Most nonprofits treat their community like an audience. They broadcast to it, count it, and hope some slice of it converts into dollars. Floyd Jones wants you to flip that thinking entirely. As the founder of BackBlack, the organization behind Black Philanthropy Month's fastest-growing fundraising movement, Floyd has helped direct more than eleven and a half million dollars to Black-led organizations in under three years. His central claim, and the title of this Webinar Wednesday conversation with BetterUnite Co-founder Leya Simmons, is simple: your community is your greatest fundraising asset. The work is learning to treat it like one.
Floyd's origin story runs through Freetown, Sierra Leone, where his family is from and where he watched his father provide jobs, food, and opportunity as a matter of course. Giving back, he says, was never a task. It was an identity. But when he moved into professional fundraising, he ran into a hard truth: not all money is made equal. Brilliant, high-impact organizations were still shut out of funding, and the pattern was clear. Black-led nonprofits receive only one to two percent of philanthropic dollars globally. The reason was rarely merit. It was access. Fundraising, as Floyd puts it, is about who you know, and too many organizations were never in the room where relationships and dollars get made.
BackBlack exists to build that room virtually, so organizations that were never on a funder's radar can get in without gatekeeping. The results speak for themselves: a directory that has grown from zero to more than 2,500 organizations, corporate partners like Sage selecting nonprofits from that directory for resources and board support, and a first campaign that raised roughly $500,000 before scaling to eleven and a half million.
The heart of the session was Floyd's Four C's framework, a deliberate alternative to the traditional donor pyramid that fixates on major gifts at the top. Floyd's problem with the pyramid is that it makes everything about the size of the check. His framework makes it about the journey.
The first C is Captivate: sharing the spark. This is your event, your gala, the video that gets people excited and lit up. Nobody has a spark problem, Floyd notes. The Ice Bucket Challenge and Giving Tuesday prove we can generate hype. The problem is what comes next.
The second C is Communicate: sharing the story. This is where the spark becomes a relationship. Floyd's team sends film crews around the country to capture real stories because story is what pulls people in and keeps them. In one August alone, that storytelling drove more than 40,000 unique website visitors. Your story, he says, takes you to a higher level of glory, because people need to see themselves in it and understand the change they are helping to create.
The third C is Convert: sharing the opportunity. Here Floyd is blunt about a common mistake. Organizations meet someone once and immediately ask them to donate or join the board, the equivalent of proposing marriage on a first date. Instead, build levels. Level one might be sharing on social media as a virtual volunteer. Level two, becoming a peer-to-peer fundraiser. Level three, a recurring donor. Level four, joining the board or becoming an ambassador. Give people one path and you lose them, because one size does not fit all.
The fourth C is Catapult: sharing the baton. This is the goal, the point where supporters open doors for you, make introductions, and advocate on your behalf. Floyd even adds a bonus fifth C, CRM, because none of this scales without tracking who your people are and where they sit on the journey.
Leya pressed Floyd on one of the sector's most familiar problems: the reluctant board member who says they are not comfortable fundraising. Floyd's answer starts with culture. Fundraising is a team sport, he tells his own staff from the top down, and everyone is an ambassador regardless of role. From there, it is about alignment. Sit board members down, understand what they actually bring, and stop sending mass email blasts. A board member's biggest contribution may not be a check at all. It might be an introduction or a program partnership.
He shared a story that reframed his own thinking. A board member at a youth sports nonprofit did not want to write a check. He wanted to run a soccer tournament. Floyd's first instinct was that a check would be easier, but that tournament raised over $10,000 the first year, $20,000 the second, and $30,000 the third. The lesson: distinguish between something truly out of alignment and something that simply is not how you would do it. As Floyd puts it, alignment determines your assignment. If it moves you toward your core goal, make room for it.
Floyd is relentless about following the data, and the data points somewhere counterintuitive. During BackBlack's August campaign, with nearly 130,000 donors, the majority of gifts were small: ten, twenty, fifty dollars. Giving Tuesday's own research estimates that upwards of $52 billion goes ungiven every year, and that up to 43 percent of people say they would give if someone simply asked. His tactical challenge to every organization: pull your ten most recent donors, find the average gift size, and instead of asking them to give again, ask them to become an ambassador who recruits five friends to match it. That is how a single gift multiplies, and it is why small and micro donors, the most sustainable base a nonprofit has, matter more than the one large gift that soaks up all the oxygen in the room.
If there was one throughline, it was that fundraising is not about the check. If the check is all you want, Floyd says, the check is all you will get. What organizations need are believers who take them to a breakthrough. That means telling stories with souls behind the stats and meaning behind the metrics, being culturally competent enough to meet people where they are, and recognizing that you and your community are the asset you have been looking for. Focus on that for six months, Floyd promises, and there is no way your organization stays the same.
A collaboration between 501(c) Drop and BackBlack.
Black Philanthropy Month runs every August.
To learn more about BackBlack's work, visit backblackmovement.org
Transcript Recording:
Leya Simmons (00:00)
Hi everyone and welcome to our 501c drop today. I am really excited about today. I guess I say that kind of a lot of the time, but today I'm like legitimately really excited. I have known Floyd for I probably like I've been following you for sure for like three years or more than that. And then we've been connected for a little over two. And Floyd is one of the most dynamic folks in our space.
Floyd Jones (00:19)
⁓
Leya Simmons (00:28)
Doing some really, really cool stuff with BackBlack and Black Philanthropy Month. And so I've been just thrilled to welcome you onto the 501 C drop. So I'm really excited as well that we've been able to combine your webinar Wednesday with our 501c drop. So that's my big ol' welcome. Welcome, Floyd.
Floyd Jones (00:48)
Thank you. I'm super happy to be here. So excited to be sharing more and all of the things and also to spend time with you. You've been so awesome and such an anchor partner. And so I'm super excited to get into it today.
Leya Simmons (01:01)
Yeah, me too. I really am excited to hear more of your story. So, but just pause on that thought. Let me share a couple housekeeping bits that I always say here at the beginning. We are going to send out this recording to anybody that registered and all of you that are listening. So
Don't you worry about a thing. You're gonna get everything, all of Floyd's gems and pieces of advice, all of it's gonna come at you to your inbox. we'll also post this on YouTube and we'll we are now newly on Spotify as well. I'm not sure if you knew that, Floyd. That yes, this is also a podcast. So I know that's us. ⁓ so we will you have all of these resources coming at you. So don't worry about scribbling down everything that he says. ⁓ let's see what else there is.
Floyd Jones (01:32)
Come on somebody. Multimedia. Multimedia.
Leya Simmons (01:44)
Anybody that is joining me live, throw those comments, your questions, say hello to the chat. We would love to be responsive best we can. We're gonna dive into a whole lot so we might not get to all questions. And if we don't, no worries. We will respond to you, we will send an email, we can connect you to Floyd and his team as well. And if you're listening, support at betterunite.com. That's where you can send any questions or requests for follow-up material or whatever else it is you have. ⁓
I think those are all of my announcements. So let's go. I'm ready to just jump in. You ready, Floyd? All right. So I said at the beginning that I was like, okay, you you know I want you to introduce yourself, right? Before we came on here. So tell me your story. How did you get into nonprofit work? What's led you to BackBlack? ⁓ what what's brought you to the data side of what we do? Like, let us in. Tell us.
Floyd Jones (02:19)
Let's get into it. Let's get into it.
I love it. Also, I'm seeing some so many some of my people here. Hey Janice. Hello, Rosa. Hey Arnold. I'm super excited, Charles. I love it. ⁓ Florida in the house. We got Windsor, California in the house. Come on, somebody. All right. So I'll get sidetracked if I don't stay focused with you. But ⁓ so my story, honestly, it's so funny because I feel like my story, especially as it pertains to giving back.
Leya Simmons (02:46)
Yeah.
I love it.
Floyd Jones (03:08)
you know, stars before even me, right? Like my family is from Sierra Leone, West Africa. My parents and my two eldest brothers are from Freetown Sierra Leone. And ⁓ CJ is in the house. I'm seeing so many good people here. I love it. ⁓
Leya Simmons (03:18)
Yeah.
Floyd Jones (03:25)
And also for those of you who don't know, Leya mentioned this. We are doing webinar Wednesdays. So if you're in our email, you're gonna see we have a bunch of webinars that are happening from now throughout August. And this is our first one, so super excited. But okay, as I mentioned, my family's from Sierra Leone, West Africa. And so growing up, we would go back and forth a lot. Like we would go.
A whole lot. And you know, I would remember on holidays, like on Christmas, we would wake up and we would like go and feed, you know, we would provide food and toys and stuff like that to people in the community. My father's also an entrepreneur, so every single day I would wake up in the morning and I would like see a long line of people like outside of our of our house getting ready to come in and and my father would provide jobs and and day opportunities and it just made me realize that you know giving back is not just something you
Leya Simmons (04:08)
that's awesome.
Floyd Jones (04:14)
Do it's who you are, right? And so I have always had that mindset. But when I got into actual philanthropy and fundraising and whatnot, it was like not everything was the same, right? And it was like I was realizing that, you know, because I've worked, you know, in tech, I've worked as a frontline fundraiser, I've worked in so many different capacities, but the same through line that I saw was that not all money is made equal, right? Like you could be doing amazing, impactful work on the front lines, but still not being able to
Leya Simmons (04:25)
Yeah.
Floyd Jones (04:44)
Or earn the funding that you need, right? Like not being able to bring in the dollars that you need. And so I realized two things. One, yes, it's about you know knowledge and capacity, but it's also about access and equity. Come on, somebody, right? And making sure that the dollars are flowing where they need to be going, right? And I realized that that wasn't the case. I realized I would go through and do the work, but the money was not going where it needed to go, right? Especially and particularly to communities of color, right? And to organizations who are left.
Leya Simmons (04:59)
Yeah, hundred percent.
Floyd Jones (05:14)
by people who look like me. And so I throughout all my work I said, you know what?
What's my next act? Because I'm always asking that question, what's gonna expand me, what's gonna stretch me? Cause if you're not being stretched, what are you doing? Come on, somebody, right? And so my that led me to my work with with with Starting BackBlack. And I'm so excited because to date we've seen over eleven and a half million dollars be directed to black lived organizations across the country. And we're this August will be year three. Can you believe it? We've been doing this for such a short amount of time, but we're seeing all of it happen in in real time. So it's exciting.
Leya Simmons (05:27)
Fragment.
I cannot.
It's so exciting. And it I mean, so this is truly in your DNA. It's like baked into you. You came to this just like drawn into it. But I love that you also then spotted a I mean, a gaping hole, like right? A big blind spot. and frankly, just in our set sector. So what was that it? Like, you know, my next question is what led you to found an organization? And you kind of described it, right? Like you saw this hole, but like
Floyd Jones (05:51)
Mm, yes.
Mm, mm. ⁓
Mm-hmm.
Leya Simmons (06:14)
Was there some moment or an event that that really brought it to your attention or was it just like looking at things over time?
Floyd Jones (06:21)
Yeah, such a good question. So, for those of you who don't know, I'm a speaker and a coach. So I've been working with nonprofits and doing a lot of fun frontline fundraising for a long time. I also speak all over the world at nonprofit conferences and inspiring nonprofits and providing them with tools and resources to grow. But again, over time, as you as you just mentioned, I saw that so many of the organizations who needed this work and needed these resources weren't always in the room. And as you and I know, so many things happen when you're in the room.
Leya Simmons (06:47)
Yeah.
Yeah, a hundred percent.
Floyd Jones (06:51)
So many things happen when you're in the room, right? Like when you're in the room with the right funders. But get this. I was talking to a very ⁓ successful person. They well, I can't, I'm I don't mean that name drop, but they have founded a really big company, okay? And they said, you know, we only give to nonprofits that we've heard of or been recommended to, or we only provide board members. It's a thing that happens all the time. Because what is fundraising? Fundraising is relationships, right?
Leya Simmons (07:04)
Okay.
I've so heard that. It's a total thing.
A hundred yep.
Floyd Jones (07:20)
Fundraising is relationship and who you know, right? And so
Leya Simmons (07:21)
And knowing people. Mm-hmm.
Floyd Jones (07:24)
I kept thinking to myself, there are so many people who you will never meet, sir. Cause I've watched how you move, I've seen the different places that you've been at. There are so many people that you will never ever meet. And I just come on somebody, right? And also you give to who you know, your people give to who they know. And so they're never reaching people and places that they've never been. You know what I mean? And so I kept thinking to myself,
Leya Simmons (07:28)
Mm-mm.
You have self siloed.
Just yeah.
Floyd Jones (07:49)
How do we create the virtual room, right? How do we create a room that other people can actually enter in? And it's not about gatekeeping. It's not about who you have to know. It's not about looking a specific way. It's just about being connected. You know what I mean? And so not only have we directed funding, but one company in particular I remember working with earlier this year, Sage. They're a multi-billion dollar company. You know, every single year, they pick nonprofits that they provide resources to, they provide board members to, they provide training to. And they specifically came to us and we
Leya Simmons (08:01)
And
Floyd Jones (08:18)
Help slot one organization from our our directory to get in the room. Come on, somebody, right? And these are shape-shifting opportunities that can help change a trajectory of organizations, right? And so I said we're gonna create that because I don't want these boundaries, I don't want these barriers. And for people who don't know, Black Led nonprofits only receive one to two percent of philanthropic dollars globally, right? And so I'm like, we gotta change these stats. Isn't it crazy? Still.
Leya Simmons (08:23)
Incredible. Incredible.
Was shocked to hear that stat. ⁓ I you told
me that years ago, and I was like, I I truly was shocked to hear that stat. And I am further shocked to hear that that is still the case. Actually, I'm really not. I'm not shocked to hear that it's still the case, but I I have to think that you have made some incremental change already. I know you have. You've just told us the stats. So we're definitely on the trajectory.
Floyd Jones (08:56)
Mm, yeah.
Mm 100%. Well, also,
you know, Deboli asks, you know, what is that stat again? It's one to two percent of philanthropic dollars globally. And you know what? Hold on, y'all. Let me show you something. I got I got I got more in store. I don't I don't want this to break the internet. So let's see if this will if this will actually go. ⁓ hold on. Let me share my screen. Okay, can you guys let me share? ⁓
Leya Simmons (09:30)
Can't see yet, but I'm dying to know.
Floyd Jones (09:33)
Share screen, screen, 501c drop, boom. Can you see this?
Leya Simmons (09:41)
Mm, not yet. Hold on. There it is. Yes, we can.
Floyd Jones (09:43)
there
it is. Okay. Black-led nonprofits only receive one to two percent of philanthropic dollars globally. But here's some other stats, right? 53% rely on one to two major donors, right? Nearly half of nonprofits have no full-time staff members. Over a third, a third of nonprofits operate on budgets of less than $30,000. And here's the thing: because some of you might be watching this and be like, okay, well, how does this pertain to me? Because I'm not a black-led nonprofit.
But a lot of these stats pertain to grassroots organizations as well. You know what I'm saying? Here's what my vision is, and here's why I show up and do the work that I do, right? Because I am here to lay a blueprint. I always say your budget has nothing to do with the size of your belief. Your budget has nothing to do with the size of your belief. We've only been around for for what, three years? And we've already, our smallest donation to our organization has been $20,000.
Leya Simmons (10:15)
I totally
Three years, yeah.
Floyd Jones (10:37)
Right? We have worked with some of major brands that you've heard of. Come on, somebody, right? I wanna lay a blueprint for every single organization, no matter where you are at, no matter what community you're at, you're no matter who you're serving, and you can take this and you can continue to go and scale and grow. Okay. I need you to be your best, whoever you are. I need you to to step into 2026, okay? Because things are different. It is not a one-size-fits-all any longer.
Leya Simmons (10:43)
Yeah.
Floyd Jones (11:03)
Okay. You can't be going and doing outdated funding models. Okay. I was on a podcast yesterday and we were talking about this and I was like, there are so many organizations who don't have business models. I don't care if you're a nonprofit, you need to step in with a plan. Hope is not a strategy. Come on, somebody. You need the hope to get going. You need the hope to get home. But if you want to go higher, we need a we need a strategy and we need a plan.
Leya Simmons (11:18)
That's right. Yeah.
Yeah.
Floyd Jones (11:26)
Okay? So
that is the work that I am doing. Okay? That is what I want to lay the blueprint for. If you follow me on any of my channels on on LinkedIn, I t I yap a lot over there, okay? But come on, somebody, I'm gonna teach you a plan or two, okay? Cause I need you to grow and I need you to step because your community is relying on you. Your people are relying on you, your mission is relying on you, okay? Let me stop, chat, because you know I can I can keep going, Lee. I can going.
Leya Simmons (11:50)
I mean, I have chill bumps.
I feel inspired. I almost got teary there for a minute, Floyd. Like I love this so much. And those of you that can't see, we had a lot of clapping, applaud hands flying up through the chat too. So I I it everything you just said so totally resonates. I o my whole background is with or primarily small nonprofits, mid-sized nonprofits. And that's like where my heart lives. I love that. And that's exactly how I knew what you mean about like you're just not in the room.
Floyd Jones (11:55)
Mm, mm.
Mm.
Leya Simmons (12:20)
with so many of those people. So Floyd is giving us the answer as to how you how you get it. And he's opening the doors. I love it. It's a big tint. It's a big tent. We can all fit. What is what do you think, Floyd, then, is the most common like misconception that nonprofits, I mean frankly, or funders have about black giving. And I know that you have a lot of data to talk about this. So so let's start bringing in some of your data.
Floyd Jones (12:28)
Come on somebody. Come on somebody.
Mm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Well, I think that so many people, there's this big misconception, you know, we talked about these stats about black-led nonprofits and like the funding that they receive and whatnot, but then it trickles into do black people give? Okay. And black people in America are the most generous people group.
Right? And again, I want to make sure that it's clear that this is open to everybody because let's look at the Giving Tuesday ⁓ data commons data, right? They said that there is an average, there's a they estimate upwards of $52 billion. $52 billion that is left given every that's left ungiven every year. And one of the the the core recommendations that they have in their most recent data commons report is that you need to ask other people.
So many people, up to 43% of people who were surveyed in their last survey, said that they'd be willing to give if someone just asked them, including minority groups. So some of y'all on this call might not be a black-led nonprofit, but you're not even asking other people groups to donate. Here's the thing. Let's talk about it, Leya. Let's talk about it, okay? Injustice is colorblind, but the people who are impacted.
Leya Simmons (13:44)
Never touch her. Hmm.
Lay it on us.
Floyd Jones (14:06)
Or not come on somebody, right? And also, it doesn't matter if you're black, white, brown, red, white, yellow, blue, okay, your money is green. So if you can get your green money to impact your cause, come on somebody, that's gonna take you to the next level. So first of all, I want you to check who are you asking, okay? Because yes, back black and what I'm doing is particularly impacting black white nonprofits, but everybody can give to your situation in your in in your community. Come on somebody, that's one.
Leya Simmons (14:07)
Best. That's great.
Floyd Jones (14:36)
Okay, then two, let's talk about black giving in general. Black people in America are its studies are shown that they're most generous. They're giving over 25% of their disposable income back to their community, which estimates over 11 billion dollars a year. Don't ask her, I'ma give you a receipt. I'ma give you a receipt, okay? Over 11 billion dollars a year with a B. Come on, somebody. Okay.
Leya Simmons (14:59)
Billion with a B.
Floyd Jones (15:04)
So my question is, are you asking? Are you asking? Right? Are you opening up the door? And you know what? This I always say your world might look small because of your thinking. Your world is only the direct reality of how you think, okay? And how you think determines what you do and what you say and who you speak to. Are you willing to be uncomfortable? Are you comfortable being uncomfortable? Isn't what they say?
Leya Simmons (15:31)
Yeah.
Floyd Jones (15:31)
That means
sometimes you might have to go out of your way and bring somebody else in. Sometimes you have to go out of your way and say, hey, I want to invite you in, right? Another thing that I will say, because I don't want to make this about black and white, but it's sometimes it is, right? So many people say, okay, well, hey, we don't have no partners. You know, we work with everybody. Do you see who I'm on the call with today? We work with everybody because we are trying to change the injustice. You know what I'm saying? And it's gonna take everybody. It's gonna take all people. The last thing that I'll say on this point.
I was on the on the news ⁓ talking about this the other day, and I was saying, you know what? Our world, we are we're fighting one race, right? And it's called we are running one race and it's a human race. Come on, somebody. If if my black brothers and sisters are not doing well, my white brothers and sisters are not doing well, and my white brothers and sisters not doing well, my black brothers and sisters are not doing well. Okay, we are all in this together. And so the the the the ⁓ common misconception is that there might not be any money in these communities. Guess again, think again.
Leya Simmons (16:12)
it's a good one.
Floyd Jones (16:30)
Okay, expand your mind and you're gonna expand your reality. Come on somebody.
Leya Simmons (16:37)
That's I I I honestly don't have words after that one. Floyd, I'm not gonna lie. I do have so I I honestly have a kind of follow up question. What are like the tangible things that you would advise somebody to do to expand their mind? Like what what what is a step to take tomorrow? This is usually like my last question, but I can't wait. I'm sorry.
Floyd Jones (16:55)
mmm mmm
No,
I love it. Well, I just love what Megan Walsh just said. Come on, Megan. I just spent eight days in Minnesota. I love Minnesota. I have some my my family is there, so I'm there often actually in Minneapolis at an Ethiopian diaspora soccer event representing Ruth. ⁓ Ruth. I love my friends at Ruth's Ethiopia. See, come on, somebody.
Leya Simmons (17:08)
⁓
Floyd Jones (17:24)
I was one of perhaps ten white people I saw all week long. The community gave engaged engaged to a multitude of couple.
Leya Simmons (17:33)
There it is. That's it.
Floyd Jones (17:34)
Megan, I you
know, she I didn't plant this, okay? We didn't plant. We did not plant, okay. You see what I'm saying though? If you want to expand your mind, go on go on something called Google, okay? And look, you know another thing I'll say? Next week, our July 22nd, I believe, we're producing and publishing the first ever Black Philanthropy Month global events calendar. Okay, we put it in all call. Over 50 people.
Leya Simmons (17:37)
Yeah.
I can testify.
Floyd Jones (18:02)
We're submitting their events that they're doing all over the country are re related to Black L ⁓ related to Black Philanthropy Month. And I'm so excited. Like, we couldn't do all this on your own. That's another thing I'm gonna say. Okay. So many people said that, we're building a movement. We're building a movement. Is it a really a movement if you're the only one going?
Leya Simmons (18:20)
It takes two for there to be a movement. It's that second one.
Floyd Jones (18:20)
Can we talk about it? It takes a it takes at least two, okay? At least.
We put out one call, and so many people came in and were and we're that is when you know you have built a movement, okay? So many of us in this correct, correct. You know what I'm saying? So you want to expand your mind, stop doing everything by yourself. That's another thing. Because so many times it's it's my plan, my mission, my vision.
Leya Simmons (18:32)
And that's when you know there was one that was missing.
Yeah.
Floyd Jones (18:48)
I'm tired. It's not about me, me, me. It's about we we we we we. You know what I'm saying? So bring other people into what you're doing. Ask that, okay? You got me so excited I split my water over here. Don't don't mind me, Dad. Don't mind me. Exactly. Exactly.
Leya Simmons (19:00)
My mission's accomplished. All right. All right. So
we so you have said, and actually it's the title I think of this webinar, which is your community is your greatest fundraising asset. That wasn't the whole title, but that was basically the gist of it. So what is it what so you you've given us a couple of ideas, but for someone that you know, one of my least favorites things is well, we always did it this way. So what for somebody that's kind of stuck in that groove, right? Like, what does it look like in practice to
Floyd Jones (19:11)
Yes. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Leya Simmons (19:30)
open up to treating their community as more than just like, you know, that social media audience, but more, I mean, and so I want to turn that around too, Floyd, to asking specifically about fundraising. Like how do you get somebody or an organization that has not really reached out to their community? And I can imagine honestly and I've heard a variety of reasons, how do you get that organization to start seeing their community as a fundraising engine? Yeah.
Floyd Jones (19:36)
So good.
Yes.
engine okay
so two things I typically go into you're not doing this and you're not doing that because here's the thing I started to understand and realize okay one one thing I'll qu I'll say quickly you know I spent the last what
Four or five years, like strictly in for-profit. And then I also started my own business. So I have coaches and I I have clients and the whole shebang. Starting a nonprofit, I'm a big fake person. And I believe that it was the biggest opportunity that, like, you know, God and life was offering to me because it was such a reminder to get back into it. Because w when I specifically left being a direct frontline fundraiser, I was like,
This model is broken. I'm tired. We can't do it. Cause I was burnt out. You know what I'm saying? And then I told myself, I literally I remember sitting myself down in the mirror being like, if you're going to do this, you're going to do this differently. Like, if you're going to do this, we are not. It's it's it has to change. You know what I mean? So back black, we have earned revenue. We have brand partnerships. We build in regional boards. Like,
Leya Simmons (20:40)
Goodbye.
Yeah.
Floyd Jones (21:04)
We are doing so many different things differently because I want to make sure that everyone on my team, one is paid well. Come on, somebody. Because how can you do your best work if you're stressed out? I know so many people. Thank you. You have to have it. I see so many organizations where I gotta raise this dollar or else we can't pay our life. I'm like, how can you do your most innovative, most impactful work in that way? It it's you can't.
Leya Simmons (21:11)
my God, yes.
I it's Maslow's hierarchy of means, like you gotta have it.
Mm. You can't is the answer.
Floyd Jones (21:32)
You really can't. And so I literally told my I was like, we have one program. For the longest time we have one program. And that's a big thing that I'm gonna tell people. So many people are trying to do this program and the after school program and the gearbook program and the blood dry and the community and I'm like
Leya Simmons (21:43)
You anything.
sorry.
Floyd Jones (21:51)
You can't do it all. And you're not supposed to do it all. Okay? So that's the first thing I would say. We're burnt out, but a lot of times we're the ones lighting our own candles. Come on, somebody. And I promise you, I promise you, if you took a step back, okay, say you stopped one program, if everything fell apart, then my thing is: are you a band-aid or are you a so an actual solution? Because sometimes I keep thinking to myself, I want to work and work.
Leya Simmons (22:02)
⁓ that's a good one, yeah.
Floyd Jones (22:18)
work for a day where that soup kitchen isn't even needed because everyone is fed properly. Come on, somebody. And a lot of times it will have to be it's gonna be have to be more than just you. It's gonna have to be more than just you who's gonna accomplish this. So that's what led me to my four seeds framework. I have a four seats framework of of of community building. I'm gonna share my screen again. I told Leya this is gonna be a multimedia experience y'all okay let me go ahead. So so many times let me see if this if let me know if this pop if it pulls up
Leya Simmons (22:22)
That's the goal. Yeah.
Let's go.
We're like, let's see.
We
gotcha. It's coming. There it is.
Floyd Jones (22:51)
Boom. So somebody said, my question is what may be the top. Okay, we're gonna talk about that. Okay, so so much of traditional giving is focused on the pyramid, right? You've seen the whole ⁓ donor solicitation pyramid. And what is at the top of this? It says major donors, right? So everything that we do, even this, is focused around the gift, right? It's focused around getting a higher gift, it's focused around.
You go to a person thinking, how is this person gonna give me a higher gift? And that is why I am seeing organizations burn out, fall, and fail, time and time and time again, because fundraising is not about the higher gift, right? It's not about the gift at all. It's about how do you help people become a higher version of themselves through the gift.
Leya Simmons (23:41)
This is cool.
Floyd Jones (23:43)
We're gonna let it sink in. It's not about a
higher gift. It's about how can you become a higher version of themselves through the gift. Come on, somebody, right? So this is why I created the four C's of community building. Captivate. That's when you share the spark. That's moments like this. That's your event. That's your gala. That's your you have a nice great video that you posted online and you're getting people excited and you're getting them hyped, okay? You share this, you share the spark with them. Now they're they're lit up.
Leya Simmons (23:50)
Yeah, yes.
Floyd Jones (24:12)
Right then communicate. How do you share the story with your people? Right? Because anybody can light a spark, okay? We don't have a spark problem, okay? Ice fucking challenge, right? ⁓ Giving Tuesday, no shape November. We we can light a spark, y'all. Okay, and that is exactly the philosophy that I'm building with back black. Yes, BPM August is our entry point. We're gonna get people excited, we're gonna get them giving, we're gonna get them hype. But I don't want you to just be hype and that's it.
Leya Simmons (24:24)
Yeah.
Floyd Jones (24:41)
I want you to figure out how you can start exactly. How do you scale after that? Right? So step one is captivate, but then two is communicate. How do you share the story? So how you now they're in your newsletter. Now they're actually woven it. Because why do I say the story is so important? Your I always say your story is gonna take you to a high level of glory. Come on, somebody. Because people need to see themselves in your story. They want to be the hero, they want to understand what they're doing, right? I always say you're a bridge.
Leya Simmons (24:41)
And then it ends on August thirty one.
Yeah.
Floyd Jones (25:10)
You're a virtual to where your people are and the change that they want to see in the world, right? You're a virtual to where people are and the impact that they want to have in the world. Leya, there are probably so many people that you can interview and work with any day of the week. But you specifically said, I want to continue working with you. I asked and you said yes. Why? Because we're going in the same direction together. We have a grander story that we're trying to accomplish together. Come on, somebody, right? So that's why communicate with your people is so important. And I even have a little example here.
Leya Simmons (25:26)
You did? I did. That's right.
Mm-hmm.
Floyd Jones (25:41)
We go in and we actually tell the story, okay? We actually send film and camera crews all around the country, right? And tell powerful stories. Why? Let me show you why. Because now we're getting people making viral posts. We're getting press. Why? Because we're actually getting over 40,000 unique visitors to our website in a couple weeks, right? This is all in the month of August. This is last August, okay, right?
We're getting ⁓ people joining and subscribing. This is the power of sharing your story. This is the power of sharing your story properly.
Leya Simmons (26:18)
Post-spark. So
the spark happens, but then the story is what's reeling it in and pulling it all together. I love it.
Floyd Jones (26:25)
You got me, okay? Then you
convert. Convert is share the opportunity. And this is what I want y'all to hear me, okay? If y'all not in my mailing list, here, let me, let me, let me do one of these, okay? Scan this, scan this code, okay? And make sure you get in because I drop gems like this on a regular basis, okay? I talk about this all of the time.
Leya Simmons (26:43)
He really does, I gotta say.
I listen I watch I follow you on all the things and I get all of the the stuff and it is so inspirational. And for anybody that's listening and not seeing this QR code, look in the show notes. We're gonna put all these links in there. So don't you worry about that.
Floyd Jones (26:48)
⁓
Thank you. Perfect.
Okay, perfect. This is where it's so important, okay? Because so many people, when they get involved, all you say is donate in an essay. How many times do you meet somebody and you're like, let's get married right now? They're gonna be like, huh? You don't know how many times people send they hear me or whatever, and they're Can you join our board? And I'm like, ⁓ I don't even do you know my last name. Like, where you know what I'm saying?
There, this is why there has to be levels to this. Okay. I wouldn't I don't have a slide for that right now, but if I did, I well, let me see if I have it. Anyway, while I'm talking to y'all, I'ma I'ma see if I have it. But this is why it's so important to have levels. Let me do I have it? Yes, boom. Let me share y'all. Come on, Canva. We love Canva. Okay. Level one could be okay, share on social media, right? That can become a virtual volunteer.
Leya Simmons (27:26)
Yeah.
⁓ love it.
Floyd Jones (27:52)
Level two can be okay, become a peer-to-peer fundraiser, right? Level three can become a recurring donor. And then level four can be join your board or become an ambassador, right? But there has to be levels to involvement because you're going to lose people. I was just talking to somebody the other day who just started a nonprofit, and they were like, and their number is actually doing well. They have they're getting a lot of organic engagement and people getting really excited. And they were like,
We're losing our volunteers because all we have them doing is specific admin tasks. And I'm like, one size don't fit fit all people. In this call right now, we have founders, we have fundraisers, we have people who think of the social media break. If you're only giving them one thing to do, you are gonna lose them and you're it's it's not gonna see it through. Okay? But that is up to you. Remember, you are a bridge, right? And in on a bridge, there is many different steps that you're gonna have to take.
Leya Simmons (28:28)
Mm.
Floyd Jones (28:49)
So maybe one person is gonna walk to the left, maybe one person's gonna walk to the right, maybe one person's gonna run, maybe one person's gonna skip, maybe one person gonna jog, right? Your job is to get them from point A to point B. And if you only give them one path, then you're not gonna see what you need to see. Okay? So this is up to you and your team. Mm-hmm.
Leya Simmons (29:05)
And it's so true too.
It's so true that we also, you know, just to speak to what you were talking about earlier, we also kind of tend to pick the path we're most comfortable with. And that's the one we try and give everyone. Yeah. Or it already benefited me, so now I'm gonna keep doing that. And I mean I do it with good intentions, but it's still just the one, as opposed to like maybe I open my eyes and there's a few others.
Floyd Jones (29:15)
Period. And the one that benefits us most. Come on somebody.
And
Exactly. And I always say people are your partners, not your piggy banks. People are your partners, not your piggy banks. Okay. In our next webinar that we're gonna be doing, we're gonna go and do a deep dive into this. So make sure y'all into all our stuff. I'll send the links, okay? But this is important. This is so important. Give people different opportunities, and and then it's up to you to plan this. You can someone talked about AI before. Use AI to help you build out your different pathways.
Leya Simmons (29:31)
Yeah.
yeah.
Floyd Jones (29:55)
And make sure you can track your people in a CRM. That's my that's my fifth C. It's not on the thing, but it's a bonus C, okay? CRM. The last C, the last C is catapult. So captivate, share the spark, communicate, share the story, convert, share the opportunity, and catapult, share the baton. Because this is where people are now going for you. They're opening up doors for you. They're making intros on your behalf. You know what I'm saying? That is what it's all about.
Leya Simmons (29:59)
Yeah.
That one.
⁓ that's good.
Mm-hmm.
Floyd Jones (30:24)
Okay, and that's what the ultimate goal is. You want to get every single volunteer to the catapult level. Okay? That's what your goal should be. Not not ⁓ not just give me a hundred dollars today and a thousand dollars tomorrow. ⁓ It's go on this journey so we can eradicate this issue together. Come on, somebody. That's it. Did I answer the question?
Leya Simmons (30:43)
You
that's all. That's all. Yes, you did. And a little bit. And I okay, I had a different thought, but I'm gonna ask this next question. So do you so you're you know, so okay, so we're we now have the steps. Like I know now I need to light a spark, I need to talk to people about it, then I gotta convert them, and then I gotta catapult them. But do I first need to take a look at say I'm a nonprofit and I have a community, you know, I haven't engaged them properly, but I know they're out there. Do I need to like?
Floyd Jones (30:58)
Come on.
Leya Simmons (31:09)
assess it first or map it out and make a specific plan for each one of them kind of like a moves management what we do in fundraising or is it you know I mean okay that's question one and then the second one is what's what what what like how do I reach out to the different components of my community? Two parter.
Floyd Jones (31:28)
Mm-hmm. You have to start speaking. You have to start
getting things out. This is to be honest, this is about your organization, but this is also about your life, right? I always say, walk with me. Speak what you seek until what you seek is what you see. Speak what you seek until what you seek is what you see. And I I am a living example of this, okay?
BackBlack started with zero organizations. We now have over 2,500 organizations in our community. This August, we're gonna see over $100,000 in grants and funding opportunities for Black-led organizations. We're at a point now where every single week we are dropping a new funding alert. We're at the point now where every single week we have a new ⁓ a partner opportunity. We have a new resource, okay? And this is just August. If you
Find me in one year, okay. Let me tell you about the things we're gonna be doing beyond doggies, okay? Come on, somebody. But I have a vision and I speak it out loud every single day. So what is a vision of your organization? What is a vision of your funding? Come on, somebody. Believe it or not, well, I'm gonna I'm gonna say something be shaken the trade for another day. But I I I am I write the vision out all the time. I had a vision board, I go to Pinterest, I write, I write affirmations every single morning. So you need to do that person for your life.
Okay, but then you also need to do that for your organization. Because you have to ask yourself who do I want in here? Who are the people who I want in here? Right? We are now, we have some of the biggest funders in the world in our network now because we just kept on going. And I think that the thing is, you're not gonna have a perfect plan to start. You know what I'm saying? And if you're not that person who's just gonna open up the door and get things going, you know what I'm saying? Then find somebody on your team who is that person. Because I realized.
Leya Simmons (33:11)
Right.
Floyd Jones (33:22)
It takes a certain kind of energy to just get that thing going in the world and kind of person, you know what I mean? But find the person who that is, you know what I mean? Maybe you're starting with an event, right? I actually wouldn't start with an event, I would start online, right? I would start by just telling your story online and see who responds. Start the conversation. Conversation leads to community, right? my god, R-E.
Leya Simmons (33:27)
Yeah.
Floyd Jones (33:45)
My friend R. E. Foreman, I'ma send you an email. You sent a message in, I'ma send you an email. See, don't get me sidetracked because I see my people in the chat and I get so busy. Yeah. But and that's how I like it. That's how I love it. But it starts with a conversation. You know what I mean? So many people I see launching dollars first or launching a space first or launching a whole initiative first. No, my first initiative started online. I literally was like, who wants to help us? And I sent an email to like 50 of my friends, okay?
Leya Simmons (33:53)
We've got a very active chat happening here, you guys. You can't see it. I love it too.
Floyd Jones (34:15)
Our first campaign raised about $500,000, and I was like, I was happy with that. You know what I mean? That was that was two and a half years ago. Last year it was 11 and a half million. You just have to start. You just have to start. So I would say start small with a small flame, and then you stoke that flame over and over and over again. Does that answer your question? Mm-hmm.
Leya Simmons (34:19)
Course.
There you go. You saw it.
It does. It tells it kind of, you
know what? It kind of like I, you know, I'm not in this place right now, but it does, it feels like it frees up the thought that you have to have this perfect plan or that you have to have, you know, built out these perfect workflows or mapped out everybody in your community. We're just saying like, start talking. Just start talking. That's what I'm hearing. And open the doors.
Floyd Jones (34:50)
Exactly.
And inviting people in, you know what I mean?
It starts with what is your mission, obviously, right? And what do you want to accomplish in the world? You believe it or not, but I've been saying over and over again since the beginning, I was I want to what would it look like to see a billion dollars move to black change makers in the next decade? And then now it it went from what would it be like to I'm gonna move a billion dollars to black change makers in the next decade. You know what I'm saying? A lot of times, if you want to build something or get something off the ground.
Leya Simmons (35:02)
Mm.
Yeah? Okay.
Now I'm doing it.
Floyd Jones (35:25)
You're not gonna have the proof, right? All it starts with your spark, right? But then over and over and over again, you're gonna have proof and you're gonna invite other people to expand that thing. You know what I'm saying? So a lot of times there's organizations who've been around for five, 10, 15 years, and they're still kind of staying small because they're not now telling the story and bringing other people in to get the baton going. So the thing, if you're on this call, I would ask you to assess where am I at in the four C's? Where where am I at in this? Am I stuck on
Getting the spark going? Am I not telling my story properly? Am I not inviting people into enough opportunities? You know what I'm saying? And if you're a one-person team, because guess what? We start up as a one-person team too. Hello, so come on, somebody. It was just me, right? Right? Then you and I'll give you my blueprint. Our blueprint to begin with was me having an idea. And the first thing that I did was reach out to all of my community. And I reach out to the people who have their own platforms and I reach to people who have their own.
Leya Simmons (36:04)
Everyone does, yeah.
Floyd Jones (36:22)
Power, right? And I invested and I went directly to funders. We didn't start launching things and opening up things until I knew that we had anchor partners and anchor funders who could help me go. You know what I'm saying? And I pitched them on the vision of where I was going. And then they came in and invested. And that is how we scale. Our largest funder has been with me since the very beginning. The very beginning. You know what I'm saying? So you had to find your believers. That's why I said fundraising is not just about the check. If the check is all that you want, then the check is all that you're gonna get.
Leya Simmons (36:34)
Yeah.
Nice.
Floyd Jones (36:52)
But you need believers who are gonna take you to your breakthrough. Come on, somebody.
Leya Simmons (36:52)
Yeah.
So, okay, to that end, our boards as nonprofit folks are supposed to be that, right? Like they're built-in believers. That's what they're supposed to be. They've signed up for it. Hopefully you dated them a little bit before you asked them to join your board and get married. But what about those? Exactly. So
Floyd Jones (37:06)
Mm-hmm.
Hello. That's all that's webinar number two. Huh. Come on now.
Leya Simmons (37:18)
I mean, you and I have both talked to board members and maybe there's someone there right now. And I know somebody on this call has a board member out there that's like, well, I'm just not comfortable fundraising, or I'm just not comfortable, you know, whatever. So what what what do you say to that reluctant board that is and I mean, and I've been in situations where that's almost the entire board. A lot of times us as fundraisers, we walk in to that and you're, you know, you didn't pick them. You don't get to choose them a lot of the times. So like, what do you how what do you do with that board member that's like
Floyd Jones (37:31)
Hmm.
Yes. All
Leya Simmons (37:48)
no.
Floyd Jones (37:49)
right. The first that I would say is a couple things. That my philosophy and what I tell my team from the top to even my assistant, because I think everyone's on the same level, fundraising is a team sport. And everybody has to understand that whether you are just in programs, whether you're the chief of staff, whether it doesn't matter what your role is, everybody is an ambassador for the organization. And fundraising is a team sport.
Leya Simmons (38:03)
Mm-hmm.
Floyd Jones (38:15)
We are all having ownership of this, right? We all take this on as a goal, right? ⁓ so that's the first thing that I would say. The second thing I would say is you have to understand what the bridge looks like for your board members. So that means sitting them down and actually having conversations. No more large email blasts, right? Like you need to actually know who your people are, right? And thankfully, you know, I would say, because I've built an organization before, like,
Leya Simmons (38:21)
Mm-hmm.
Floyd Jones (38:44)
I know the different checkpoints are, right? So I'm like, okay, if a funder says or if a board member says A, B, or C, then pull me in. If not, then I want you as on the team on the team to focus on just working with them, building them up. And maybe their maybe their their biggest ⁓ benefit to your organization is not a check, right? But that is where you need to know what is the goal for your organization. So for us, maybe it's maybe it's not a check, but maybe it's opening up the door to a program partner or opening up the door.
Because for us, we don't we're not a direct service organization, right? But we have a bunch of different forms that we benefit. So I say, okay, hey, here's the mission, here's the vision, here's where we're trying to go. Do you want to be involved? Yes or no? And if they say yes and they express what their passion is, then it's my job as a bridge. Come on, somebody, we're gonna take it back. It's my job as a bridge to figure out, okay, where are they at? Well, I'm gonna put you in upper A, B, C, or D. And if they're like, well, I have E.
Leya Simmons (39:18)
huh.
Working. Yeah, yeah.
Floyd Jones (39:41)
I'm gonna say yes, but not right now. I'ma say yes and I'm gonna put you on the notepad because we're gonna come back to it because everybody has a role to play in getting us to the other side, right? But you have to stay focused. You are the one steering your organization in the right direction. So if they're a board member and they're like, you know what, I hear what you're saying about A, B, and C R D, but what about H? You're gonna say thank you, but we're gonna come back to the next board. And you be be okay with saying thank you next. You know what I mean?
Leya Simmons (39:44)
Ha ha That's great.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Floyd Jones (40:10)
It has to be about alignment. I always say alignment determines your assignment.
Leya Simmons (40:15)
⁓ that is a how many of these do you have, Floyd? I'm so impressed. Yeah.
Floyd Jones (40:18)
There they just it flows out. Alignment determines your assignment. So it's okay if that
person is not aligned. If they're not aligned, isn't this doing a disservice to you and them and ultimately the people that you're trying to serve?
Leya Simmons (40:29)
Totally.
Absolutely. And like just because you're coming back to them, I mean it could be too that you're like, okay, H, pin it, give us a minute. How would you consider C for a for a little bit? People sometimes will step out of a comfort zone for a minute, not forever, if they have like, you know, an in place.
Floyd Jones (40:44)
Correct. Invite them in.
Mm-hmm. But you know what? It's so funny.
I always have this one story that I like to share that threw me off. So I was working for a ⁓ direct sports organization. We provided free sports for kids, and I I was so this is before I had my community epiphany, and I was like, Okay, everybody needs to get five thousand dollars, five thousand dollars here, five thousand dollars there. Don't be late. We take ACH. Like I was ready to go, all right? And one board member in particular.
Leya Simmons (40:55)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Floyd Jones (41:18)
He was like, Well, I hear what you're saying, but I want to create a soccer tournament. And I was like, I was a check would be so much easier. Like, I gotta go and do it. So it's like, but guess what? That one chocker tournament the first year raised over $10,000. And then he came back the next year, raised over $20,000. And the third year raised over $30,000. Now that man is a ch the ⁓ probably I think he's either the board chair or at least very high up on the board. And I was just like, I almost got in my own way because remember.
Leya Simmons (41:47)
Yeah.
Floyd Jones (41:48)
If a check is all you want, then a check is all you're gonna get, right? But I said, if you know what our goal is to is to be able to provide that funding for this program. Maybe they have an H way of doing it, but that H is not an H, it's more of like an A asterisk because it still fits within where we're trying to go. It is not how I would do it, you know what I mean? So there's two different things here. One, something that's truly not aligned, or something that just doesn't isn't the way that you would do it. That's something that I've learned in leadership, okay?
Leya Simmons (42:04)
Yeah.
Yeah. I do.
Floyd Jones (42:17)
I know you know what I'm talking about. Sometimes people have a different way
of doing it. And that's okay. As long as it's still helping you towards your core goals. If it's gonna take you off your core goal, call me next year.
Leya Simmons (42:27)
And sometimes that
thing gonna make me so uncomfortable and I'm gonna like it's gonna like scratch at me the whole time, but then like ⁓ yeah. ⁓
Floyd Jones (42:30)
Yes. Yeah. And this is why you go to therapy, okay? This is why you get a coach. I've spent so much money on coaching every year because you know
your blind spot. You're only gonna grow as far as you are willing to grow internally. And that's a word for everybody on this call. I don't care how big your organization is. It's when you get into this work, it is no longer about you. You are now a facilitator and a steward, okay? So do your internal work so your external work can go ahead and shine.
Leya Simmons (42:45)
Mm-hmm.
You know what? I think that ⁓ I think we all owe our missions and our clients and the people we serve our best selves and the only way to get there is to do that internal work, said the woman in long term recovery.
Floyd Jones (43:08)
Yes. Yes, exactly. I know some on the script,
but I just I just no.
Leya Simmons (43:15)
Okay, so you've talked a lot about story. Talk to us about like story arc, narrative arc. Like a nonprofit story. What's the one that inspires a gift versus one that's just like, here's who we are, here's what we do? Like what does that look like?
Floyd Jones (43:21)
Mm.
Yes.
It's not about the stats. So many people are like stat, stat, stat, and 50%, and we have the hundred people. I'm like great. But tell me there has to be souls behind the stats. There has to be meaning behind the metrics. That is why narrative change and raising with our with our organization, we have three things: direct capital, build capacity, raise awareness. Okay? This morning I was literally talking to a huge organization because we were doing a whole storytelling campaign.
Leya Simmons (43:39)
Yeah, I need emotion.
Hmm.
Floyd Jones (43:57)
of their organizations because that's what it's about. It's about telling the stories. That is what's gonna move people to taking action, especially right now, because there are so many stories that are dividing our people. Story shapes reality. Story shapes reality and culture, exactly. So where do you fit within that story? And what stories are you telling, right? What do you want your people to get excited about and be a part of? You know what I mean? And you get to determine that. And your greatest stories are within you.
Leya Simmons (44:12)
And culture, yeah.
Yeah.
Floyd Jones (44:26)
They're not just from the nonprofits that are are or your constituents, they're from your your donors as well, from your board members as well. Everybody has gone through something and it's your job to get and understand why are you here in the first place? What is motivating you? What is moving you in the first place? Because that is gonna lead to the transformation.
Leya Simmons (44:44)
So tell me then, is is storytelling colorblind? Do do we need to direct our stories to black donors and communities in a different way?
Floyd Jones (44:53)
Say,
I would say storytelling is colorblind because love is colorblind, right? But that doesn't mean you have to be you have to be culturally competent. Okay? Because one size don't fit all. You know what I'm saying? You can because is it really love if you go to somebody and they say, I need shoes, and they're a size six, would you give them size 12? Is that love? That's not love. That's just saying I'm gonna check off the box, right?
Leya Simmons (45:06)
Okay. That's a great distinction. That's
Right. No.
Floyd Jones (45:23)
So your story has to be in the same thing, right? You have to actually meet your people where you're at, or else they're not gonna see themselves in that story, right? Do your homework. And also, people aren't pawns. You know what I mean? I had so many people come up to and they're like, Are you facing trouble this time around? You know, because of what we focus on, and people are saying no to DEI. And I'm like, yes, I see brands who get a little hesitant, they're like a little bit worried, but you know what? I realize it's not my job to convince anybody right now.
Leya Simmons (45:30)
So do your homework. Like know your yeah, know who you're talking to.
Floyd Jones (45:53)
Right? I am not here to convince anyone. I am saying here's what we are doing. Do you want to be a part of it? And that's another thing I'm gonna say. See, don't get me started. So many br ⁓ organizations feel like okay, well, I can't get corporate sponsors or I can't get but every organization that I have worked with has when I I've always been the first director of development at any nonprofit that I've worked with, okay, and we've always secured major partnerships. I've worked with Nike.
Leya Simmons (45:53)
Yeah, they're not your people.
Yeah.
Floyd Jones (46:22)
I work with Whole Foods. I work with ESPN. I work with name the brand, I'll be there. Okay? And so I am realizing, especially in doing this work, okay, because we're literally run Black Philanthropy Month. Our organization, Black is in our name, okay? My logo is literally a B, so I don't want you. You can't hide. But what I am saying here is that I realize that what we have to provide is an asset. Okay? Our community is an asset.
Leya Simmons (46:39)
You're not gonna hide. You're not hiding from DEI.
Floyd Jones (46:49)
Our storytelling is an asset. What we can provide, how we show up, is an asset. And it started, it first started with me understanding that I am an asset. Come on, somebody. Hello. Okay. So if you're on this call, you have to understand that you are an asset. You are the thing that you've been looking for. You have power. You can reach people that other people can't reach. Okay. Step into your power. And when you step into your power, other people will see that power and they will want to be a part of that.
Leya Simmons (47:00)
Love this.
You're an athlete.
Floyd Jones (47:18)
That's all I gotta say.
Leya Simmons (47:18)
Okay, I told
Floyd before this that we needed hype music, and I take that back a hundred percent. You did not need any hype music. You are doing just fine with all of this. I'm so inspired. This is just incredible, Floyd. So okay, I'm gonna ask you about like one other thing. I can't, it's already like we're already towards the end. So you talk about peer-to-peer fundraising. I work in software, we talk a lot about peer-to-peer fundraising. ⁓ but
Floyd Jones (47:30)
Mm, ⁓
Leya Simmons (47:45)
Like I want to go way beyond the tech piece of this and talk about the peer fundraiser and their motivation. Like, how is it that you said start online, right? So how do we get the folks engaged and involved that are gonna that are actually going to follow through, that are gonna like take the baton and run with it instead of just holding on to it.
Floyd Jones (47:52)
Hm.
Yes.
Yes. So
go back to the data. We get we produce a big we have a data report every single year at the end of August. You know, you're one of our amazing partners. And we actually have been able to see ⁓ on average the the the majority of the gifts that were produced during August, and we had almost a hundred and thirty thousand donors, right? Were small gifts. They weren't a thousand, five hundred, it was ten, twenty, fifty dollars.
Leya Simmons (48:15)
I do, yes.
Floyd Jones (48:33)
Right? And so a lot of times people think that they have these big hurdles, these mental hurdles, like, if I can't raise a thousand dollars, I'm out. And the big thing that I want to encourage people is can you give five dollars? Can you give ten dollars? Because guess what happens? We've seen this in some of the biggest political campaigns, right? One dollar here, two dollars there, three dollars there, and that's the ripple effect. You know what I'm saying?
Leya Simmons (48:49)
Mm-hmm. Grassroots donors.
And those
are the sustainable ones too, like all the FEP, the data commons, all that you were talking about, like those are our people that are shrinking, our small and micro donors. And and they're the ones that we we are in trouble if we lose.
Floyd Jones (49:01)
Exactly.
Exactly.
Exactly.
And and and here's the thing, it's so wild because we're seeing that ⁓ individual donors at large, that number has gone down, right? And we've seen bigger gifts go up, right? But that's not the whole story, right? Because we have seen our individual donor numbers go up, right? And we've seen these doubling down on these small gifts. So I would say for people who are on this call, double down on that and say, hey, instead of
Leya Simmons (49:18)
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Floyd Jones (49:36)
You giving me $100, or but actually, I would say your data is gonna take you to your destination, also, right? So go in and understand what is the average gift size to your organization. What is the average gift size to your organization? Right? Use a CRN, exactly. And see, and then say, hey, I just saw that you you you gave $100. I don't want you to give me $100. I want you to mobilize and find five-year-old friends who can do that same thing. Because now, guess what? You are now an ambassador.
Leya Simmons (49:48)
C R
Yeah.
Floyd Jones (50:04)
There's a saying that says, if you ask for our advice, you'll get money. If you ask for money, you're gonna get advice. You know what I mean? So say, hey, can you be an ambassador for an organization? Can you help spread the word for our organization? Y'all, I have done so many campaigns in my life and I'm following the same blueprint, and it's working. Why is it working? Because it's about people. People are at the center of it all. People are at the center of it all. So tactical advice, go into your database right now.
Leya Simmons (50:08)
I need to.
Always.
Floyd Jones (50:30)
Pull 10 of your most recent donors, see what the average gift size has been, and now ask them to help be an ambassador and raise that same amount. Not give that amount, but invite other people to give that amount and match that.
Leya Simmons (50:43)
That's incredible advice. And that is, we see this on our side at Better Unite in our data around peer-to-peer fundraising, exactly what you were talking about. Is which is that A, it's the number one catalyst for getting those small and micro donors. And B, those people, their gift is multiplied immediately when they start going out and asking others. So sorry, I'm I get excited about data and getting those small and micro donors.
Floyd Jones (51:03)
Mm-hmm.
I love it. Somebody said, why are
individual donors on decline? What's the reason for it? It's not one reason. It's a it's a myriad of reasons, right? Like we're seeing so many. It can be social, it can be political. It's a it's a it's a myriad of reasons. And so one thing that I would always tell people right now is now more than ever is a time to dig into your community. Because your community is something that's gonna carry you, right? But so many people don't even know the donors in their database. They know the numbers.
Leya Simmons (51:13)
That was a lot.
Yeah. Because you've got that
one big one that's got that's taking up all the oxygen out of the room. And that's the only thing they're paying attention to. And that one can go away. okay. I want you just we've got like eight minutes left, Floyd. I really would love to hear you talk a little bit more. We've you've talked about it and around it a bit, but tell us more about Black Philanthropy Month. It's in August. It's a right it yeah, so talk, talk, talk to us about that.
Floyd Jones (51:37)
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Yes.
Yes, Black Philanthropy Month is every August. It's been around for over 20 years, which is so amazing. Founded by Dr. Jacqueline Cope and it's been celebrated in over 60 countries. and it's really a global celebration of all things Black Philanthropy. You know, we got involved as BackBlack. You know, our first campaign was to direct dollars to Black Led nonprofits, but there are so many ways to participate and get involved, whether it be sharing online, whether it be talking about your impact. One thing I want y'all to do, if you guys don't follow me or follow back black, is
We're launching this campaign called I Am Black Philanthropy, and we're getting stories from artists, from poets, from designers, from mutual aid workers. Because I we're our hope is to expand this idea and understanding of what being a philanthropist actually means, right? Is it's not just about your check, right? It's about all the things that are leading to change to Monsantari.
Leya Simmons (52:39)
Yeah.
Floyd Jones (52:44)
Right. And so we're featuring that and really celebrating that and highlighting that. And then us as an organization back black, we really focus on those three things: directing that capital, building capacity, and raising awareness. So all month long, you're gonna see over a hundred thousand dollars in actual grants and funding opportunities. Follow our newsletter and social media to get involved, but also other opportunities. We have people who are doing capacity building trainings. We're we're sponsoring scholarships for nonprofits to be able to go through and understand how to fundraise better. We have a board. ⁓ well, I'll just tell y'all because you're on the call, but in a couple of weeks.
Leya Simmons (52:44)
Yeah.
Floyd Jones (53:14)
We're sponsoring people to build a better board, right? And they're gonna go through their own training and opportunity and give them more access. So all we do is give. We live to give and to see a stronger sector. And so I'm I'm excited about it.
Leya Simmons (53:27)
Floyd Jones, ladies and gentlemen, the hardest working man in the nonprofit world. I love this so much. So, okay, I just want to give you one more chance here. And we can also look through and see if we've got other ⁓ questions in the QA. But you've given us several gems and you said you you you you've already given a direct solution. Go find those 10 donors that are hiding in your in in plain view, in plain sight, in your CRM. What if you had to give one thing that everybody does outside of that one that you already gave? What what do you want everyone to do this week?
Floyd Jones (53:30)
Ha ha
Mm-hmm.
Leya Simmons (53:57)
Walk it away from this webinar. Tell your story. Yeah.
Floyd Jones (53:59)
Tell your story a thousand percent. Go
online and tell your story and share that story because remember, your story leads you to a higher level of glory. Come on, somebody. But the real thing is that when you tell your story, you're inviting other people in. You're getting them to share their impact. I don't know if y'all ever heard my story of my first ever peer-to-peer campaign, but it was around Giving Tuesday. And we had ⁓ it was with that same youth sports organization.
Leya Simmons (54:15)
Mm.
Floyd Jones (54:26)
And I told everybody on Giving Tuesday, change your profile picture to a picture of you as a child playing a sport. Okay. And the most powerful thing happened. Not only did they do it, the people that we asked, but people were in the comments saying, I remember when my child was playing basketball. I remember when my child was playing soccer. People we didn't even ask started changing their profile pictures to a picture of their of themselves as a kid playing a sport because we were providing free sports for kids. Our goal was $5,000. We ended up raising over $30,000 in that one campaign on Giving Tuesday. Okay. That is
Leya Simmons (54:33)
Okay.
Floyd Jones (54:56)
The power of people that is how community is your catalyst, okay? Because you are opening up the doors for other people to get involved. So that is why I say share your story and then create real pathways for people to get involved and take it to that next level. If you do that, if you focus on that for the next six months, I'm telling you your organization is gonna look different. There's no way that it will stay the same, there is no way.
Leya Simmons (55:20)
It's not possible. I you I can't tell you so you know I do this 501c drop every single week. And it's so rare that I have somebody come on and talk, matter of fact, maybe you're the first, to come in and really pull everything back to mission. Like, you know, you have really reminded me, and I hope everybody else here that the fundraising piece that all of our organizations have an end goal. They really do. And and we're we should be working to put ourselves out of a job.
Floyd Jones (55:38)
Mm.
Mm, mm.
Leya Simmons (55:49)
At the end of the day. So I am so grateful to you, Floyd. Thank you so much for inspiring me, inspiring all of us today, and for all of the work that you do. Everybody here, I I would imagine nobody has yet not gone and checked out backblackmovement.org ⁓ and follow Black Philanthropy Month next month, starting in August. Follow Floyd, follow all of those pieces. It is an incredible, it's just incredible the work you're doing, Floyd. I can't thank you enough.
Floyd Jones (55:49)
Come on.
Yes.
Yes, and thank you to you for hosting me. Thank you to all my beautiful people in the comments. Whether you've been to one of my talks or not, I see so many familiar faces. And I thank you for for sticking with me. I thank you for sticking with the work. I never take any of these moments for granted, ever, ever, ever, ever. And I just believe that.
Leya Simmons (56:19)
Course.
Floyd Jones (56:35)
If we're all doing our best, there's no way that the world can't change. It needs more people like us standing up saying, you know what, I'm going continue learning. I'm going to continue growing. I'm going to continue showing up and doing the work. Okay. But guess what? When you show up, watch how the world shows up for you. That's it.
Leya Simmons (56:39)
There you go.
We're all our own greatest asset. I love it. You've lit us all up, Floyd. Thank you so much. All right, you guys, I'm gonna share my screen really quickly here at the end. Let's see, so that I can talk to you about getting in touch with Floyd. Floyd at blackbackmeme.org. If you have questions, if you're listening and you'd like to ⁓ us to get a question to Floyd, support at betterunite.com. If you're watching next actually in two weeks. So I'm taking next week off. I'm gonna be at the Giving Institute. ⁓ I'm not actually taking it off.
Floyd Jones (56:52)
Yes.
Leya Simmons (57:20)
Going to a Giving Institute meeting. But it's really good. But it's really good. It's very interesting. And I'm carrying this energy into it. So it's even going to be better. But on the 21st, I'll be talking to Dan Campbell about running an event and getting the right people in the room to do all of the good stuff. And we've talked a little bit about Better Unite. I know a lot of you here are maybe not familiar with us. If you'd like to take a look at Better Unite and follow Floyd's advice towards getting a CRM or having really wonderful tools when you're planning and throwing your event.
Floyd Jones (57:21)
⁓ Lord, I was ready for you.
Leya Simmons (57:49)
Support at betterunite.com. It will show you around to scan that QR code. All right, y'all. Thank you so much, Floyd. Thank you again. I cannot thank you enough and thank you to Backblack and all the work you're doing. Thanks everybody for joining. See you next time. Let's all go do some good. Bye-bye.