 Welcome, thrilled to have you back here. Another episode of the nonprofit show. If you joined us for the green room chatter, you heard a little bit already from our guest today. We have Steve Loush with us, director of product marketing at One Cause. We also have Sarah Sebastian here with us today. She is director of corporate communications at One Cause and they're here to talk to us about a fundraising outlook report. So we've got so much to share with you in today's conversation. Really excited to get into this because we're moving into a new year about ready to flip that calendar over for this 2023 date. So before we launch into the conversation, thank you to Julia Patrick for creating this amazing platform that allows us to have high level conversations with thought leaders in our sector around the globe. I'm Jarrett Ransom, you're a nonprofit nerd, CEO of the Raven Group. We are also so very honored to have the ongoing support and trust from our presenting sponsors. 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When we have two guests, it's usually just one of us hosting. So as I like to say, Julie and I played Rose Shambo or Rock, Paper, Scissors, and I won. And I'm thrilled to be here with you, Steve, and also with you, Sarah. So welcome to the two of you. And I would love for you each to share a little bit about yourselves and a little bit about One Cause. Okay, great. Thank you. I'm gonna go, Steve. I'm Sarah Sebastian, as Jared mentioned, Director of Corporate Communications here at One Cause. I've been in the fundraising tech world for about, I guess, eight years now, which seems like it's kind of sped by. I formerly worked at QGive. And I've really enjoyed my time at One Cause so far. This is our second research project with me on board. So I've had a lot of fun thus far, Steve. Yes, I have not quite as many years in the nonprofit world, but I am coming up on six in 23. I spent a good deal of time prior to coming into the nonprofit world in the world of automotive retail technology. And I will tell you, this is far more fulfilling than helping sell one more car at the end of every month. So that's amazing. Well, thanks for all that you do. I love that you mentioned your former employer QGive. There are so many amazing resources out in this space. One Cause is definitely an amazing leader here. So you're going to take us through a fundraising outlook report. I'm ready to nerd out. Those of you that watch and listen, you know, I'm all in for the nerdiness. Steve's fixing his glasses, his own nerd glasses. So you are bringing us some key talking points of the 2023 fundraising outlook. These are insights, obviously, for nonprofit planning, as well as the hardest word for me to say, prioritization. I think I nailed it that time. Thanks for the photo confidence there, Sarah. So what can we expect from this outlook? Well, maybe I can give you a little bit of background on the survey itself that really drives this report. And I think it will help your audience really appreciate that the breadth and depth of what it has to offer. I have my creative side, but I love to geek out on data as well. And this survey, One Cause has been running surveys for years. But this is about the fifth year that we've developed this study into the size that it is today. And the third year that we're releasing the data in what we call our annual fundraising outlook report. We launch it about September, October each year at our annual raise conference, spends about a month in market. And this year, we were able to hear back from 890 unique nonprofits, all shapes and sizes, Jared, all segments across the sector, all levels of full-time employee or volunteer only, all levels of manual operating revenue. It is really great to have such a robust view into the market with this data. We track everything from the role of the individual answering the survey. So we have about a third that are executive directors about an equal amount that are development in development. Maybe about 16% there on the event side. So it's really great to see that. Oh, also I should add how these people play into tech acquisition within their nonprofit. And we have a stat that 81% of the respondents either make the call on tech acquisition to help their nonprofit and fund their mission or they're vitally involved in that decision making. So there's a lot going on there. And Sarah spent a great deal of time and effort really bringing that data to life in the report. Sarah, maybe you want to speak to what the report is at a high level. Sure. So some of our key findings that we'll kind of touch on today to give you an idea of what you'll be hearing about. We'll touch a bit on some event and online fundraising revenue, what nonprofits are kind of seeing success with, some challenges that they've met with in 2022 as they move into 2023, but they'll be prioritizing. And then we had some really kind of interesting and surprising findings surrounding data. So if we want to start jumping into our key finding. Yeah, let's do that. So we're going to move into the first key point that you're going to share about is that more than 50% of these study participants reported 21% talk about data numbers and geeking out here, Steve, 21% of annual operating budget came from events. Now that's really surprising to me. So talk to us about this. Yeah, there's this whole balance of events and then related online fundraising as well in that number. So I'll kind of back up a little bit and give you this umbrella stat that 95% of our respondents held at least one online campaign in 2022. And equally, if you do look at just at that event side, 93% held at least one event. And as the slide showed, that resulted in half of these nonprofits, 56% specifically, raising that 21% or more of their AOR that annual operating revenue from online and event fundraising. And, Sarah, you have a couple more detailed views into that data, I believe. Yeah, so that 21% of the budget, it seems like a big chunk, but there was an additional quarter of nonprofits that said they raised 41% or more of their annual operating revenue from event and online fundraising as well. We also asked what types of events folks held and we looked to see what was the most popular last year, events with auctions, and then registration or donation only events without that auction element were the top two most popular types of events from last year that we saw. And then, is that live and silent auction? Yes, that was live and silent. And then I think I want to ask Steve, because I think he has some data about how supporters participated in events last year too that kind of ties into some key findings as well. Yeah, so if all of this revenue is being driven by the criticality of events, so how are those nonprofits then reaching out and engaging with donors in those events is a key question. So I'll look at 2022 first and look at the cool thing about this report, Jared, as it's aptly named, looks into the future and says how these nonprofits plan to do so, maybe the same, maybe differently in 2023. So real quick, for context 2022, we asked a question, how did your supporters participate in these events? And the breakdown was 32% exclusive in-person events. Can you imagine that? Go back in our minds two years ago, 32% of events were fully in-person, 9%, 1 out of 10 were exclusively virtual. So we're seeing that shift. Now there were, there was a couple percentage points in there that we didn't, we had a nonprofit or two that said, hey, we really aren't back in events or in events to begin with, but get this 56% of those events were hybrid this year. And what I love about that is that nonprofits are getting back to the ballroom, but they're not forgetting to engage with all audiences and offering that dual programming that will allow for that true donor engagement to drive their mission. That was 22. What about 2023? So we asked the same question. How many of the following fundraising events do you plan to hold in 2023? And we gave all of these different varieties, 83% of nonprofits said that they plan to hold at least one in-person event next year. This data, and Sarah, maybe you can comment on this, but this data was gathered in September, right? And we looked at like the confidence level surrounding in-person events too, because we asked, you know, there's an undecided option. And there was a huge drop compared to last year and people who said they were undecided about in-person events. It was down to 8% of people reporting undecided compared to 20% last year. So it seems like people are like, okay, we're good. We're going back in person and see how it goes. I know the news right now doesn't look so great as far as some resurgence. So just kind of remember keeping an eye on that. But overall, it seems like everyone has much higher confidence levels this year. So the 56% that Steve mentioned last year that had those hybrid events and 32% held some in-person this year in the report, 45% of those nonprofits said they're going to keep that hybrid option on their calendar. And we really loved seeing that, because when we did the giving experience study earlier in the year, 56% of event donors said that they still wanted those virtual options. So it's just really nice to see that nonprofits are kind of listening, paying attention to those donor preferences and keeping hybrid as an option there. That is so important. One thing I've seen, and I'm curious if this showed up, you know, is that the net that we casted has gone, you know, far and wide to our donor audience and also this nomadic living, right? And so I think it is in our best interest to keep this hybrid opportunity because many of these individuals may not be in town or they no longer live in your community. And so we want to capture them. And so this is fascinating. Now, there's a lot of numbers being thrown at you. I'm feeling it and I'm a nerd, but there's a lot of numbers. So again, don't worry at the end of today's episode, we're going to remind you where you can get your hands on this data so that you can, you know, really, really go through it with a fine-tooth comb and see how it relates to your organization. Now, with this, there are some concerns. There's some concerns that we've identified moving ahead. I'm going to read them aloud for our podcast listeners. Donor engagement, donor fatigue, donor retention, recurring giving, as well as staff turnover. So which of you want to talk about these five concerns? Yeah, I can jump in and look at at least the donor related challenges here. One of the key things I think understanding this is the way we set up the question. And we allowed this or enabled the respondent to answer at what degree do one of, and we asked about 13 different challenges that could possibly be on someone's radar. And the two that indicated the greatest amount of concern, definitely a concern and then critical issue to solve. Those represented the most severe, the highest severity of the challenge. Donor retention showed up in the top two places when just those parameters will place on the data. Donor retention, especially for orgs that were $1 million of annual operating revenue or above. Another one recurring giving as we were just talking about in the top three places, but most of that for the market really it's spread out. Donor engagement really across the top five, it really kind of went across all revenue segments. But donor fatigue, definitely, definitely, definitely the top concern as it was the only challenge that really hit every AOR at each strata. Sarah, any comments on that? Sure. I want to first kind of touch on planning around the pandemic because I think it might tie into some of these concerns like the staff turnover rating there. So planning around the pandemic, there was this huge drop within the report this year. Not saying it's not a challenge still because 71% did still say they were struggling with it, but it dropped from number one on our list of challenges all the way down to number 10. So there's a light at the end of the tunnel. That's a good thing. It's still there, however. And I think we have seen in the industry a lot of folks talking about that staff turnover problem. And I think it's just kind of a carryover from the pandemic. A lot of people restructured. There were roles that were put into place because people needed new roles. There were roles that were eliminated. So we're still really feeling the pinch from that. As far as donor fatigue, I know, Jared, you were talking about this just before we got on. And to some extent, I do think there can be a concern here as people communicate, especially at the end of the year, if we've talked about a lot of emails. But historically, there's kind of been a disconnect there between nonprofits and donors, in my opinion. There was a past survey I read where when folks actually asked donors, they're like, no, we want to hear from you. It just has to be made meaningful, I think. That's a great point. Yeah. Sorry, Steve. That's a great point when it comes to what we're coming to them with. Not just blasting out an email, but what is that content that we're giving them? So I apologize, Steve. Jump in. No, no. I was just going to echo the mention of our giving experience study that we do every spring. And that is donor source. So this study is nonprofit source. So we get to be able to put together this stereoscopic kind of view to see the whole picture. And donors may not be as fatigued as maybe we think. And in reality, an engaged donor loves to hear from you. So to your point, Jared, if we're reaching out in a way that's meaningful to them, there's not going to be the fatigue that we think. And frankly, if we work on that engagement, which unfortunately was perceived as a lower challenge, we work on that. A lot of the issues around recurring giving donor fatigue will start to take care of themselves a little bit. Yeah. So I want to bring this up for those of you that are watching. Again, the top concerns and what I heard you say, Steve, there were really 13 options. Is that right? And then these are the five that surface to the top. So donor engagement, fatigue, and retention, that's our donor piece. Then we have recurring giving as well as staff turnover. So did I understand that there was 13 radio buttons to choose? Yes. Actually, we allow the respondent to pick whatever scale on any one of those 13 so that we get a real view into and we do this year over year. So the longitudinal study is really fascinating. In fact, I'll add very briefly in difference of time that we track the general level of challenge across all 13 year over year. Okay. And I will tell you that we saw, no surprise, a huge jump between 2019 and when this survey was given in September of 2020. You might hope that that relative level goes down in 21 and 22 when I'm, it's a little unfortunate to say, but it is a reality. Nonprofits continue to be challenged and express and report their own level of challenges across these 13. It's getting tougher. But what a resilient group we are and what fantastic partnerships we have and what fantastic donor bases that we have that help us rise to the occasion to face those challenges at home. Great, great point with that. Thank you for mentioning. We're going to move into, and we've got so much to cover in such a little bit of time, but talk to us about inconsistency with the data. Sure. I think this stat is the one that had everyone on our team kind of slack jawed when we shared it. Like we knew there were issues with data access, but the number of people that were struggling was kind of, oh my goodness. So only 18% of non-profits surveyed said that they had access to all of the data they need and use it to make decisions like on the daily 18% little tiny number of folks. So smaller nonprofits within that reported having even less access to the data that they need, which really isn't surprising. We did expect that case at least. Oh, go ahead, Jared. Well, I was going to say that part. I'm shocked and I'm not shocked. I've worked with so many clients and I said, well, what are your outcomes? What are your outputs a year over year? And they're like, we don't know. And I'm like, okay, well, let's start tracking that. When you actually put the number to it and you see it, you're just like, oh, there's a struggle here. Yeah, there's a big struggle. And I was just going to add very quickly what follows that mindset that, okay, if 80% either have the data they need, but don't know how to take that next step or can't take that next step, or they just don't have the data, then what can we do? Like practically, I like to look at this data and encourage the non-profits to think, okay, what's that next step? Right. So 22% of the respondents said, I don't even know how to form an actionable insight from the data I have. Even if I do have it, 26% said that they don't have the time to form the right insights. And if I could give that practical tip, I would just say pick one next right step. Maybe it's starting small, focusing on something that is really important to you and your mission, your board perhaps, but let's take recurring giving, for example. What are the metrics that you're using today? And benchmark where you are and identify where you want to go with that specific step. You might need to review your tech stack a little bit. You might need to ask yourself, if I'm not getting the data from what I have today, how do I get there? And then set those micro goals. Yeah. Thank you for that. That's so practical. Like what is the next right step that I can take? And if I may, another key nugget for this that I coach on is when it comes to program data, because I hear it often from the grant writers, whether internal or external, is that they don't have enough data to prove and show and demonstrate that impact. So one of the things I coached to you similarly to you in that is to say, okay, if we're looking at your demographic and population, let's say the LGBTQ community. If you're not on your intake form or whatever, capturing that information, add it to your intake form. And then take the first three months, use that data to forecast what you might anticipate it to be over 12 months. Right. And same thing, continue to do it. But at least you have a subset of data that you're starting with. You can forecast that. And then, of course, benchmark it with real data as that six month mark, as that nine month mark, as that 12 month mark. So thank you for sharing your tip. It's so important that we that we collect this and capacity is an issue. I know so many of us are so very tired. Burnout is real. It's happening. So while I hear we don't have time to do it, I first hear what an excuse. And then I hear second in that is staff is exhausted. They're at their max and they're stretched, you know, beyond belief. So so much to go into that. Again, I want to remind you you can find this study. So don't worry. Again, I know we're throwing a lot at you. So the top 2023 issue, this is going to wrap us up in conversation is donor acquisition. So if that's our top issue, how do we get ahead of that? So we had 97% of folks rating this as critical or important. Donor retention was a close second there at 96%. I want to kind of run you through the we have five options we asked here. So the third one at 93 was raising funds or increasing funds from existing campaigns. And I wanted to kind of lay those out as the top three to give a little context with these next two, the other two priorities, operational efficiency and effectiveness, and then new ways to fundraise. Those were the bottom two on the list with less than 85% of nonprofits reporting them as critical or important. There's a full 15 point spread between donor acquisition and the new ways to fundraise. And I think there's something we can kind of learn from that. We've talked on our team about implementing some of those new ways to fundraise as a way to kind of renew or spark interest in a mission or getting involved with a nonprofit in general and help with that donor acquisition. And something you just touched on with the bandwidth with people, people being exhausted. Folks are rating operational efficiency and effectiveness lower on the scale, but those are some of those small changes where you can really zoom in and focus and increase your effectiveness to give you a little bit more time back and kind of help with that burnout. It seems like a really big lofty goal if you look at the whole operation at once, but making the small changes and having them kind of add up in snowball to get where you have some of that time back on your plate. And I love, Sarah, how you continue to bring connection to all these different points in this fundraising outlook report because we are challenged as a sector. We are focused on that donor fatigue, whether that's real or perceived, but focusing perhaps on the thing that may be in your periphery today. And there's 100 variables that go into every equation that each nonprofit represents, right? But maybe looking at a new way to fundraise is exactly the highway, the path, the avenue to capture new donors that you're looking for. So if donor acquisition is high on your radar, but new ways to fundraise isn't, maybe consider that a little bit more, I think is what we're saying, DIY fundraising, peer-to-peer fundraising, whatever it happens to be that you're not maybe pushing more chips into, that may be exactly what you need to find those new donors. So important. I know one cause provides so many workshops and webinars for our leaders in and around our community. I did a workshop or webinar for you guys and it is about getting back into the ballroom. But what is our audience looking for? So I provided three, actually three plus case statements on how to best do that. So there's so many resources in addition to this fundraising outlook that one cause offers. So I want to make sure that I give a plug for that. But this is where you can find the 2023 fundraising outlook. And these are again, insights for the non-profit planning and prioritization. So it's onecause.com backslash research. And you have a webinar on the topic as well coming up on January 12th. So just keep an eye out for that. And thank you. Perfect. And then you also give us a little plug because I think we're going to Nashville. Maybe. Yes, our 2023 raise conference event fundraising conference will be in Nashville. We'll be at the country music hall of fame. We had a nice little visit just to kind of scout the venue. And I can tell you it's, you know, you're going to come for the learning, but you're going to be wowed by just the venue in general, too, and all of the great activities we have planned. So bring your boots, bring your boots. We're going to have a good time. Oh, I love it. I'm so excited. Well, the two of you so proud to have you in our community. So glad we got you away from helping to sell automobiles, Steve. You fit here. We're so glad to have you. Steve Lausch, again, director, product marketing at One Cause and Sarah Sebastian, director of corporate communications at One Cause. I invite you to check them out on LinkedIn. Both of these individuals are very active on LinkedIn. In fact, the entire One Cause team is very active. So I encourage you to connect with them and follow and see what's going on, you know, for One Cause, but also in the sector, because they are definitely key leaders here. And again, just honored to have the fellow nerds that we have in the two of you. Julie and I are so proud to have you here on today's episode. Look forward to more with you next year. We also want to give a verbal gratitude shout out to our amazing presenting sponsors. So thank you to Bloomerang American Nonprofit Academy, Fundraising Academy at National University, Bee Generous, Your Part-Time Controller, Staffing Boutique, Nonprofit Thought Leader, and the Nonprofit Nerd. Check out these companies now right after you look up the One Cause research. I want you to pull that down as well. But we have provided these episodes day in and day out coming up on 700. So thrilled to have you here to share with us about this critical report. Because now's the time to look forward at 2023. We have so much to do. Steve, I know you mentioned like, there's so much coming to us, we're, you know, we're, we're exhausted and we're resilient. So it's time for us to rise up, step up to the occasion 2023. I can feel it. It's going to be a good one. So fingers excited. Here, here. Here, here. Well, thank you both so very much. Really glad to have you here. Really glad to have One Cause represented in this space. And Sarah, I hope you have a very restful weekend. And Steve, set the table for another one. I'm coming over. Let's do it. Thanks for having us. Yeah. Thanks for being here. For those of you that have joined us live, thank you for being here. If you've joined in a recorded episode, thanks for being here also, no matter how you joined us. Don't forget you can share this episode. And so just a few hours, we're going to have this available to share. So I encourage you to share it and of course share the report with your friends and colleagues. So as we end every episode, we invite you, we ask you, we encourage you to please stay well so you can do well. We'll see you back here tomorrow.