Latest / The Nonprofit Podcast / Ep 176| From Guest to Donor: Your Nonprofit Event Game Plan with Chad Barger

Transcript

Ep 176| From Guest to Donor: Your Nonprofit Event Game Plan with Chad Barger · The Nonprofit Podcast

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: The Nonprofit Podcast, powered by DonorBox.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to the Nonprofit Podcast.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Jenna Lynch, Education and Community Engagement Manager here at DonorBox.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_02: Each week we bring you practical actions, clear insights, and inspiration to help you raise more, reach further, and build lasting impact.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_02: Today we are diving into a topic that nonprofits either love or dread: fundraising events.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_02: Events can bring people together, they can raise your visibility.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_02: And yes, sometimes they can raise a lot of money, but they can also be resource intensive and leave you wondering was it worth it?
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_02: With year end right around the corner, this is the perfect time to take a fresh look at your event strategy.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_02: And that's why I've invited fundraising master trainer Chad Barger, a productive fundraising, to help us unpack how to measure event ROI in smarter ways, how to use events as a springboard for year-end giving or year-round giving, even, and how to ensure they're building long-term value for your nonprofit.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: So, Chad, welcome back to the show.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: It's always great to have you here.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jenna.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Always great to be back with DonorBox team.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm excited for today's conversation.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_02: I am too.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_02: So I want to start with the big picture.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, often events feel like a default fundraising strategy.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_02: I've been with many organizations where we had that cadence every single year.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_02: We did our uh big gala, we did our smaller events like clockwork.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know, they're visible, they're familiar, and they bring people together in a really cool way, but sometimes they're not the most effective way to raise money.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so from your perspective, what role should events ideally play in a nonprofit's overall fundraising strategy?
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think the key word there is if there's a role, it's not the role, right?
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so a lot of, you know, especially startup nonprofits, um, founders are still around.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, most people come into that situation not with a fundraising background.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: So, what are you gonna do if you don't have a fundraising background?
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna throw a big event that you invite all your friends to.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and and that's great to build up initial awareness and and funds, but it shouldn't be where we're still at, you know, 10, 15, 20, 25 years into this, um, because they should be a part of the mix.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: We say it's it's a slice of the pie, it's not a the pie uh when we're looking at the pie chart.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, when I'm working with groups, I kind of like to see, you know, no more than maybe 15, 20% of revenue coming from events, um, just to ensure that it's a diversified mix.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um I think back to the pandemic when you know um that hit, what was the thing that had to go away?
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the events where we had to transform them into these weird virtual hybrid things that didn't really work, but you know.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and when I think of who I heard from, you know, I had a coaching client list of probably about 20 different organizations at the time.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Who'd I hear from immediately?
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: The ones that relied on, you know, 80, 90% of the revenue mix was events.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Who did I not hear from at all?
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: The ones that it was like five, 10%.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: They were fine.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so it's diversified revenue, slice of the pie, not the whole pie.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_02: They can fit into that bigger picture without it being the entire strategy.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that was the perfect analogy.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: And and I think part of the bigger picture is, you know, you you talked about percentages and and revenue, and and um, you know, it part of the bigger picture is knowing how to measure that success, right?
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of leaders measure success by gross dollars raised, and it can feel so exciting to say we raised$100,000, we raised a million dollars.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_02: And and again, I've been I've been in that spot where yes, that's so exciting, but we both know that that doesn't tell the whole story.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_02: So when it comes to event ROI, what should nonprofits really be measuring if they want the full picture?
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Well, first off, um, you know, gross revenue, um, okay, it's what you raised, but it's kind of an ego vanity matrix almost, you know.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, yeah, we're gonna put it out there.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: But as soon as we start looking internally, I want to know what the net is.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, what was the expense?
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what are you actually going to have to invest in your nonprofit and your programs?
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so that's our key indicator.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I think people hyper focus on it and really hyper-focus on getting the expense ratio, getting that expense number as low as possible while trying to crank the revenue as high as possible.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: And that's just going to be a massive conflict because people aren't going to give more as your event slowly becomes worse, right?
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: So you kind of have to spend money to ensure this amazing guest experience.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: When during my last few years as a frontline fundraiser, I was the executive director for a United Arts fund.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: And we threw this amazing arts gala, we took over a non-traditional venue and transformed it for the night, had all these pop-up experiences.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: It was like one of the top five events in town.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: And we purposely had a floor of we are not going to go below spending 40% on this to ensure it's just an awesome experience.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: It keeps selling out, people keep wanting to come back and it keeps growing.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I could have, after a year or two, paired that back and it would have just gone away.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: So um, you know, people tell me their expense ratio in their event is 10%, and I'm instantly thinking, oh, I don't want to go to that event.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, so it's it's kind of counterintuitive, but nicely in the middle.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: I I think 40 to 60 percent is kind of the industry average for successful big money raising events.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, whereas we have smaller events that might have a better net, but they just don't have that same growth potential.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I have a contrarian statistic that is actually more important than that to me.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I am always looking at what percentage of the people here, the people that came to our event, were new.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: Names we've never seen before, you know?
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because then all of a sudden I'm filling my pipeline.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: I can follow up with those people.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: We can build a roadmap of what's the engagement look like over the next nine months to get you to be go from a one-time event donor to you know a lifelong supporter.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so when I'm setting goals for events, like that's usually my primary.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like I want 30% of the people in the room to be people we've never seen before.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: And then I have my fundraising goal.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, I love the way that you frame that.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_02: And that's a conversation I often have with um, you know, our our clients here too, is let's talk about your goal.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_02: Is it a dollar amount?
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_02: Is it an engagement goal?
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_02: Is it new donors?
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_02: What does that look like?
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_02: And I I often see that light bulb turn on, this aha moment, like, wait a minute, it doesn't have to just be how much money we brought in, right?
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_02: So, so thank you for saying that.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_02: And and two, when you add up all the staff hours, the volunteer time, all those little itsy bits of hidden costs, and sometimes that big number that you were relying on, that that massive goal doesn't look so big anymore, right?
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I I know how much our our event planner was worth an hour, and how many hundreds of hours did she put in that we didn't include in our overall expenses of the event that we, you know, were planning.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um most nonprofits don't have someone whose title is event planner or event coordinator.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they're doing this on top of everything else.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: I always say that successful nonprofit events take like four months of staff time, like the three months leading up to it, and the one month after, you're really distracted by this event and can't do all the other things we need to do, like focus on donor retention and board development and all these other things.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: So um, that's why I have a rule unless you have someone on staff whose title is event coordinator, I really don't want to see more than two major fundraising events per year, or you're just always in event mode and can't focus on anything else.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: And that ties directly into how we think about events and the bigger fundraising calendar, right?
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_02: Uh with year end coming up, I can't believe I'm saying that already, but we're we're you know, shifting into year-end mode.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_02: How can organizations make sure their fall events um don't stand alone, you know, uh, but actually fuel the bigger year-end giving campaigns.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_02: Because, like you said, right, a couple events is great, but how is it fueling?
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_02: How is it feeding the rest of your strategy for year-end?
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I think most organizations don't really think about this.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: They think, you know, I have my big fall event, you know, maybe I have my October golf tournament and then I have my end-of-calendar year campaign.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you can, you can talk about both um together, but I kind of like to think of it sometimes as a fall event, maybe being a little softer.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, maybe it's not the big gala where we're trying to raise$100,000.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's you know something that's a little more awareness events, maybe a little more stewardship, a little more mission focused, um, where actually showing them what we do, then it kind of becomes almost like a priming event.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: So they're having some kind of experience where they get to see what we do, hear from our beneficiaries, um, and then by the time our end of calendar year campaign kicks off, they're saying, Oh yeah, that organization's doing great work.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: I just got to see it, I just got to hear from them.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm happy to support them.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I'm happy to support them at a higher level.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, whereas if we go the other way, you know, I just had, I just attended their gala in October and I made a huge gift then.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: When am I, why am I gonna give again in December?
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's only been two months.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they can almost kind of fight each other a little bit sometimes.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just kind of thinking through what is that donor experience?
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: What are they gonna hear from us?
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what are they gonna see and making sure there's some stewardship and impact reporting built in there too?
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so it's a lot to think about.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um and the other thing I think about too is those people that came to your spring event, the new donors, the first-time attendees, what did you do with them?
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: Did you just put them on your mailing list?
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: And now the next thing they're gonna get from you after attending your event in the spring is your end-of-calendar year appeal.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that wasn't a really a positive experience.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: This is why a first-time donor retention is 19%.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's just not a good experience at most shops, you know.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: Can you get something out to that group now and say thanks again for attending our spring event?
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: We just wanted to let you know that since that time we've been able to accomplish one, two, three, four because of your attendance at the event, because of the funds we raised.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for being a part of our team.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just, yeah, this year-round campaign, how do things interweave and work together?
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: It shouldn't stand in silos.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_02: It it really should be a launch pad, right?
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_02: And being in September, I I see that very much as that time to re-engage and refresh and do like a mini gratitude blitz to warm people up, like you said, right?
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: If you're just ask after ask, um why would people be compelled to participate or continue to give?
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_02: So that stewardship piece is really critical, right?
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I think that that shift from one event only to thinking about that year-long impact is huge.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_02: Making that shift can feel even harder, especially for smaller teams, right?
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_02: Like I was just focusing on this event.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_02: Now I have to think about all the things that string back to it, that golden thread.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_02: And many of our listeners are running events with just one or two staff members and maybe a handful of volunteers.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_02: I've been there.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_02: Oh boy, have I been there.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_02: What advice would you give those small teams for keeping events manageable, feeding into that year-end pipeline without you mentioned you don't want to go to an event that uh, you know, they're not investing in it.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_02: You know, so without sacrificing ROI or yeah.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um I I come back to kind of that donor experience.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like um take set up a spreadsheet, you know, going across the top are the weeks of the year, um, coming down the the rows are all the ways you engage, and just put a dot, you know, put a fill-in square.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: When are they hearing from you?
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: What does a donor experience look like?
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know, keep your asks together and keep your stewardship together.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: Do we have more stewardship than asks?
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: Is it spaced?
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: Are all our asks clustered at the same time of year?
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like just thinking through.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: This is kind of the my starting point of merging the events and everything else we do.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then a lot of times when people do this, they realize we do too much of this.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: So they can kind of eliminate some stuff of why do we do this?
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we do this because we've always done it, but we don't actually look at that.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: What is that donor experience?
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: What are they hearing from us?
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: Do we have a nice cadence of maybe, you know, three or four non-asks before an ask?
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: And and what's that look like?
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, ideally we want seven, you know, that fundraising law of seven we talk about all the time, coming on the research that donors want to hear from us at least seven times between asks where we're just thanking, reporting, involving.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but that's hard to do in a small shop.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, can we at least get three or four and then ask?
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: So um, yeah, I that didn't directly answer the question, but I think that mindset really helps of just what's that experience look like?
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: Is this thing we do or we're going to do, does it fit into it?
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes we can just do extra work that doesn't help or really do anything because we think we have to do.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: I I think they just have to be smart about where the energy goes and mapping it out, right?
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_02: To lay that out in a way that's visual, even can really help you make critical choices about what that journey is, right?
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_02: Because it really is, it's a story, it's a journey.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, what does that feel like?
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_02: And a part of that smart use of energy, of course, is what happens after the event, right?
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: This is where the work really, really comes in.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_02: I think sometimes it can be an afterthought, or you're like, oh shoot, now we have to do something.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_02: We've had the event, but it should be something that you're planning for as you're planning for the event.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I think one of the most powerful things an event can do, right, is convert attendees into long some long-term supporters if you're doing it right.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, what are some practical steps, nonprofits?
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_02: You've talked a lot about stewardship, right?
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, can take, though, to move guests from ticket buyers to ongoing donors.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_02: For example, donor box events, um, ticketing can double as a way to capture supporter information, right?
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_02: You have a clear picture of who is tending your attending your event.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_02: You can collect those add-on donations right when folks buy a ticket.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_02: And and you just set the stage for future follow-up because you understand who your ticket buyer is.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_02: So this is like a triple question.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, how do you recommend nonprofits use those kinds of touch points, right?
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_02: You talked about seven touch points to make the transition from event attendee to year-end supporter, right?
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_02: What type of information do they need to know about their attendees to nurture them?
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: First, I'm gonna start with by saying the myth exists that this whole, if they come to my event, they will be a supporter.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: No, they came to your event.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: End of story.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe they'll come to your event again.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they don't do this on their own.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: You have to plan this journey for them, right?
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: You have to map out roadmap, whatever you want to call it.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: But what is gonna happen?
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: And exactly what you said, Jenna, like the event happens, you're tired, you got to do a wrap-up.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like, that is not the time to plan this.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: This needs to be part of your event plan and overall strategy.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: So we're six months out from the event, we're putting together logistics, finding the venue, getting representing sponsor, all of that.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: At that same time, I want to be mapping the donor journey, right?
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: So um, it's exactly what I do.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: I have a plan after the event, what's gonna happen?
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, they're gonna get the immediate um thank you results email.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: And then what happens from there?
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: What most nonprofits do is I said earlier, they put them on their mailing list and they just treat them like every other donor.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: They're not, they're not even donors yet, they're event attendees.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's a transactional relationship, all right?
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: So um, I'll do things like okay, um, they get the immediate thank you.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: Then six weeks later, um going to send them some kind of informational video on our mission because they don't know a lot about your mission, right?
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: You try to infuse that into the event, but um, you got to provide some more education.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: What is it exactly?
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: How do we exactly do this?
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: They know what they gave to, but they don't really know the how.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: So let's give them the how.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, six weeks after that, maybe we invite them to a tour, an event, some kind of immersion.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: Come see it for yourself.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: Another six weeks after that, what actually happened with my money?
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's been three months.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because of your support at our event, we were able to do this.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, another six weeks, you know.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: So I kind of do this like every six to eight weeks.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: I want them to get something because that's just about when they're gonna forget about it, right?
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, like, oh what that organization, what and every single time I say, because you attended the event, as you'll recall six months ago, you attended our event.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and the final step of that is I usually do it at end of calendar year.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: They get our regular appeal that everybody else gets, except they're our own segment, and it says, first sentence, as you'll recall, you attended our event six months ago because of your support.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: We've shown you blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and then the whole rest of the letter is the same thing.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: So they're their own segment, but it's really not any additional work.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: But you're identifying them, you're saying, I know who you are.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: You're not just some random person.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't just throw you on this list.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: It takes work.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: They won't do it on their own.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: You have to design this experience for them.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: But if a priority is getting new people at your events and this is your primary acquisition channel, it's worth it because they will convert if you guide them through the process.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_02: And you said the the magic words segment, right?
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_02: You were talking to these this specific group of people.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_02: Do not throw them in the list with everybody else, just like you wouldn't throw your major donors in with the same list that you have your volunteers, right?
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_02: You really should be talking to everybody in a very intentional way.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_02: And that journey, it does sound like a fair amount of elbow grease needs to go into it.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's pretty easy.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like there are emails, um, invitations.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's just the planning and the creativity.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: And you need to do that a time of year when you're not in event mode.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um we all know what event brain's like, right?
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's just pure overwhelm.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_02: And and I think uh you may have some good examples of even simple touch points, right?
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't have to be a big impact letter every time.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_02: It really could be a couple sentences or two about the event or the impact that they've helped, right?
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_02: Have you seen some examples that stand out in your mind?
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'll give a couple free touch points.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like we all walk around with high-resolution cameras and video cameras at all times and kind of forget to use them.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: So snap a photo of your program in action, put in an email.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, subject line, thanks, exclamation point.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they open it up.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, thanks again for your support of ABC Nonprofit through our recent event.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: Here's a photo of the program in action that you supported.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: And just embed it right in the email, send.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Not an email blast, not anything formatted or fancy, coming personal email from a real person.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's amazing how many people actually reply to that.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's the same people that won't take your phone calls, won't meet with you, but you know, they'll actually have a little email conversation that way.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: So um quick little videos that way work too.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I love postcards.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: Postcards are cheap.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, uh put that photo on the front of a postcard.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's a postcard, they actually have to touch it.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: They actually have to glance at it on their walk from their mailbox to their front door, decide what they're gonna do with it, and even if they chuck it in the trash can, they still have that momentary experience that you're showing them what their support is doing.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's less intimidating when you can get out of the mindset that everything has to be perfect and polished and curated, right?
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_02: It just has to be thoughtful and genuine and targeted.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: They appreciate that the transparent like they like little videos that are not well formatted.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know, some donors get mad when they see this fancy video because they know how much that costs, right?
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like just take them there.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_02: Well, um, I'm gonna rewind a little bit.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I I do want to talk about creative event formats.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_02: We're talking about creative event stewardship.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of nonprofits are tired of doing the same old gallas and golf tournaments, and I think that maybe supporters are tired of attending those too.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, you've you've seen a lot of great uses with the folks that you work with.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: What are some creative event formats you've seen that are both um engaging and financially worthwhile?
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'll give you definitely one example, but I'm gonna start by saying this is a fabulous AI use case.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um go in and ask it for a hundred creative fundraising events capable of raising at least$30,000.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: And 70 of them are gonna be mundane or something you're not gonna do, but there's gonna be 30 interesting things on there that you could explore a little bit and save so much time versus even just listening to something like this, right?
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but you know, there's things like I like creative twists on traditional events.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there's an organization in my community that took the traditional fashion show and said, um, you know, what we really care about more about the shoes than the actual everything else.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so they do a shoe strut.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a and they do it at a Friday afternoon, and the target is local businesswomen, and they fill the ballroom with 600 people and raise a ton of money, and it's all about shoots, and it's like the best auction ever, and they have all these ways to give, they have text to give, they have kiosks, all kinds of stuff.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: So you you can't not give.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like take the tradition and put a little spin on it.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: Seems to work well.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: The other thing that really works well, um, especially if you're saying I'm small, I can't throw a 600-person event for, you know, kind of throw that traditional event model out the window and think smaller.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so when you ask major donors, how do you like to learn about new causes to support?
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: They overwhelmingly say, at a small, intimate event hosted by somebody I know and trust.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: So, what is that?
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, my friend Gail Perry, she calls these porch parties in the South.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you just gather everybody at garden party.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'm in Pennsylvania and northern environs.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: We can't do that year-round, so I call them small socials, right?
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: Small socials.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh a cocktail party, a backyard barbecue, uh maybe an after-business mixer at your office.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: You get a board member, a volunteer to host this, and you put 20, 30 people in the room that you don't know.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they have a nice time, it's small, it's intimate, they feel comfortable for 10 minutes in the middle.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: You talk about what your organization does.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: The host talks about why they support the organization and why they care.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: We leave it at that and we follow up with them to see if they're interested.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: They're easy.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of times the host pays for them, they're almost even free.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and could we hold four or five of these a year rather than some major event that takes four months of our time?
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: That's kind of where I'm going, especially with smaller nonprofits these days.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I think that's such a cool model.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_02: I've done similar things in the past where I've hosted pajama parties, right?
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_02: And we uh all contributed, you know, 20 bucks, 50 bucks, whatever, just to have this little party.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_02: And we talk about the org very briefly and then just do our girly chick-flick movie night, right?
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and and I think it it comes down to you don't need permission to think outside of the box, right?
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_02: And you want to create something that fits your community and your culture, right?
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_02: And just meeting people where they're at.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_02: So I I think that's that's a cool one that people really needed to hear was just those those socials, is uh the porch party, that's great too.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_02: So before we wrap up, I want to bring it back to an immediate practical action, as we do here on the nonprofit podcast.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_02: If a nonprofit has already um got an event on their calendar this fall, what are one or two things they could do right now to maximize its impact and make sure that it's supporting the bigger fundraising goals and um, you know, not distracting from them?
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: No, I'm gonna break the rule into three, but they're quick.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: So um first off, it's it's a tough, weird year for corporate sponsorship.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, let's economic, political things impacting, they're just kind of holding back because there's a lot of uncertainty.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: And we say uncertainty is the enemy of fundraising because people just need to know where they're at before they can make a giving decision.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so first half of the year was very tough for corporate sponsorship.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm seeing it loosen up a little bit, but it still requires being very proactive, reaching out very early.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if you have a November event, you're already late.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, just touching base with these people.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I would proactively contact them and say, hey, I know it's a weird year.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: Have you had any changes?
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: Anything we need to know, anything I can do to help, they're going to remember that call.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: Those even if they have to pull back this year, they're going to remember that call next year, right?
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: So be in touch with your corporate people.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we talked a lot about today about getting new donors to attend your event.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: You need to let everybody else know that is the goal, right?
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: You thinking new donors, well, great, but where are they going to come from?
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: They're going to come from other people that know other people.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: So letting your board know, your event committee, maybe challenge your board members.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: Can everybody bring one new person to our fall event?
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: That'd be a great first step.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: Great way to just get that going.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so easy, right?
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe instead of bringing the same couple you brought for the last 10 years, could you have them buy their own tickets and bring a new couple?
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: Something like that.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, it's noisy.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it is hard to break through.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_00: Folks are getting frustrated, disenchanted, consuming less media um in kind of for some self-care mental health situations sometimes.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: So it is harder and harder to break through.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: I heard a statistic a couple weeks ago that um Facebook organic reach.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: So the people that actually like your page when you do a post, less than 2% of those people actually see it until some engagement starts happening.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: So you think you're putting it out there, but you're really not.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: So just the onus is on us to think outside of the box, do something creative, um, add some mystery.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, you're you're doing an upcoming event, uh, send a photo with like the corner of an auction item and play, guess what is it?
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: You know, just add some fun, some quirkiness on something.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta do something to stand out from the crowd because it's just noisy, and otherwise you're gonna get buried.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: So um think different.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: Think different.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, my favorite quote for the year is different is better than better, right?
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: Different is better than better.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_00: So best practice only goes so far, then we just gotta do something a little weird.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_02: That's perfect.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_02: And that's exactly the type of advice I think people can take and noodle on this week.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you for breaking that down so clearly.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, this has been such a helpful conversation, and I just want to thank you for bringing the clarity and the creativity to this topic that can feel overwhelming or maybe boring sometimes, right?
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_02: And for our listeners, remember your events don't have to stand alone.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_02: They can be powerful tools that connect people and tell your story and fuel the bigger picture of your fundraising strategy.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_02: If you're looking for a way to make event management simpler and more effective, check out DonorBox Events.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's a great way to not only sell tickets, but actually capture that donor data and turn attendees into long-term supporters.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_02: You'll find the note the link in the show notes.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_02: And Chad, thank you so much for being here with us today.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: Always a pleasure, Janet.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: Looking forward to the next one.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_02: And thank you for being a part of the nonprofit podcast.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_02: Your work matters, and we are honored to support it.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_02: If you enjoyed this episode, share it, leave a review, or subscribe on your favorite platform.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_02: Until next time, take the first step and stay inspired.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_01: That warm feeling when you help someone, it's not just happiness, it's fulfillment.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_01: And we believe it should be available to everyone from frontline heroes to first time fundraisers.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_01: Our tools empower you to help others.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_01: This is our mission.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: This is Donor Box helping you help others.