Ep. 5: The Giving Platform Collaborative is Backing Black
By Maddie Vann
Episode 5 in Network for Good’s “mini-podcast” where we are sharing key learnings for how to bring durable capital to aligned sustainable outcomes
TL;DR / Highlight: Network for Good has spearheaded the launch of the Giving Platform Collaborative and Back Black is the collaborative’s pilot project.
I recently sat down with Network for Good CEO, Abby Ross, to discuss the Giving Platform Collaborative that Network for Good has played a key role in launching. I also had a chance to talk with Floyd Jones, the Director of Community & Partnerships at Givebutter, and Heather Infantry, CEO at Giving Gap, who are leading the Giving Platform Collaborative’s pilot project: the Back Black campaign. Abby shares her thoughts on how the Giving Platform Collaborative and Back Black are supporting NFG’s efforts to drive durable capital for sustainable outcomes.
Here is the transcript from our conversation:
Maddie: Abby, can you talk about what the giving platform collaborative is and where this idea came from?
Abby: Yeah, the Gates Foundation hosted an event in April called the Greater Giving Summit, and there was a session at the summit titled “How Platforms Can Collaborate.” And it was a real “who’s who” of giving platforms–PayPal, Givebutter, Facebook, and our friends from Bonterra were all there. And as we sat around the table, everyone was talking about the same problems we were trying to solve. And we also talked about how, by not collaborating, we’re making it really challenging for our stakeholders. For example, non-profits might have 16 different portals that they can give their bank account information to, or claim their profile to get more funds. We all sat around the table and realized there is a need for some formal and informal collaboration.
I raised my hand and said Network for Good is in a position right now to help spearhead what collaboration might look like. So we formed the Giving Platform Collaborative and essentially the charter of the collaborative is to design and implement initiatives that drive generosity. And so we’re all committed to doing this with the spirit of collaboration that can lift up the entire sector.
Maddie: Tell me what partnership is looking like so far with the folks who have signed on.
Abby: Yeah it’s important to recognize that we’re not the only organization that’s trying to drive collaboration amongst the sector. So I’m treating this as a little bit of a pilot scrappy startup, like just demonstrating success and building the muscle for what collaboration can look like. So this first year is all about breaking down barriers, building new relationships, and figuring out what some aligned common goals are to create really concrete projects. To demonstrate what collaboration looks like, we’ve organized into task forces based on creating tangible ways to implement collaborative ideas. We have two task forces: 1) How to incorporate equity as a platform principle, and 2) How to support data interoperability. So those are the two pillars that we’re using for organizing initiatives.
Maddie: I’m personally really excited about this first pilot project we’re kicking off with the Giving Platform Collaborative and I’d love for you to share a bit about what that is.
Abby: So Floyd Jones, who is the Head of Partnerships at Givebutter, raised his hand to be the chair of the equity task force. And in all of his infinite wisdom, he came up with an idea for how we can celebrate Black Philanthropy Month, which is this August, as a forcing function for collaboration around equity as a platform principle. So he is spearheading our first sprint, which is led with the goal of increasing and measuring generosity to black-led nonprofits to celebrate Black Philanthropy Month. He has also looped in Heather Infantry, who’s the CEO of Giving Gap, which is a data-driven platform to help identify and boost donations to black-led nonprofits.
And frankly, both of them are better suited to tell you a bit about.
Maddie: Yes, I think you’re right and I actually had a chance to sit down with Floyd and Heather and I’d love to cut over to that conversation now…
Maddie: I’m happy to be here talking with Floyd Jones, the Director of Community & Partnerships at Givebutter, and Heather Infantry, the CEO at Giving Gap. Floyd, Abby tells me that you’ve been the great visionary behind this first sprint for the Giving Platform Collaborative. Can you tell us about Back Black? How did you pull this all together?
Floyd: I think that the first thing that comes to my head and my heart is the only way that this came together is because everybody embodied the spirit of what this campaign is about, right? Back Black isn’t about one person. It isn’t about one people group. It’s about how are we all coming together as an entity. How are we all coming together as a community? How are we coming together as a body to do something bigger than ourselves, right? To go beyond what the normal structure and the normal frame is. So then that way, one thing that I have been anchored on and realized is that Backing Black isn’t just for one people group. It isn’t just for the Black community. When you back black, you are actually backing the entire infrastructure of what this country is even based on. And I realized in the research, in the stats, it’s black communities that are the most philanthropic. They are the most philanthropic in the world. They give a majority of their wealth. They give a majority of their time to their community. It’s almost to the tune of $11 billion annually just in philanthropy (1). And I thought to myself, this is all under the auspices of bias, of social constructs, of the racial wealth gap, right? And if we didn’t have those things, if we didn’t have those barriers, what would it even look like? If we didn’t have those barriers, how much further could our country go forward?
Let’s look at black small businesses. I was reading a stat the other day that said that the GDP would grow by $1.2 trillion if black small businesses receive the same amount of support as white-led small businesses, $1.2 trillion. And we’re sitting here wondering, how are we going to pay for infrastructure and roads? We’re sitting here wondering, how are we going to actually serve the communities and the most marginalized people in our country? If we have $1.2 trillion, I can find some ideas. You know what I’m saying?
And so that’s what the genesis of this campaign is about. But I realize that you can’t fully solve this problem if it’s just on us. You can’t fully solve this problem if it’s just on companies. You can’t fully solve it if it’s just on the black community. You can’t fully solve the problem if it’s just on the philanthropic community. We all have to be working together. We all have to be working in concert. We all have to work together as a community because when we come together as a community, that is a catalyst.
Maddie: It’s such a perfect anchor for this idea of coming together as a community, which is so much what the Giving Platform Collaborative is about. And Heather, Giving Gap is central to the mission and the success of Back Black. Tell me about your mission at Giving Gap.
Heather: Giving Gap’s mission is to advance racial equity in giving, essentially creating an invitational opportunity for people of all walks of life, businesses and otherwise, to make impact, positive impact on black lives; knowing, as Floyd said, that supporting black really democratizes the space for everyone to benefit and join in.
And so we know there are historic barriers that have prevented members of our community from advancing as our other counterparts. And we all have a responsibility to join in on this effort to address some of these disparities and inequities, but we also know that in doing so it’s profitable. It’s lucrative. We rise the tide for everybody. And so it’s great for Giving Gap to be part of this, in this sort of data sharing, data collection piece of the movement.
Floyd: And I just want to say one quick thing because I have to give Heather her flowers. Because I think that Heather also, in my honest opinion, fully embodies this as well. I wouldn’t have even gone to GGS or been a part of the collaborative had it not been for Heather. Because Heather understood and she sees–again, to what we were talking about earlier–we can’t solve these problems if it’s just only certain voices in a room. I’m not a CEO of a company yet. I’m not sitting at that table. But she said no, your voice deserves to be heard. And that’s what we want this to be about. We want this to be about everybody understanding that you have a seat at the table. So Heather will forever get the props and the flowers in my book, in my head and in my heart.
Heather: Floyd brings up an interesting point too, in that this is an opportunity. As someone who’s a fundraiser, I come into the space as a seasoned fundraiser, and more often than not we talk about philanthropic giving as relates to the top 1%. But this is opened for everybody to give, volunteer, support, lift up, amplify. You can hear the exuberance coming off of Floyd’s energy on this call. He’s the perfect ambassador to inspire and invite all of us to rally around this particular cause because it’s all of us, as he said, it’s an opportunity for all of us. And at Giving Gap, the prevailing narrative around this issue of inequity in giving has really–I think to the detriment of the black nonprofit sector–pushed a story that’s just one of deficiency, right? And at Giving Gap, we really are working to change that narrative to talk about the impact. And the unique attributes and characteristics of black leadership. And that leadership is rooted in lived experience, an approach that is very human centered, and a resourcefulness in the face of these barriers that does not deter them from contributing and finding ways over and over again to move the needle for the members of their community in every single issue area possible, whether we’re talking about the arts and culture space, or health, or education, or environment. There are black leaders every day taking the baton and trying to do their best. And when I look at our own platform and the number of organizations that have emerged just in 2020, we’re all too aware of the disparities and the challenges and the disinvestment so many communities across the country have faced–black communities in particular. And yet, and still these leaders are filing their 1023 to start a nonprofit, because despite that, they see the need for the work and they are committed to doing it. And if you want to make a great investment in your community, and you’ve got finite dollars, I say over and over again: supporting black, backing black is the most sound investment that you can make; not only to repair and restore the needs of these particular communities, but as we’re showing you, it’s great for your bottom line.
Floyd: That’s one more thing I want to highlight. I love what Heather said because we know the stats about the problems. We know all about the pain, we know all about the plight, right? But I don’t want to be focusing on the plight anymore. I want to focus on our power. I want to focus on the potential. I want to focus on all the things that are going for us, right? That is what we need to anchor on because guess what? When we do that, when I can be my best, you can be your best. When I can shine my brightest, you can shine your brightest, right? Let’s anchor and lean into that.
Maddie: Earlier on the call this morning, I heard you talk about the tagline for Back Black as catalyzing from a moment to a movement. And I love that. And I’m wondering if you can talk a little bit about that. What are your goals this year, and what are your goals beyond this year?
Floyd: I believe that Back Black is coming to it from a different angle. Yes, we are going to mobilize the data and yes, we’re going to do a lot of different things. But really, we’re an aggregator. I always say our goal, and my personal life mission is I’m a bridge, right? I always say if you are a leader, if you’re a change maker, your job is to create space for transformation to take place. You need to create space for transformation to take place. So our goal with Back Black is we are creating that space to bring all the partners to the table to launch their initiatives.
This started when I got this campaign launched at Givebutter two years ago, the platform that I’m the Director of Community at. We did something that no other platform was doing at the time, but we went from doing this initiative to now we have over 20 platforms doing this initiative at their own company. And I’m like, first of all, that’s not even double, right? Like 1 to 20. That’s exponential, right? And I love that. And we want to spread that. We want to take that to the next level for everyone. But I want this to also be a platform where it can be ongoing to support. And I know that’s a lot of the work that Giving Gap is doing.
Heather: Yeah, absolutely. We talk about catalyzing a moment to a movement. We emerged out of everything that happened during 2020. And we saw the solidarity statements, we saw the unprecedented number of contributions that went out the door; some fulfilled, and some that are still in question. And it’s a real detriment to these communities that are working on the ground to have this groundswell of interest, and then for that interest to wane or dissipate. And so we are really, as Floyd said, trying to lay the groundwork for an interest in these areas, in which black leadership is focused, not just during black philanthropy month, not during just black history month or Juneteenth, or at the point that there are lives lost.
We want you to be thinking about these organizations year round, 365, right? And so this collaborative is sort of a first initiative to start helping our partners and collaborators to think about other ways in which they could amplify these organizations as part of a larger comprehensive storytelling arc. Because it’s not just civil and social justice issues that these organizations are focused on. As I referenced earlier, they’re looking at environmental issues. They’re focused on violence prevention, arts & culture, education, and the environment. And so when we think about providing prominent digital real estate for these organizations, it’s going to shift and change how donors think about and support these organizations. That’s the power that a lot of these platforms have: where you rank an organization on your pages, how you direct, how you modify your algorithms. That all can make or break our organizations. And so there’s a really great opportunity. All of this is very invitational for you to join in and be part of something by making really simple tweaks to how you’re doing things. And I think for the most part, a lot of it has been oversight, and now that we know better, let’s do better. And in doing so we’re going to uplift lives positively and we’re going to be better for it.
And, for those organizations that are profit generating companies, it’s going to impact your bottom line without question, because more and more donors are becoming aware of these issues, and they’re intentionally seeking out black organizations. And so if they’re not prominently featured, if they’re not accessible, you’re leaving money on the table.
Floyd: A couple things came to my head and my heart as Heather was speaking. One: I am tired of being a marketing campaign. I’m tired of you only celebrating black people in February. I’m tired of you only celebrating black people in August. Celebrate me 365. Celebrate me because that’s how I know that I actually have value. Don’t just target me.
But here’s the problem, especially now I’ve worked on the other side, right? And I’ve worked in who gets sponsorship dollars or who do we put marketing dollars towards, and I’ve been in these conversations, not just at my company, but in a lot of other brands that I work with across the industry. And I’m realizing that even if it’s not that you don’t necessarily not want to work–because a lot of people mean well–but a lot of people don’t want to do the work behind it, right? Because guess what? It takes you building relationships. It takes you taking time. It takes you having conversations. It takes you actually looking in the mirror. And a lot of people don’t want to look in the mirror. They want to look at their bottom line, they want to look at their revenue. Stop looking at the revenue and start looking at the relationships as well. Stop looking at the currency and look at your actual community. Because my thing is, you will tell me if you want me by the way that you’re communicating, by what I see on your website, by how I see you conduct yourself and act and whatnot.
So many people are too afraid, we’re just tiptoeing. You’re afraid of crossing the wrong line or saying the wrong thing, but I want you to actually be the right person. Because if you come to the table saying, I’m going to be the right person, I’m going to just try to do the right thing, a lot of these issues can be resolved, you know what I’m saying?
So that’s just another thing I want to say, is that the way that you build a movement is you have to understand that maybe you’re not going to see the result tomorrow, but over time you are going to see it. I have been tracking the amount of revenue coming to the platform, specifically from black led businesses, especially on the Givebutter side of things, and we’ve been seeing exponential benefit. But not only in a campaign, I’m seeing this over time, right? We’re seeing this build over time. So more people need to focus on: how are we growing over the long term? Because that’s going to just grow you and it’s going to grow everybody else over the long term.
Maddie: Thank you both. This is an exciting conversation and I’m excited to see where it all goes. Are there any last things either of you want to say?
Floyd: Stay in the loop: BackBlackMovement.org. Check us out. Check it out. But most importantly, check inside yourself. And ask yourself, what am I going to do? How am I going to be a part of this campaign and beyond? How are we going, to go back to what we said, from a moment to a movement?
Maddie: I’m really excited about the work with the Back Black campaign, and look forward to seeing how this unfolds come the end of August. It was great to talk with Floyd and Heather and I’m impressed with their leadership of this project. Abby, you’ve also been deeply engaged in leading the process. Through the Back Black campaign, what have you learned about getting platforms to collaborate effectively?
Abby: This first sprint, from my perspective, is all about quick wins. It’s about demonstrating the success that comes from collaboration and building the muscle for future collaboration. We started with the idea of, “oh, let’s get together and share a vision and objectives and build a roadmap for what the collaborative would do.” But instead we decided to jump in, to deliver something and make it as turnkey as possible for collaboration and involvement. And folks who want to get in can get in, and otherwise we’ve got some additional opportunities down the line if it’s not a fit. So we’re really treating this as an open door. Help us build this if you’re aligned with the mission to basically learn by doing and build relationships through easy wins.
So this sprint cadence, with the goal of delivering tangible projects, is really how we’re going to try to run the collaborative.
Maddie: So tell me, Abby, how does the giving platform collaborative overall support network for goods future strategy?
Abby: So we see the mission of unleashing generosity, and the fact that this mission is central to so many other platforms, as a real asset in the ecosystem that we want to leverage. I think of this as a long-term strategy in which, if we can build the muscles of what successful collaboration amongst partners and platforms looks like, not only will the entire sector lift up, it’ll be a great opportunity for Network for Good. A great opportunity to build relationships, and ultimately then think about what are the ways that we can work with other partners to unleash and drive generosity. If we are an intermediary, a kind of central hub of collaboration, it’ll open up more chances for people to use the Network for Good DAF or think about ways that we can build innovative products to help unleash generosity at scale. So I think this is a great way to learn what other platforms are focused on and how we can be of service to the sector. And it gives us tangible projects to start innovating with that will have real benefit to the sector.
Maddie: We’ve talked about how this supports Network for Good’s future vision to provide durable capital for community aligned, sustainable outcomes in the social sector. Can you talk to me a bit about that durable capital piece?
Abby: When I tie this back to the durability of capital, getting platforms to collaborate and build infrastructure and systems and processes that allow for more long term outlooks for the durability of funding the sector, that’s really interesting. This maps directly on to how we can improve the durability of capital by creating sector-wide infrastructure.
Maddie: Thank you so much for talking with me about the Giving Platform Collaborative and the Back Black Movement, which as Floyd mentioned, will have a website launching soon?
Abby: Yes, and an opportunity to donate to black-led nonprofits this Black Philanthropy Month, this August.
