nobody saw coming)(21:43) Fighting for self, team, and community(26:50) The gift shop in India: learning to receive(30:21) Serving the board before asking the board(34:50) What doesn't show up in a grant application(37:55) One good thing: make the problem biggerEpisode Show Notes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/744 // Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free. Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com Say hi 👋 LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter

    744. Make the Problem Bigger: A Different Way to Build Community - Greg Tehven, Emerging Prairie

  6. Sep 23

    743. Unlock the Full Potential of Your Peer-to-Peer Program - Victoria Vighetto, ZERO Prostate Cancer

    When ZERO Prostate Cancer's peer-to-peer program started slipping, Victoria Vighetto didn't tell her field staff to make more calls. She walked the constituent journey herself — and found the problem sitting in an email. The call-to-action button was too far down. The sends were landing at the wrong time for open rates. Registration was where people were falling out. 🩵 In this Possible in Practice episode, you'll hear: Why a fundraising dip is almost never a motivation problem — and the diagnostic question to ask insteadHow ZERO ran a three-day, $30K matching challenge and saw fundraising jump more than 50% while registration was still down 14%What happened when they stopped asking field staff to pull a dozen reports and gave them a work center with a to-do list: who to call, and what to sayHow to run personalization at scale for thousands of fundraisers without losing the personal partThe one place to start: register for your own event, make a donation, build a page, and find a single pain pointYou'll walk away with a repeatable way to audit your own peer-to-peer program — and permission to fix one thing instead of everything. 🩵 Episode Highlights: (2:44) Victoria's path into nonprofit work(3:51) ZERO's mission and the $20M Blitz the Barriers initiative(5:29) Diagnosing a revenue problem as a systems problem(6:51) The results: 14% down in registration, 50%+ up in fundraising(7:57) Removing friction for field staff: from a dozen reports to one work center (9:57) Automations that meet fundraisers where they are(10:40) What makes peer-to-peer actually work: keep it personal(11:54) The cheer coach and the school bus(13:28) Where to start: walk your own donor journey(14:28) Ride-along days and leading from the friction(15:36) A moment of generosity that stayed with her(17:19) One good thing: make the desired action the easiest actionEpisode Show Notes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/743 // Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free. Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com Say hi 👋 LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter

    743. Unlock the Full Potential of Your Peer-to-Peer Program - Victoria Vighetto, ZERO Prostate Cancer

  7. Sep 21

    742. Money Is Medicine: Decolonizing Wealth and the Future of Philanthropy - Edgar Villanueva

    An elder told Edgar Villanueva that the medicine that had chosen him was money. One sentence — and it turned an angry, burned-out program officer into the person rewriting how philanthropy thinks about wealth. Edgar is the founder and CEO of the Decolonizing Wealth Project and the author of Decolonizing Wealth, now in its second edition. His work has helped move nearly $1 billion toward the communities that need it most. 🩵 Joining us as guest co-host is Lindsey Fuller, Executive Director of The Teaching Well. In this episode, you'll hear: Why reparative philanthropy starts with a question most institutions refuse to ask: where did this money come from in the first place?The one shift any leader can make today: do your own work around money, before you ask anyone else for theirsHow Liberated Capital moved $30 million to Black and Indigenous organizations with a $25/month entry point and no gatekeepersYou'll walk away with a different starting point for every funder conversation you have. 🩵 Episode Highlights: (3:38) Growing up between the haves and the have-nots(8:26) Behind the curtain: what he saw as a young program officer(10:24) The ice cream party problem(14:30) The elder, the medicine, and the book that changed everything(20:16) Reparative philanthropy: where did this money come from?(24:45) No wealth exists without harm(29:04) The one shift you can make today(33:09) Beyond self-care: why leaders have to dig deeper(37:34) Liberated Capital: a donor community for "whosoever will"Episode Show Notes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/742 // Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free. Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com Say hi 👋 LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter

    742. Money Is Medicine: Decolonizing Wealth and the Future of Philanthropy - Edgar Villanueva

  8. Sep 16

    741. Fundraising Problem or Distance Problem? The Reframe That Raised $1M - Connie Lewin

    Connie Lewin found the funders. She wrote the emails. She sent the proposals. The response was silence. With a $1 million goal for a small nonprofit in Rwanda and no established high-net-worth donor network, Connie had to quickly step into a leadership role and take responsibility for the organization’s goal to scale its impact and operations in three years. What finally moved the money wasn't better writing. It was closing the distance between donors and the people at the center of the mission by tapping into donors' heads and hearts and making the case for giving by connecting business strategy with empathy. 🩵 In this Possible in Practice episode, you'll hear: The reframe that changed everything: It's not an ask. It's an invitation — and what that actually changes about who you approach and what you sayWhy an unfiltered list of hundreds of prospects feels like progress but isn'tWhat donors are really asking when they hesitate (it's not whether your work is good)How a 16-year-old raised over $40,000 climbing Kilimanjaro — and what it proved about belongingYou'll walk away with one question to run before your next appeal: do we have a fundraising problem, or a distance problem? 🩵 Episode Highlights: (2:27) Connie's origin story: a fourth-grade cleanup in New York City(3:48) Walking into Rwanda: big vision, scrappy team(5:30) The $1M opportunity — and the plot twist(8:21) "The response was silence"(9:00) The reframe: not an ask, an invitation(10:00) Three moves that closed the distance(13:59) Funder personas and the confidence gap(17:47) Why an unfiltered list of hundreds of prospects feels like progress(18:49) What donors actually want to know(22:13) Bella's Kilimanjaro climb and the power of belonging(25:33) One Good Thing: fundraising problem or distance problem?Episode Show Notes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/741 // Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free. Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com Say hi 👋 LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter

    741. Fundraising Problem or Distance Problem? The Reframe That Raised $1M - Connie Lewin
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The We Are For Good Podcast brings nonprofit professionals + everyday changemakers into conversations with the most innovative, heartwired leaders in social impact. Hosted by Jon McCoy + Becky Endicott, each episode unpacks fresh mindsets, practical skills + inspiring stories designed to help you work smarter, build healthier cultures + accelerate our collective impact. Join our value-aligned community—it’s free—at weareforgoodcommunity.com. About We Are For Good We Are For Good is a storytelling, learning + activating community built for nonprofit professionals + everyday changemakers. Through our podcasts + media, purpose-driven activations + global gatherings, we equip for-good leaders with the connection, skills + inspiration to grow their impact. Because we believe community is everything—and together, we can create an Impact Uprising. Learn more at weareforgood.com.

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