EP 40: Trends for Fundraising in 2024

Jeff: Welcome to the Elevate Your Event podcast, where we talk about how to plan and execute an unforgettable event that will dazzle your guests and generate more income for your organization. From fundraising and securing trendy auction items to event production and logistics, get the best tips and advice from seasoned fundraising and event professionals who have been in your shoes.

Jeff: Welcome back to the Elevate Your Event podcast. We have a special presentation on this episode. We're going to replay a panel discussion that I was recently on for the NXUnite webinar series. We had a great cast of moderators and panelists talking about trends, lessons learned, and how emerging technologies can play into your fundraising strategies in 2024. So we're going to play this. If you have any questions, reach out to us. If this is a podcast you want to share, please do. And if you're liking the Elevate Your Event podcast, please give us a five-star review. We're on Spotify, Apple, and anywhere else you listen to podcasts. Enjoy.

Colleen: Hello, everyone, and welcome to our panel. My name is Colleen Carroll, and I serve as the NXUnite lead here at Nexus Marketing. I'll be your moderator for today's panel session. Our topic today is planning ahead -- preparing for 2024 fundraising events.

Colleen: To begin with introductions, I'd first like to introduce A.J. Steinberg, who is the founder of Queen Bee Fundraising. With over 20 years of experience as a nonprofit event producer and engagement strategist, AJ has worked on over 100 successful events and raised millions of dollars for organizations with her Los Angeles-based production company. In 2015, A.J. launched Queen Bee Fundraising to share the art of nonprofit event planning, sponsorship acquisition, and engagement strategies with organizations worldwide.

Colleen: I'll move on to our next panelist, Jeff Porter. Jeff is the founder and CEO at Handbid. He's no stranger to fundraising events, having participated in them for over 25 years. He ran his first fundraiser in 2005 and has managed over 50 auction events and fundraisers for his own charities -- not to mention hundreds more with Handbid. When it became clear that he and his wife, Carrie Porter, needed a better solution for their fundraisers, developing a mobile bidding app was a no-brainer. Jeff and his wife Carrie developed and launched Handbid in 2011, and the rest is what they call history. Jeff, thank you so much for joining us today.

Jeff: Thank you, Colleen. And a special thanks to Marriott Hotels because my internet seems to be working, believe it or not.

Colleen: Fantastic. Thank you, Jeff. I know we've lost Tasha, but AJ, nice to have you back.

AJ: Hi, everybody. If I disappear, it's only because we have wonky internet over here today for some reason. I have no idea.

Colleen: Totally fine. Thanks for being here, AJ. Also joining us is Jennifer Rubin. Jennifer is the Director of Client Services at 360 Philanthropy Group. She's a dynamic leader and innovative development and marketing strategist with more than two decades supporting nonprofits in achieving financial and organizational growth through integrated marketing and communication strategy, fundraising campaigns, tactical partnership and positioning, donor cultivation, and overseeing team development and organizational infrastructure. Jennifer, thanks for being here.

Jennifer: Thank you so much. Really nice to be here.

Colleen: And finally we have Tasha, who was here and is hopefully going to be back in just a minute. Tasha Anderson is the founder and CEO at The Charity CFO. She has dedicated her entire career to serving the nonprofit community, first as an auditor and then as a CFO, board member, volunteer, and consultant. After witnessing the struggles of small nonprofits to find affordable and reliable financial support, she founded The Charity CFO to address that need.

Colleen: Okay, I think I got most of that. I don't know if anybody else had a bit of an audio issue there, but we may have some audio issues. Everyone seems to be having tech troubles. This is actually a really good segue into events and things that can be problematic that you have to troubleshoot. Jennifer, let's go to you first. What are the key considerations for nonprofits when planning fundraising events in 2024?

Jennifer: I think events should very much be part of a comprehensive strategic plan -- one where development, marketing, and fundraising all play nicely together, which I think is essential for not just a successful event, but successful strategic implementation. So on a high level, those are the things I consider and would encourage other people to think about first.

Jennifer: On a more specific level, in the landscape we're navigating now as nonprofit professionals, two things are very important to me. One is understanding your donor audience and their evolution. Are we talking about mostly boomers? Are we talking about Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z, a little bit of everybody? And what do they respond most directly to? Because we're all different. We all approach whatever particular organization we have a kinship with from a different perspective. So understanding what that motivation is and how to best reach and engage your audience is key.

Jennifer: I'll wind down by saying I also think it's really important to have a focus on sustainability -- walking the walk, regardless of whether or not that is part of your organizational ethos. Making sure you're incorporating environmentally and socially conscious and responsible planning is going to make everybody feel that you're a more transparent, more evolved, and connected organization.

Colleen: Jennifer, really appreciate you starting us off. I could hear you loud and clear the whole time. I'm not sure what's in the water today. I feel like maybe we're getting too close to Halloween and it's getting spooky. I've been using this platform for over a year and never had a day quite like today. Thank you so much, Jennifer. Jeff, we're going to move over to you. What would you say are the key considerations for nonprofits when planning fundraising events in 2024, given the evolving landscape?

Jeff: Maybe we should start out by saying patience, especially with technology. No matter what we do, something is going to go sideways. It doesn't always have to be the technology, but one of the things that happens, especially when we're running events, is we just have to go with the flow sometimes and roll with the punches.

Jeff: What I put down for this one, Colleen, is data -- data, data, data. If we have good, accurate, useful data, we can personalize an experience. We can make decisions off of that data. We can develop relationships with donors based on that information. This goes beyond the basics. You have basics of being at an event -- especially for somebody new to the organization, maybe a new guest coming in the door -- absolutely capturing their information and then using that for a comprehensive donor development plan.

Jeff: The step beyond that would be predictive analytics. How can I use that information to make predictions or decisions about maybe what auction items I put in my next auction? Or who I reach out to, who I encourage, who I invite. But it starts with making sure that, if you're going to utilize this data, you not only have the technology that's going to allow you to capture it, store it, and use it for predictions, but that you have that as part of your attitude and strategy as well.

Colleen: Wonderful. Thank you so much, Jeff. AJ, over to you. Any key considerations for nonprofits when they're planning their fundraising?

AJ: I think we need to make our events resonate with millennials and Gen Zs. What Jeff said is correct -- we need to really assess data as it comes in. But don't assess it two months before your event. You should be assessing it immediately after the event. I do something called a strategic event audit with my clients afterwards. It's simple -- it's done by staff, guests, and board members to gauge the more human side of the data, plus what Jeff is talking about with the analytics.

AJ: Building separate events for separate generations is what's going to happen in the future. We will keep the gala as we say goodbye to the Greatest Generation, who have been the gala stalwarts. The baby boomers still are gala people. But right now we also have to build events that both millennials and Gen Z will want to attend and can afford to attend -- events that will resonate with them. And that probably isn't even the same across those groups. Millennials are huge -- you have young millennials and older millennials. But Gen Z? Do not discount them. Right now we have that great shift of generational wealth. If you're not looking at millennials and Gen Z, you're missing something.

Colleen: In the meantime, AJ, I'm actually going to stick with you for this next question. What should nonprofits think about when developing a multi-year fundraising event plan with a goal of ensuring sustainable success over time?

AJ: That's a great question. To build a multi-year event plan, you have to include auditing your events as they happen to keep on top of the shifts -- the demographic shifts. You have to understand that your demographics, your donor base, and the guests and supporters will be shifting generationally and their wealth will shift. Also remember, we have a lot of volatility in the stock market and with inheritance. So you have to keep your finger on the changes that are happening.

AJ: A multi-year event plan should, of course, have your high-net-worth event, which would be a gala type of thing. Your multi-year plan would also have the millennial and the Gen Z events included -- perhaps a free community event, an awareness event, just to let people know you exist for marketing. But then assess to make sure that the people you're inviting to each of those events are still in that bracket.

Colleen: Wonderful. Thank you so much, AJ. Jennifer, over to you. What should our nonprofits be thinking about when it comes to a multi-year fundraising event plan?

Jennifer: Sure. I'll echo some of what AJ said and take it into diversifying your strategies. I think that kind of encapsulates what she touched on -- everything from smaller, more targeted audiences. And of course you're taking into consideration your audience. Your events should be as diverse as your donor population currently is and the donor population that you're also planning for.

Jennifer: I think considering how to best incorporate multi-year commitments when possible so that you are booking that revenue in advance -- so it's not something you have to stress about as you move closer to the event -- is also something to consider. Absolutely look at KPIs from past events. And I love what AJ said about the audit. I call it a post-mortem, which she says in a much friendlier way. But really talking with your board after events is key.

Jennifer: I think it's important to ask a question: do we need to do this again next year? Sometimes we do things just because we've always done them, because it's formulaic and easy to plug and play. Sometimes a hard question to ask board members is, "Why do you support this event in the financial way that you do? And would you consider supporting something else in a similar way?" Sometimes we're putting a lot of bandwidth and human capital toward organizing all the logistics that go into a larger-scale event. And somebody might be very willing to say, "Yeah, let's do this as an every-other-year thing and incorporate more smaller events -- something more personal, more small dinners, more parlor-type events." So I think it's having those conversations and considering not just the moment you're in, but looking ahead two or three years to the best that you can.

Colleen: Thank you so much, Jennifer. Tasha, welcome back. Thank you for problem solving and making your way back here. If it's all right with you, I'll just catch you up -- we only got through one question while you were gone. So I'll get you to answer both.

Tasha: Well, hopefully you all can hear me okay. Lots of tech issues apparently today. I don't know what I missed, so hopefully I'm not repeating anyone. With the intro, I come from a little bit of a different background than some of the other panelists. I come from the accounting and financial side. I'm the one looking at the numbers post-event and trying to make sense of all that.

Tasha: For me, some of the key considerations are focusing on events that truly engage donors and having clear priorities for the event rather than just simply collecting dollars. What do I mean by that? Finding new board members, finding community volunteers, really nurturing relationships, developing sponsorship relationships -- something much bigger than simply having an event.

Tasha: And with that, of course, understanding the expected ROI. I can't tell you how many times I hear ideas about fundraising events and I'm like, "Okay, but what's the budget? Are we expecting to actually raise money?" And then measuring that post-event: did we actually raise as much as we thought? Is the ROI really there when you take into consideration not just the actual cost, but the soft costs -- mostly staff time, volunteer fatigue, and board members pulling all of the people into that space? Does it make sense for what we're trying to do?

Colleen: Thank you so much, Tasha. Jeff, I'm going to bring that question over to you as well. What should nonprofits be thinking about when developing a multi-year fundraising event plan?

Jeff: There's been some good answers here. I would just add, in a more general sense, really understanding what the trends are and being willing to make some bets. From the technology standpoint, this is what we see happening. From our donor base, this is how we see them changing over that period of time. From the economy, what do we expect or predict the economy might be doing? Use that to start putting together a multi-year plan where you can have contingencies in place, saying, "Look, if for whatever reason we feel like this event is going to be too expensive to pull off, maybe we do it hybrid, maybe we do it virtual, maybe we change it entirely. Maybe we add a different type of event based on what we're seeing with our particular donor base."

Jeff: Maybe they're getting younger and they're not looking to do the black-tie hotel rubber-chicken gala. They want a cornhole tournament or something like that. Right now, one of our clients is inquiring about pickleball, which -- I said, look, the older crowd likes pickleball better than the younger crowd, but who knows? Get some insurance for sure. You're going to have some older folks out there swinging a racket around. But all of these things are coming back at us, right? They're saying, "We want to make these changes. We feel like our donors are looking for something different." I think that's the type of thinking that's going to make you successful -- just bouncing those ideas around.

Colleen: Wonderful. Thank you so much, Jeff. AJ, over to you. 2024 is approaching, and fundraising events often require significant lead time. How do you suggest nonprofits balance long-term event planning with the need for agility in responding to unforeseen challenges?

AJ: That's a really interesting question. I always say it takes nine months to make a baby and it takes nine months to make a gala. So you've really got to plan in advance. And I'm sure all the rest of the panelists will agree that the day you start planning your next gala is the day after you've had your gala -- which is when you're continuing the thank-yous, the outreach. I ask my sponsors within a week to re-sponsor for the next one. So that obviously is long-term planning.

AJ: You don't need nine months to put on a smaller event such as a comedy night or a wine tasting. You could do something like that in two months. Here's the thing, though: it's nice to be agile and pivot quickly, but you don't want to be stepping on the toes of your other campaigns and other events. I'm a big believer in planning a year out what you're going to be doing with your communications, your fundraising campaigns, and your events. It's all holistic. Every single one of them plays into the success of the others.

AJ: When we see things like crises -- we had Hawaii, Ukraine, the fires, and now the war in the Middle East -- those will come up, and you can do small events very quickly specifically for that. But please be mindful that when that happens, you could be cannibalizing some of the same donations that would go toward your tried-and-true events. Jeff has a great podcast about that, actually.

AJ: And quite honestly, unforeseen things -- talk about pivoting. COVID was a thing. COVID will be a thing again, or there will be a new pandemic. With climate change and with all the travel we do, we need to be really flexible and ready to pivot.

Colleen: Thank you so much, AJ. Tasha, I'm going to bring this question to you next. How do you suggest nonprofits balance long-term planning with the need for agility?

Tasha: It's interesting. I just served on a gala committee for a board that I sit on. We just had the event. And you can plan all day long, but things will inevitably go wrong. Number one, pay attention to the lessons learned from last year. I agree that as soon as you get done with one event, you start planning for the next one. Get plenty of lead time. So often we find ourselves scrambling at the eleventh hour, trying to finalize a lot of the details.

Tasha: Along with that, a big lesson learned from the event we just put on: paying attention to key processes and making sure you've tested and retested them. I'm mostly talking about things like registration, payment processing, what data you're trying to collect on donors, whether your systems are actually collecting that information. Maybe it's ticket sales online -- doing lots of testing and retesting on those systems to make sure you've ironed out any of the wrinkles.

Colleen: Thank you so much, Tasha. Jeff, over to you. How do you suggest balancing long-term event planning when you need agility?

Jeff: One thing I would say is -- I don't know, AJ -- I am not planning the next year's event the day after my other one. I'm in a state of decompression for at least 24 to 48 hours. That's hardcore.

Jeff: But I would say, it's not if something unforeseen or unexpected is going to happen at your event, but when. And how do you handle it? No matter what event you go to, nothing tends to run perfectly. You still need to plan, but you also need to expect that there are going to be some unplanned situations. The event I was at last night, the caterer showed up an hour late. There were a lot of hungry people wanting to eat. What do you do about it? We were scratching our heads. Do we go to the hotel next door? Do we buy up food? But we got through it, and once people's bellies were full, they were much happier. At that point, you just have to work the problem.

Jeff: What I would suggest is definitely have contingency planning. Some things you can plan for, some you can't. If you're doing a golf tournament and it rains, there's really nothing else you can do. I've been to a golf tournament where it snowed. Those things are going to happen. I guess you could move them indoors for mini golf, but I don't think that's what most people expect. In other cases, maybe you do have a weather plan or a pandemic plan. And I would say, it helps to build flexibility into your agreements and contracts so you can adjust if needed. You don't want to be locked into agreements with venues or technology companies that are unwilling to be flexible with you.

Jeff: To wrap this up, two things. One, it can help to designate someone as your problem solver -- ideally someone who's naturally good at it. Don't put this on your shoulders if you're the event planner or the one who needs to be communicating with donors. Have somebody else responsible for dealing with the issues that are going to come up, because they are going to come up. Have them report back to you on how it's going.

Jeff: The last thing I would say is have a little bit of tolerance for things that are going to go wrong. You might get a sneer from a board member or a guest. They are there to support you. In most cases -- not all, trust me, we all have our experiences with certain types of guests -- but in most cases, they're expecting you to be good at curing cancer, not running events. So just keep that in mind. This is not your full-time job. If you hired an event planner and they screw up, that's a different story.

Jennifer: I love all of those comments. It reminds me of something anecdotal. My first gala, I served as an intern for a very big, prominent performing arts organization, and I was very eager to learn. My mentor pulled me aside and said, "Listen, I just want you to know -- there are three things that go wrong with every event." And I said, "Yeah, what are they?" And she goes, "I have no blessed idea, but you have to be prepared for absolutely anything and everything because I promise you something's coming up."

Jennifer: It's like how ducks swim -- everything that's going on is happening underneath the water, and what you see on top is clear and smooth. The best way to support that is -- I'll go back to what AJ kicked us off with -- building a foundational event framework that's holistic, baked into your fundraising and your MARCOM strategy. I believe the only way to approach it is in a fully integrated manner. You can't conceptualize those things in silos -- that's when things start to break down and details start to fall apart.

Jennifer: The more overlap and integration you have throughout the organization, the better position it puts you in. And the more people within the organization that understand why we're all doing what we're doing, the more you can call on those people in emergency situations. Everyone can pitch in as needed. If you have those foundational points baked into your plans, you can have an emergency campaign, a small event that comes to fruition, and you're still going to have your stakes in the ground for all of your other key objectives.

Colleen: Thank you so much, Jennifer. Tasha, I'm going to have you start us off with our next question. How can nonprofit leaders effectively incorporate board members' ideas and suggestions into planning processes without losing sight of the event's primary goals and objectives?

Tasha: Good question. I think first and foremost, use caution when having too many cooks in the kitchen. Depending on how large your board is, asking for all of their ideas isn't necessarily always beneficial. I would say pretty simply, have some sort of event committee, invite a couple of board members to participate, allow them to share their ideas in that way. Have a debrief post-event to discuss lessons learned and incorporate ideas for next year.

Tasha: But first and foremost, be really clear about the event and what your primary goals are. What are you trying to do? Make that known to all of the board members, especially those on the committee. That might help guide some of their advice or ideas. But be cautious -- that's all I would say, as a board member myself.

Colleen: Thank you so much, Tasha. Jennifer, over to you. How can we make sure we're incorporating board members' ideas without getting overwhelmed by them?

Jennifer: This is a tricky one for most of us. Everybody wants to plan an event or help throw a party, and then they rarely have a comprehensive understanding of the level of complexity, detail, and logistics involved. I think it's really important that whoever is responsible for managing the event also holds a very strong relationship with the board and manages the narrative.

Jennifer: To echo what Tasha said, managing those expectations and being very transparent with your board is key. I think we feel an obligation sometimes to take every idea into consideration. But not every idea is a good idea. And that gets us in the weeds. Then it's very difficult to backpedal and undo what you've promised somebody. It becomes a bit sticky.

Jennifer: Managing expectations, transparency, communication so they can share thoughts and ideas -- not everyone is a winner, not everyone gets a trophy -- but it's important that they feel validated and heard. You want to promote engagement. You want everybody to feel they're being listened to.

Jennifer: I think if the event warrants having a few dedicated people -- a few board members who will support you, who understand to always bring it back to the objectives, that the napkins really aren't that important whatever their color or texture might be -- then bringing it back to the essentials of the impact we're creating as an organization and what our key objectives are, making sure everybody has a very clear focus and feels like they have a voice in helping achieve those goals, that's what matters.

Colleen: Jeff, over to you. How do we incorporate board member ideas without getting overwhelmed?

Jeff: Well, first of all, thank all of you for dealing with board members. I am one. So I've sat in that role, and I just apologize in advance if I've given you an idea and told you it was a great idea and asked you to implement it. I've also been on the other side of that, running an organization dealing with board members. And I've been the guy that the organization blames when we implement something at an event that a particular board member doesn't like. So I've seen all sides of this. I understand that it's tough -- politically tough.

Jeff: One approach that can work well is getting the board member focused on the objectives of the organization and not any of the tactics. What is this event? Is this a donor relationship-building event? Is this a pure fundraising event? Are we trying to maximize revenue? Are we trying to create an amazing experience for our existing key donors? If you keep them at that level, it helps because you can then try to get them not focused on, "Hey, you should hire this vendor," or "You should use this venue," or "You should use this theme." Instead it's, "We're focused on this objective."

Jeff: And if you can find an event planner or consultant who can sit in front of your board and say no, that helps too. It doesn't always have to be you, because I know that can be tough for executive staff -- an executive director or their team -- to stand up to board members.

Colleen: Thank you, Jeff. AJ, final thoughts on how we can incorporate board member ideas without getting overwhelmed?

AJ: Well, I work with boards all the time because all my different clients have boards. I love committees because committees are assets. They help get auction items. They help sell tickets. They help market the event. They become more meaningfully involved.

AJ: But I will give you my secret sauce for how I deal with bad ideas from board members. I call it praise, delay, distract. You can use it with children and husbands and colleagues too. Basically, when somebody comes up with a bad idea -- and we know it's a bad idea -- you can't really shoot it down without making that person feel demeaned. And that's the danger. Board members and committee members are usually big donors.

AJ: So I always start by praising: "That's a fascinating idea," or "That's an interesting idea," or "That's a unique idea." Never say "That's a good idea." Then you delay the decision-making. Take it out of your hands: "I'm not sure that's going to be in line with our bylaws," or "I'm not sure the hotel allows us to bring ducks in to sit on the tables." Then you distract: "In the meantime, let's look at the other options that we've discussed, and I'll get back to you later." So: praise, meaning acknowledge it, delay, and distract.

Jeff: Now I know what my wife's been doing all these years, AJ.

Colleen: Incredible. All right, checking in on our poll -- we asked you all, have you ever had to navigate board ideas that conflict with the goals of your event? 67% of you said "occasionally we deal with this," 17% said "this has come up but infrequently," 17% said "never," and exactly zero said "happens all the time," which I feel like is a really great sign. You all have great boards.

Colleen: I have one final prepared question for our panelists, and then we've had some really wonderful audience questions come in. So I'm going to ask that this final question be a bit of a speed round so we can get through as many audience questions as possible. Jeff, I'm going to have you start. What role does data analytics and donor insights play in long-term planning processes for fundraising events?

Jeff: I mentioned this earlier. To me, the data is what's going to allow you to personalize your events. It's going to allow you to connect with your donors and start to build a relationship with them. It's also going to allow you to analyze and understand what parts of your event are working.

Jeff: I know we talked about ROI -- Tasha was talking about ROI. ROI is important. And ROI is not a complicated term and it's not a bad word. ROI just means, "Am I actually getting a positive return on what I invest?" Fundraising is not a cost center. Fundraising is a profit center. You are investing -- whether it be in technology, event staff, or whoever it might be -- you are investing in creating an experience that's going to get your donors connected to your organization and giving you money. There needs to be a payoff for that. Every idea you try, you need to understand whether it generated the revenue you were looking for.

Jeff: In the future, as scary as it may feel right now, artificial intelligence is going to help with that. I'm not fully convinced the data is accurate enough to be helpful yet, but it's going to be. There's no doubt about it. AI could eventually help identify who in the room may be more likely to donate. It could help estimate who's more likely to give $10,000 versus $1,000. It could help predict what types of items donors want in an auction. All of that is coming. If you're patient, that's the type of insight that's going to drive way more effective events and a much higher return.

Colleen: Thank you so much, Jeff. Tasha, over to you -- thoughts on the role of data analytics and donor insights in long-term planning?

Tasha: I can't tell you -- I've worked with several hundred, if not thousands, of nonprofits over the years. And I very, very rarely see really robust analysis on the data we collect. I think we collect a lot of good information. I don't know if we've necessarily done anything great with it. Many of the clients I've worked with or boards I've served on -- just getting basic information like, what is the breakdown between sponsorships and ticket sales?

Tasha: So looking into software solutions that allow you to collect meaningful data and thinking ahead of time about what data you might want to collect -- the for-profit world has been doing this all the time. There's so much data collected on us as end users of products, software, and purchases. It's amazing the targeted emails you get just by visiting a website.

Tasha: To Jeff's point, there's a lot of AI out there, and it's going to continue to be something we should pay attention to. I always say, what you measure you pay attention to. How can we make use of this data to make more informed decisions, optimize our events, and make sense of who's attending? What are they interested in? What should we be doing more of? It's asking ourselves the hard questions because we have the data in front of us. We just need to find a way to pull it down and make sense of it.

Colleen: Thank you, Tasha. AJ, over to you -- the role of data analytics.

AJ: I'm big on that. I do the strategic event audit, but also data analytics is a very important part. Also, keep your eyes open during your events, because when you start really standing there and observing the interpersonal connections that are made between your board members and a new guest, that's when you can really start stewardship with new guests or expand the stewardship potential with existing donors.

Colleen: Thank you, AJ. Jennifer, any final thoughts on the role of data analytics or donor insights?

Jennifer: I'll echo what everybody else has already said. It's really important. It's only going to become more integral to what we're doing. And to what Tasha said, all the answers are there. We need to understand how to best leverage the information.

Jennifer: I think reverse engineering -- trying to work backwards and figure out what's most important from the information we have access to -- is key. What does that give us? How does that help us elevate our next event? How does that roll into our strategic plan? Then working backwards from there.

Jennifer: Most of the nonprofits I've worked for and with don't even understand their own CRM tools and what capabilities they have access to. It's a very easy, accessible place to start. Making sure you have somebody within the organization who can pull a report, pull it 12 different ways, understand how to segment the audience and the information you have -- go for the low-hanging fruit. Understand what you already have access to, and then you can build upon that as you segment out and leverage that to make more targeted events and a more personalized experience for your donor base and for encouraging new donors to support.

Colleen: Thank you so much, Jennifer. We're going to officially move over to some audience questions. There was one that was very popular -- it got plus-ones in the chat. AJ, I'm going to have you start us off. Any fun ideas for millennial or Gen Z-focused events to get ahead of that generational wealth shift? And someone in the chat said, "Something that's not just another concert idea."

AJ: Those happen a lot. And Jeff also put a link to his podcast in the chat that had some great ideas. I find that things like happy hours, wine tastings, beer tastings -- doing things that are meaningful. A lot of times we'll have actual hands-on community service opportunities for those generations, where they're doing things together with the organization and they start to see that they're having an impact. They like to see impact. So anything that's fun and entertaining is good, but anything you can do that shows them their impact is even better.

Colleen: Wonderful. Thank you so much, AJ. Tasha, any ideas for Gen Z and millennial events that you think would be particularly great for our nonprofit audience?

Tasha: Well, dare I say that I'm actually a millennial. So I'll say, it just depends, right? Are you trying to create more engagement with a younger population? Are you trying to raise money? Going back to the question of what are you trying to do -- are you trying to build a pipeline of future donors or board members? The engagement piece might look a little different.

Tasha: I'll tell you -- maybe I'm a little biased because I get invited to a lot of different events -- but I think just having an event that is different from what you would expect is powerful. There's one event here in St. Louis that I love. It's a mystery pop-up dinner. People dress up. They decorate their tables. It's kind of a Diner en Blanc, where you come out and you have picnic tables -- very low cost -- and it's a big mystery. Everybody dresses in white. It's kind of over the top. That's an event I'd never been to before, and it was great.

Tasha: On the flip side, I have another client that does this thing called the "non-event." I read some statistic that said most millennials give because they're asked to give. So how do you create space for that? One of my clients has this non-event -- it's truly an invitation in a nice envelope. They have different committee members, a host committee. And they send out an invitation, which is really just a personal invitation to donate to a cause. There's usually a handwritten note explaining why this is important to them. There's not an actual event. It's basically, "Hey, in lieu of you spending a lot of money on a fancy outfit, coming to another dinner that you don't really want to come to anyway -- this is a really important cause for me. Would you consider supporting?"

Tasha: As an individual, I could get 20 of these different invitations, send them out, and just ask my friends to consider contributing. They raise hundreds of thousands of dollars. They just keep adding more and more people to this host committee, which is amazing because they're building a really robust database of potential donors in the future. Those are a little outside the box. I'm all for events that just don't look like all the other events. You can differentiate yourself that way.

Colleen: Thank you, Tasha. Anyone else want to jump in with Gen Z and millennial events? Jeff?

Jeff: So Tasha, we actually had some clients that did that non-event concept. It was very successful. It was kind of cool because it was like, "Cost of the Uber, $75. Cost of the babysitter, $100. Cost of the dress you're only going to wear once..." -- it was kind of funny how they did it. "Saving you from having to eat the chicken with the mashed potatoes and the green beans." So I thought that was a cool idea. That's definitely one.

Jeff: What I put in the chat was, I think a lot of times we overthink this. I would just go ask Gen Zs and millennials what they think. I've got one daughter in college in a sorority. Every sorority and fraternity I know -- most of them, at least -- have some sort of charity they're connected with. Even if you can't become that charity, because sometimes they have a national relationship, just go see what they do. Just go see what kind of fundraisers they run. They're all fundraising constantly. And the irony is they're not running galas. Their national chapters might be running a gala or a conference, but locally, where my daughter goes to school, they just did a "Fall Follies" dance event to raise money. You'll find plenty of ideas. Just dig around and see what's out there.

Colleen: Thank you, Jeff. Jennifer, any final thoughts on the Gen Z and millennial question?

Jennifer: Again, find some millennials and some Gen Z and ask them. They're going to tell you what they want. I think as a general rule, understanding your audience and meeting them where they are -- instead of telling them what you're offering -- is a methodology to subscribe to. I think that carries us all very far, beyond events and into all of the work that we're doing.

Colleen: Thank you, Jennifer. Unbelievably, we are almost at the end of our hour. I do have to have us start wrapping up. I know we did not get to all the questions. I've seen all the amazing questions come in. I'll be passing them over to our panelists so they know that you have those questions and can reach out. We're also going to send a survey in the chat asking if you have any lingering questions and if you need to be connected with anyone to answer them. Even if you didn't submit a question but just have one in your head, let us know in the survey. We'll connect you with someone who can answer that question. We want you to leave this panel with your questions answered.

Colleen: I have my final question for all of our panelists. It's a bit of a big and broad question -- it's my favorite way to end panel sessions. For panelists who have been on before, you know what's coming. Jeff, over to you. What do you see as the future of nonprofit events, and how can we get ahead of the curve today?

Jeff: I think you're going to see more hybrid events. You're going to see events that have more of a micro focus. You're going to see a lot more technology. I know for some of us it feels like maybe there's too much technology at some of these events, but that's going to continue because people like the convenience of participating however, wherever, whenever they want. And also -- this is going to seem a little impersonal, but I just kind of feel like society's heading this direction -- you're going to see more self-service types of engagement that evolve as the technology gets better.

Colleen: Thank you so much, Jeff. Jennifer, over to you. Thoughts on the future for nonprofit events and how we can get ahead today?

Jennifer: I think COVID taught us very quickly that there's more than one way to do something. It opened up a lot of opportunities. There were a lot of very quick pivots to online -- look at where we all are from all different parts of the country currently. I think embracing those possibilities, embracing the technology, and incorporating a hybrid approach is key -- having some opportunities for in-person, some community-driven events, and welcoming the opportunity to do things online. Some people are more comfortable with that now anyway.

Jennifer: There are ways to utilize AI and all sorts of different technologies. I worked for a university in a different country. How do we build that bridge and get people there? If they can only come once a year, what are we doing the rest of the time? You bring them on a virtual tour. You build a day that's an orientation. If they want to come, we'll figure out one time a year to do something very mission-driven. But if you want to support several times throughout the year and continue your messaging, offer opportunities where they can visit, engage, or participate in a different way online or through a digital component. I think embracing and continuing with AI and technologies and encouraging a combination of both in what we're doing is something we're going to be seeing for a long time.

Colleen: Thank you so much, Jennifer. Tasha, over to you. What do you see as the future of nonprofit events, and how do we get there faster?

Tasha: The truth is, who knows? But my thought is -- I see so many organizations struggle with this idea of events. I know many fundraising professionals who struggle with whether events make sense when you add all the soft costs into it. I see staff who are a little disgruntled about how much time and investment it takes. And what I've seen so many times is, "Well, we just have to do the event because the board expects us to," or "We don't have a good argument for how we're going to replace that income."

Tasha: I think eventually we're going to get to a place where online giving is going to be so much more robust and we're able to tap into younger groups that give online or give more regularly. I'm wondering if more organizations are going to move away from events the way we think of them now. Maybe the event shifts more to engagement -- maybe there's a purpose, a celebration, more of an awareness of the programming -- rather than simply the funded needs and "we must sell the tickets." I'm envisioning a world where we get a little more creative through technology on how to raise money all year long. For some of my organizations, it relies so heavily on just one event -- it's make it or break it. Hopefully they start to diversify a little bit.

Colleen: Thank you, Tasha. AJ, final thoughts on nonprofit events and their future?

AJ: I'd like to say to Tasha, most fundraising is done online now. I think it's like 80-something percent of fundraising is online. Yes, AI is already here. But I will tell you that fundraising events should never just be about raising funds. They should always be a celebration of the supporters. It's always donor-centric. It's always about, "Look what you've done, and together we can do so much more."

AJ: That human touch will never be replaced. I was at an event where I saw their volunteers who were students at the college. They had "honored guests" written on their name tags. And I thought, what a step towards making these students -- when they become alumni -- into donors and supporters of the organization. I got chills just thinking about it.

AJ: When I see staffs that are unkind to each other and to their vendors, it colors your events. Kindness -- that's the future. Kindness toward your staff, respect toward your staff, your vendors, your volunteers, and respecting your guests' time by celebrating them.

Colleen: Wonderful. Thank you so much, AJ. With that, we have reached the end of our panel. I want to give a huge thank you to our panelists for being here with us today. It's been a wonderful conversation, and you fought through those technical difficulties beautifully. Thank you to our panelists.

Colleen: Keep your eye out for more sessions on fundraising events, other fundraising topics, marketing, generosity, gratitude, and more at the NXUnite website. Hope you will join us. All right, that is it for me, and we have hit time. Thank you to all the panelists. Bye everyone.