 Welcome back everybody to another episode of the non-profit show. We're really excited to have you. We're even more excited to have our guest Katie Gaston who just flew in I'm gonna use that old joke and boy are her arms tired just Toronto arrived early early early this morning. What time Katie did you get in I think I got into bed at one o'clock so That's okay though got some good sleep. It was great and I am ready to talk about finding new donors I love it. Well, this is always a topic we need to be having I know you addressed everybody at icon about this And so it's going to be really a great time to Why you're fresh off the speaking speakers track to get into this Everybody we've got a really exciting thing. We're rolling out. We have a new Panel of co-hosts. They come from all over the country. They're extremely diverse In who they serve how they serve the knowledge that they have and we're rolling these folks out You've probably already met some of them, but we want to make sure that you know that that's where we're going It's very very exciting. I'm just super super thrilled with this I'm also thrilled with the continued support we have with our major presenting sponsors And they include the amazing bloomerang american nonprofit academy nonprofit thought leader staffing boutique your part-time controller 180 management group fundraising academy at national university JMT consulting and nonprofit tech talk These are the folks that join us day in and day out so we can have folks like katie with us katie Really briefly? I know you're a rock star because in the green room you shared with me that you're coming To scott stale as like a major part of the president's team cabinet award winner. What's the title? Oh, it's president's club is what it's called. But thank you. Yes It's amazing. Well, I know you do great work. We've had you on before But talk to me a little bit about What you do within the amazing family of bloomering That's a great question. So as a product marketing manager, what I like to say is I'm a storyteller Um, which I think I think in some ways in different roles even as development directors in some ways you could say we're storytellers Because we have to share the story in a meaningful way. So with within bloomering. I'm a storyteller about how Our tools really help drive success for nonprofit organizations And when you think of what it means to be a storyteller, you have to understand Who are you telling your story to what are the things that for example donors really are passionate about? And care about and how do I ensure the way that I craft my story for in case a nonprofit or bloomering really Resonates with what is meaningful to the individual who's hearing your story. So that's what I do I love it. You know, I think that's a A foundational Approach, right? I mean if you have that ingrained into your habits And the way that you navigate Your your life and your work it it just is a part of how you you work and I think it's brilliant And it definitely moves you forward Okay, talk to us about meeting people where they are When they are inspired to give and we have an image for our our listeners Somebody it looks like he's on the street. He's got his phone. He's got a credit card or debit card Something's happened and he's ready to give What does this look like For most of us and how can we get there too? So when we think of finding new donors Taking it even a little bit further a step a step up of that What are the type of donors that we may want to attract this year? Now one that we hear a lot from our nonprofit customers and those in the community is younger donors Especially let's say if you're in an arts organization, let's say symphony We we see a lot of aging donor populations and One thinking of a long-term sustainability path for your organization attracting younger donors is critical To continuing that curve of growth The second element of that is wealth generational transfer, which I'm sure You have heard quite a bit about in the in the community, but in the next decade It's expected that over 150 billion dollars is expected to transfer generationally to younger donors So when we think of okay, let's how do we meet people where they are? We first have to define who are those people we're meeting And let's say for younger generations of donors using things like digital wallet items or Breaking that down PayPal Venmo Google pay Apple pay. I'm sure we've all been in an event when someone asks you can I just Venmo you for that shirt at the Fun run you have How exactly we're all on our phones every single day So how do you enable using technology the ability to accept a donation when someone Either a generational donor that you typically serve. Maybe that's an older generational donor Or a younger generational donor is interested in giving to you And how that shows up I would say is a few things like for example Enabling PayPal or Venmo or Apple paying Google pay on your online donation form Did you know Julia that by simply turning on things like apple pay and google pay? That research shows that you can increase your donation page conversion rate by eight percent Wow Katie think about if you tried to improve You're just your own portfolios behavior by eight percent. You'd be a rock star. Oh a hundred percent I mean wow Yeah, not only that but there's also research that shows one individuals give in ways like through digital mediums Uh text fundraising campaigns Uh, we're all on our phones again meeting people when and where they're inspired to give Is an amazing way to raise a significant amount of funds The other element of that which okay imagine you've been to you What was did you do a fun run? Let's say last year or have you been to a gala or an auction last year? Well, yeah, I mean, I'm on the rubber chicken circuit. I'm I'm doing everything every week So yeah, I mean, yeah, of course. I mean literally every week I'm at some yeah And do you keep cash on you or do maybe most of your friends keep cash with you today? You know what not anymore and I'll tell you I'm traveling uh tomorrow and I was getting ready and I was like, oh, I don't have any cash and then I was like Do I really need it? I mean, it's really where You wouldn't have gone to the mailbox without cash in your wallet, right? Exactly Now it sits there. It sits there. No no one's using it So if you hear, you know, I'm in the rotary club That's every Thursday morning. I go to my rotary club and almost every week we have speakers From different nonprofits that come and share their mission with us and so often 7 a.m. In the morning I've got my coffee down. I am moved to give just because I'm so impressed by the work they're doing in our community Yet very few ask for a gift in that moment So imagine as a donor if I had the ability to accept a donation on my phone Literally without even the qr code is one option. So if you do speak and share your mission Minimum I would highly suggest Have a qr code up where people can scan and give to you that links to an online donation page But even better, what if I could just have someone's card tapped to my phone? and immediately Someone accepted donation. I'm wondering if you can Help us understand when you talk about younger donors and that's the buzz everybody's talking about that Um, what does that look like? I mean, what is that age group? That we really should be thinking about because I suspect It's different than what most of us would typically define. What does that look like to you and blimmering? That's a great question I think when we start thinking of quote-unquote younger donors Where we see that generational gap or divide in terms of behavioral differences is really millennials Millennials and younger so generation z and I think there's I heard generation Alpha I'm not sure if I got that particular term correct, but yes Youngers even than generation z are continuing to engage particularly and prefer digital or digital communication and digital donations and I don't even remember the last time I I didn't use tap to pay and I would say I'm a millennial So I I don't remember the last time I didn't use tap to pay with a credit card And if I had the ability to give in that way to a nonprofit I would be so much more likely and willing to donate in that moment when I'm inspired to give right I love this message that you're delivering because Wow If I can just go back to your eight percent To me that rocks my world an eight percent increase And that is that's kind of like benign fundraising in some ways because You're not like there with your digital device Navigating it that's somebody coming onto your site Maybe two in the morning or you know, they hear something on the radio or they see something It's very organic. What a powerful thing Completely and think of how much energy you've invested already to get them to your site And then just having them leave because you didn't give them the ability to give how they prefer to give I mean, what a missed opportunity So looking for easy ways to integrate a more simple giving option Is the easiest low-hanging fruit I could recommend in terms of capturing donors when they are inspired to give Yeah, wow, I love it. Well as much as I love that I've got to move on And talk about this piece And you're really advising us to be conducting proper research What does that look like and then I'm also going to push you a little bit Is this only for like the super institutional size non-profit or I mean How can small startups or just Small nonprofits navigate this as well That that is an excellent question. So research comes in all forms and fashion I'm going to go back to what I said at the beginning where I said, I'm a storyteller And one of the things that I said in a way that we are all storytellers We're storytellers of our mission. We're storytellers of impact But the key thing of telling stories is understanding your donors And there are so many things you could do even without fancy software tools In order to help you understand donors more intentionally So when we think research research can be either on one scale Talking with donors asking questions. How did this story resonate with you? For example, or what are you interested in seeing as it relates to our mission and the work that we're doing You can do that through surveying donors in your network or Maybe just serving individuals that could be donors So those both that are currently donating to you or prospective donors In the community in order to really narrow down and hone in on how you are telling your story So surveying that can either again be through sending a survey like I'm going to write a survey And then send that out through something like email or just having conversations So when we think research there's both quantitative research, which is more numerical and qualitative research Which is understanding patterns thoughts and that's typically more driven through Dialogue and conversations So that's one way to do research. I think the other way is using software tools like wealth insights Now what is wealth insights? I'll explain that a little bit wealth insights are a tool typically one for example in the The market that bloom ring integrates with is donor search So using a tool where there's a database of how much individuals are giving one was their last last gift How much and what is their capacity to give? And layering that information on top of your donor information today Now that could either be for finding new donors that could either be in expanding your donor database So saying who in my community Wants to give to my mission that I might not be talking with today Or that could be finding really qualified donors in your current donor database as well. Does that make sense juliane? Yeah, it does and it almost seems like Again when we started off, you know the top of our conversation About the behavior and the patterns that that we use or that we embrace doing our jobs This almost seems like it should be something that we're kind of always looking at Versus okay, we haven't done any research for three years. Let's you know, right? And and that's where I wonder like if we get If we really trip over our own feet thinking that we have to have this Exhaustive expensive, you know crazy investment of outside with outside people or Up people to get data that a lot of times I think we could have been doing it internally I think that's a great. That's a great great call out because Research should be it's not something that feels like you said exhausting or oh my gosh Now I have to do this major research study. I have to find someone to help me with it No, it should be something that you build into every month Maybe you block off a day of your calendar and you say, okay, this is my donor research day Um, if that's all you can start with that's a fantastic initial start And because at the very least it's less about you're right that big initiative to get all the information and more of building learning and then Adaptation into your regular process in developing how you speak with donors It almost seems to me as well and I'd love to get your feedback on this um a A pattern of curiosity, right? Like you know, they always say the best fundraisers are those who listen You know, they ask and they listen and it all it it seems to me like it it fits into that Personality profile or behavior. I mean, I don't know if you see that or is that just something in left field? No, I think that that's that's really accurate. It's a research in another word like you just said is simply listening with intention and using that listening in order to Pull out patterns that then influence your behavior So it's listening on a one-on-one conversation Or it's listening using a written medium And then using that in order to alter some of the paths that you move forward within the future So that would do you feel like that's a good framework in terms of what the research could be? I do because I think like one of the things that you You've said and you've said this before when you've been on the nonprofit show is that Hey kids things are changing our donors are changing the way they think is changing But we might be serving our clients in our community in the same way Great and that's important But our donors are living in a different world in a different ethos technology Sentiment to be involved not be involved all these things and so We got to be Thinking about these changes. So that's kind of one of the things I hear you I mean, maybe it's just me, but I feel like you're pushing us a little bit to say look It's not the same old same old. We got to be reformatting how we work with donors and and Yes, and and how donors perceive our messages differently depending on things like How much capacity they have to give or their age and where they are in their giving life cycle because You're right You could be saying the same thing and it could land really well with one group of donors And you've always had success with those but you may need to alter how you're saying something Because you're speaking and attracting a younger generation of donors. Yeah It's it's really I think this is fascinating. I think it's just fascinating. Okay one last research question It just popped into my mind If you are going to lean into this grand, you know, big time research project, you know, all that What's the appropriate Amount of time like should this be done like every three years five years ten years I mean, do you have a sense of that if we're gonna if we're getting pushed to really Do some groundbreaking donor research? What does that look like to you? In my perspective, I think minimum every year is healthy Okay, it depends on really the level and depth of research you're doing So for example with wealth insights If you ran a screen Every year assuming you're attracting new donors on an annual basis of what your donor database looks like That then gives you a really solid starting foundation Let's say at the start of the year to plan intentional campaigns around those different segments of donors and from a qualitative perspective How much how much did what you think earlier? Let's use the perspective and maybe this is a little Biased but of 2020 versus 2022 Oh, how much was our world different in even those two years? And what what we're willing to support I mean, I hundred percent you know my support of cultural institutions Just bottomed out and I moved everything that I could You know financially mentally championing human services Entirely whether that's whether that's economically what's happening whether that's generational adaptation Or even things, you know, what our world is moving so fast the increase of ai in the last year And and while you could say well does that really change? Preferences I think that we are going to start to see Different expectations of how donors may Be communicated with as tools and technology increase in the ability to make communication faster And more personalized in a really robust way So if you can set a goal every year maybe the start of the year of doing a research to update your assumptions and not rest on Prior, you know to validate your assumptions. I think that you'd be in a really good spot Okay, good. I appreciate you giving us that lens because I I I would not have thought that and so I appreciate you setting me straight Well, let's go on to the last place where we can be finding new donors And I wanted to save maybe the best for last or the most like cringe worthy for last Because I think in the nonprofit sector and I have worked with nonprofits and served on boards where they're like This is we're both we do not ask volunteers for anything, you know other than their service And please help set us straight I Thank you. Yes. I will because Did you know that there was a research study? I want to say it was in 2020 that showed 92 percent of volunteers are likely to donate to your organization Now imagine how many volunteers that you have in your pool today When was the last time you asked them to contribute in a more meaningful way? um Now I could say for example, I think there's two elements here one is Who are typically volunteers? There's two sets. I would say of volunteers that we see most commonly One is maybe younger generations that don't have the ability to give treasure But they can give time and for years. I volunteered since I was a kid And I you know as I've continued to progress. I've been able to give more treasure But the organizations like rotary that I invested I started volunteering with when I was 20 And because it I've continued to stay in that network and that organization um If I hadn't been really passionate about something and they hadn't engaged me in a more meaningful way long term Or maybe downplayed my value As someone who can give then maybe they wouldn't be in my circle or network anymore And now that I have the capacity to give Um, I wouldn't give to them So investing in volunteers even young volunteers is an excellent way to build a donor pipeline long term And the other element of that goes back to what I said earlier, which is generational wealth transfer You may have individuals that can't give today They don't have the capacity to give but what will that look like in five years? When there starts to be that really massive transfer of generational wealth So that's one set of volunteers is that's an amazing way to grow and cultivate and nurture an inflex pipeline of lasting sustaining givers long term and then the other is Individuals who are empty nesters who are retired who are going I have free time You know my parents volunteer all the time. I'm giving back and I'm contributing in meaningful ways And that's another set that maybe they do actually have quite a high capacity to give Or maybe they would long term be uh potential individuals to seek out for planned giving initiatives But ultimately maybe they're just starting to give time And so cultivating them and seeing them as a potential donor if you don't I think it's a massively missed opportunity Yeah, I I mean I think it again I keep harping on this 8% that you You know helped us to understand by engaging You know digital giving platforms on your website I swear to god look at your volunteers and if you're like if I could get an 8% return or bump. Oh my gosh That's revolutionary for a lot of organizations I I just think it's fascinating how and I'm going to use the word fear. I think we're fearful Of asking too much of asking the volunteers and then you know, you made that comment You don't even get an option to participate Or not because you're not even given the opportunity completely completely I think so there's there's two things to kind of consider. So one is Especially if you're an organization that has more volunteers that support your mission Making sure those individuals are in your donor database Ideally if you have a tool like volunteer management that integrates with your donor management system There's you're you're not missing the gap here. You're not trying to juggle between two systems And then going back to what we talked about with research Running something like wealth insights on top of those volunteers can give you at least the transparency to understand Are the individuals who are giving do they have a capacity to give so maybe you don't reach out to your entire volunteer base and say Oh, please, you know give to our mission on a sustaining basis But use a little bit more research to influence how you segment those individuals and then reach out strategically to the ones that You know may have a higher capacity to give I I think this is really important and I think you know, it's also We are building champions of our organization You just don't know when somebody volunteers and then they go back out into the community and they're like They tell You know somebody that has never heard of you or Or is going to maybe be a potential partner or whatever it is such an activation Of a championship is what I is how I think of it. You know, you're really building That cadre of people that can come out or go out into your community and impact you and man It's such a missed opportunity and so I I'm thrilled that you would talk about this. Yeah. Yeah entirely You know, you are a champion because as we said earlier You just left Toronto in the last 24 hours to get home to Idaho where you were speaking at icon so we have katie fresh off the stage because you were talking about this there and It really been fabulous katie to get you back on another episode in the non-profit show I always love what you have to say It's um, I find you give us advice. It's very achievable and sometimes We don't hear that sometimes we think we hear things. It's like well, yeah If I had an extra 50 grand I'd That's the most frustrating no you need tools and tactics that you can say okay tomorrow Okay, challenge then What are you doing in the next two months to ask your donors questions and listen intentionally? That's your homework everyone I love it well that I am definitely Doing the homework because I love I love what you said and I think that's an amazing thing and I think what we need to do is we need to put this homework out there and then we'll get you back on Perfect And we'll be like, okay. What happened when you did this because Um, great advice and always you and your your team members at bloom ring always give us lots of advice Again, we've been with katie guest on Senior product marketing manager at the amazing bloom ring check out bloom ring dot co or bloom ring dot com And you can find all the different things that they're doing one of the most impressive things about bloom ring Is not just their business model and the products, but they share a phenomenal amount of knowledge and it is free you do not have to be Uh a client or navigate a paywall. It is stunning how much research That they do or they bring to the table and so it can be one of your best partners And I would say katie non-profit management. It's not just fun Fundraising and donor management. I mean it goes well beyond That I think your your materials are amazing. So kudos to you Really important. Hey another thing that's really important are presenting sponsors And we would be remiss if we didn't express our gratitude It includes non-profit thought leader american non-profit academy Of course bloom ring fundraising academy at national university 180 management group your part-time controller staffing boutique non-profit tech talk And jmt consulting these folks are with us day in and day out and it's really cool to see How they support us so that we can in turn support the nonprofit sector So katie you really Man you pushed a button on me today I love it that eight percent of adding The pay portals on a website holy cow I know I know Remember that next time you give through paypal Yeah, I mean as we say in my family holy holy vodka because that is a holy cow moment Stunning stunning improvement And connectivity with donors. So thank you for sharing my friend. Thank you so much It was a lot of fun. Hey everybody as we end every episode With this message and and I always say this it means something to me in a different way every day But our message goes like this To stay well So you can do well