Dolly Parton: A Legacy of Giving

Dolly Parton built a career on country music, big hair, bigger personality—and an even bigger commitment to giving back.

In this episode of Philanthropy N The Black, Celly Cel looks beyond the music and rhinestones to unpack Dolly Parton’s extraordinary philanthropic legacy. From the Dollywood Foundation and Imagination Library, which has put hundreds of millions of books into the hands of children, to scholarships, disaster relief, healthcare, and her support of COVID-19 vaccine research, Dolly showed what it looks like when generosity becomes part of your personal brand—not just a tax write-off or press release.

But this is PNTB, so we're asking the nonprofit questions too: Why did her philanthropy work? What can nonprofits and donors learn from it? And how do you build a legacy that lasts beyond your name?

And instead of asking you to follow, like, or subscribe, this episode has a different call to action:

Make a donation. Give a book. Support the work. Dolly Parton's Imagination Library | USA, UK, IE, CA, AU

Because the best way to honor a philanthropic legacy is to keep it going.

Transcript

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Welcome, welcome to another episode of Philanthropy in the Black. I am your guy, your man, the du Selly Cell. And listen, we're talking about the incomparable, the awesome, the iconic, the legendary Miss Dolly Parton. And that's Parton with a T, not a D. Stop disrespecting a name, people. But listen, we're not gonna talk about like all the things everyone else is talking about. You know, this is philanthropy in the black, where our goal is to help nonprofits stay in the black, not only financially, but socially and morally. So we're gonna talk about Miss Parton's philanthropic endeavors and how she was just legendary across multiple uh lanes of philanthropy because they didn't talk about that a lot when it came to everybody memorializing her. They mentioned it, it was a footnote, but on this show, it's the main dish, baby. Let's get down. Welcome again, welcome again. I am Sally Sell. This is Philanthropy in the Black, and we want to talk about this icon, this legend. Let me go ahead and throw her picture up on the screen because you know, she came to New Orleans sometime, I don't know, let's say maybe the 80s. And here's the picture. If you're listening, you can't see it. But she was a marshal of one of our parades, probably was endemian, if not Bacchus. You know, she did a thing, she came down here, she rocked with Rockin' Dupsie, uh, Amanda Shaw, many, many artists from New Orleans. So New Orleans loves her in a different kind of way, so much so that I'm pretty sure there will be a second line in her honor. And if you don't know what a second line is, Google it. It's all about love and happiness and transition. And uh, because of who she was and to New Orleans, they're definitely gonna do that for her. You know what I'm saying? Well deserved, well deserved, well deserved, well deserved. Look, look. So in my promo video, I was uh just joking with the Martin Lawrence uh rendition of I Will Always Love You. But when you when you really think about that song, you think about two people, really, right? You think, of course, about Dolly, but you also think about Whitney Houston who murdered it, and I mean that in a good way. She killed it. Dolly got paid, but Whitney killed it, you know. Great song, one of the best love songs ever written. However, those words take on new meaning now because unfortunately, Miss Parton Parton passed away at the age of 80. You know, that is a great age. She did all the things, uh, bless her soul and her family. Uh, we're praying for them as well, right? And and while all the other shows or social media things you might see talk about her career from the aspect of her music, deservedly so, from her movies, deservedly so, the wigs, the rhinestone, uh, a career that stretched generations. Awesome, that is great. But what we're gonna talk about on this show briefly is not that aspect which deserves all the shine, but also we're gonna talk about what she gave away because Dolly didn't just leave records, she left books in the hands of children, millions of children. She left money in the hands of families who had lost everything. She provided for scholarships, medical research, educational opportunities, and so on and so forth. I'm talking about her philanthropic efforts, and she left the institution behind we're gonna talk about that was designed to step up and keep going well after she was gone. This, my folks, this, my fan, my brothers and sisters in the philanthropic sector, this is philanthropy. So, today we're gonna talk about mission, celebrity, philanthropy, legacy. You know, I love the word legacy because some of these nonprofits, they they're not gonna be around in five years. Some of them work themselves into a frenzy and get nothing accomplished and then they're gone. But you know, that's a show for another time. We're gonna talk about Miss Parton and all the great things she did, just in case you didn't know. And in the end, a few lessons for us in the nonprofit sector, all right? So, we're gonna start in the year that she first began her philanthropic efforts. Since everybody's going doing a retro something on my girl, let's start in the year of 1988. Fresh for 88. Listen, listen, listen, 1988 was the year when Miss Dolly Parton started a foundation called the Dollywood Foundation in her home county where she grew up. That's very important. Keep that in mind, nonprofits and founders and people who want to start a nonprofit. She started where she lived. She didn't try to save the world first. The origins focused on helping children in her home uh county achieve educational success. And listen, it was this program called the Buddy Program. And what it was is that the her foundation promised $500 to seventh and eighth graders who graduated from high school. So they were offering in her home county in Tennessee $500 or $1,000 or more today's money for every senior that graduated. Here's the miraculous part. According to the research, the dropout rate in that county fell from 35% to 6%. Now, where they do that at? Tell me where they do that at. Listen, that right there, again, the the if there was a theme word for this whole show and podcast, it's gonna always be legacy because that impact was real. That community had a need and she saw it, but it wasn't just the need she saw. Let's get into this whole thing right here with Miss Miss Dolly Parton. Since everybody's talking about the music and the wigs and the outfits, so that was 1988. Now, let's fast forward to 1995, and Miss Dolly Parton launched the imagination library. Google it, we're gonna talk about supporting it at the end. So the inspiration again, hometown, personal connection. Her inspiration was very personal. People, her dad, I believe her his name was Robert Lee Parton. From what it says, he uh could not read or write. So, what does his daughter do? She wanted every child in her community to have something her father never had, and that was access, once again, to books. And if you're listening, I'm holding up books, right? Children's books specifically for my grandbabies. All right, her idea was miraculously simple, people. It wasn't complicated like nonprofits like to do, right? Enroll one child or a child or children, send that child or children high-quality books every month. No testing, no complicated application based on family income, no making families prove how poor they are, because we love to do that in nonprofit. Before we give people help, they gotta verify a thousand things. I'm gonna deal with that another day. And what started in her county of Tennessee became an international literacy movement. Drop a bomb for my girl. Absolutely phenomenal. Started in her home county, became an international literacy movement. We're not just talking about the USA people, and you know how important literacy or the lack thereof is in our country, but also in the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland, distributing millions of books every month. This is what she started in Tennessee and her foundation, and I'll break down what I mean by she and her foundation. So, from a nonprofit perspective, the brilliance wasn't the program, it was the model. It's always about the model and scalability. Think about this. She created the vision, she saw a need, and we're gonna get into her what she saw. The foundation, the operational part, created the infrastructure where nonprofits are losing everyday infrastructure. Local organizations became partners, huge communities helped fund it, her stakeholders, her donors, and the program could scale without Dolly personally running every damn chapter. That's how you turn charity into infrastructure. I might do a whole nother podcast on infrastructure because what we're doing out here is janky business in some of these nonprofits, particularly the smaller ones. But anyway, I digress. And here's the awesome thing about um her philanthropic efforts. You know, she didn't just stay in one lane, right? I think she understood her power, and so she she spread that thing out, right? She didn't stay in one place, like in 19, I'm sorry, in 2016, there were devastating fires in Tennessee, and her and her foundation started the My People Fund. Love the name. And instead of telling families what they needed, instead of giving them vouchers, instead of creating a complicated ass reimbursement program, the families who lost everything, their residents received direct financial assistance. Let's call that DFA. Direct financial assistance wasn't about how filling out this and filling out that direct financial assistance is something nonprofits really need to bring back or reconsider because we do a lot of running around to help people, but I digress again. Let's not get personal, keep it simple. That effort of the uh My People Fund uh ultimately distributed millions of dollars. And for us in this nonprofit sector, the lesson is sometimes people in crisis don't need another program, they just need money. That's all they need, bro. Like, you don't have to shine a light on them, you don't have to give the people the money, you know what? Let me be quiet. So that's the My People Fund. Here's what else she did. Listen, we're talking about her exploits in the philanthropic uh world and a great thing she did. Healthcare, one million dollars, covet time. You remember everybody had to stay their ass inside 2020 somewhere, donated a million dollars to Vanderbilt University Medical Center during that time for research, and that assisted and helped and promoted the creation of the Moderna vaccine. And I don't hear nothing from you, vax anti-vax people. Listen, I will fight your ass. Okay, stay focused on the mission of this lady, and we're not getting into all of the foolishness, but a million dollars to help that research, also helping pediatric health care. Again, Vanderbilt's Monroe Carroll Jr. Children's Hospital. Her pattern was like this in my head when I looked at what she was supporting education, children, health care, her hometown, discovery. I'm sorry, disaster, different causes, but the common thread connecting them all. Nonprofits listen, people having access to opportunities and resources they otherwise might not have. Simple. I can move around, but I know there's a need, and I know there's people, and I'm not gonna make it complicated for them, I'm gonna make it easy for them. That's how we started this whole journey in philanthropy. It was supposed to be easy, but as we become more corporate and have more uh bosses and strings attached to dollars, we become more complicated. Oh, that's a word in season, but I again I digress, and so and we're talking about her specifically. So let me let me let's say this. She was doing these philanthropic things without making herself the mission. If if you look around the nonprofit landscape, when you have a celebrity involved, sometimes they get more of the notoriety than the actual cause. Brad Pitt, Make It Right Foundation. I'm coming for that last, bro. Yeah, I might have to talk about Make It Right and Brad Pitt, but again, he wasn't the reason the problem. But we'll get into that at another time as well. She was one of the most rec is and was one of the most recognizable human beings on the planet. She absolutely could have made every charitable initiative about Dolly Parton. But the word constantly ported pointed toward the cause. That's the that's the magic part, right? The cause, the cause, the the people, the people. That that's it. The kid opening the mailbox and getting the book, the family displaced by the fire, the patient benefiting from medical research. Like the her celebrity attracted the attention, but attention wasn't the outcome, impact was. Come on, though. Come on, man. Come on, man. Come on. We ain't here to play. We ain't here to play. And so to get back to what this is for us, so that's her work in the nonprofit space and philanthropy and how beautiful it was and continues to be. Because remember, our favorite word on this show is legacy. But here's what I feel like us, my brethren and sisters in the nonprofit space, can learn from Ms. Dolly Parton. Since everybody's talking about the records and the things, let's talk about the philanthropy. Here's what we can learn in this space on philanthropy in the black. One, seven things. I got seven things for you. Here's number one: start with something personal. See, when you've been impacted by tragedy, cancer, fire, or a bad educational system, or a bad community, when you are personally involved in it, it's a different kind of passion, right? Her father's you know, uh inability um to read spawned this thing in her. It impacted her so much she never forgot about it. So nonprofits, your strongest case for support uh often and should always start with a human story, not a strategic plan, which your ass is gonna leave on the shelf anyway after you pay this consultant thousands of dollars to do it. I'm just keeping it real with you. We if we if we're talking real, this show is about the real. You get a strategic plan and you don't revisit that shit until nine months later. It's too late. Probably another show. That was number one. Number two, nonprofits. Don't confuse complexity with sophistication. Oh my god, we've gotten a lot smarter in the nonprofit space thanks to technology and metrics and you know, just all the reports and associations. However, a book in the mail, cash to a displaced family, tuition assistance, some of the strongest philanthropic ideas are easy to explain. They ain't complicated, y'all. They ain't complicated. I'm trying to get these kids some books. That's the mission, that's the case for support. It is not overly complicated, right? So let's keep that. Number three, build something that can scale. You know, you don't have to start there, but you gotta go. Hey, this can be scaled. Like I started here, but I could take it there. The Imagination Library didn't remain a diali parton project in just Tennessee, it developed a partnership through partnerships and infrastructure keyword that allow communities around the world to participate. So you didn't even need dialy to be there, it was scalable because it was successful there and it was simple, it wasn't complicated. We want to get books to kids as well. Big time. Number four, and this is big for nonprofits because we overthink the hell out of things. Trust the people you are trying to help. When they created that my people fund we talked about earlier, it's an example of philanthropy that didn't assume the donor always knows what's best for the recipient. Give the people the money, people. You want to know what they're gonna buy, you want receipts and reimbursement. If they gonna go smoke crack with the money, well, guess what? That's what the hell they doing with the money. Don't make it hard. Trust that the people know exactly what they need. Number five, stay connected to where you came from. Oh my god. Oh my god. This lady was internationally famous, became internationally famous, but her philanthropy never forgot the roots, it never forgot where it started. That is huge. As these nonprofits continue to proliferate the damn country and get bigger and all of this, sometimes they forget the roots, man. And in word to Alex Haley, you can't never forget the roots. So I advise you to stay connected to where you came from, whatever community, whatever mission, whatever neighborhood, that is important for say the word with me, legacy without becoming the mission. Number six, your name can open the door without becoming the mission. Celebrity absolutely generates attention, right? Everybody looking, everybody saying, Who Jay-Z doing this, Beyonce doing that, Brad Pitt doing that, but but good philanthropy turns attention towards the cause. When I say good philanthropy, I'm saying your good advancement team, your good development team, communications marketing, they marketing, they take that attention, and it does a 180, and it's all about the cause. We take the celebrity, you got us the news, you got us CNN, you got us the radio station, you got us on the podcast, and everything gets turned back to the cause, the mission. That's what your attention, celebrity attention should do, and that's what Miss Pardon did absolutely wonderful. Number seven, last and finally, last and finally, number seven, build something that is capable of surviving you. You're the founder, you're the celebrity, uh person. Listen, Dolly Parton unfortunately is gone. But guess what? Children still need books, and guess what? The books keep coming. That that's the big part, man. Like these kids continue and will continue to receive this because of her vision, her team, um, the donors, the mission being pure and not complicated, being scalable and repeatable. People will still be impacted long after this time when we are now recognizing the loss of one of the greatest artists of our time, of many times. Because look, we live in a crazy, crazy time, right? Because, you know, people are social media activists. Social media they show their care that they care or they're they're sad by um following an account or reposting some quote from Dolly or playing her songs or typing that R.I.P nonsense next to her name. And tomorrow, next week, we're gonna be back to the bullcrap. We're gonna be back to the bull crap. So here's my final thing for us. Those of you who watch who listen, listen, I don't need another follower, they don't need another subscriber, they don't need none of that. If you really have ever been moved by this woman's story, take whatever that attention is worth and put it somewhere that matters. Please go support Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. It don't have to be big bucks, people. But listen, if I give 500 people to give ten dollars, we doing something. If I can get 100 people to give $50, we doing listen, whatever you have, don't think about the cost. Don't overthink, oh my little money don't help. Everything helps in this in this sector, every donation helps. So if you want to show her family who specifically said, if you want to honor her memory, support the imagination library, help put it put a book in a child's hand. Do that because that's a hell of a lot more meaningful than another follower on my page or someone else's page. Go support Imagination Library. Help our children. So as I take my seat, as the old pastors used to say, Dolly Parton wrote I Will Always Love You in 1973, which was a hell of a year, trust me. And more than 50 years later, that title, I Will Always Love You probably explains her philanthropic efforts better than anything else. Because Legacy isn't about somebody saying they'll always remember you, legacy is giving them something that makes remembering you unnecessary. Listen, the kid who got the book, they don't know Dolly Parton. They may never know Dolly Parton. I mean musically. The researcher doesn't have to own a Dolly Parton record to build on research. She helped fund. Family recovering from a disaster don't even have to like country music. She did the damn thing. That's the difference between celebrity and philanthropy. Celebrity asks, will they remember my name? Philanthropic efforts ask, will the work continue? Talk to me. Dolly Parton made sure hers could. So don't just stream Jolene, which is a gangster song. Don't repost 9 to 5. Put a book in a child's hand. Because if we're really talking about I will always love you, love ain't the post. Love is what you leave behind. I'm Sally Sell. Until next time, we are here. Thanks for watching. Thanks for listening. Share with your people, especially if they're into this work or want to learn.