Missions to Movements
This isn't just another nonprofit podcast - it's your weekly invitation to think bigger, take bold risks, and create lasting change in an ever-evolving social impact landscape. Meet Dana Snyder, your guide through the evolving landscape of nonprofit innovation. She's on a mission to help change-makers like you push the boundaries of what's possible in nonprofit marketing and fundraising. Each week, Missions to Movements serves as your personal mastermind session, delivering actionable insights and bold strategies that challenge traditional nonprofit thinking. Dive into revolutionary approaches to digital fundraising, discover how to build magnetic monthly giving programs that create lasting donor relationships, and learn to amplify your voice as a thought leader in the social good space. Whether you're reimagining your organization's impact or forging game-changing partnerships, you'll find the ideas, insights, and inspiration to take your mission further than you've ever imagined. Ready to turn your mission into a movement?
Missions to Movements
How Surfrider Foundation's CEO, Chad Nelsen Amplifies Impact Through Thought Leadership (From TEDx, Podcasts, Social Media & More)
Get ready to explore the vibrant world of ocean and beach conservation! Chad Nelsen, CEO of the Surfrider Foundation, leads one of the most impactful environmental nonprofit organizations.
Today, Chad shares his 27+ years of turning surfing culture into a powerful force for environmental stewardship, now with over 200 chapters and thousands of volunteers.
You’ll hear everything from how Surfrider aligned corporate partnerships with brands like Alaska Airlines, GoPro, and Pinterest, and how advanced technologies like Fundraise Up are helping them revolutionize their donor retention and monthly giving.
Chad’s mission-driven leadership led him to a life-changing speaking opportunity with TEDx, and he shares how he prepared for his 11-minute talk and WHY he hired a storytelling coach.
Using platforms like LinkedIn and the newly trending Bluesky, Chad also highlights how Surfrider has tapped into cultural moments to amplify its brand identity and impact.
Resources & Links
Learn more about Surfrider Foundation on their website and connect with Chad on LinkedIn or Bluesky.
Check out Chad’s TEDx talk, How To Scale Community-Led Advocacy.
This show is presented by LinkedIn for Nonprofits. We’re so grateful for their partnership. Explore their incredible suite of resources and discounts for nonprofit teams here.
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My book, The Monthly Giving Mastermind, is here! Grab a copy here and learn my framework to build, grow, and sustain subscriptions for good.
Let's Connect!
I ran the science and policy shop at Surfrider for 16 years before I took over, so my thought leadership during that phase or towards the end of that phase, so it was really about the issues. It was like I was a policy walk, so I was going to coastal zone management conferences and talking about Surfrider's work or the issues from our perspective. Surfrider has 200 chapters and clubs across the United States, thousands of sort of volunteer leaders and about 60 or 70,000 volunteers who show up at our activity.
Speaker 2:That's an audience that I want to speak to, which is like the next ring out I'm Dana Snyder, your host of the Missions to Movements podcast, and my path to philanthropy has been anything but traditional. This show is your weekly mastermind, designed to give you the ideas, insights and support you need to push the boundaries of what's been done before in nonprofit marketing and fundraising. Whether you're looking to build a magnetic monthly giving program, elevate your personal brand or create partnerships that amplify your impact, this space is for you. I'll bring you solo episodes and conversations with industry leaders offering actionable strategies and fresh perspectives that will move you and your mission forward. Let's turn your mission into a movement, you and your mission forward. Let's turn your mission into a movement.
Speaker 2:Hey listeners, welcome back to Missions to Movements. Today's episode is pretty special because you might not know this some of you do but I am a Florida native and I grew up spending many, many weekends at the beach, specifically Siesta Key and Lido Key, if any of you are familiar in Sarasota, florida, and I'm a Pisces I'm a water baby, so spending the time out on the boat and in the ocean and pools is where I love to spend my time, and so I have been a longtime fan of the work of any organization that's doing ocean protection conservation efforts and Surfrider Foundation has been at the top of that list, and so today, chad Nelson, ceo of Surfrider Foundation, thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 1:Hey, thanks for having me, dana. I agree, the beach is the best.
Speaker 2:It is the best. And since 1998, 27 years ago that's wild. You have been a part of the Surf Rider Foundation and, for those of you that aren't familiar with the organization, they protect the world's ocean and beaches through activism and community action. And what's really cool is they were founded by surfers in 1984, really with the focus on water quality, coastal preservation and reducing plastic pollution. So Chad, just to kick us off. There are many amazing causes doing great work in the ocean space. What made the Surfrider Foundation really stand out to you and make it be the place that you wanted to dedicate 27 plus years of your life?
Speaker 1:You know, I've dedicated pretty much my entire professional career and I'm a grad student, intern to CEO story and I fell in love with the Surfrider Foundation for a couple of different reasons. As a surfer and a beachgoer, I love the focus around trying to get people who engage in ocean and coastal recreation involved in protecting these places. Like you opened in the intro, so many people are so passionate about our oceans and coasts but not enough of them are engaged in stewardship and protection. So the idea of turning on that crowd was super appealing. It's not theoretical, it's real to people. And you know, the other thing is this community, grassroots, community orientation I think is particularly effective. So the way Surfrider creates change, I think is uniquely effective.
Speaker 2:Yes, and I know we're going to talk about your TEDider creates change, I think is uniquely effective. Yes, and I know we're going to talk about your TEDx talk because I think that really eloquently and succinctly, as you have to do in a TEDx talk, has to get that point across very quickly. And so I want to kind of dive into a couple of different topics per se in our conversation today, and one is personal branding, because I think having strong leadership that's able to go out there and talk about these issues to the mass and very niche audiences and local audiences can be really important. But sometimes that's a hard hurdle to get over internally, especially if you're not a very outward spokesperson. So nearly 11 years ago you became CEO.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Speaker 2:How important back then was your personal thought leadership, and how has that evolved over the past decade.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a good question. I ran the science and policy shop at Surfrider for 16 years before I took over. So my thought leadership during that phase or towards the end of that phase was really, you know, I was going to science conferences so it was really about the issues. It was like I was a policy walk, so I was going to coastal zone management conferences and talking about Surfrider's work or the issues from our perspective. You know Surfrider's work or the issues from our perspective, you know, and it definitely shifted when I took over as CEO and you know, I think one important part of thought leadership is thinking about your audience.
Speaker 1:I kind of have three, I would argue, at Surfrider as the leader. One is the staff. You know we have 80 people working here, you know, which is more of an internal focus, like what's the organization doing. Which is more of an internal focus, like what's the organization doing? Surfrider has 200 chapters and clubs across the United States, thousands of sort of volunteer leaders and about 60 or 70,000 volunteers who show up at our activity, which is incredible.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so that's an audience that I want to speak to, which is like the next ring out.
Speaker 2:And I didn't recognize the chapters until I actually met somebody here in Atlanta at a local Patagonia event. Yeah, they showed up and I saw that she had the name tag of Surfrider and I was like I didn't know that Surfrider had a location in Atlanta. And she's like, well, we're a chapter. And I was like, oh, I did not comprehend that that was part of the framework of the organization.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're everywhere, yeah, it's just awesome, you know, and so that's an important audience. These are people who actually like show up and get the work done. And then third is obviously sort of the general public or, you know, the nonprofit world or sort of the LinkedIn world. I think over my 11 years it's kind of evolved from focused internally no-transcript is part of the content that I want to share and also sort of what's happening real time and along our coastlines and then sort of surf riders or solution-oriented organizations, so talking about what the challenges are but also focusing on solutions. I don't have like a super organized strategic, like you know, content sharing strategy.
Speaker 2:I'm not like Okay, yes, I was just going to ask you that.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, yeah, I'm not like. Oh, I got to do a LinkedIn post every week or you know, and some of it. The organization's doing a lot of that and so I sort of fit into some of the organizational communications, but I would say it's more organic.
Speaker 2:Okay, is it just like? I think I have something to say, I'm going to sit down and I'm going to write something, and you have a LinkedIn and Instagram, would you say those are the primary two channels that you focus on?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and increasingly, which I think is really interesting to watch is Blue Sky, blue Sky, yes, blue Sky is the new Twitter.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay, this is probably why I don't know about it, because I haven't been on Twitter or X in forever.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's really interesting because sort of in the decline of Twitter, a number of alternatives popped up threads, something called Mastodon, which I don't really use, and Blue Sky, and I would argue Blue Sky was sort of sitting idle for the last two years just since the election has exploded and I think it has like 26 million users now and for me in particular, the science community is there. So, the private scientists and the communicators and increasingly the media, so it's becoming the alternative to Twitter.
Speaker 2:Interesting. I'm going to have to check this out. Listeners, I didn't know this. We learned something new. Chad brought it, that's right, check it out.
Speaker 1:It's really interesting and it's kind of like early days of social media. It's growing and evolving like right in front of your eyes.
Speaker 2:Is it the same format? Short text-based Short text links.
Speaker 1:I'm by no means an expert, but I think the way the algorithm is organized is different. So it can be chronological, so it's not like manipulating. So it can be chronological, so it's not like manipulating. It's more real time than I think Threads thus far. It has a culture of being nice and having oh, let's hope that stays. I know I do too Like healthy conversation, not toxic conversation.
Speaker 2:Yes, okay, so there is the social side, as always, of thought leadership.
Speaker 1:There's LinkedIn and kind of back to your question. There are moments in time, like after the election, where I feel compelled to kind of enter Surfrider or my perspective into what happened and my filter is what does it mean for our coasts and oceans? Because that's sort of our sweet spot and my sweet spot, so, yeah, it's more about. There are moments in time where I feel we have something to offer or something's happening inside the Surfrider world that I feel is worth sharing. So part of it is looking at the landscape of work that's happening.
Speaker 1:Cultural moments, yeah, so part of it is looking at the landscape of work that's happening, cultural moments, yeah yeah, and maybe either connecting dots or saying, hey, this is something that I feel like not enough attention is being paid to, but is really important.
Speaker 2:Amazing. What about the strategic thought of being on podcasts like this one, or stages? Is that something that you work with your team on or you are doing outbound for?
Speaker 1:Not a ton of outbound. We get a lot of requests. Surfrider has a strong brand identity which we'll get into at the partnerships too. And it's also interesting because we sort of intersect surfing. So it's on like the World Surf League's podcast, which is like the Pro Surfing League podcast ocean conservation, like the pro surfing league podcast ocean conservation, right, and then sort of this sort of grassroots community organizing.
Speaker 2:So we kind of sit in some interesting buckets and you could also be definitely just speaking in the broader, like social impact, amazing marketing partnerships, like not even necessarily in those buckets. I think to your point about having a strong brand that could lead yourself, just in the social impact space too.
Speaker 1:In a more general sense, that's right, and I'm definitely sort of doing seemingly more of that, talking about leadership, talking about sort of these more how to run a successful NGO or ocean conservation organization.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think there's nothing more compelling than having the attention, especially if you're in person with people or on a podcast like this where listener, like we are in your ear pods, we are with you on a walk, we are with you on a run, we are maybe you're doing your laundry, but to have somebody's attention for 30, 40 minutes, to be on a stage with sole attention focused, is a very intimate experience and I think has the opportunity to really create a deeper understanding of the organization, have respect for the person, the leader running the organization, and then feel compelled to possibly do something about it, ie donate, do something local in your community, right, and so I think, over the past decade, do you think that doing the podcast, doing in-person speaking events, have you seen a change in the organization from doing those?
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and I do. I totally agree that it's important. A lot of our major supporters will tell you that leadership of the organization is incredibly important to my commitment to the organization. It has this responsibility, but also this opportunity, and I think we as humans look to leaders for issues at times. I mean, one of the most unlikely and most influential is Greta Thunberg. Right Like young school girl, but there was something about her conviction that captivated people and now she's on a global stage talking about these issues.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely, and talk about, okay, global stages. If you, listener, have not watched Chad's TEDx talk, please just search for it on YouTube, I think. Naturally people have a fascination with how to even approach a TEDx opportunity. Can you kind of give us a little bit of a story of how did that experience happen? Did you enter? Do you have to get accepted? And then I would like to dive into actually crafting the talk.
Speaker 1:It's interesting. So I'm not really, like generally, one of those people that says like if you manifest it, it will happen, but in this case it did. I had a goal of giving a TEDx talk. That was something I wanted to do from like a thought leadership perspective and, most importantly, I kind of wanted to share and validate Surfrider's model. That was kind of the goal behind it. I got invited to give one a couple years ago and it didn't work. The timing. And Laguna Beach is my hometown so I grew up there. The guy, rich Gurman, who organized it is like a friend and a colleague, so it kind of fell in my lap, you know, and it was across the street from the lifeguard tower where I lifeguarded.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:And so it really was kind of meant to be, and the story that I told about sort of the impact of marine conservation was right there.
Speaker 2:Wow. So, listeners, I hope you will watch the video footage. I will link to the TEDx talk in the show notes. But you start out with this beautiful imagery of you as a kid in the ocean learning about it, and then you transition into the framework that you're talking about local community activists and the framework of the Surfrider Foundation and the talk is 11 minutes. Right, 11 minutes. Okay, that is a very tight timeframe to get a point across, and I know that's the point of a TED Talk. How did you prepare for that?
Speaker 1:You know it's really funny. I loved all but one part of it. I hired a storytelling coach Okay, I can't recommend that enough. It was a really fun process and a good friend of mine, sachi Cunningham, who's like a phenomenal journalist and ocean photographer, really championing women's big wave surfing she gave a really compelling TEDx talk and I saw hers, and then I, an organization called the Million Person Project that I'd actually worked with at a Patagonia event I didn't realize that at the time they did TED Talk coaching, so I worked with them and they really were good at sort of honing in your story and your values and focusing on your audience, and so crafting the talk was really fun and kind of honing.
Speaker 1:And you know, of course the first version of it was like 16 minutes long, and so then it was a matter of sort of editing it down and really trying to get to that salient points, you know, and then we got it down to essentially 10 or 11 minutes, which was the goal. And then the funny thing was is it was I do a fair amount of public speaking. I've been doing this work for a long time, so I can usually kind of write an outline and I've got kind of canned speeches that I've I've given over enough times that I can kind of just, you know, freestyle it, and this was rote memorization. I you know I probably had the thing written three months before the talk and then I had to memorize. It turns out memorizing 11 minutes is hard. That would be really hard. It was the hardest thing I've done in a while. So I was like, oh man, and then to be able to give the talk and actually think about it, not just spit back the memorization.
Speaker 2:Yes, and have the intonation and the pauses that you did. And yep, I'm a very also. I prepare, but not over-prepare, because I like to have a little bit of that natural, but you can't when you have.
Speaker 1:It's like the time. The other thing that happened, which was interesting, is the screen's behind you and you have a monitor in front of you so you can see where you're at on your slides and, unlike other talks like if I cheat right, I have a bunch of bullet points on a slide that just remind me what to say. It's like the PowerPoint cop-out. I didn't have those, you know, I just had blanks, so it was either interesting pictures or nothing. So the timing was really important. I was the first talk and the monitor didn't work. So I walked out there and there's 200 people in the audience and the monitors and I'm like okay. So I actually had to kind of look back or kind of glance back. You can notice it if you go back and watch a couple of times to make sure I was at the right spot. So I had that extra little challenge. I couldn't tell. Well, it was fun and I do feel really strongly about this model that we have, and so it was pretty fun to craft a story around that.
Speaker 2:I love that For leaders who are listening that might want to do something like this. Maybe it's not a TED talk, but it's getting out in the community and doing more public speaking. If they're not getting the inbound requests, like you are, how would you suggest that they approach that when they're reaching out to people to maybe speak at an event? When was the last time you used LinkedIn? If you're thinking, oh, when I was job hunting, I totally get it, but as the new year begins, linkedin is the one platform I am all in.
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Speaker 1:Well, yeah, that's a great question. I mean, obviously, I think LinkedIn is becoming an increasingly good way to kind of define yourself. As you know, there's a lot of podcasts out there and they're looking for content. So I think you know there are certainly some of the podcasts, like the WSL podcast I mentioned, where we reached out to them and said, hey, we'd love to get on your show. So if you see places where there's audiences that you think your story or message can connect, I don't think there's any reason not to just reach out to those folks directly.
Speaker 2:I reached out to you on LinkedIn.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's right, that's it. Yeah, it's funny. Linkedin and Strava have become like my most unlikely and favorite social media platforms.
Speaker 2:Strava. I don't think I know that one either.
Speaker 1:Exercise platform.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay, strava, I don't think I know that one either.
Speaker 1:It's like an exercise platform. Oh okay, you can track your workout. So I follow my friends and we try to encourage each other to get out there and do more exercise.
Speaker 2:Well, and what it is is it's community.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a huge community. Yeah, and I think, not Strava, I don't think, but certainly with LinkedIn, having your resume attached to your comments, I think, ups the level, people are a little bit more thoughtful about what they say and how they say it.
Speaker 2:Good point, good point, the credibility there and the trust and the trust factor can happen. What do you think is your recommendation, also to leaders, if they're hesitating getting into personal branding, thought leadership for their organization?
Speaker 1:I really appreciated that question because I personally I don't get up in the morning and say how am I going to promote myself? In that sense, I'm like a reluctant thought leader. I have a lot to share, but I'm not necessarily like motivated by brand and some people are, and there's nothing wrong with that, it's important. So the way I think about it is, I'm like this is in service to the organization that I'm leading and the cause that I feel so passionately about, and so for me it's like hey, this is part of the job, and so I think that's a way of framing it. If you're not like, hey, I'm not one of those look at me people because I do think it is important and it is valuable. And if you're a leader in a nonprofit organization, there's no question you have something valuable to share.
Speaker 2:Absolutely All the lived experiences and I think to your point, if you're not somebody who's like saying, oh, look at me, it's not, it's, look at my organization, look at the work that's happening and I am just a vehicle to help share those, and because I have some credibility and experience and relationships with people and the fact that you're a person, you're not a organization. So therefore there is more trust hearing from people donate to people, right, and people donate to things that they've lived through. And so that's why I open with talking about my personal nostalgia with the water right I'm going to give, because I can relate to a lived experience. So I love that. I think it shouldn't feel boasting. One of my favorite people who I think does such a beautiful job in the for-profit sector is Sarah Blakely with.
Speaker 2:Spanx and she is her true funny, hysterical self, telling like the funny she does like sales deals. She has a lipstick and a napkin in her car trying to do something she shares, that she wears stuff backwards. When she gets on national television she's just like this is who. I am Right Because I love her. I so badly want to buy these new sneaks shoes that she's made these sneaker heels, but anyways, that segues into, I think. Also, corporate partners are also ran by people and people want to do business with good people doing good things. You have listen. I'm just gonna list a few Alaska Airlines, clif Bars, gopro, yeti, pinterest, o'neill, reef, rei, just to name a few of the incredible logos and brands that are on your partnerships page. And just on Giving Tuesday, which is very relevant, reef was your match partner. What do you think has created the values and brand alignment for these really meaningful partnerships over the years?
Speaker 1:Reef is the sandal company too, so like they're a beach product right, so it makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 1:I remember reading a while back that Scott Harrison from Charity Water right One of the sort of leading fundraising sort of charities out there said that I'm not looking to other nonprofits, I'm looking to Nike to think about branding, and I totally agree with him.
Speaker 1:I think brand is really important because it's just a way that we as humans filter the world and you're trying to compete for attention with everything else that's out there, whether it's a pair of sneakers or a TV show or a podcast or a nonprofit. And so I think we spend a fair amount of time and energy at Surfrider thinking about our brand, like how we're communicating that brand, what it stands for. Are we being consistent in sharing those values? And for us, those values are a passion for the coast, doing something about it, rolling up your sleeves, being solution-oriented. So it's a pretty positive and compelling message and there's no question we have the value of surfing as this super charismatic activity and we have people out doing things on the beach cleanups and water testing and doing dunes, and so there's ways people can get involved. So I think those are the ingredients that have led to us being attractive to these partners. So they like the brand affiliation. They almost look at it as a collab.
Speaker 2:Oh, I love that. Was it always that way? I mean think late 80s, early 90s. It wasn't what it is today.
Speaker 1:No, it's interesting. I think it's gone through cycles, like everything. In the early 80s, when Surfrider was just getting off the ground, the surf industry was smaller, having a lot of success, so they were supporting Surfrider. I feel like the corporate partnerships thing drifted away and then it's come back. I think, as you know, I feel like we're in some other cycle right now, but this idea of corporate social responsibility has become increasingly important and customers want brands to do more than just make money, which is good they should, and so you know they're looking for ways to demonstrate to the world that they care, and you learn pretty quickly that some really care and some just want to look like they care. So you got to navigate that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, for sure. There has to be a very thoughtful team process to really curate these relationships and make sure to your point that you're partnering with the people who really care. Is there some internal matrix system that you look at to say, yes, like they might approach you and maybe they are the Nike of the world for you, but then is there something internally there's an internal check for your team.
Speaker 1:Okay, we say no more than yes to brands that approach us, and we're an advocacy organization. So we're out there trying to pass laws and policies to reduce plastic pollution, for example, and so we don't want to appear biased. So we won't take money from a brand that uses single-use plastic water bottles because we're trying to get rid of those. So we want them to be brands that we feel like are being good environmental stewards. They don't have to be perfect or no impact, because there's no such thing, but they got to be. Alaska Airlines, for example. People are like they're an airline, they're contributing to global warming. We're working with them to get rid of plastic on the plane. We want the customer experience to be plastic free as close to that as we can get. So we do vet them very carefully. We also look at their pollution and human rights records, because we want to align with brands that have values that we align with ours and then their sort of sustainability and environmental responsibility. Those are kind of the things. And then it's got to be.
Speaker 1:We want it to be a meaningful partnership because, like Reef, who's been a longtime partner of ours these quick hits, you know we always laugh. On April 1st the phone starts ringing because everyone's like oh, earth Day is in three weeks, can we partner with you? And these sort of quick hits. They can be revenue for you, but they're not meaningful. Right, if you can build a partnership over time, it actually is better for everyone. What you want is we're a charity, we need a donation, we need funding. A lot of these brands have huge platforms, so they're broadcasting to their audiences of value to us, and you want them to be able to tell their audience hey, we're, we care about this, right, we're good. You know, reef sell sandals that people use to go to the beach, so they want to be stewards of the beach and that's why they're supporting us. And then you ultimately hope it's good for their business that you know that partnership benefits them. And that's how you get to this sort of like, you know, win, win, win thing, which is we're doing better.
Speaker 1:They're doing better, the world's doing better. That's right. If we can get there, then everybody is having success.
Speaker 2:That's right and I always say don't be afraid to pitch that dream partnership. If you can approach it with this in mind, if you can talk to or ask them what are your business goals, what are your values, what are you trying to do, and if you know that you have something to contribute, there might be something there. And do not discount yourself because you're a nonprofit, because you might have a smaller audience than them. You are extremely valuable to them with the community that you serve and definitely offer something. So thank you for outlining those.
Speaker 1:One more really important thing, too is Surfrider has a decent size audience. A lot of nonprofits do, and there's a ton of loyalty to that audience and healthy skepticism. They're not the easiest audience to you know. They're serious about your organization and so another warning sign is you don't want a corporate partnership to come to you to market to your audience, because we hear that a lot. Hey, can you help us sell our wares to your audience and in return we'll give you money, so you're just a marketing channel. That's a red flag, I think what you want, because that tells me they don't really care. They see you as an email list or a social media channel. So what you want is for them to actually tell their audience that they're doing good with you you know, and, of course, we will then share with our audience that they're supporting us, but that's got to be secondary, not primary.
Speaker 1:It's a good red flag for anyone working on partnerships that's a really good point.
Speaker 2:We've learned it the hard way. It's a really good point. Those are I mean, the lived experiences that you can share is really important. That's a personal branding story that you could share, I'm sure, on LinkedIn Do's and don'ts of corporate partnerships. So, looking ahead, something that I see all over the site is about membership of Surfrider and, of course, you know I am a big fan. I am currently wearing my Obsessed with Monthly Giving shirt. We're in a new year and local activism is literally the core of DNA of what you do. Is there a big focus on monthly giving, recurring giving with the organization and what has that been like in the past decade of working there? The importance of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you know we're this grassroots membership-based organization, so small-dollar donors, members and volunteers is like the machine that runs this organization. So we really do care. We have had, I would argue, mediocre technology and strategy around building membership and it's been growing and stagnating and, you know, vacillating over time and in the last, like maybe 18 months or two years, we've really invested in better technology and strategy around reoccurring donors and monthly donors and the results are staggering.
Speaker 2:Wow, I know you use FundraiseUp.
Speaker 1:I know you use FundraiseUp. Yeah, we use FundraiseUp. It's an amazing tool that's been game changing for us. A one-time donor at Surfrider first-time donor has like a 38% response rate. Right, it's a recurring rate, so there's 38% chance they'll re-up. Our sort of average membership is about 51%, which is higher than industry standard, which is like in the mid 40s. So you know, a tiny majority renews every year, right, so we're just over half, but there's so much churn in that right you know you get a hundred donors, we keep 51 and we lose 49.
Speaker 1:That's a lot. Our rate with automatic renewal, monthly or annual, is 91%.
Speaker 2:Amazing.
Speaker 1:So it like doubles and so it's night and day. Yeah. The other thing that's really interesting and I think this is true for a lot of organizations is when we survey people and say, hey, why didn't you re-up with surf rider? It's not something we did or that were unaffected, it's I simply forgot.
Speaker 1:yeah I believe it gets buried, as they all do, and they see it oh, I'll get to that next week, I don't want to do it right now. And then it's gone, gone, yeah, despite sending people the you're about to expire, you're almost expired, you're expired. And they oh, I'll get to that next week, I don't want to do it right now. And then it's gone, gone yeah.
Speaker 1:Despite sending people the you're about to expire, you're almost expired, you're expired. You expired last week. All that stuff that we all get. People just can't be bothered. So if we have monthly or reoccurring donations, they stick with us, because most people like and support what we're up to.
Speaker 1:because most people like and support what we're up to, and so it has been absolutely game-changing for us. I think the other thing and we're not there yet because it's still a very small percentage of our total number of donors it's growing every month, I don't know, it's still less than 10% is that it smooths out your revenue curve. Is that it smooths out your revenue curve? So 40% to 50% of our donations come in in October, November and December. So it's this hockey stick that makes your revenue planning and modeling really challenging, and if we had all those people monthly, it would be perfectly smooth in theory. So it actually makes your cash flow and you're just running your finances month to month significantly smoother and predictable.
Speaker 2:Yes, you mentioned Scott Harrison earlier. He was quoted saying something. I might have been in a podcast. Somebody said would you prefer a $50,000 flat donation grant? And he said no, I would prefer it as $50,000 across our recurring donors to go up. Because then that is, if you have that $50,000 for one year, then you're off for the next year and then you're not. You can't do it. You can't do anything about that.
Speaker 2:I would rather have that in smaller increments where, to your point, you have this very high retention rate, low churn rate, and over the course of years I've been I talk about this all the time I've been a monthly donor for Dressumber they're an anti-human trafficking organization for going on five years, yep, and I have consistently given, never questioned love, getting the emails from them, never questioned stopping my gift, because I know my $24 and some odd change, compounded by hundreds of other people, is able to do a whole lot more than if I gave $100 as a one-off gift. And, to your point, I have a 20-month-old. My life is really busy. It is going to be hard to get my attention again. It just is. Yeah.
Speaker 1:No, it is, and if we do something wrong or we take a stance on an issue that somebody doesn't like, they can go cancel it, but at least their number one reason won't be I just didn't get around to it.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, that's the worst thing that you want to hear. Okay, so that's amazing. So, needless to say, monthly giving is going to be on the forefront of 2025 planning.
Speaker 1:And you know, just for like a one Starbucks cup of coffee right A month, you can make a meaningful difference in whatever your charity is Surfrider or somebody else, that's right.
Speaker 2:Amazing Chad. Thank you so much for your time today, your advocacy, the work, your voice for speaking up for these issues. Where can people learn more about Surfrider and yourself and connect?
Speaker 1:with you. Yeah, surfriderorg, or Surfrider, on socials, and then Chad Nelson N-E-L-S-E-N. You can find me on LinkedIn or Instagram or Blue Sky.
Speaker 2:Awesome Blue Sky. Now I'm going to go check it out, yeah you gotta go check it out. Amazing Chad. Thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 1:Thanks, Dana.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode of Missions to Movements. If you enjoyed our conversation and found it helpful, I would love for you to take a moment to leave a review. Wherever you're listening, your feedback helps us reach more change makers like you and continue bringing impactful stories and strategies to the show. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button, too, so you'll never miss an episode. And until next time, keep turning your mission into a movement.
