 We are so excited because today we are in New Orleans at the AFP icon 2023 conference. And what's really exciting is that we are in the Blumerangs booth. They are so generous. They are having us in their booth for the second time as we bring in all of the different people that we get to meet and to know at AFP icon. So thank you to our friends at Blumerang. I have to get my fingers right for letting us be in their booth. If any of you have ever done a conference, you know that real estate in a show floor is a prime. And so thank you, thank you, thank you to Blumerang. I have to get my fingers right, Jared. Anyway, thank you, thank you. Okay, before we get going, let us do a quick introduction. I'm Julia Patrick, she's Jared Ransom, the non-profit nerd. Thank you so much for bringing us back. We also want to thank all of our partners and sponsors. They include Blumerang, American Non-Profit Academy, Your Part Time Controller, Non-Profit Thought Leader, Fundraising Academy at National University, Staffing Boutique, Non-Profit Nerd, and Non-Profit Tech Talk. These are the people who allow us to come in to you and to visit with you every day. We're now in our fourth year of broadcasting. So thank you to our sponsors. If you want to find us, you can find us on our streaming platforms, podcast. And now on our new app, which is super cool. You can take a quick picture of this bar of the scan and you will connect with us on an app. So thank you to our team that worked so hard to get that done. Hey, Jared Ransom. Woo-hoo! Go, sister. Thank you, Julia. And yes, thank you, Blumerang, because they are so extremely generous. We're in real estate here at AFP conference 2023 here in Nolans as we had to share with Julia yesterday, right? So Ann, we are thrilled to have you here representing Blumerang yesterday for those of you who watch live or the recording on all of the platforms that Julia just shared. We had Josh on. And so Ann, I would love to hear from you, you know, really about the conference. What are you seeing? What is Blumerang seeing and hearing? You have an amazing team here. Tell us a little bit about what's percolating. Well, it's interesting. You know, one of the things that we're seeing, I've had a lot of conversations. I just had a really in-depth conversation with someone. The concept of the culture of philanthropy and what are we doing in our organizations to make sure that not just our fundraising team, but our leadership, our board, but our staff as well, there's work to be done. We did a study and there's a real opportunity to start to inject core values of it is all of our responsibilities to be able to make a case for support and to do I understand my role in the part of fundraising. And so culture of philanthropy, I think we've got a real opportunity there. You know, I love hearing that. I also echo that. I've heard it, you know, with clients that I work with and I would say what's percolating for me, not just here at the conference, but, you know, around town, if you will, are so many CEOs coming to say, I need help with my board. I need help with my leadership team. I need help with my, you know, teams to say, how do we all collectively build this culture of philanthropy? So that's important. And I am, you know, loving that that is still happening. And we're talking about it because we need to talk about it. You mentioned a study and I know that's something. Yeah, let's let's pull this up. Hold it up. That's a while back. We talked about a few of the little like sneak preview, but we've published the study and that's where within this study, there are six core themes that emerge when it comes to the fundraisers outlook for 2023. So we surveyed over a thousand small and mid-sized nonprofits. How did they feel about their goals? Can they meet their goals? Can they exceed their goals? And then what do they need? Right. And so there are, there are some major themes in here, but the culture of philanthropy really stands out because two of the six themes are around my leadership support. My leaders know how to fundraise. They help with fundraising. They feel they understand they have a role in fundraising as well as board support engagement. We've talked about board in the past, but it's still, it's a heavy theme. There are a lot of heads nodding this week about how do I gracefully ask the board to engage or maybe it's time to maybe change it up a little bit on the board. So where do we get our hands on this study? Well, you can go to bloomring.com and go ahead and download it. I'm going to like flip to a QR code. Oh, good. Perfect. So there is a, there is a QR code. So actually in the AFP deck, what we'll do is we'll get you a link and so that you're, you know, you can go ahead and share it with whomever you want to, but just go ahead and bloomring.com and you can find the study. We have all kinds of resources and articles and things available where you can get to this. So, you know, I feel like that's a topic, honestly, Ann, about the board engagement, the leadership team. It's not new, right? So how do we remove those barriers? Is that what the report is their recommendations in there? Well, there are recommendations. We actually talked about that in our session. So we had the opportunity to do an education session with a panel of experts to say, you know what, you may need to bring in the outside consultant. And, and we had a couple of consultants that said, hey, you know what, if you bring me in, I can be the bad person and share the hard news to say, you know what, it's time to engage. So there are about 20 percent of boards were not giving a gift at all. And it's not about how much our boards give, but it's the it's the psychological concept of a board of a board member giving what they can give, whatever that may be, it can be any size. It doesn't matter. It's the idea that everybody on my board gives that 100 percent participation. That's important. You know, and I hear often from boards, when we give of our time, OK, and we also need to say we have 100 percent, you know, perhaps time talent and treasure, which are the three T's that we we talk a lot about. I'm curious also, Ann, you know, the report beyond that report, what is new and what's coming maybe for Bloomerang that you can share? Well, one of the newer things is again, let's talk time talent and treasure for a minute, if I think I so one of the things. So Bloomerang has been really strong in donor relationship building, donor cultivation. How do we retain donors? How do we get them coming back? Sometimes we give not only with dollars, but we give a time. And so Bloomerang made an acquisition earlier this year in the volunteer management space. And so the idea of bringing, you know, donors and volunteers together in one system and being able to effectively, how do I build relationships with people? That's right. We're in the relationship business. And so we feel that it's important to expand that, you know, those relationship components. So that's one of the really big, exciting, you know, big needle mover when it comes to some of the things that we're working on. Yeah, that's a big splash. It is huge. Yeah. And Julia, you know, just looking at your face here for that, I'm so fortunate because I do have quite a few clients actually on the Bloomerang CRM system. And when you log in, you get the notification of the acquisition of the new platform and what that looks like. So, you know, for organizations, as we look at donors, it is that time talent and treasure, but it's also how do we move the needle from, you know, people giving up their time and of their money? How do we get people give up their money and of their time? Well, and that's, I mean, the key thing here is we want engagement and it can be all types of engagement. And when we can create, cultivate a valuable relationship over time that does open up the door for major gifts, other things, we can get involved in many, many different ways. And so we have a lot of customers right now who are entering into an early access program where they're raising their hand. And I'm excited to start to utilize the volunteer management software and bringing that all together because I realize all these interactions, all these touch points along the journey is going to be really powerful for organization. Yeah. And Julia, you remember, one of the things we talked about over the last three years, of course, is the, you know, the volunteer support and how many organizations we talk about 1.8 million registered in the U.S. rely on a heavy support of volunteers. And so having this platform, those layers of engagement, I think is just so important and will really strengthen those relationships. So how has it been? What I mean, what is it, a week, two weeks since it's gone live? A couple of weeks. Yeah. Yeah. A couple of weeks, maybe three, four, three, four weeks where we've been really, really active in terms of turning customers on with the software. So, but the company that the Bloomerang acquired is called InitLive. We're going to, it's really, really exciting. But what I want to just highlight is that in this kind of environment that we're in, there is a big concern. So the data on the report says, I'm really worried about my aging donor population. Right. And then the other theme, and it's, it's louder than it's ever been. The other piece is related to how do I bring in the new crop of donors, right? And volunteer is a beautiful way to do that. And that's where let's start to engage with younger generations that may not have as much at their disposal to give, but connecting, getting passionate about the mission and bringing them in. It's going to be a really important piece as we look at it from a fundraising perspective of how do I engage holistically with the community that's out there that cares about what we do? I'm smiling ear to ear because truly I got into the sector through volunteer engagement, you know, through being a volunteer as a young child. I really, you know, give that to my mom because she had us very civically involved. We didn't necessarily have the financial means, but we had the time and we also had the desire to connect with our community. So that's that's certainly a big one. So before we let you go and Josh shared and teased our nugget for where the conference will be next year. And I know Bloomerang will be there. I know Drumroll, Julia. So go ahead, tell us tell us what that looks like for next year. Two words. Oh, Canada. Wow, it's going to be in Toronto next year. Really exciting, little international travel for for many of us. So Toronto is an absolutely wonderful city to go to. So I highly encourage if you've never been to an AFP icon, make next year your year. Yeah, I agree. Make next year your year. If you have a passport that might be, you know, ending soon, looking at that deadline, get it renewed. Definitely pay attention to your expiration on your passports. Mike Geiger was over here earlier this morning was sharing that actually the AFP icon communications will start really sharing that communication about your passports and their requirements for travel. So I love that. Two words. Oh, Canada. And thank you. It has been fantastic. And again, thank you for all that you do here, you know, in the sector and everywhere. So I appreciate you being here. Well, thank you. It's just it's a real pleasure to support this sector. We appreciate the opportunity. All right. Well, thank you. So before we bring on our next guest, I'm really excited to share that one of our previous guests, Julia, that we've had on Cindy Wagman, who is from Toronto and happened to be the one sharing that what she wants to do next year is to have like a debrief day. And so I'm really excited for that. But she shared with me this book and there is, of course, you know, a book nook, if you will, an AFP book nook. And this is one of those and it's talking about collecting courage, joy, pain, freedom and love. And so it really is about people of color in the fundraising practice. And so I wanted to share this and highlight this book. There's also so very, so very many, you know, to look at the book nook is always fun. John Lep. Right. We've had him on John Lep. He's here with his book. He's got a fantastic, yeah, fantastic booth and everything looks great. But so next up, I want to invite Fundraising Academy at National University. So I'm going to bring both Pearl in and Faith. So here come these ladies. Hi, Julia. Hi, Julia. It's good to see you. Good to see you. So we're really excited to have them, as you can tell, right? Like so many familiar faces, friendly faces as well. And it's just been fantastic. So Jack Alotto, we saw him as well, LaShonda. So really glad to have both Pearl and Faith with us today. But I'd love to ask both of you. You've been attending sessions, is that right? And you've also been presenting on some sessions. So tell us about what you presented on. You want to start? Yeah, sure. So we had two sessions and one was on Digital Fundraising and the other one was on Fundraising Action Planning. So, yeah, LaShonda and Jack did a incredible job. We were really grateful to be here and be a part of ICON. I love that. And I got to sit with them yesterday at lunch and hear about the session, the questions from the session, the engagement and interaction. So it's been really cool to hear. What about you, Pearl? It was so much fun. It's always at ICON wonderful to see our trainers just shine and especially to see, like you said, the really great questions and the learning, the shared learning, because you can have a great presentation and then that discussion that happens after where peers are sharing with each other. So it was just wonderful to see the inspiration. We got to see Misty Copeland. It was a really wonderful experience here at ICON. Misty was not at our session, though I would have loved that, just to clarify. She was the opening for ICON. Yeah. Yeah. She was the opening and the closing actually is Emeril, right? Famous chef. And all I can think of when I hear Emeril is, bam, right on cue, Julia. Yeah. Well, tell us a little bit more about what you're seeing and hearing here on the conference floor. I always love and what I shared last year, Julia, was, you know, this is a tech forward conference with a fundraising focus. And I love seeing the tech. I love seeing the adoption of the tech, the adaptation, AI, of course, artificial intelligence. In fact, we went and spoke with a booth yesterday about AI. But what else are you ladies seeing and hearing? As I asked Ann for a blooming, like what's percolating? Completely agree with you that the AI and the tech and seeing it become more feasible and doable for fundraisers. I think just even a few years ago, we would talk about tech as this futuristic thing that if you don't have an expert, you can't implement it. But what I'm seeing when talking to all the vendors first, a lot of collaboration between the different vendors and really to support fundraisers at a holistic level, but the fact that they make AI usable and easy with a click of a button so that we can actually leverage these tools to increase revenue, connect with our donors in a way that's authentic while utilizing AI to scale our impact. So just inspiring. Yeah, you know, you sound a lot like Josh yesterday, which I love because it really it does. It reiterates the fact that tech is becoming an advanced tech. It's becoming more accessible, more accessible, more palatable, more a little bit more comprehensible, I think, you know, for the smaller organizations. And as we know, again, 1.8 million nonprofits registered in the US, the majority of them are smaller organizations. So absolutely. And the fact, like you said, that it's accessible to those smaller nonprofits allows them to stay in the game and support their causes. Even if they don't have multiple, you know, multiple people on staff, that huge budget. So it's very inspiring. Yeah, it's really inspiring. Faith, I'm going to put you on the spot here. I'm curious. Is this your first AFP icon? It is. It really is. It's been so exciting. Yeah, tell us what that's like for you, because I know there's thirty seven hundred people here, actually, as as attendees. And so you're one of the newbies, which I love. So what does it look like from a first timers lens? It's been an overwhelming, but powerful experience. It's been amazing to meet so many new people and see the great work that's being done all around the globe here. Just amazing topics that are available for each session. I, you know, people can't you can't even just focus on one session. Sometimes some people are walking away and going to a different session halfway through to make sure that they can enjoy everything that's available. Yeah, I've met some incredible folks and and learned a lot. So I'm, yeah, very excited. Yeah, I'm grateful. Yeah, I love hearing that because it's so much going on here. As we said, you know, there really is thirty seven hundred people, tons of sessions. Like if we could clone ourselves and be at all of them, I think we would. You know, there's just so many choices, so many great choices. What about you? Because this is not your first conference, right? It's not my first conference. Actually, it was five years ago here in New Orleans. So it's kind of coming back full circle. My first icon, yes, I have to say the number of sessions to choose from. It's someone who has trouble making decisions. It is very challenging, but it is very cool. The culture this year is that you leave halfway and you go to another session and still get that value. So that speaks to the impact of the presenters able to hold someone's attention, even if they come halfway through. And by the way, they've recorded everything. So what's nice is you don't have to be for Miami and have a time turner. You can actually go back and watch the recordings of the sessions you missed. But yeah, yeah, that is fantastic. And what I love to, Julia, as you heard, the fundraising academy, you know, many of them presented yesterday, multiple sessions. If you have multiple, we had two sessions. We also sponsored the emerging leader reception. We had probably two hundred emerging leaders come. Most of them excited to see Jack Alotto. There's the FRE trainer. But one thing I've noticed this year and I also noticed last year was people are grateful to be back together in person and it feels it feels safe. People are really respectful of each other. But there's just this feeling of joy to be back together and to remember that we have this huge community around the globe of people who are going through similar things that we're going through. That's a great point. And, you know, also the connections from here, because I feel like I'm still riding on high from last year's conference, you know? And here we are again at a second year. We get to double dip and I just feel like, you know, the wave just gets bigger and bigger and it's really cool to see because you're right. Last year, we were also glad to be back in person. We were massed. So there was, you know, some some barriers for that. But then also looking at this year, you know, it is. It is hugs galore. It is, you know, how close can we get? Because we've, you know, seen each other here in the box. So it's been a lot of fun. And I have to ask, will the two of you be going to Toronto? We better be. Yes, I would love to. Yes, absolutely. Yeah, very excited for Toronto. And before we leave, I also want to share our asked you to share one of you to share what's happening in June. I know you knew that was coming, right? Because there's something else exciting. Yes, very exciting. We have a full day fundraising conference on June 1st. The wonderful Jarrett will be coming to speak. Bloomerang will be coming to speak as well and some incredible speakers from around the country. What we're doing is we're bringing folks together, emerging leaders and executive nonprofit leaders to really think about how can your fundraisers have impact and really bring in those amazing donors to their cause. And then as leaders, how can you create those safe, inclusive spaces that allow your fundraisers to thrive? So very excited. Full day, $99. But if you use the code community, you can register at $79. Full day conference in San Diego. Can't wait to see you. Yeah, yeah, I'm excited for that. So Bloomerang will be there as well. It'll be another reunion. So that's going to be fun. Faith, you've got a big piece in this Cultivate Conference as well. And I'm really excited to hear about that. So what are some of the things that you're doing to support the success of this inaugural conference? Yes. Well, I'm just happy to coordinate the Logistics for our event. Help support our presenters in setting up our lineup. Pearl wants me to introduce some of our emerging leaders, which would be very exciting. So yeah. It'll be great. Are you pulling some ideas? Are there certain things that both of you are seeing here saying, oh, this is something that we need to replicate at Cultivate? Oh, absolutely. And by the way, Faith is doing a lot more than that. Oh, I know. Yes, OK. Just wanted to share that. Faith is the glue for this conference. But yes, just seeing how the connection that has been facilitated here so easily, we want to be sure that we do the same things. So that people come. Learning is important. But the connections that you create are lasting impact. And by the way, Ken Miller will be our keynote. Yeah, at the conference. Tell us more about Ken Miller for those of our viewers and our listeners that might not be familiar with Ken. Ken has a beautiful story. And gosh, I don't even know where to start. He has an incredible history as a Dartmouth grad, a three-time convicted felon. And just the contradiction there he talks about, you can't make assumptions about people based on their past lives. And you can learn in your life there's so many ways to learn about how to be a part of this world. So he is a fundraising consultant. He's on the board of AFP Global. I believe he's one of the co-founders of the African-American Development Association, but development officers, African-American Development Officers, AADO, an incredible organization. He's just, he's doing good in the world and he's ensuring there's representation in the fundraising sector using his platform to really do that. So we can't wait to have him there. Yeah, I love that. And if you don't have this book, you should absolutely get it. But I was just sharing, collecting courage, really talking about people of color in the fundraising world, in the sector, what that looks like. And so it's really great. Well, Julia, it's so much fun. I keep looking at our clock here, but I wanna thank both of you, Pearl and Faith from National University Fundraising Academy. Do look in to cultivate that conference coming up in San Diego. I mean, who doesn't wanna be in San Diego in June? So June 1, full day conference and I use that code community to take advantage of the promo. So thank you both for joining us. Thanks for having us in its fundraising dash academy slash cultivate. Perfect. Thank you so much for having us, Jared and Julia. Thanks, Jared. Bye, Julia. Bye. Thanks, ladies. Wow, as you can tell, there's just so much going on here and so much also to look forward to, right? Like, there's not often at a conference that we can say, hey, join us in another country. But before you join us in that country, join us in California. So it's just, there's a lot going on. And like I said, honestly, I still feel like I'm riding high from last year's icon in Las Vegas. And so just to keep this momentum going, I'm also really excited, Julia, because we will have so many amazing passionate speakers and guests coming on the show. That is a big piece. Yeah, that is a big piece of my presence here, is what does that representation look like? What are the topics? What are these things that we need to be talking about and bringing to the nonprofit show for all of our viewers across the globe? So there's a lot, a lot to discuss. I love it. Well, Jared, thank you so much for being in New Orleans. You have done a great job. Thank you, thank you, thank you. It's been wonderful. Again, AFP icon 2023, le bon temps. It's been amazing, amazing. I'm Julia Patrick, she's Jared Ransom, and we are so thrilled that you have been with us for another episode of the nonprofit show. We wanna thank all of our sponsors, Blumerang, American Nonprofit Academy, Fundraising Academy at National University who just joined us, nonprofit thought leader, your part-time controller, staffing boutique, nonprofit nerd, and nonprofit tech talk. These are the people who are with us day in and day out, and they help support our sector. So thank you, thank you, thank you. And a big thank you to Jared Ransom, the nonprofit nerd. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Jared. Thank you. It's been a lot of fun. It has, it's been a lot of fun. As we end every episode of the nonprofit show, we want to remind ourselves, our viewers, our listeners to stay well so you can do well. Thank you, Jared. Muah!