737. How to Find and Activate the Right Influencers for Your Mission - Trevor Boffone

The right influencer for your mission probably isn't the biggest account in your city. It's more likely someone already following you, already talking about your cause, and already waiting to be asked well.Trevor Boffone had three months and zero dollars to activate creators for Mental Health America of Greater Houston's new provider-matching platform. His first list of 20 got him one yes. His second approach — an open call and a radically honest ask — got him 26 pieces of content. 🩵In this episode, you'll hear:Why "influencer" has nothing to do with follower count — and how that redefinition widens your pool overnightThe first place to look for creator partners: your own follower list, filtered for local people who already care about your causeThe activation script most orgs get wrong, and why leading with "we have no budget, we need one post, we understand if you pass" earned roughly 75% yesWhat to offer instead of money — and the moment an ask tips over into unpaid laborWhy handing over full creative control with no scripts and no edit requests produced better content than a brief ever couldHow 26 public posts with SEO-rich captions became a discovery engine, surfacing the platform in Google and AI search months laterYou'll walk away with a repeatable way to identify the creators who already believe in your work — and activate them without a media budget. 🩵Episode Highlights:(2:49) From the classroom to 750K followers: learning the creator side(6:04) Why nonprofit content falls flat — and what creators fix(8:10) The assignment: activate creators for Care Connect with no budget(10:50) Finding the right creators: the open call that changed everything(12:05) Activating without paying: creative control and 26 pieces of content(14:48) Why scripts kill creator content(15:58) How to find the right influencers for your own mission(18:14) Story of philanthropy: Lily's Toy Box(19:35) One good thing: don't forget about fun(19:58) How to connect with Like MindsEpisode Show Notes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/737//Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free.Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.comSay hi 👋LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter