Season 4 Finale 🎉 Tune in to hear the biggest takeaways we've gleaned from the 153 episodes recorded in 2021. Best of Season 4 + Year-in-Review joins Jon, Becky and Julie as they walk through 6 Takeaways + 1 Good Thing, and that one good thing is our final gift to you in 2021👐

Meet Sue Ann. She's a mother, writer, philanthropist, humanitarian, justice warrior, and member of the Giving Pledge. Spending just a few minutes in Sue Ann's wake makes one acutely aware that she's always looking out for the little guy. The Arnall Family Foundation focuses on child welfare, animal welfare, and criminal justice reform, while Sue Ann focuses her personal passion on solutions that lower the incarceration rate and racial disparity among African American men in U.S. jails and prisons. Her class, warmth, grace, and compassion blew us away. Pretty proud to say this is a friend who represents the best of home. Thank you Sue Ann 🙏

Meet Trinity. Friends, we are truly honored to share this story of an incredibly resilient, compassionate Ugandan entrepreneur who's upskilling the next generation of African businesses by empowering its rising digitally-savvy youth. This 29-year-old social entrepreneur is sharing his harrowing story from the Kampala slums to build era92, a youth creative social enterprise working to end youth unemployment through design, arts and technology. Please dignify the courage, optimism and hope found in this episode. Trinity, thank you for trusting us to share this story. You are truly our hero🙏 We join you in supporting efforts to build Africa's youth-powered movements!

📢SPECIAL GUEST on Friday Convo! (Who is not only the foremost global expert on progressive nonprofit leadership but she also happens to be one of our favorite people - ever. Kishshana Palmer!)

We're concluding our Friday series discussing the next generation of nonprofit leaders, and what skills are needed to lead and thrive in this new pandemic world. This week we're talking about Embracing Self-Reflection. Self-reflection in leadership means carving out time to review yourself as a leader. Are you taking the time to think and review yourself as part of increasing your self-awareness? It's absolutely critical for building culture and an empathy-based leadership style (and brand!).

Meet Katie. As a former nonprofit ED, she's been in the trenches from fundraising to ops to marketing before becoming an industry leader. Today, she leads Do More Good, the parent organization of Nonprofit Hub and Cause Camp which collectively serve more than 50,000 nonprofits throughout North America. We're talking through the trends she's tracking as well as advice she has for nonprofits beyond the New Year. She's dropping some marketing wisdom and shares why you have to stop saying your nonprofit is, "the best kept secret." Tune in to hear why🎧

Meet Kimberly. She's an award-winning professor, executive leader, and social good expert who served as the youngest African-American female city manager in U.S. history [insert standing ovation]. As a proponent of bringing socially good businesses, community and local governments, together she's fighting to increase impact awareness. We're talking through creative ways to bring in revenue via entrepreneurial tools and discussing inclusivity awareness. It's a convo good for the head and heart.

Loving the feedback on our latest Friday series discussing the next generation of nonprofit leaders, and what skills are needed to lead and thrive in this new pandemic world. This week we're talking about Embracing Empathy. Empathetic leaders create a culture where imperfection is something to learn from, not hide. As a leader, admitting when you make a mistake or asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness; it’s practicing vulnerability. We're still teasing a special guest appearance for this series later in Dec., so tune in early! 🎧

Meet Rachel. We throw new strategies, innovations and trends your way - and we know how overwhelming it can feel (especially for small teams), so we're bringing in a small shop expert. Rachel's a former fundraiser, ED and founder who's worked in the trenches of underfunded, systemless organizations. She's here to help us walk through some key strategies for the new year and set our organizations up with solid foundations that will lead to greater impact, more dollars raised, and working smarter, not harder.

Meet Sabrina. You asked for a stategic planning conversation, and oh wow, did this incredible expert deliver! She's answering how to keep your strategic plan alive and why we should constantly review, activate and refine it. If you're wondering what to do with your strategic plan now that the world is entirely different, then is your episode. Icing on the cake? We're talking engaging and activating your board + goal setting using your strategic plan as a roadmap too.

We've heard you. You liked our focus on young professionals and kindergarten habits, but it's time for us to dig deeper with nonprofit leaders. And here's the spoiler - everyone can be a leader in their role. You simply need the grit and tools to feel comfortable to rise. We got you! Our new Friday series: Next Gen Nonprofit Leadership launches today as we dive into Embracing Risk. Glad you're here. 🎧

Meet Amy. She's the rockstar executive director of Shoes That Fit providing new athletic shoes to underprivileged children nationwide. You may think why shoes? But when a family has to choose between rent, utilities, food AND shoes, shoes often come last especially recently as families struggle during COVID-19. Their mission is to tackle this variable, as one of the most visible signs of poverty in America, by giving children-in-need new sneakers to attend school with dignity and joy, prepared to learn, play, and thrive.

Meet Jake. Every wondered what possesses someone to run 50 miles? For Jake - it's about passion. After learning about the plight of women and children who are trafficked around the world, he redirected his career in persuasive sales firmly toward helping the nonprofit sector. Join this convo with someone who's knocked on nearly 100,000 doors and is leveraging those corporate sales methods for good.

We're pretty sure Mark was one of our first WAFG friends. He found us early on from darn-near-halfway around the world, and our mutual admiration for each other's work endures. Jon and Becky were honored to join Mark's Purposely Podcast where we talk through business growth, how we check our mental health, and why we love growing global community. Do us a favor; hit subscribe on his podcast or listen to an episode or two. It's a good listen for the head and heart.

Ya'll. University of Wisconsin Foundation & Alumni Association has a STORY! Tune in and hear what happened when its students sent more than 32,000 personalized videos to alums during the pandemic. [insert jaw drop] 🤯🥰👏!!! Aimee describes herself as a "philanthropy enthusiast committed to radically personalizing the donor experience." Come meet this rising star in the donor relations world🤩

Meet Manuela. We met this L.A. founder in our Community and in PRO, and we positively fell in love with the simple beauty in her nonprofit's mission. After rolling up her sleeves to work on the frontlines of orgs she believed in, she moved from a homeless foundation to running Prince's foundation (yes, you read that right. "That" Prince💜☔️) before starting her own foundation, "In A Perfect World" empowering young people around the world to take action and be kind. She's talking about how to co-create natural empathy in Generation Alpha and how she's seen education be the great equailizer of human vibrancy. Her life 's story is fascinating, heroic, empathetic and reveals one of those amazing founders stories where top brass is first in line and deepest in the trenches - for good. Inspiring! 💡

We're concluding our final episode in our Friday series, Donor Engagement: Kindergarten Style with this week's discussion about why Small Things Matter. Relationships that are triggered by process may be reliable, but they can also feel mechanical. We're talking about exerting effort and delighting in the small things that creates true connection and deeper engagement 🎉 Tune in, we're bringing principles, case study examples and Pro Tips too.

Meet Josh. He believes it's time for your annual report to undergo a makeover. In fact, he believes your annual report has tremendous potential to get your donor engaged and actually reading that report by leveraging digital reports, polls, videos, and the kind of attention-grabbing features you couldn’t include with your basic print version. Tune in and hear about the future of digital publications. We're also chatting about important annual report elements and the importance of digital storytelling🎧

Meet John. He's tired of seeing donor advised funds sitting around unspent. He's democratized the DAF world, and he wants you and your kids to be an active part of the giving community. You see, once he recognized a need to make giving more accessible and more effective, he launched Charitable Impact which nurtures generosity within each person and bring resources for creating change in the world to everyone. In short, it's a super cool giving platform that makes even a $5 feel like a serious investment in philanthropy. Together, we're talking basics (what the heck is a donor advised fund?) but also talking about how to make our personal philanthropy intentional rather than reactive.

We're diving back into another Friday series discussions, Donor Engagement: Kindergarten Style. This week we're discussing how to Share Equally. What happens when we democratize our good work, share frameworks, pass the microphone and share our seat at the table? Only the best things! 🎉 Tune in, we're bringing principles, case study examples and Pro Tips too.

Meet Simon. He's a global brand expert who's on a mission to see social good brands embrace a radical, reimaged and reengineered way to do business based on the idea of collectivized purpose. By showing how we live, work, and grow together in new ways that restore and protect the social and living systems on which all of our futures depend, he believes the future of nonprofit is bright if we can be brave enough to seize it. This is the future of collaborative leadership. We have to build together. Tune in and prepare for your jaw to hit the floor - like ours did. Preach Brother Mainwaring🙌