Howdy howdy! It’s your friendly tech newbie. I first would like to say happy belated Mother’s day to all of the Mom’s!!! Last week I wrote about the genius of the late music icon Prince and how he masterfully was able to leverage social media. The majority of development directors at our grass tops charity such as United Way, Big Brothers Big Sisters etc stay in a constant scramble to connect with current/new donors. It is no fault of their own, but the business models these organizations were created would be compared to the stone ages. Things such as the internet were “pie in the sky” ideas of dreamers.
Today I would like to re-introduce a radio show the co-founder of Give N Go and our mentor co-hosted. The Start Something Radio Show, was actually a program of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Charlotte that they vacated. We were able to adopt, revive and most importantly grow it to its true potential. The point of the program is to do media buying, selling and training for nonprofits of all sizes. A lot of charities still do not effectively utilize social media for its intended purpose. Its main/only purpose in my opinion is to break boarders and give real time interaction/engagement to us. We crave it more than ever and the millennial generation does not understand how to operate outside of it. We simply used the tools and we met EVERYBODY we wanted to meet and then some.
Take a look at a old story on us to learn about a few of the things that were able to do. My personal proudest moment is when Linebacker of the Carolina Panthers Thomas Davis chose a community we run after school programming for!
MOSAIC recently had the chance to hang out with the cast of the WGIV “Start Something” radio show and engage in a fun roundtable with its members. During our studio visit, we asked cast mates to vote each other “most likely” to do something.
Here are the results: Mr. Joe was voted “Most likely to do a Michael Jackson impersonation,” JoeDREW was nominated as “Most likely to be class clown” and J. Hayes was chosen to be “Most likely to win a Nobel Peace Prize.”
The dynamic personalities making up the “Start Something” cast might not possess formal backgrounds in broadcasting, but they do share a strong devotion to giving back.
A program powered by the Give N Go nonprofit, “Start Something” is a weekly radio show that advocates for people and organizations active in the Charlotte community. Simply put, the goal is to highlight those helping others.
Every Saturday at noon you can catch these guys’ live, on-air hosting segments centered on one of four “pillars”: health and wellness, arts and creativity, exploration of diversity, and service to mankind.
There’s Joseph “Mr. Joe” Butler, dubbed “The New Mr. Rogers of Radio” because of his optimistic outlook, often viewing life as a glass half-full.
I want to see the best in everything that we do so I’m always pushing positivity,” he says. The son of a former minister and weekly host of “Start Something,” Butler facilitates the on-air discussions at their studio and doesn’t hesitate to interject with words of wisdom when needed.
Or take Joe Drew-Hundley, “JoeDREW” for short, who is the playful comedian in the bunch. “I like to bring some energy and keep everybody laughing; that’s how my brain works. I find a joke in everything,” he says. Named “The Witty One” by Butler, Drew-Hundley’s quick comebacks and colloquial banter keep the on-air mood fun and light.
Then there’s Jerry Hayes, or J. Hayes as he’s popularly known, founder of the Give N Go nonprofit, the organization that makes “Start Something” possible. He’s the “Swiss army knife” of the crew bringing whatever is necessary at the time. “I’m a utility builder, I can be funny when needed, I can be serious when needed … I’m in the moment for whatever is needed,” he says.
Recently, MOSAIC was invited behind the scenes during the “Art of Mass Communication & Media” segment with special guest No Limit Larry of Power 98. On the show they spoke to listeners about mentorship and the importance of being passionate about what you do, and encouraged those tuning in to be “one-of-a-kind” and to not follow the masses.
Relationship rooted in being a positive force
Asked how the “Start Something” cast came together, Drew-Hundley playfully recalls his and Hayes’ first encounter. “We met in 2002 in class together, kind of looking at each other side-eyed…”
Butler became part of the movement several years later when he and Drew-Hundley were doing fundraisers for the United Way.
Butler recounts: “… We had to go out and raise money so we would do a lot of public speaking together and kind of developed a passion, a skill and some specialized tactics about how we would go and speak to people in the community.”
Connected by friendship and working relationships they united to impact their community and “Start Something.”
Since debuting the show they’ve had the opportunity to speak with notable guests such as talk show host and author Tavis Smiley, renowned matchmaker Paul C. Brunson and Carolina Panther Thomas Davis. Often, they’ll do remote broadcasts on-site for a number of community events as well.
“We want to use this as a vehicle to advocate for the community nonprofits that don’t have a voice because mass media, they pick and choose who they want to give credibility and shine to,” says Hayes. “…We want to be that voice for the mom-and-pop nonprofits because it’s a lot of good community work going on out here and everyone needs to know.”