“What are you doing for the community?”
This simple but loaded question gave birth to Dion’s Chicago Dream, a Chicago-based nonprofit fighting food insecurity.
Dion’s Chicago Dream started with a GoFundMe that raised $2500 in 25 hours ($100 an hour for those doing the math) to feed 100 families at the onset of the COVID pandemic. In thirteen months, they were on pace to be a $300k organization, with 60% coming from individual donors with smaller donations.
The conversation today with Dreamer and Founder Dion Dawson is a masterclass in how to:
- Stay in and maximize your wheelhouse (his being relationship building)
- Build community
- Analyze the donor user experience
- Make the donation process for users simple and easy
- Utilize evergreen content marketing to reach your audience
- Treat individual donors with the same respect as you do foundations
Even though he chose violence and clowned me for not knowing how to play Spades (Black folks, when we gonna heal this rift, lol), you don’t want to miss this episode with this Navy veteran turned nonprofit founder sharing useful takeaways.
Connect with Dion
About Dion
Dion Dawson is a philanthropic leader whose penchant for empathy leadership and communications has positioned him as community leader, moving forward. After more than a decade working in governmental communications, public relations, and journalism, Dion knows what is truly at the heart of philanthropy—transparent operations, consistent programming, and a commitment to quality. His true north is connected to the heart-beating people he’s committed himself to and changing the ideal template of leadership in the sector.
In 2020, Dion founded Dion’s Chicago Dream, a nonprofit with a mission focused on food insecurity and inequality. Dion’s dedication to innovation has resulted in a movement that empowers, empathizes, and emboldens everyone who comes across it. In addition to his extensive leadership journey, Dion is an award-winning military journalist, philanthropic trailblazer, and humble son of Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood.
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