Bill McKendry - Do More Good: Moving Nonprofits from Good to Growth

Worth

Do More Good

Bill McKendry with Kathleen Sindorf

Moving Nonprofits from Good to Growth

Do More Good

Moving Nonprofits from Good to Growth

2022 Bill McKendry

All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book shall be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, and photographic, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher.

No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

Published by Forefront Books.

Cover Design by Erin Finholm, HAVEN | a creative hub

Interior Design by Bill Kersey, KerseyGraphics

ISBN: 978-1-63763-039-6 print

ISBN: 978-1-63763-040-2 e-book

T his book is dedicated to my Lord, wife, sons, family, friends, and cohorts. They all have inspired me to always strive to do more good.

Also, a special callout to my parentsJohn and Lois McKendry. They showed me that disabilities are only handicaps if you allow them to be. And they inspired me to be a voice for those who need help.

I ve been given a lot of business booksI mean, a lot of business books.

When youve been in the business and marketing world as long as I have, you work alongside many astute business minds. And it would seem they are all published and each has insights to share.

Many have original concepts to consider or catchy phrases to memorize. But I would argue that few books are as comprehensive as Do More Good. Soup to nuts, as they say, Bill has seen it, done it, and can write authoritatively about it. From asking hard questions to providing clear answers, Bill identifies what makes a nonprofit organization a unique animal and how a purposeful and best-practices approach works best when innovating. He not only provides a roadmap toward realizing what success looks like, he tells you how to recognize it when you get there. His IDEAS Process helps keep the main thing the main thing, as Stephen Covey so aptly said.

Bill and I first met in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in the early 2000s when I spoke at an event held at Cornerstone University. I was in C-level leadership in the corporate world then (Dominos Pizza), and Bill had already made the transition from the for-profit to the nonprofit world. I quickly recognized his heart for service as well as his willingness to step out of the comfortable and into the meaningful. It was inspiring. With years of varied experience in the for-profit and nonprofit space, Bill comes to you as an award-winning and seasoned marketer. Do More Good truly speaks to his heart and passions.

I believe that its a privilege to work with others who see need as not just an academic exercise, but as a call for change. There are deeper truths to be realized in trying to reach the hearts of others. The best innovation, the kind that breaks through and breaks into our overly digitalized and fractured world, has to be based on these truths. Bill not only understands this, he lives and promotes it. I would argue there isnt anyone who comes to this topic so well prepared and with so much personal experience. He doesnt merely react to the cultural zeitgeisthe is and has been on the leading edge of real cultural response and change for years. I guess you could say he was doing good before doing good was cool.

I am honored to be included in his book, and I appreciate the opportunity to speak to my own experiences making the transition from the corporate space to the not-for-profit world. I never could have imagined the learning, the challenges, and the rewards that awaited me. I made the move to Compassion International in 2017, and in the span of these four years, the world has changed profoundly in so many ways. But I am grateful to be used by God to serve in this way, putting my own stamp on the ideas and practices of doing more good.

Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, The time is always right to do what is right. I couldnt agree more. The times we live in cry out for a compassionate approach to growth and innovation. Change is inevitable. But meaningful and purposeful innovation can make change something to embrace, not to fear, something to lead people toward, not drag people into.

I congratulate Bill on writing such an important book. My wife is a writer, and I have seen how consuming and laborious the writing process can be. Writers pore over every word, phrase, and idea. And they personally put a lot of themselves into each process and project. Im not sure I always understood that. I appreciate it all the more now.

My hope is that you appreciate the heart and effort that went into this book, and that you are encouraged by the stories within and inspired to do more good, however that looks for you.

Ken Calwell

Chief Marketing Officer, SVP Innovation

Compassion International

Colorado Springs, Colorado

J immy Smith is a highly accomplished advertising and marketing pro. As an African-American from a blue-collar community in Michigan, hes had to work really hard and overcome a lot of obstacles to get to where he is today, which is working for the biggest and best-known brands and advertising agencies in the world.

When I invited him to speak at the first national conference for our nonprofit organization DO MORE GOOD, and then asked him if hed do so for free, it seemed like a longshot. But truth be told, I did have a slight personal connection with Jimmy, so it was worth a try. We had been high school classmates, and though wed never become close friends, I knew who he was and I had been following his career for several decades. So when we spoke (for the first time in thirty-nine years) and I asked him to be our keynote speaker for this inaugural conference, Jimmy was open about his desire to help, and I was open about being one of his biggest fans.

Jimmys presentation title was How Big Is Your WHY? (an inspiring topic Ill cover later in this book). While I thought that sounded like great content to close our first-ever national conference, his speech, refreshingly, wasnt a checklist of dos and donts about powerful storytelling and branding. Rather, it was about his personal journey to do good work, his passion to use his gifts to make lasting change and to do more good. His inspiring life story included many heartbreaking experiences of persecution and racism, but he never lost his desire to do more than just make a living with his talents. Those horrible things he endured fueled an inner burning passion to courageously pursue every opportunity to make a difference.

Jimmy ended his speech with a total mic drop moment when he asked our conference crowd of nonprofit executives, leaders, and communicators this profound question: How bad do you want to do good?

Ive been challenged by that statement ever since.

Thats the purpose of this booklike Jimmy, I feel called to do more good with my talent and expertise. And I want to do good really, really bad.