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Overview

Meet Dan. His TED Talk "The Way We Think About Charity is Dead Wrong," went viral less than a decade ago and has been viewed millions of times by starry-eyed dreamers everywhere who are intent on using their creativity and innovation to do good. [insert image of us frantically waving as some of these believers] We're talking nonprofit disruption, marketing, involving your kids in philanthropy and generally working hard not to fangirl over him too much. Join us for the convo we've been waiting to have since the first time we hit play.

Today’s Guest

Dan Pallotta, TED Speaker, Entrepreneur, Author + Humanitarian Activist

“If you aren’t being laughed at, you aren’t dreaming big enough.”

— Dan Pallotta

Episode Transcript

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Episode Highlights

Dan’s story and journey to where he is today - 2:47
The difference between the non-profit and for-profit sector - 6:47
Combating the overhead crisis - 13:11
What is holding people back? - 17:24
If you aren’t being laughed at, you aren’t dreaming big enough - 17:30
Leaning into disruption - 23:46
Dan’s advice for young professionals - 24:00
Explore the full potential of your humanity and inspire your donors to join you - 27:00
Background of the Charity Defense Council - 32:32
A powerful moment of philanthropy in Dan’s life - 35:36
Infusing philanthropy into raising kids - 38:37
Dan’s One Good Thing: Life is happening right now. - 40:29

Powerful quotes

“That was a powerful stew of things that made me want to make a difference in the world - rebel against futility, but also wanted to do something as big as going to the moon.” - Dan

“I think too many nonprofit organizations and political leaders want to make it as easy as possible for people. And that's not what their spirits want, you know, they want to live into a dream.” - Dan

“In my TED talk, I use the metaphor of a rule book. The for-profit sector gets to play by one that has a lot of freedoms and the nonprofit sector has to play by one that has a lot of restrictions. Since then, I've been using the metaphor of prison. The nonprofit sector is in prison and the for-profit sector roams free and even. When we dream, we dream in miniature.” - Dan

“I think there's a serious oppression sickness in the nonprofit sector that we're so used to.” - Dan

“Why can't we create entities as big as Apple for solving the world's problems? They're only individuals at Apple. That's all they are. But they managed to put a smartphone in the hands of pretty much every human being on the earth and a Mac on, you know, 10% of everybody's desk. They're just human beings with capital. Government is just human beings with capital. We're human beings to why aren't we capable of achieving things on that on that kind of a scale?”- Dan

“I have respect for people who are willing to sacrifice their reputation. People who are willing to sacrifice their reputation for an audacious dream that they don't know whether or not they can achieve and they're not sure how they're going to achieve it. But they're fully committed to it.” -Dan

“I think it's dishonoring your word if you make a promise, and don't keep it, and then act as if you never made the promise in the first place.” -Dan

“I've created lots of tools that people can find on my website for actually evangelizing and you don't have to do it yourself. You can let these tools do it.” - Dan

“Yes, we want donors to trust us. But on the basis of what? On the basis that we just told them, we have low overhead, and we know that low overhead means we aren't going to be able to make much of a difference. Well, that's not a very nice thing to have your donors trust in, or trust in your dreams, trust in the resources that you need for those dreams. That's the thing you want your donor to have trust in.” - Dan

“If you asked a donor, “Would you come alongside me to explore the full potential of your humanity?” versus “Would you consider buying a table at my gala?” I know which one's going to inspire somebody.” - Becky

“We've got to make a seat at the table. We talk about the board's we don't want to bore them. No, we don't. But we also want our boards to be representative of the populations we're serving.” - Becky

“We’re not very good at packaging dreams in health and human services.” -Dan

“If the problem is the general public, has all the wrong ideas about charity, then you got to change the way the general public thinks about charity.” - Dan

“Our sector is devoid of any of the tools for movement building. It doesn’t have an ad agency, legal defense fund, legislative agenda, or database for all the people that work in our sector. The Charity Defense Council is about putting some of those things in place.” -Dan

“It’s the stories of average people who committed themselves to brave endeavors. Each of those is an act of philanthropy.” -Dan

“Philanthropy comes from the Latin philos anthropos - the love of humanity.” -Dan

“You don't need to be a billionaire to be a philanthropist. If you do something sacrificial in the name of others, that's philanthropy.” - Dan

“I encourage my kids to dream their biggest dreams.” -Dan

“Life is happening right now. If you're not here, right now, if you're not living right now, if you're not happy right now, if it's always off in the distance, that's the greatest mistake you can make.” - Dan’s One Good Thing

“As a culture, we are getting better and better at doing. Just sit and be.” -Dan

“This conversation is about equalizing. Step up and be the person that you want to be. Be a champion for the cause that you are so passionate about.” -Becky

Dan’s TED Talk 👇

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