 and welcome. We are so glad that you're spending your love day with us today. It's another episode of The Nonprofit Show. Thrilled to have with us a Bloomerang representative, Lisa Gonzalez, and Lisa serves as the senior product and marketing manager with Bloomerang. She's here to talk about falling in love and keeping your most generous donors. So Lisa's got some great insight that she's going to share with us. But before we pass the mic, we like to remind all of you who we are if we haven't had the opportunity to meet you quite yet. So Julia, you are here looking fantastic on this Valentine's Day. Julia Patrick, CEO of the American Nonprofit Academy, and I'm Jarrett Ransom, your non-profit nerd and CEO of the Raven Group. We are so very honored to have the continued support of these amazing sponsors. They pour their love into us and we get to pour our love into all of these conversations. Shout out of gratitude to Bloomerang, American Nonprofit Academy, Nonprofit Thought Leader, Fundraising Academy at National University, where Lisa and I met last year. We'll look forward to seeing you again this year. 180 Management Group, your part-time controller, Staffing Boutique, JMT Consulting, Nonprofit Nerd, and Nonprofit Tech Talk. So we are so honored to have the continued support from these sponsors. They allow us these conversations and if you missed any of our previous episodes, we've got you covered. So go ahead and scan that QR code. You can download the app. You can also still find us on broadcast and podcast channels. So wherever you like to stream at your entertainment, go ahead and queue up the Nonprofit Show. Though Julia, we're still working on that hologram, aren't we? Yeah, but you know, it does freak me out because you can speak into your smart remote. Like during the Super Bowl and we will come up, it is super kooky. We're not quite usher, but you know, we're still a lot of fun. Roller skating around, whipping our shirts off. Yeah, with our roller skates. Well, Lisa, we are thrilled to have you join us today and again for all of our viewers and listeners around the globe. Today we have a representative from Bloomerang. Her name is Lisa Gonzalez, where she serves as the Senior Product Marketing Manager at Bloomerang. Welcome to you, Lisa. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to talk about this topic today. Yeah. You know, this is one of those things that I think so many people just are like, if we can just find the wealthy people in our community, all our problems will be solved, right? And it's, I mean, it's shocking how much you hear this in the boardrooms, even within organizations. It's just like this, go to, if wishes were fishes, we'd all have a fry kind of mentality. And I'm really excited to kind of have you talk to us about this. But let's start off with identifying the anatomy of a generous donor. Today is the day of love. We're talking about hearts. Yeah, I love it. Jared's got the heart thing cooking. What does this look like? And what does this even mean? Yeah. So I guess when I am looking at a donor, I look at three things and I break it down into a mental model that's really easy to understand. And that is, is a donor ready, willing and able. So we're talking about, are they ready? Are they engaged? Are they highly involved? Are they responding to your emails coming to your events? That would make them highly engaged. If they're willing, are they giving? Do they have a history or track record of giving? Basically, their generosity. And so that's really the secret here. And able is that wealth capacity. So I like to say just because someone's wealthy, doesn't mean they're generous. They can have a lot of money, but they're just not givers. And the people that you want to look for are both generous and wealthy. And those ready, willing and able kind of comprise that perfect donor that you want to focus on. Yeah, I appreciate that so much. And I love Julia because how many times have we heard, throughout our careers, and I'm putting all of us in this conversation, well, so-and-so lives in our community and they have lots of money. Let's just call them. And essentially what I hear is, let's call them to solve all our problems. And it's like, just because this person has money, trust me, they're on a lot of people's lists, and they get approached by a lot of different people and organizations. But that to me is the absolute worst and wrong way to go about it. Yeah, but we hear it all the time. All the time. And it's got to be exhausting for those people because everybody's saying that. Yeah. I get really tired when people say that about me. I know, I feel badly, but you know, you know how to talk about this content then today. So let's get into the secrets of a savvy fundraiser then, Lisa, because when we're talking about this and kind of coming to the wealth market from a different point of view, talk to us about personalization and segmentation. Sure. I think we need to start out with sort of, you know, what are the attributes of your segment. So you have those ideal donors that are, they have high generosity, high engagement, so they're giving a lot, they're already involved. Those are the people that you should be targeting right away. But there are three other segments that are super valuable that I think that people intend to overlook. And one of those is high generosity, low engagement. So I like to call those prospective patrons. So those are the people who are, might be giving, you know, pretty regularly, but they don't have that hands on engagement. They don't have a lot of interaction with your organization. And those are people who could actually be cultivated into an ideal or major donor. So think about those people, if you bring them to your events, if you bring, give them a tour of your facility, take them on a ride along, you know, with your cause, it's been proven that when people have that firsthand interaction, it releases those joy chemicals. And so when we think about like that connection, having that firsthand interaction really like makes them more connected to your cause. And it increases their engagement. And so those people, you can cultivate them into an ideal deal or major donor. Then there are those people who are maybe low generosity, high engagement. And that's not to say that they're not generous, but maybe they're just not giving as much as they potentially could. So think about your volunteers. You might have volunteers who have hands on every single day, they're having those connections, those fantastic love hormones, posting through their body, but you just maybe have them ask them to give. And they might not have a lot of gifts to give, but we find that there are people who don't necessarily have a lot of money, you know, a lot of income, but they're highly generous when it comes to those missions that they're very passionate about. So we see people give quite a bit of their income when they're passionate about animals. So think about those people and cultivating them into maybe monthly donors. So think about if you had a thousand donors that you could get even $5 a month out of what a transformational impact that could have on your organization. So they might not ever be a major donor, but they could, you know, create a really nice new revenue stream that you might not have considered before. And then my favorite one, the one that I think people tend to overlook is low generosity, low engagement. So I'll tell you a personal story about my experience. Sorry, my dog is deciding she doesn't want to be with me anymore. So there are two organizations that I'm very passionate about here in San Diego. And one, I've had a connection with my family for a long, long time, and I give pretty regularly to them. But they never reach out and say, thank you. I, in fact, I don't even know if they got my donation or if they even appreciate it. And then, you know, if you've ever had a friend who says, you know what, I'm doing this fundraiser, it's for my birthday, but you're not really connected with the cause. And I'm like, you know what, I want to support my friend. I don't know about the cause, but you know, I'm going to do it for my friend. Well, this particular organization thanked me in such a way that I was like, wow, I felt really valued and it made me feel good inside. And the more I gave, the more they thanked me, the more they, you know, said, told me, they sent me these heartfelt videos about like how much my donation meant. And then they were like, hey, do you want to maybe come and like check out some of our events? And I was like, I totally do. So those are people that could be cultivated into volunteers if you just reach out to them in the right way and make them feel valued. So those are kind of the four segments. We call this a generosity quadrant and a way that you can engage those different segments of people and cultivate them into, you know, someone who volunteers or gives even more to your organization. So that's what I think about when I'm thinking about segmentation. Yeah. Lisa, thank you for those. I love them and that there's they were so opposite. Can we get a little nerdier? I want to talk about this generosity quadrant and I again, I've been so honored, blessed, privileged to have my hands on a lot of end of a lot of organizations donor bases. And I also look at soft credits because I see that there's some donors that they themselves may not give at a high dollar amount. But holy heck, the amount of influence that they have on soliciting, securing, galvanizing support is just off the charts, right? And it's like, I will see a soft credit report from one donor where maybe they gave a small amount, but the list is like, you know, it looks like a CVS receipt. It just goes on and on and on. Can you talk to us about the generosity from individuals when they are willing to tap into their own networks? Oh, sure. So those people, you know, it's interesting because just people who I'm trying to think of how to put this, it's not always about the dollar sign. It's about those people who have influence about the people around them that are sort of these people who are very passionate. And they're kind of those people that they say, I got this really cool thing. They're kind of the go to person when you're like, Hey, I want to know something. But they have the opportunity or they have the charisma, I guess, to galvanize the people around them. And I would put them in those kind of passionate champions because they're not, they're not giving a lot, but they, they are. They're inspiring people to give. And so we call those people kind of super supporters, those people who really have a passion for your organization and that are willing to spread the word and be advocates and just be a representative and pull people in. So, Jared, let me ask you this question. How do you, what are you tracking? And how is that tracked? Because that's a little, you know, it's not hard data to the extent I agree with you, Jared, 100%. These are the champions that, that bring in major impact. But, but what is, what is it that you think is best tracked with that type of a person? Well, I think it goes back really, you know, to the Benavon model, which I'm sure all of us here and many of our viewers and listeners know it as well. And it really is that champion, whether it's an event and it's a board member typically that serves as the host of the table. And then they invite people to attend the event for free. Those individuals start making a donation, an entry point donation, and therefore maybe they have a similar experience to Lisa. They are so wowed. They felt so appreciated for their gift and they continue to give. So the soft credit takes a little extra elbow grease, but it is worth all the elbow grease, I believe, you know, that, that it takes to, to capture that data and then to be able to pull it because then you can say to this individual, your gift of X amount and your influence of X amount, right? Like it's just exponential in some of these individuals. But that seems really hard to track. That's really hard to quantify. You don't think so? Not at all. Okay. No, not once you put your best, your best practice in, right? And it's just part of your SOP, your standard operating procedure. Once you understand it, then it's just, it's habit. Okay, good. Because I think it's a really something we miss. It's often missed, but it, it doesn't have to be. And it's a very, I think it's an easy fix. Cool. It's, it's a really, it's an interesting thing. I mean, Lisa, you see that too. I've got to believe that there are a lot of people, it's like you hear about the, the school teacher, the school librarian that passes away and they give, you know, 3.7 million dollars to. Yeah. So, I mean, it's, it's, it's not all about what we think, but it is about that, that prosperity model and thinking about, you know, how we cultivate that. And it's a fine. There was actually a situation here at Bloomerang where we saw this volunteer was volunteering very regularly and no one thought because they weren't donating. They were not, you know, giving small amounts every month. No one thought that they were very generous. And once they looked in some of the, their, you know, giving history, that person ended up giving a quite a substantial amount to the organization. And that was like, one of the things where I was talking to ourselves and was like, can you see the value of just looking at people who don't appear to be wealthy, but they're very, very generous. And you look at that by looking at like, have they given organizations such as yours, you know, in high amounts, you can see that in some of the data that we look at here at Bloomerang. So that generosity is really the key. Like just because they're wealthy doesn't mean they're generous. And just because they're not giving a lot doesn't mean they're not willing. So that ready, willing, enable, are they engaged? Are they, they have a history of giving and do they have a wealth capacity is really like a model that I think that people can understand and remember. Yeah, I love it. I think it's a really smart way to look at this. And I think it's a holistic way to look at it as well. And I think also, you know, it gets you away from what Jared said, if we can just get that one person, they're going to solve all of our problems. Yeah, it might be, it might be, you know, a group of passionate champions, you know, you might get more monthly donors. And that could, that could be your, your big push for the year, you know, and it's a more predictable revenue stream for your organization as well. So think about that, like major donors might give one, one or two big ones to think about, like, how to sustain that throughout the year and throughout your years as an organization and making sure that you have that predictable revenue stream that you need to reliably deliver your programs. Absolutely. That, that forecasted cash flow, the sustainer donor has become very popular, right? Like that model, as you just mentioned, Lisa, is really where I feel a lot of organizations are pushing the generosity, even to the point of having those big donors give throughout, you know, other parts of the year, not just Q4, where they tend to, you know, make the donation, but we need those donations throughout every single month. And so how could we even change our narrative about, you know, the generosity and, and, and how can we use their dollars, you know, throughout the year? All of this, you know, the savvy fundraiser is thinking about that. Yeah. And think about, you know, you don't have to start them out at $25 a month. If you could just give them, you know, $5 a month, like, I think everybody could say, I could afford that. And then throughout the year, you might, you know, ask them for an increase. The other trend that I'm seeing with a lot of nonprofits right now is a lot of federal funding is being taken away. Like that pool is shrinking. And so a lot of organizations are not even considering how to diversify their revenue stream. They haven't even thought about tapping donors or like, what does that even look like? So one of the trends that we're seeing here at Bloomerang is a lot of those federal funds drying up and people not knowing what to do. And it's really sad. And we have such a, you know, it's not hard to do. Just start getting, getting people just to give a little bit a month and start growing your base and tapping those, those passionate advocates and just growing your base so that you have once again, that predictable revenue stream and different ways of getting sustaining your organization. Right. Absolutely. I'll add that today for Valentine's Day, right? I took a little extra elbow grease and for one organization, all of their monthly donors, I sent a personal Valentine's message and I looked at them. I looked at the amount and you are spot on Lisa. There are several giving it $5, but still this personal customized message today where it's not a bombarded day of, you know, Thanksgiving, Christmas, which is typical the bombarding days or Tuesday, right? Things like that. It's like a little different day to spread some love and just to say thank you for your generosity. Absolutely. And you can make up your own holiday too, you know? I mean, like you mentioned, Giving Tuesday is just such a big focus for a lot of people. But like, what about just making up your own holiday and giving like saying, Hey, can you give five bucks today and see what that does for your organization? It could be a fun little bump for the year, couple times a year maybe. I love it. Let's talk a little bit about, you know, this concept of wealth screening. I probably get a pitch once, sometimes twice a week, different companies that offer this that, you know, want to demo their products that feel like they can help unlock this treasure chest of information. What does this look like and why should we not be stymied and just so dependent upon yet again this concept? Yeah, I think, I think there's a tendency, like you mentioned, to just think about people who have a lot of wealth capacity. But without looking at those generosity factors, like it really doesn't matter. So when we think about how to look at generosity, we look at things like, are they giving to organizations like yours? Are they giving period? Are they even giving? And if they're not giving, thank you, have a nice day. But really look at those people who do have a track record of giving even a little bit and understanding like we can look at data here at Boomerang and say, oh, they've given $10,000 to educate them, but they really give a lot more to, you know, animals or seniors. Or what are those places where they give and focus on where they're giving generously to organizations like yours? Yeah, can we go back and maybe for some of our viewers and listeners, they're not clear on what wealth screening is. Can you give us a little broad description, narration around, you know, what wealth screening is and maybe even why we in the nonprofit sector care? Yeah, so wealth screening can comprise a lot of things. There's a lot of databases that are, and I just want to make clear, most of those databases are publicly available information. You can find that on the internet. Those wealth screening companies are just aggregating that data for you. So there's no invasion of privacy. There's nothing to be afraid like, oh, I'm prying into someone. It's all publicly available. But they look at things like what are their, you know, what kind of real estate do they own? Are they, you know, an investor in a corporation? What are all those data points that tell someone that they're wealthy? So it's more about looking at the things that people own rather than the ways people give. Right. Yeah. No, thank you. And in particular, the Blumerang CRM has two layers. We have a generosity scale, if that's what it's called, and it tells us who's hot, warm, cold. There used to be report who's hot, who's not. I think that report might be gone, but there's something similar to that. So there's that level which really helps to capture the engagement of the person. So going back earlier to our conversation with you, Lisa, the quadrant, right? Like to capture the engagement. And then there's a wealth screening connected. And I don't know if that's with all versions, Lisa. Yes. Okay. So the great thing about Blumerang is if you never pay for any additional data enrichment, at every level you purchase, it comes with predictive giving insight. So predictive giving insight is that combination of engagement rating, which you mentioned, it's cool, hot, on fire, and generosity. And those are ratings that people can really relate to. So when we say cool, that means like, they're probably not giving a lot. But if you have someone with an engagement rating of hot or on fire, and someone with a generosity rating of hot or on fire, those are the people that you should focus on. And we call that combination of engagement plus generosity is the predictive giving insight. And there is. So to make it super easy, we have a report. You don't have to do anything. You just, you can look up at someone's profile and go, oh, they have hot and warm. That's nice. But how do you get that at scale? Easy. You go into the report, there's already a template pre-built, you say, you're, you know, hottest donors, you click on it, and it will generate a list for you. And those are the people you can start with. Like we make it so easy, you can do it in 30 seconds and start calling those people or create a campaign that specialized, you know, speaking to them the way they want to be spoke to. So you're going to want to talk to ideal or major donors very differently than you're going to want to talk to those passionate champions. So we make it very easy to get to focus on the right people so that you can spend your time on this outreach and calling the right people or creating campaigns, you know, big campaigns if you have a gala coming up. One of the things I heard at one of the conferences I attended was like, you know, we invite these people to the gala and they end up spending 10 bucks sitting in the back room going, oh, I have the answer. I have the answer. And if they would just run a report like that, they would have their invitation lists. Like those are the people you want to invite to your gala. So if any of you have gala season coming up seriously, we make it so easy to curate that list for you. It takes 30 seconds and you're going to get such better results just by focusing on people who have high generosity and high engagement. Lisa, I think you just got an invite back and that episode is about creating your gala invitation list. Yes, absolutely. I know I see it coming up and I was like, we have such a great solution for that that makes it easy from everything from, you know, one to many campaigns. And then, you know, once those people, you identify those people, they come to your gala, they've given, now you want to have one to one conversations. How do you make sure that you have all the information you need to prevent the right opportunities? And we can talk about that in the next session if you like. I would love to come back. Absolutely. Well, I think it's a really interesting thing that a lot of times we see organizations don't have this realization, to use that word again, until after the event, after they've done all this work, they've spent all this money, they've burned their teams out, they've gone through their volunteers, and then they're like, wow, what happened? And so I really think this is a critical thing. And again, it's the same thing. If we can just get the wealthiest people from our community in the ballroom, you know, Katie, bar the door. Yeah. Or even invite those advocates, like they're magic. They are like you mentioned. Yeah. Absolutely. Well, Lisa, thank you for spending your Valentine's Day with us. My pleasure. Thank you so much for having me. I love talking about this all day long. Yeah. And I'm going to drop it to your wedding anniversary. So thank you. Oh, thank you. Yeah. And I'll be an AFP icon. If anyone's going to AFP icon, stop by the Bloomerang booth and say hi. And I can, we're going to have some sessions where we talk about this. I'll also be at some shows here in San Diego. If anyone's in San Diego, I would love to meet you in person. It'd be awesome. Thank you. Yeah. Love it. Well, Lisa Gonzales, Senior Product Marketing Manager for Bloomerang, check out bloomerang.com. One of the things that is, I think, something that Jared and I really appreciate about Bloomerang and our relationship is that it's not always about them. They really do a lot of thought leadership. They give a lot of information that's delivered on their amazing website. You do not have to be a client of theirs to get access to amazing training modules, amazing information, best practices, the things that are going on now that will help your nonprofit organization. Again, bloomerang.com. And Lisa, yeah, we got to have you come back and talk specifically about who is in the room, not just filling the room, but who is in the room when you're looking at your gala. Again, I'm Julia Patrick, CEO of the American Nonprofit Academy, been joined today by the nonprofit nerd herself, Jared R. Ransom, CEO of the Raven Group. Again, we have, I'm going out of control. We have amazing partners and they include nonprofit thought leader, American Nonprofit Academy, Bloomerang, Fundraising Academy at National University, 180 management group, your part-time controller, staffing boutique, nonprofit tech talk, nonprofit nerd herself. I was ready. I was ready. You got the glasses going, sister. And JMT Consulting. These folks stand by us day in and day out and do amazing things. And they are our champions. And so we are so very appreciative. You know, we sign out every day with the same mantra. And today is a day filled of love and gratitude and all things in that direction, love and passion for our nonprofits. And so we leave everyone with this message. And that is to stay well, so you can do well. Lisa, Jared, thank you so much, ladies. It's been a delight. Thank you, ladies, so much for having me.