 For those of you joining us, welcome. We have got a wonderful, fantastic guest today. Stephen Campbell joins us. He is the founder of U Street and joins us from Brooklyn. So we'll learn more about Stephen as he shares with us about comedy events and making guests laugh and donate. So I'm excited to have you on here, Stephen. Before we get started, we of course start every episode by saying thank you, thank you. Thank you to all of our amazing presenting sponsors. You can see their logos here on the screen. One of your Brooklyn neighbors, just so you know, Stephen, I think I shared it in the Chitty Chat chat, is Katie Warnick here at Staffing Boutique. She's been a wonderful sponsor of our show and a really big advocate to bringing guests on. So again, thanks to our presenting sponsors, we would not be here having these conversations without you. And of course, thanks to Julia Patrick, whom if you've noticed, or if you've noticed, I don't think whom is the right word there. She's not here today. So I have let her have a day off and she has another commitment, but Julia Patrick is the CEO of the American Nonprofit Academy and brainchild of these episodes. So I'm really grateful to play along with Julia. I'm Jarrett Ransom, also known as the Nonprofit Nerd CEO of the Raven Group. Enough about us. I'm ready to dive into you, Stephen. Thanks for joining us. Of course, yeah. Thank you for having me. I appreciate the opportunity. So I think we connected on LinkedIn. Truth be told, like you slid into my DM. I don't even know if we say that in LinkedIn terminology. But it was really cool because you said, hey, I do this thing for nonprofits. Would love to know more about you, how you serve the community. And likewise. So I think you were probably walking the streets of New York when we had our first conversation. There was all kinds of what I would say, familiar New York background noise. Hey, where? People yelling, people yelling buses, people yelling at buses. That's right. There was a lot of it. Car honks or yeah, all kinds of fun stuff. Well, let's dive in here, Stephen. Let's get going. And you tell us about comedy events, making guests laugh and donate. And really let's just start here with how does humor work with serious nonprofit topics? Sure. So I think that a lot of comedy comes from pointing out the absurd, right? And there are so many social and environmental issues. The fact that they exist is absurd. And so a lot of the humor just comes from pointing out that absurdity, right? We have done shows on food allocation and food access, lots of stuff with health information and access to health services and stuff like that. All, we've done a lot of work with Black Lives Matter and the topics by themselves are not funny, but pointing out the absurdity in life in general is very often what a lot of comedy comes from. And so working with a lot of these social issues, the comedy comes just from plainly pointing out that, wow, it's crazy that this exists, right? There's always a tightrope that needs to be walked, right? Because you are talking to people that are dealing with very serious issues that do need to be alleviated, but very often the comedy serves almost as a pressure valve release, right? Because so many of nonprofit events, they just highlight how horrible it is that this social or environmental issue exists and offering some sort of levity during that process is honestly to my surprise at how often there is an appetite for comedy at these events because that levity is needed. I love that you say that, an appetite for comedy. And I agree, levity is the word that keeps coming up to me. I was thinking because when you did reach out to me and we talked about this, one of the things that you do talk about is Black Lives Matters. So really looking into what are some of these current events, current topics and really diving into that, but I have been at an event where we actually did have a comedian. It was years and years ago and the appetite for comedy, as you said, was like really amazing. And the individual we had was actually very, he resonated with our audience because of the individuals that we serve. And so he was able to bring real life situations, stand on stage, bring some levity, not only to our donors, but the individuals that we served. And so that was really cool to see. Sure, yeah, so while I am a standup comedian, I've also been in marketing consulting. I have an MBA in social enterprise and marketing. I've done a lot with event sponsorship and stuff like that. So the conversation of how does this align with your brand and how does this align with your mission is something that I'm very comfortable with and very familiar with. So that conversation extends to when I'm booking comedians, right? So our company will always make sure to book comedians that if the nonprofit wants a very mission-centric programming, then we will always book comedians that have some sort of experience with the social issue that they are dealing with, demographic overlap. If we did a big campaign with Asian-American campaign, there just a bunch of, there were Filipino nurses, there was a group that was specifically focused on Chinese-Americans. And for something like that, we would book comedians that Asian-American comedians, comedians that have some sort of understanding of the landscape that we are trying to cover. And to fit with the audience, right? To really fit in and relate or resonate really with that audience. So I'm just fascinated because this is a way for us to bring the levity, but also bring the dollars into support the organization. What about offending donors, right? And you said a lot of comedy comes from really like, can you believe how absurd this is? But especially right now in times of cancel culture, how do you and the talent that you help book, how do you navigate this? Sure, so we book directly from Comedy Central, Netflix, HBO. That being said, not everybody that's in those outlets are going to be clean comedians, but typically it means that we have comedians that can navigate this space, right? So we're not booking anybody that is going to be talking about very racy topic matter unless the event calls for it. So we have a state of about 250 comedians that cycle through our shows and... Deisha, there you are. I was about to say, you know, one of the things you were saying is really this, this connection to the comedy. So I had said, because I personally like Chelsea and Lair, she's got some really funny things. She would not be a comedian that I would want at probably any nonprofit gala that we want. Sure. Yeah, so we do make sure that we are booking comedians that we'll be able to walk that tightrope. And it is a tightrope that, you know, I live in Brooklyn. There are many shows that you walk into and you know immediately that that is the quote unquote wokest audience that you could potentially have. And so you need to know how to navigate that. Situation, that environment always. So we do book comedians that are able to walk that tightrope. And I would imagine, especially in comedy, you have some hecklers, right? Like I'm sure you're trained in this, but you know how to navigate if something does come up. I ironically was recently at Enquiet Mallory Square and there's tons of street performers and there was a heckler in the audience that was heckling the street performer. Man, he was on it in a second. And it was really fascinating for me to watch how he navigated that. And then of course that stage, right? For any other potential opportunities of hecklers to kind of jump in. But I would assume, as you were saying for this, Steven, that, you know, the talent you book, they are their figure, they're professional, their experience, know how to navigate some of these conversations or, you know, entertainment that comes. How does this work now as we move forward? You know, we're in this recovery phase of the pandemic, the pandemic not done, actually say pandemic is plural, right? We have global virus, we have social injustice. And then of course we have the political divide. So environmental crisis, so there's probably really four pandas going on right now. We're all trying to juggle. So how does comedy work in a virtual environment? Because there's still so many people that don't want me to like, or like me, we've become very comfortable with, you know, doing this virtual reality space. So how do you work with your talent and the organizations in this virtual environment? Sure. So on the forefront of the pandemic, we had no choice. You know, people had to adapt to the virtual environment and audiences were very forgiving during that timeframe. As people became more familiar with the landscape, you did start to get a little bit more feedback as far as what, how comics were acting in the Zoom space and stuff like that. We are starting to see a decline in demand for just straightforward Zoom shows. Sure. But as things, to your point, as things keep switching and we are in the different stages of the pandemics, plural. Yeah, good job. We are, we're starting to do outdoor stuff. We are doing some in-person small batch fundraisers for private donors of nonprofits. And we're doing those indoors and outdoors. But we're also starting to do hybrids where we are streaming small-scale events. So those small-scale events, we run kind of as a telethon and we will have people that are watching, give, share and do all that online while we also have the show in-person. As a comedian, there's nothing that replaces in-person comedy. There's just, you know, and it's funny because as you transition, you go from watching everybody on a Zoom screen with their microphone off and you can see the smile. And then you get into person where they're all wearing masks and you can hear the smile, but you can't see or you can hear the laughter, but you can't see a smile. So it is this transition even as a live performer that you just have to start to be comfortable with these different growing things. Um, I was honestly surprised at how open everybody was to the virtual space. We were receiving emails incessantly, especially at peak of the pandemic when people were really locked down, saying, hey, this is the first time we've laughed in weeks. This is the first time that we've had any sort of, you know, using the word levity again. A levity, yes. It's so important. And so people were, people are still, I mean, we're still doing a lot of corporate shows on Zoom and we're still doing a lot of fundraising stuff on Zoom. People are still very, very hungry for it. The comedians are starting to get a lot more in-person gigs and starting to tour and stuff like that. So they are starting to want to do only in-person stuff which then the hybrid format kind of feeds everybody. So yeah, it's been a moving target and we are constantly, anytime that I put it together, a sales forecast for two months, that's crazy. I'm only doing sales forecasts for two weeks in advance because things are just changing so rapidly. It's changing. Now, this is an unplanned question, but I'm pretty sure you're gonna be able to knock it out of the park. Talk to me about pricing, right? And in particular, is there a difference in pricing for in-person as opposed to virtual? Sure. So there's no price to the nonprofits. It's always, so we do corporate partnerships and private partnerships, right? Okay, great. So a corporate entity will put on a show on behalf of a nonprofit and or a private donor will put on a show with their small network or they can put money into, or for another price, we can put money into the whole marketing process to do a ticketed event on behalf of them. Sure. The nonprofits never pay a dime. So to your point, yes, in-person events are going to be more expensive than virtual events, but then it just kind of, there's a lot of different questions about, are we doing the marketing process? Are we finding the venue? Which comics do you want? Because we have access to every comic in New York and LA. It's just a question of which ones do you want? Because even in the virtual space, be like top, top comics, we were getting charged like a quarter million dollars to have them on a Zoom, which is insane. So- I'm in the wrong gig. 100%. When they started setting their pricing back, I was like, oh my God, like I guess I have a long way to go. Typically the shows run anywhere from 2,500 to 5,000 as a virtual show. Again, paid by the corporate group or the private donor. The in-person shows really depend upon where we're going. Are there travel and lodging expenses on top of it? We're doing stuff here in New York. It's gonna be cheaper because then it's just an Uber ride. So that one is a moving target, but it's a very light lift to nonprofits because we take care of all the promotional and event production stuff. And it is no cost to the nonprofits because we're working with the corporate entity and or the private donor. That is phenomenal. And if we have some more time, I would love to dive in or dig a little deeper there. So thank you for sharing that. Where in the event, so I'm thinking run of show, if it's a gala, if it's a conference or a trade show, where do you think the best placement is to have a comic? Usually the cocktail hour type situation to layer in comedy with it. We've done it in so many different ways. So where we have seen the most success is at that cocktail hour type situation where you- The before the event really starts. Yeah. So we usually do about 30 minutes of mingling with the cocktail hour, happy hour type stuff. And then we'll do about an hour of the comedy show and then everybody can go to their dinner or however they do it. I was gonna ask that, like the duration of the show because when you were mentioning the virtual, first of all, quarter of a million, yeah, we're definitely playing in the wrong place. But looking at that $2,500 to $5,000, what is the longevity of that kind of production? Sure. So it's about an hour. Hour. Yeah. That is fascinating. Yeah. I would have thought it would have been like 15 minutes, 30 minutes max. So it's about 12 to 15 minutes per comic and we have three to four comics on the show with a host. The, it's run very much like you would see at a comedy club where you have the comics on the lineup and a host that is making sure everybody's there and ready to laugh, which is always a interesting endeavor as anybody that's listening that has hosted a Zoom meeting, lots of muting the people that need to be muted, lots of asking people to unmute if they don't have a dog barking in the back and lots of just asking people to have their cameras on and stuff. So all of that weird virtual stuff on top of hosting a comedy show, making everybody laugh up top and then bringing in the comics. But it is, it's about an hour, yeah. That is wonderful. I would have thought, again, back to that kind of like 15, 30 minutes, but I love that you're saying, let's start this in the beginning, let's make that the cocktail hour and really set the stage to having and starting really a jovial is the word that comes up to me now, kind of evening or opportunity together. We talked about this so we got ahead of ourself but the average set length, now what if an organization is thinking we want tops our event to be an hour? So is there an opportunity to cut the set shorter? Yeah, of course. The name of the game over the last year has been infinite flexibility. We are using these shows as a vessel to raise money for your nonprofit and however that fits into your scheduling, awesome. Like I said, the cocktail hours are where we've seen the best but we've also, we produce a show, the non-profits podcast where we have on non-profits where we highlight a social issue and then highlight groups that are alleviating those social issues and when we do that, that's layered in with interviews from the non-profits. That's also the show that right now we're pitching to Netflix, fingers crossed. But, That's cool, yeah. But we are very experienced in layering comedy in between material that is maybe not so funny. So while cocktail hours have been the best, we have done it everywhere. To start off meetings, we've done way more than I would like where we surprised the whole group and nobody knew comedy was coming and then they're like, we have a guest and everybody's waiting for information on genocide or something like that. And now we are like, what's, have you guys ridden the subway? Oh, that's wild. Right, total switch. Right, so we've had a lot better track record when an audience knows that a comedy show is coming. Sure. As opposed to ambushing them. And what about a multi-generational audience? I know this is something we had talked about before. So if we have a comic scheduled, again in this virtual reality, and I'm a huge proponent and those of you that are watching, you've heard me talk about this before, this is a soapbox that I can stand on, ad nauseam, but really bringing in our younger generations. I have a 10-year-old, I do my best to bring him into the fold to learn about social issues, be a part of philanthropy, demonstrate philanthropy to him and with him. So how do these opportunities in comedy and levity also attract or relate to a multi-generational audience? Sure, so it's actually a very interesting conversation because it's something I'm grappling with right now, right? Where when we were doing fundraising shows before, as I'm sure you're aware, most established nonprofits, their donor class is much older. Absolutely. And so while the comedy shows in person before the pandemic appealed to the younger audience, we got much older audiences just because that's who was there supporting. During that time, we would always hear nonprofits saying, how do we attract younger people? How do we attract younger people? Let's keep doing the same exact thing we're doing and hope that young people eventually trickle in. The pandemic forced people to finally make those changes that they've been talking about making for a very wrong time. And since we were doing the shows virtually, we got a much younger donor class. And so we were doing, not that we were doing the good job of getting those younger people, but now these nonprofits had a thing that attracted the younger donor class. And on the other side, a lot of the older donors were not as comfortable with the different virtual formats. So a lot of the older people that typically went to the shows before, now you weren't seeing them as much, but you were seeing the younger. So now that we're popping back to in-person, the comedy has a pretty good track record at being attractive to the younger donor class. But now we've got these in-person events with the older groups that traditionally went. So we're expecting to see a much more blended audience. We will see as in-person things open up. So if you're grappling with that, I'm gonna tell you this, Steven, feel free to send me an email. Would love to schedule some time. We can brainstorm IDA over what that might look like. Again, as a mom raising a child who is very involved in our community and civically engaged, we're really being into global citizenry, but really looking at, I think too, as we continue to recover and move into the next stage, because we're not going back, I think we're all in agreement, that's not happening, is really, maybe there's an opportunity to continue the comedy for these younger demographics, because what I do worry about is the ticket price is not affordable for all demographics. So if there's, especially for those black tie galas, so if we're looking at maybe, we continue comedy or we continue doing some of these alternative virtual events or even in-person, but a smaller size or smaller ticket price, we can continue to steward that return on relationship with the younger donors and supporters that now have come into the organization, they've learned who we are, they've learned about the mission, they wanna be a part of it, but maybe they don't wanna go to that rubber chicken dinner. Sure, so what we are doing, and I will report back with successes soon, offering different tiers of tickets, right? We want, it's something that we work with a lot of alumni organizations and before the pandemic, typically what we would do is they have their junior alumni and their alumni, where the junior alumni has a certain price ticket and the regular alumni have a higher price ticket. The pay what you want type of model seems to be working. I know that different nonprofits and different demographics and different causes will have different results with the pay what you want model, but typically we'll just give suggested donation rates and call them something along those same lines of junior members, senior members, however you want. struggling college students. Exactly, because I mean, when it comes down to it, we wanna make people laugh, we wanna make an impact and in that order. And so as soon as we can get, if we just wanna fill a room and make an impact with the comedy show that we have fun doing, right? Absolutely. And if we price out 60% of a donor group, then we just, that's it. You missed it. That could be laughing with us. Yeah. Well, we are running close on time, so tell us how is talent hired and booked if you would be willing to dive into that with us here? Yeah, please go to U Street U S T R E A T dot com forward slash contact. We've got a landing page where you can fill out a form and just tell us a little bit about what you're trying to do and what we can do for you. Like I said throughout the show, name of the game has been infinite flexibility. So if you are just ideating new fundraising ideas, we'd love having the conversation and we'd love to chat about it. These shows have taken so many different forms and I'm sure that we can find a way to make people laugh and make an impact with y'all. Well, I love it. We have one of our raving fans. She joins us quite often. So I see you and I appreciate you joining us today. She says, I am definitely passing your info onto our Gala team as an animal welfare organization. We need to laugh with drinks. Sometime our Sarah McLaughlin cruelty stuff is horrid. Jen, X, Y, and Z want to donate for impact to exclamation point. Comedy could be our bridge. Our Gala will be in October. Stand by. We may be reaching out. Love to hear it. And I appreciate you being open to the opportunity. No, absolutely. This has been fantastic. So glad to have you on, Stephen. Again, Stephen Campbell, founder at U Street. Amazing guy, www.ustreet.com. Make sure you get that spelling correctly because you don't want to go to the other one. Actually, didn't try it, but you won't get it, Stephen, if you do. So thank you so much, Stephen. This has really been amazing. And of course, I'm Jarrett Ransom, the non-profit nerd CEO of the Raven Group. Julia Patrick will be back tomorrow. We, of course, want to thank our presenting sponsors without you. We would not have Stephen here talking to us about how we can bring levity into some of these serious social impact issues that are going on around the globe and how we can not only make donors laugh, but also help them to, as we say, pull out the checkbook. We want to get them to donate. So this is a wonderful opportunity. We do have another show. It's an episode. I'm not part of it, but Julia is. And then so is Jason Champion. It's called Fundraising Events TV. All things to do with fundraising. Stephen, maybe we can get you on for a sequel onto that one as what you do also pertains to fundraising events and what that might look like for our audience. So check that out. Wow, Stephen, I know I'm gonna reach out to you. I work with several clients around the nation and this is something that I think would be really important. And if you ever want to call me, we can ideate over how do we continue this multi-generational conversation with our audience? You reach out, it's been amazing. Yeah, thanks to all of you for joining us. Stephen, thanks you, thank you for joining us today and spending your time with us. We'll be back here tomorrow actually with an animal welfare organization. So make sure that you come back and join us tomorrow. Until then, stay well so you can do well. Thanks, everyone.