82. The Power of a Thank You - JD Beebe

JD Beebe, ThankView, We Are For Good Podcast

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Overview

Meet JD. This serial entrepreneur and big-hearted founder stumbled into founding his company, ThankView, during an attempt to make writing his wedding thank you notes more enjoyable. Today, the sincere personalized video company helps 1,500 nonprofits say thank you through the creative use of video. And as you can imagine, the stories that come with them are incredible. We're talking the power of thank you, and you'll come to see how big JD's heart is and why he's one of our favorite people.

Today’s Guest

JD Beebe, Co-Founder and CEO, ThankView

“In growing the company, we are recognizing it is the little moments and human connections that people remember. If you go out of your way to meaningfully thank someone, they will remember.”

— JD Beebe, Co-Founder and CEO, ThankView

Episode Highlights

JD’s story and journey to disrupting the nonprofit sector through video (2:00)
ThankView and what they provide (3:20)
The power of a thank you (4:30)
Our “Kindness Week” and ThankView’s involvement in helping us make it happen (8:00)
ThankView’s passion to give-back and how it has affected their organization culturally (9:00)
Donor Engagement trends the ThankView team is seeing that individuals and organizations should leverage (14:00)
Embrace adaptation and being unafraid of failing (19:30)
The founding of Odder and utilizing electronic endowment reports (21:00)
What you can employ now to up your stewardship game (25:00)
The moments of philanthropy that move JD’s heart (27:30)
JD’s One Good Thing: Enact Random Acts of Kindness. Live in the moment and enjoy the moments we have. You can have that impact on anyone. The culmination of little moments add up to a happy life.

Powerful Quotes:

“The kismet happened when I made a donation to my alma mater and they sent me a bookmark. I wanted to talk to the person impacted by my donation. I recognized that there was an ability to put the face and voice to the thank you part.” -JD

“This is the beauty of ThankView to me. You can take the emotion, human element and authenticity and you can put it on a platform where someone can hear and see.” -Becky

“So much of the effort and intention is put into the raising of the funds and maintaining the relationship is put on the back burner.” -JD

“In growing the company, we are recognizing it is the little moments and human connections that people remember. If you go out of your way to meaningfully thank someone, they will remember.” -JD

“One of the five values we have with ThankView is gratitude. I try to live that day in and day out. I’ll go on hikes and just send people messages about how much I care about our relationship.” -JD

“Digital is much more embraced. Nothing can replace the in person event or relationship, but people are starting to understand what virtual events can do and create more accessibility and visibility.” -JD

“The biggest thing I’ve seen with our clients, personally, is their level of meaningful communication going up.” -JD

“Zoom fatigue and text fatigue is real. Everything is tough. To be able to make meaningful connections, in an even more thoughtful way, is a thing the organizations that are doing the best are starting to understand.” -JD

“In order to retain donors is understanding at what cadence can I be providing more value?” -JD

“Surprise is a big part of this. You don’t want to be the same old same old that causes people to tune out.” -Jon

“What you have on your communications plan may be valuable, but what has resonance because it is timely, urgent and relevant right now? Video is a way that you can transact that really quickly.” -Becky

“So many of our university partners were able to spin up funds over night at the start of the pandemic. Be open to working quickly and recognizing that it is OK to be wrong. We don’t have to have every single thing answered to take a chance on something.” -JD

“Adaptation and not being afraid to fail are trends I hope continue to be embraced.” -JD

“If you are a leader in any place, foster an environment that allows your people to try some stuff. We’re never going to lose, we’re going to learn from those experiences.” -Becky

“Nonprofits - do as JD does. What resources do you have at your disposable? What are your strengths? Build your programs based on what the needs are and what resources you have.” -Jon

“I have to give all credit to recognizing that gratitude and being grateful for what you have has led me to where I am today.” -JD

What you can employ now to up your stewardship game

1. Utilize Technology + Make Time for Gratitude

Technology allows for the efficiency of connection. This relationship is meaningful to your organization, so make the time to make the connection.

2. Utilize Extended Staff

We all have staff members, volunteers, alumni, students, and others involved in our missions. Utilize them to help create personalized touches.

3. Get Personal

There is nothing that will be a personalized touchpoint. We all send emails, newsletters, and automated messages, but in this day and age, you have to make it personal.

4. The Secret Sauce - “Give a Good Amount of Yourself”

Humans make connections with people. The more human you can be is the power of any good relationship. Tell who you’re thanking why you are there, what the mission means to you personally, and why you continue to support the organization. That will keep donors coming back.