When Creators Lead, Everyone Wins

Read time: 3 min

👋🏾 Hey! I’m Sid and this is The Philanthropy Futurist, a weekly advice column preparing you for the future of the nonprofit sector. Each Friday, I tackle reader questions about measuring impact, driving growth, and managing your nonprofit.

This Week’s Newsletter at a glance:

• When Creators Lead, Everyone Wins

• Philanthropy News From This Week

• Sid’s Book Recommendation

When Creators Lead, Everyone Wins

Ryan Trahan just wrapped one of the most innovative Creator x Nonprofit collabs we’ve ever seen.

With an iPhone and his wife Haley Pham by his side, he set out to visit 50 States in 50 Days— all while raising money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

And the numbers were absolutely BANANAS:

• $11.5 million+ raised

• 42,000+ total donations

• $259.83 was the average donation amount

• 177M+ views on Ryan’s YouTube channel alone

• 3.5M+ views on average per episode. Meaning, millions and millions of families tuning in daily

• 30+ hours of content

• 2 video editors

• 1 iPhone to record it all

And the numbers above don't even include the views/engagement across Ryan’s other platforms, Haley’s channels, and the countless Creators, Supporters, and Media Outlets who joined in and shared the story.

Yes, I just listed a whole bunch of numbers BUT… believe it or not, the numbers are not what made this campaign remarkable.

It was the way it was done.

Ryan and Haley filmed everything themselves. They turned philanthropy into entertainment with great storytelling and a gamified experience. Their approach made philanthropy fun… bingeable… and wildly collaborative. And I loved every bit of it!

My favorite episodes were Day 25 and Day 26, mainly because it was in New Jersey and New York. Two places where I’ve lived most of my life.

The Win-Win-Win-Win Model

This campaign was not just a win for St. Jude.

It was a win for everyone involved:

• Nonprofits got donations, visibility, and long-term brand equity

• Businesses got meaningful exposure, a tax write-off, and content moments people actually enjoyed

• Supporters and Donors got to follow the journey, involve their kids, and feel emotionally connected to a cause… among other things

• Ryan and his company JoyRide not only donated $150,000, they got to bring their community along for the ride— all while creating more brand awareness for the health-conscious candy in a fun & authentic way

Local and global companies jumped in to support— and many did so with creative value exchanges. For example:

“I’ll donate $1 for every person that downloads our mobile app.”

“I’ll give $10,000 every episode that you ride our e-bike.”

And this list of examples goes on and on…

Yes… it’s nice to give purely out of the kindness of your heart, BUT I believe it’s even better when you can design a WIN-WIN-WIN-WIN FOR EVERYONE. In my opinion, this approach creates more incentive for participation for all parties involved— and is arguably better positioned for long-term partnership.

This kind of creativity and mutual value exchange is exactly what the Nonprofit Sector needs more of.

The Next Era of Philanthropy

I have written about this multiple times in the past— but just like the Sidemen’s 90,000-seat Charity Match, and MrBeast’s work with Sharing Excess, Ryan’s series shows that Creators aren’t just trendsetters— they’re architects of a new culture of giving.

And unlike traditional philanthropy, Creators bring their communities on the journey.

Needless to say… Creators are making philanthropy cool… much cooler than its every been before, and I’m here for it!

7 Ways Nonprofits Can Start Collaborating with Creators

1. Build relationships: Do not pitch, instead connect. Find authentic alignment and strive to understand what Creators care about and why

2. Offer value: Be human and be curious about how you can make a collab mutually beneficial for all parties involved

3. Get creative: Stretch your mind. Challenge yourself to do something far beyond anything your org has ever done before

4. Start small: Think regionally and maybe collab on a local series, social challenge, or mini-documentary

5. Co-create content: Let Creators help you design the project. Trust me, they know exactly what resonates with their community and how to keep it authentic

6. Experiment publicly: Invite your own Nonprofit community on the journey too. Try new content formats, especially across video

7. Take action, yesterday: Speak with your teams, talk to your board, and shorten your timelines. Do not wait until 2026

Again, this is not about chasing trends. It’s about designing the future… one where Creators, Nonprofits, Businesses, Grantmakers, and Everyday People unite together around cause/s that matter.

Huge shoutout to Ryan, Haley, Ryan’s team, the team at St. Jude, JoyRide, the locals, the donors, and all the brand partners. Including but not limited to: Ryan’s Dad, Ryan & Haley’s Dog (Spock), James Keresey, Zach Levet, Cohen Thompson, Tyler Merrick, Jason Heitman, Shannon Goldberg-Cruz, Amanda Hill, Ricky Gipson, Mike & Brianna, Mitch, and all of the other team members and supporters who made this fun collaboration possible.

Until next time y’all! Enjoy your weekend ✌🏾

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Philanthropy News From This Week

• MrBeast, Mark Rober, and 3,000+ Creators Aim To Raise $40M For Clean Water

• Funders Give More To Transparent Organizations, Survey Finds

• DAFgiving360 Donors Award More Than $8.9 Billion In FY2025

• Google and Google.org commit $37M to AI advancement in Africa

Sid’s Book Recommendation

Each week, I recommend a book or film that has impacted my life in a positive way. My recommendation this week is:

Ecosystem-Led Growth by Bob Moore

This book is a practical guide that reimagines business growth through the lens of partnerships and interconnected networks. It argues that conventional growth tactics are losing their effectiveness in today’s crowded and fast-changing market. Instead, the author introduces the concept of Ecosystem-Led Growth (ELG), which places the focus on how to create and leverage a robust partner ecosystem for business development. Learn more.

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