 Welcome to another episode of the nonprofit show. You can tell we're already having a lot of fun because we have our guests here from Bloomerang's booth. Josh Meyer, welcome you too. Let me get through a little bit of housekeeping because we want to make sure that we let everybody know where we are, who we are. I'm Julia Patrick. The nonprofit nerd is joining us today in New Orleans at the AFP Icon Conference. Again, we would not be here without the largesse and sponsorship from these amazing partners. They include Bloomerang, which is where we are producing our live show from. We'll get to Bloomerang in just a second. We also want to give our thanks to the American Nonprofit Academy, your part-time controller, nonprofit thought leader, fundraising academy at National University, staffing boutique, the nonprofit nerd herself, and nonprofit tech talk. Hey, if you want to find any of our nearly 800 episodes, you can find us on all these streaming platforms, podcasts, and now we have a new app. Go ahead and download it and we will get to you. You can just scan this QR code and get to it. It's really a lot of fun and super magical. Again, we're coming to you from New Orleans, the AFP Icon 2023 Annual Conference, and we are super excited to toss it back over to you, Jared Ransom. Who do you have with us today? Thank you, Julia. This is none other than Josh Myers at Bloomerang, and I have to say, today is his birthday. That is true. I wasn't seeing that coming. I should have expected that. You should have expected that. I had a company that would have been here to you, but really excited to have him. As you know, Bloomerang has been a fantastic supporter of the nonprofit show since we started in March. Josh, I'd love to know, what are some things that have really stood out for you? I know. I mean, it's great. We love being here because we're on the ground and just chatting with people. A lot of customers stop and buy. A lot of people stop and buy to find new solutions. We did a session yesterday that was really interesting, some new research that we just released. We were in the field in November of 2022, asking fundraisers, how did 2022 grow, and what are they looking forward in 2025? What are the new things that they're looking for in 2023? There's some really interesting takeaways. I think one of the big things that we saw is that we really focused on the small to medium nonprofits. So nonprofits that are $5 million or less than annual revenue. There's a ton of them. And there was a really key takeaways. One was around board and board engagement. And it's like, we saw that 75% of them that responded, roughly 75% were all of their board members were making gifts to their donors. But there's still 25% where the board wasn't participating. And we had a really great conversation with a couple of our friends. We had friends yesterday, the session, Kishana Palmer, Rachel Mere, Jen Shane from University of philanthropy. And they all were like, yes, you have to, if they're going to be on your board, you got to make sure that they're giving. And are you setting up the right expectations? And we had a really nice thoughtful conversation on that, about tips and tools, so should we get your board more engaged? Another really big thing that we saw in that research was planning. We all like to plan, but like to find the time to planning is a lot of work. It's a lot of work. You have to plan the plan. And what we saw in the data was that about 40% of the respondents had actually had some sort of development. And it was like, all right, how can we help them? So there's a lot of good conversation around where can they find resources? And I think we probably could do several shows out of this and bring some experts in. But it was just really good to have that dialogue with the folks on the ground, really understanding their perspective and how, and then trying to connect them because I can't really show, I wish we could share the camera around here, but there's all these other vendors and partners here who are looking to help them out of the community. So I think there's, there's a good kickoff to the day. Yeah, there's a lot of excitement going on, right? There's tons, and right now it's lunch hour. So 9 30 Pacific is 11 30 am here in New Orleans. And so there's, there's tons of people here on the show. We're grabbing their box lunch, networking, talking to so many of the vendors and the sponsors that are here. So there's just as last year, right? Like so much excitement. You know, Jared, it's been such an interesting thing to see how things stopped because of the pandemic. I, you know, AFP icon has always been such a resource. And then to have it, you know, go away and change and morph. This is really this particular, you know, conference in New Orleans is really the first time a lot of our nonprofit are coming together. So it's really an exciting thing. Yeah, I mean, we were talking to the AFP organizers and I think they have over 3700 people, which is like a record for them. Yeah, I know. Exactly. And so we are seeing a ton of traffic. We're seeing friends that we haven't seen in three or four years and it's just so great to be back in person. We did it last year. It just wasn't quite the same. People were masked and we're all, the hugging was, I'm a hugger. Right. So that was my biggest challenge last year. Yeah. So we're just hugging and seeing our friends and, you know, it is, it's been really phenomenal. I think a lot of really good interacting. It's great. I mean, the cocktail reception is the cocktail receptions and they were like full last night and a couple of hurricanes here and there. The drink, not the whether or not they're rich, they have some bad water. Anyway, the drink. But it was, it's just really good to connect with people and see, see how they're doing and how we can help them and allowing them sort of to connect together. Right. Sharing best practices. What's working, you know, what's working in New York and allowing them to sort of, you know, across the globe. Really, I think there were 40, 30 to 40 people coming in here and actually a ton of people from Canada. I have a handful of people from Mexico and then just, I was like, I was trying to, I think a couple of years, like all over the place. There's really, it is such a central one place to bring other just chat fundraising. And you're out about it. You got about it. Nerd out. Nerd out. There is an AFP icon app. So everyone who's here has downloaded the app and you can see, you know, all the speakers. You can see the breakout specialist, the showroom floor, you know, everyone who's here. So it's been a great time. Yeah. And I'm going to say that people are back this year, even more leaning into it. Yeah. Jared, one of the things that you mentioned last year at AFP icon, which was held in Las Vegas, you're amazed at the technology. Now, Blumerang is a technology company and we've come to rely upon them for all of the different things that they can offer, you know, our sector and the things that are going on. What is it that you're seeing as well? Are you seeing more technology? What are your thoughts about this? And then maybe Josh will share his thoughts as well. Yeah. Absolutely. Josh, last year I shared how it was such a large technology forward conference, right? It's fundraising at the focus, but so technology forward. The showroom floor definitely has a lot of tech. That has not changed. I'm also seeing quite a bit of individual consultants that have booths here, right? So how might they be able to support using this tech or be able to support organizations to view X, Y and Z. But currently, like if we, you know, move any degrees right now, we are definitely seeing tech booths. Yeah. What about you, Josh? A lot of technology. I think some of the new cutting edge are more stuff that we haven't seen before. Vendors, so also software vendors and partners looking at crypto, looking at stocks, looking at automating donor advice, like how can you make that easier? If they know some of the smaller mid-sized nonprofits, like they want to get in that space because there's money to be had and their donors want to donate that money, right? But it's sometimes hard to sort of navigate that process. This is another thing that we're starting to see in a lot in the sort of the data piece of this, right? It's AI, right? So our friends over at Donor Search, right? Our friends at Windfall, right? They're all using AI to try and match and find that new donor, whether that's, you know, a major, major donor, right? There's also automation and AI around sort of ask strings, right? So using the technology to ask the right amount, to put the right levels, giving levels on a reply device, right, or in an email. And so that I think was on the precipice last year, but we're definitely seeing more and more of that. The world has been taken by chat GBT, sessions around like how can you use chat GBT and your fundraising and things. So really, really thoughtful, interesting conversations. You know, it's so interesting because we've been noticing that as well. And we're just taken by, and Jarrett and I have talked about this from the beginning. It seems like there's two camps, people that lean in and that get really excited about these opportunities and a new way of working. And then other organizations that are more reticent, they kind of stand back and step back. And I'd love to get your opinion, both of you, on what that looks like with maybe somebody that comes to AFP icon, and they're like, whoa, this technology is too much for me versus those that are really embracing it. Yeah, you know, for me that the AI has to say I love that really leveraging your data to maximize the gift of your donors that are already engaged. And so really that's putting into your data database to say what was their last gift or maybe what's that donor's average gift and how can we lean into that. So I do think that I'm seeing more of that junior. And I think the reason I'm seeing more is because what it's been around now. I mean, really, if you look at AI, it's not new. The adoption, I think, is what's new, right? And especially the adoption into our sector. So I'm seeing where this technology is much easier to adopt for this technology. And it's not a price point. I think that makes it a little bit more affordable for them, right? And some of the software that's out there, it's just easier. You didn't need a software engineer, right? A lot of these partners have been able to kind of see what's going on. You know, but I hear you, right? I hear it changes heart, right? And so I think if you're a small and medium-sized nonprofit, that may not be the right thing for you right now. But maybe it's just sort of getting your donor database in order. Or moving to a donor database and spreadsheets, right? Creating a plan. Or creating that plan, right? And so I think for our friends that are listening, chat, you know, I wouldn't feel overwhelmed. I think you need to, you know, take the steps that make the right sense for you right now. If you don't have a donor database, if you don't have a fundraising plan, I would say start there, right? You need the foundation before you can then sort of layer in things like chat to your AI or crypto and stock, right? You want to be able to at least accept that there is a kind of harder check, right? And make sure that you're really functioning, work stream on that on your website, right before you start learning. So it's the foundation. You got to get the foundation and then start out. And that's what you think of stewardship, right? It's like, I would steward and steward and steward even more and even better before adopting a new process or before adopting a new implementation. Because if you're not stewarding the donor, you're constantly at acquisition. Yeah, retention is so important, right? In fact, that I would say is also part of the process. You have to have the tools to sort of steward and retain your donors because it's so much easier, right, to retain and to renew versus the program. Like I'm basically repeating what she said, but like, it's brilliant, it's brilliant. And this is right up off a note, right? And I just recruit you, right? You know, the one thing that I want, you know, people are wearing t-shirts, t-shirt canons, like lots of great sweats. I want to know where the venue station is. I know we might be missing it. Oh, geez. I mean, I've never said no to a fried food before. What other questions do you have here, Julia? I, you know, honestly, I haven't walked much of the show before. I did a quick circle around. I wanted to get set up for today's, you know, episode and then we'll be back tomorrow, of course, for another episode. I'm excited to have more representatives of Bloomerie with us tonight and have a dinner. So we're doing a dinner, not only for someone's birthday, but also, you know, just to connect. So, you know, this conference really is about connection, building upon those industry relationships and, you know, talking and support one another. Yeah. Yeah. So, for Shawna Fomers, working with the Bloomerite team, for anyone who's here at Anthony, I kind of, she's above the chat with you. She's not sort of gathering. What does it mean? What is community? And how can you build community? And how can you tie that in before the work that we're doing here at Bloomerie and really strengthen the community both for our Bloomerie users, but also the greater fundraising interaction? One of the favorite things or one of the things that really do need to Bloomerie is all of the free educational resources that we provide, whether that be the weekly webinars or blog posts or the eBooks, right? And so, Shawna is taking all of this in and helping really distilling a lot of data around what people are working for in community and how can we use that track to strengthen the good space, right? And then also, you know, get people tied into Bloomerie so that they are aware of everything that's available. You know, I think that's one of the things that Jared and I have both said from the get-go how much we've admired Bloomerie because it seems like you give so much information away that is frankly proprietary in many ways and that you could hold on to that, but you really are amazing at strengthening, you know, the sector and I think it is truly remarkable if you go to the Bloomerang.com website and go to the resources tab, you will see so much information that is really quantifiable which can help your nonprofit organize many things for their future and so it's pretty remarkable. It sounds to me, Josh, like you're really like as an organization digging in on this and actually doing more research more than ever, is that just me observing or is that true? No, I mean, maybe. Oh, yes. No, I mean, we just value that, right? Because we feel like the nonprofit succeeds in the resources, right? And if they need the data to better understand if they need the data to be able to go back to the executive director, to go back to their board and say, we need to do X, Y and Z and here's the data, right? This is a much better conversation and say, I just want this, right? Because it's hard to justify that if you're on the other side, if you're the board member, the head of the board or the executive director, right? And so if we can provide that data to help our fundraising friends to all their mission, then everyone works. And so I think that is one of the things that dreamens of the Bloomerang because we are able to leverage the profession that we're in to sort of prioritize it. I've noticed that I'd like to say Bloomerang plays well with others, right? Yeah. Even to my right, we're not able to see them but maybe tomorrow we can bring them representatives if we're into it. And that is a wonderful integration that Bloomerang CRM offered. And as it happened here to share how these integrations are because Julia, you remember we have had actually your part-time controller on, right? To talk about the best practices to work between the fundraising team and the accounting team. And so Bloomerang is also leaning into that relationship, leaning into the data that brings all of that together. So it's really cool to see the integrations but to see how it all comes together. When the nonprofit wins. It's really true. And I think that, you know, Josh, before we let you go, I mean, I'm really curious as to when we have these conversations that we can have IRL in real life. It's something like AFP icon. Do you see things moving forward more quickly or is it just, you know, kind of business as usual? I mean, I think, I don't know how to talk about that. I think obviously when you're a person, right? You can get done. You can move a little bit faster in a space where everyone is spread out throughout the country or the world, really. And so I think it does allow for those moments of clarity, those moments of things that pop. Oh, I never thought about it this way. Oh, I should try this. And that's what conferences are for, right? And I think you can do it virtually. And I love that you all do this virtually every day. But I think being able to do it once or twice a year to bring these brilliant minds together to bring these practitioners in to share what they're seeing and how they're growing their teams, it's just, you can't compare it. And so I do think it does help accelerate things, move things forward, and get people who have the idea to bring that to the conferences. Well, I'm getting real hoarse. I'm so excited to be here. There's a lot to want to share for our friends at Fundraising Academy National University. This duo will be there at the Cultivate Conference as well. Yeah, if you haven't signed up, join Jared and I. We're going to both do the June 1st, San Diego. And that is, I'm really excited about that news last week. Yeah, that's right. So, and I've seen the Fundraising Academy team, some of the representatives, and they had a session this morning. And I know that they're going to pop on tomorrow with us here for the show. And so really looking forward to pulling in some familiar faces. So many guests that have been on the show before and really looking at asking them a lot of the same questions. But I don't think any of them will be nearly as well. You just, you know, got to go back. We're going to do, we're having some, we're doing some hurricanes in our booth later this afternoon during half the hour. So I just felt like I needed, you know, to make sure we got to get rid of all this stuff. I'm not sure that that should be a worry. I love it. Well, I'm just so thrilled that you would invite us back again. Blumerang to be in your booth. You know, anyone who's ever done any type of conference work, space, is it a premium? It's expensive and you go inch by inch by inch trying to figure out where everybody needs to be and what you're going to do. And so this is very, very generous of you all to allow us to come and broadcast live because it's really an exciting opportunity for everyone. You know, things are opening back up and we're going to start to be seeing more and more things. I mean, for example, you brought up, you know, the Fundraising Academy National Universities event in June, you know, AFP icon in New Orleans. This is really going to start to be something that we return to, albeit in a little bit different capacity, I think. And so, again, I want to express our gratitude to you for allowing us to do this. Jared, if I might, I want to spend just a little bit of time thanking our... Hi, thank you all. Are you going to head out? Well, I can say. I didn't know that was my cheer. Friend, you're part of the show. All right, I'm not leaving. I'm not going anywhere that I'm seeing right here. Don't leave because I got to keep that jacket close to my heart because it's like one of the best things I've seen. Hi, hi. I know it's been great. Hey, again, we want to thank everybody who's participated with us. Bloomerang, American Nonprofit Academy, your part-time controller, non-profit thought leader, Fundraising Academy at National University, Staffing Boutique, the non-profit nerd, and non-profit tech talk. These are the folks that join this day in and day out. And today this is special. If you joined us, you will have noticed that the non-profit nerd is flirting with her beads and her glasses and her boa, joined by none other than birthday boy and crew captain, Josh Meyers coming to us live from amazing New Orleans at the AFP icon 2023. Jared, it's been a lot of fun. Thank you so much. Well, thank you for putting up with us. The energy is high. It's going to be high again tomorrow, I know. But yeah, a lot going on. And maybe tomorrow, I'm able to share where I thought it would be next year. Oh, yeah. It's, yeah. We'll keep up until tomorrow. But it's exciting. It's exciting. I'm excited. We'll keep that secret. Yeah, I don't know. I love it. Yeah, it's going to be for next year, but I thought you could think about it. That's right. That's right. Well, thank you for having us. Thanks for our sponsors. Especially thanks to Josh and Blibbering for allowing us some of this prime opportunity here at AFP icons. Thank you, Julia. Hey, it's been a lot of fun. And as we end every episode of the nonprofit show, we want to remind everyone, especially our friends throughout the country that are in New Orleans, to stay well so you can do well. Have fun, you two. Have a beignet for me. Oh, thank you. Bye. Bye. Thanks, you two.