737. How to Find and Activate the Right Influencers for Your Mission — Trevor Boffone, Like Minds Communications
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About This Episode
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 overnight
The first place to look for creator partners: your own follower list, filtered for local people who already care about your cause
The 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% yes
You'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 Minds
Meet Trevor: The Creator Who Runs Nonprofit Influencer Campaigns From Both Sides of the Ask
Trevor Boffone is the digital marketing manager at Like Minds Communications, where he oversees paid media, content, social, email, and influencer relations for nonprofit clients including the Woods Project and the Children's Assessment Center. He came to the work sideways: 18 years teaching high school in Houston — everything from Spanish to LGBTQ studies — until a 2018 post with his students went viral within minutes and led to Good Morning America, Inside Edition, and a second career he never planned for. Because he now fields creator asks himself, Trevor knows exactly which ones get a yes.
Powerful Quotes
"An influencer for me, or a content creator for me, doesn't have anything to do with the number of followers. It's how you approach creating content on social media." — Trevor
"Look for the people that are already passionate about your cause, about your organization." — Trevor
"The very first thing I did was I went to their follower list and looked through and saw who are local content creators who are already following them." — Trevor
"This is the thing that I think a lot of agencies get wrong: not being transparent about what the ask is, and then also what the budget is." — Trevor
"If you're not paying, don't ask them to make content. Instead, invite them to come do a private tour of the place or come do an event. They will make content." — Trevor
"Once we start making it feel like labor, then it's not a good look for us or the client." — Trevor
"You have full control to tell the story in the way you want to do it." — Trevor
"Creators need the freedom. They need the creative control. And I know that not everyone is comfortable with that, but at the end of the day, that will yield the best content." — Trevor
"A common mistake is a lot of nonprofits — they ask, ask, ask, ask. Which is not what your audience really wants to engage with." — Trevor
"Don't forget about fun. Nonprofit work is hard. It can be thankless at times. But don't forget that at the end of the day, we need to have fun and have joy in our lives." — Trevor
Resources Mentioned
Like Minds Communications: Houston agency serving nonprofit clients across paid media, content, social, email, and influencer relations | Instagram: @likemindstalk
Mental Health America of Greater Houston: client behind the campaign case study
Care Connect: statewide Texas platform that only surfaces mental health providers with real availability who match a user's criteria (insurance, telehealth, language, pro bono sessions); over 1,000 providers listed
The Woods Project: Like Minds client; takes low-income, high-potential Houston high schoolers on summer wilderness expeditions
Children's Assessment Center: Like Minds client; Harris County's nonprofit arm working to prevent child sexual abuse and support survivors' healing
Houston Museum of Natural Science and Museum of Fine Arts Houston: cited as local models for experience-based creator activation
Lily's Toy Box: Trevor's story of philanthropy; founded by a Houston student after Hurricane Harvey in 2017, now has distributed more than 100,000 toys
Seth Godin: referenced by Jonathan for the idea that a brand is what others say about you
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