Speakers

Over the span of 900+ fundraising events, Reggie and the Gala Team have developed best practices about what works and what doesn’t. Join Reggie to learn simple fixes you can deploy at your next event, including proven strategies that will help you unlock the power of your paddle raise and optimize your gala for fundraising success.

Key Takeaways:

• Eliminate simple, yet costly mistakes.
• Discover solutions that are easy to implement.
• Set yourself up to raise more money than ever before.

Unlock the secrets to capturing the hearts of Millennials and Gen Z in this dynamic learning session. Based on cutting-edge market research, discover how different generations choose to give and what inspires their philanthropy. Dive into strategies that blend innovation, authenticity, and digital savvy to create fundraising campaigns that resonate with younger audiences. Learn how to ensure your nonprofit not only attracts their attention but also wins their lasting support.

Key Takeaways:

• Understand the unique giving preferences of Millennials and Gen Z by exploring key insights from recent market research.
• Learn to craft compelling and authentic storytelling techniques that resonate with the values and interests of younger generations, increasing engagement and connection.
• Develop practical strategies and innovative approaches to leverage digital platforms and trends, transforming your nonprofit’s fundraising efforts into an appealing and impactful experience for Millennials and Gen Z donors.

Are you thinking about digital marketing but unsure where to start? Join Aidan Augustin as he discusses navigating the world of digital engagement for nonprofit success in 2024. Amidst the noise, nonprofits struggle to reach their audience and leave a lasting impression. This session delves into tailored digital marketing and fundraising strategies designed to help nonprofits achieve their goals.

Drawing inspiration from real-life triumphs, uncover how Feathr empowers nonprofits to implement omnichannel approaches for tangible digital fundraising outcomes. Whether you’re aiming to attract fresh supporters, deepen existing connections, or amplify your online impact, this session serves as your definitive roadmap to success.

Key Takeaways:

• Explore the latest digital trends shaping the sector and unveil innovative tactics to maximize impact.
• Discover how to engage today’s easily distracted donors and ensure your message resonates effectively.
• Gain practical insights into optimizing digital advertising, email marketing, and search strategies for heightened donor engagement and acquisition.

Embark on an inspiring workshop tailored for fundraisers seeking heightened donor engagement. In this specialized session, participants will explore the profound impact of embracing novel experiences, specifically within the context of donor relations, painting a vibrant tapestry of joy in philanthropy.

Benson, who has expertise in the science of happiness and donor engagement strategies, will guide attendees through unlocking the secrets to infusing each donor interaction with radiance, forging a path toward more fulfilling and exuberant connections. Join her in celebrating the extraordinary power of unique encounters, strategically designed to transform donor relationships from ordinary into an extraordinary masterpiece of happiness and philanthropic success.

Key Takeaways:

• Evidence-based strategies for incorporating unique experiences into your fundraising strategies.
• Understand the science behind novelty and personal development.
• Describe the tangible and exciting ways to amplify your fundraising through experiences and uniqueness.

Join us for an insightful panel discussion on the essential fundraising trends that every nonprofit should be aware of to ensure future success. Our expert panelists will provide valuable insights and practical strategies to help you navigate the evolving landscape of fundraising to stay ahead of the curve and maximize your nonprofit’s impact.

“Please put on your oxygen mask before helping others.” We’ve all heard this before, well, this session IS your oxygen mask. Join Clay Buck as he explores how the human side of fundraising has changed in recent years and how to respond to these upheavals.

We have faced more than a pandemic; we have faced racial and social injustice, the great resignation, civil conflict, working from our living rooms, and much more. Regardless of how we perform the tasks and execute strategies, fundraising is a relationship-based profession. Choosing ourselves as much as we choose to serve others is essential. Using the framework of Recognize, Reveal, and Reframe, Clay will build a model for attendees to follow and build upon. During this interactive session, complete with a workbook, you will connect with Clay over common experiences that will help guide positive future outcomes.

Key Takeaways:

• Recognize external factors and individual stressors that contribute to fundraising burnout.
• Reveal personal motivations and articulate them to fundraising and internal audiences.
• Reframe your personal focus and craft a path to success.

In a world where social media trends come and go in the blink of an eye, nonprofits must adopt a long-term strategy to thrive in the ever-changing digital landscape. However, the third sector faces unique challenges in maintaining a long-term social media strategy that drives sustainable impact.

In this session, Julia Campbell and Josh Hirsch will address the specific needs of nonprofits and provide practical insights on developing a social media strategy that aligns with long-term goals. They’ll explore strategies, techniques, and best practices that empower nonprofits to navigate short-term trends while fostering meaningful connections with donors and supporters.

Key Takeaways:

• Gain a comprehensive understanding of the importance of a long-term social media strategy in the nonprofit sector.
• Learn to identify and prioritize long-term goals, ensuring sustainability in the ever-evolving digital landscape.
• Acquire practical insights and techniques to navigate short-term social media trends effectively.
• Learn best practices tailored to the unique challenges faced by nonprofits in maintaining a sustainable social media strategy.

Join us for an insightful panel discussion on the essential fundraising trends that every nonprofit should be aware of to ensure future success. Our expert panelists will provide valuable insights and practical strategies to help you navigate the evolving landscape of fundraising to stay ahead of the curve and maximize your nonprofit’s impact.

Learn how AI and digital fundraising are changing the landscape of fundraising in the nonprofit sector. As more organizations are exploring AI and technology to find new donors, reach younger audiences, create engagement opportunities, and save time and money to exceed fundraising campaigns, board members have a responsibility to think about ethical considerations, accountability, and strategic integration of AI in organizational operations.

Key Takeaways:

• Learn how to position AI and digital fundraising and oversee its ethical use ensuring fairness, transparency, and data privacy.
• Discover how to use AI in messaging, storytelling, and marketing to make it easy and fun for donors to engage in the life of your organization.
• Define metrics and methods to evaluate the impact of AI implementation.

Are you ready to transform your fundraising approach and unlock the power of strong, intentional relationships? Join us for a dynamic and engaging workshop designed to revolutionize the way you connect with your donors.

In this workshop, you’ll learn how to shift from traditional transactional fundraising to a consultative, relationship-driven approach. We’ll explore the principles of consultative selling and demonstrate how putting people first can lead to deeper connections and greater donor loyalty. By understanding and aligning with your donors’ motivations, you’ll enhance their experience and drive sustained revenue growth for your organization.

Whether you’re a seasoned fundraiser or new to the field, this workshop will equip you with the skills and strategies needed to build stronger relationships and ultimately generate more revenue. Don’t miss this opportunity to transform your approach and drive impactful engagement and growth for your organization.

Key Takeaways:

• A framework to transform your staff into trusted advisors who cultivate meaningful, long-term relationships with donors.
• How to focus on the needs and values of your constituents to create genuine connections that foster trust and loyalty.
• Develop clear, consistent processes for donor engagement, emphasizing thorough preparation, research, and actionable strategies that can be immediately applied to enhance your fundraising efforts.

Join us for an enlightening panel on ethical storytelling in the nonprofit sector. Ethical storytelling is crucial in nonprofit fundraising, fostering trust and credibility among donors, and ensuring authenticity, honesty, and respect for the individuals or communities involved. This panel will help attendees examine their practices, provide tips to ensure clients understand their rights, and share how to set up policies and procedures that encourage respect and dignity while showing organizational impact.

Midlevel donors are the backbone of many donor files. They represent a tiny percentage of all donors but generate a third or more of the income. The last study exploring the preferences and attitudes of these valuable donors was conducted by Sea Change and Edge research in 2008, and much has changed in 15 years. We thought it was high time to take a fresh look at the midlevel universe through the eyes of the donors themselves.

In this session, we will present critical learnings from a survey of more than 5,900 midlevel donors drawn from 36 different organizations. You’ll discover what motivates a second, annual, monthly, larger, and/or planned gift and who these donors are. We’ll also cover the stewardship treatment midlevel donors expect from organizations and the impact of recognition, benefits, and/or gifts on acquisition and retention.

Lastly, we’ll touch on the role of donor-advised funds and planned gifts, learn about midlevel donors’ digital habits, and explore the extent to which Millennials and Gen X are replacing Baby Boomers as the dominant force in midlevel philanthropy.

Key Takeaways:

• Identify the must-have strategies and tactics necessary to build and support a thriving midlevel giving program.
• Understand the three psychographic profiles that identify key differences in midlevel donors’ attitudes, expectations, and the necessary strategies for attracting and retaining them.
• Know the key to building a future-proof program amidst all the changes swirling around philanthropy today.

The OneCause Fundraising Platform makes giving modern, flexible, and seamless to drive deeper engagement and grow your fundraising. Join the OneCause team for a live demo and a look into the future of fundraising.

The OneCause Fundraising Platform makes giving modern, flexible, and seamless to drive deeper engagement and grow your fundraising. Join the OneCause team for a live demo and a look into the future of fundraising.

As Miles Davis once said, “Timing isn’t the main thing, it’s the only thing!”

In 2023, learning from over 250 events, the team at Custom Benefit Auctions noticed that timing was a common concern among clients. They often asked questions such as: How long should the guests have cocktails and socialize? When is the best time to close the silent auction? When should we conduct the live auction? When is the ideal time for fund-a-need? And when should the speaker present? Ben and Matt will address these concerns and provide the steps necessary to ensure a successful event for you and your organization.

It’s natural to feel overworked and understaffed while planning for your organization’s biggest event of the year. Don’t fall into the trap of doing things the same way as last year or sticking to old habits. Ben and Matt will provide you with specific timelines that work for any event and live auction best practices on timing, including when to start the auction, how many items to sell, the order of items, and the hottest live auction items for 2024.

They’ll also share new fund-a-need techniques related to the special appeal, including the “matching money model” used to incorporate three distinctive roles for matching money and how to move sponsors into this leadership position of giving. You’ll walk away with actionable tools to implement immediately.

Key Takeaways:

• Create a strategic and efficient timeline for your next event to increase results.
• Implement a fund-a-need strategy to include the “matching money model.”
• Gain tools and language to overcome negative myths presented by committees and boards.

Join us for an enlightening panel on ethical storytelling in the nonprofit sector. Ethical storytelling is crucial in nonprofit fundraising, fostering trust and credibility among donors, and ensuring authenticity, honesty, and respect for the individuals or communities involved. This panel will help attendees examine their practices, provide tips to ensure clients understand their rights, and share how to set up policies and procedures that encourage respect and dignity while showing organizational impact.

Fundraising models should respect donors and build strong relationships with them. They must also be centered on the communities who know firsthand what is needed for meaningful change. This session will introduce ways to engage donors differently by fostering a sense of belonging and engaging them in transformative (not transactional) work. Drawing on examples from capital campaigns to donor engagement, Frank Velasquez Jr. & Diana Farias Heinrich will demonstrate how a simple reframing can create powerful collaborations between your organization, your donors, and your community.

Key Takeaways:

• Recognize the role of nonprofits in engaging donors effectively, emphasizing the shift from donor-centric to community-centric models.
• Develop strategies for building transformative, not transactional, donor relationships that foster a sense of belonging and partnership.
• Master asset-based language that focuses on the strengths and contributions of community members.

Join us for an enlightening panel on ethical storytelling in the nonprofit sector. Ethical storytelling is crucial in nonprofit fundraising, fostering trust and credibility among donors, and ensuring authenticity, honesty, and respect for the individuals or communities involved. This panel will help attendees examine their practices, provide tips to ensure clients understand their rights, and share how to set up policies and procedures that encourage respect and dignity while showing organizational impact.

Join us for an insightful panel discussion on the essential fundraising trends that every nonprofit should be aware of to ensure future success. Our expert panelists will provide valuable insights and practical strategies to help you navigate the evolving landscape of fundraising to stay ahead of the curve and maximize your nonprofit’s impact.

This transformative workshop is designed for organizational leaders, ERG members, and DEI advocates. Discover actionable strategies to strengthen Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) and enhance board accountability, driving a culture of inclusivity and excellence within your organization. Gain insights into aligning ERG initiatives with organizational goals, measuring their impact effectively, and fostering robust collaboration between ERGs and the board.

Walk away equipped with practical tools to initiate sustainable change, cultivate a more inclusive workplace, and build a roadmap for continued growth. Through group discussions and facilitated networking sessions, participants will actively engage with peers, share experiences, and collaboratively explore solutions tailored to their organizational challenges, ensuring an enriching and impactful learning experience.

Key Takeaways:

• Learn to align ERG efforts with the broader organizational strategy, ensuring initiatives contribute to the company’s goals.
• Gain tools to measure the impact of ERG initiatives, enabling evidence-based decisions and accountability.
• Develop strategies for fostering effective collaboration between ERGs and the board, promoting shared visions and actions for inclusivity and diversity.

Nonprofits aren’t immune to changes in technology and the marketing space. Discussing marketing trends that will shape your nonprofit’s efforts is a necessity! Join this session for a deep dive into the essential marketing trends that every nonprofit should be aware of and adopt. You’ll explore how technology is shaping the marketing landscape for nonprofits and what you need to know to stay ahead. Discover how artificial intelligence, micro-moments, influencer marketing, gaming, and different search methods can enhance your nonprofit’s outreach and fundraising efforts.

Key Takeaways:

• Understand how to utilize micro-moments and influencer marketing.
• Learn about visual, local, and voice search.
• Discover how to use artificial intelligence as an engagement tool and to automate your marketing.

In a world where social media trends come and go in the blink of an eye, nonprofits must adopt a long-term strategy to thrive in the ever-changing digital landscape. However, the third sector faces unique challenges in maintaining a long-term social media strategy that drives sustainable impact.

In this session, Julia Campbell and Josh Hirsch will address the specific needs of nonprofits and provide practical insights on developing a social media strategy that aligns with long-term goals. They’ll explore strategies, techniques, and best practices that empower nonprofits to navigate short-term trends while fostering meaningful connections with donors and supporters.

Key Takeaways:

• Gain a comprehensive understanding of the importance of a long-term social media strategy in the nonprofit sector.
• Learn to identify and prioritize long-term goals, ensuring sustainability in the ever-evolving digital landscape.
• Acquire practical insights and techniques to navigate short-term social media trends effectively.
• Learn best practices tailored to the unique challenges faced by nonprofits in maintaining a sustainable social media strategy.

Connecting the admiration often attributed to nonprofit leaders with the compensation they deserve for their valuable work is a frequent struggle in our industry. When faced with the additional challenge of lower salaries and fewer benefits than the for-profit sector, it’s not surprising that we face high turnover and burnout rates. In an industry focused on the care and concern of our clients, it’s time to start showing equal compassion to our staff.

Within our field, we haven’t done a very good job of taking care of our own people doing the work. In the field of youth work and social services, in particular, people in the field eventually mirror the population they serve. A 2022 survey revealed challenges for nonprofit workers, finding that 64% of employees rated their financial wellness as fair, poor, or very poor.

In other words, your agency’s mission may be to bring others out of poverty at the expense of your staff descending into poverty. You may be working to make healthcare more accessible and not be able to provide your staff with benefits or insurance. Your organization may be providing affordable child care to clients, requiring the staff to work hours when childcare is not available, all while paying them a wage where they, themselves, cannot afford childcare. Does this sound familiar? If so, and you are looking for ways to combat this in your own organization, this session is for you.

Key Takeaways:

• Learn what is considered a living wage.
• Identify what is stopping your agency from paying a living wage.
• Come away with strategies to strategically plan and fundraise for a living wage for all employees.

How can we flip the downward trend of individual gifts into something good? We live in a subscription economy that’s projected to grow to $1.5 trillion by 2025! But is that trend impacting how donors give?

Backed by data-driven insights from the Neon One Recurring Giving Report, you’ll learn how and why donors are supporting their favorite causes with recurring gifts in larger numbers than ever before!

You’ll also walk away with a step-by-step guide for building a successful monthly giving program, plus 5 practical case studies on donor acquisition and retention from fellow nonprofits of ALL sizes.

Key Takeaways:

• Create a successful online monthly donor program.
• Do a self-audit of your existing platform.
• Execute unconventional donor acquisition and retention strategies to stand out.

Ready, set, here we go! Join us for the morning Day 1 General Session as we kick off Raise 2024, live from Nashville! Get pumped up with a welcome from OneCause CEO, Steve Johns. Keynote coming soon.

For the past decade, NextAfter founder and Chief Innovation & Optimization Officer, Tim Kachuriak, has been obsessed with trying to answer a single question: why do people give? This obsession has led to reams of original research and over 5,000 published experiments. All this research and experimentation has resulted in a simple, yet profound discovery: the secret to getting more people to give lies first in getting them to care.

Through this fast-paced, information-packed session full of case studies, Tim will illustrate how you can apply a methodology called “care alignment” to radically increase your fundraising performance.

Key Takeaways:

• Craft a more effective value proposition.
• Apply data and proven tactics to optimize your online fundraising.
• Reconsider the way you think about the donor journey to approach fundraising from the donor’s perspective — not your own.

Creating and sustaining a culture of philanthropy within independent schools is essential for financial stability and fostering a strong sense of community and shared purpose. This session aims to explore strategies, best practices, and real-world examples of how independent schools and nonprofits can use AI to cultivate a culture of philanthropy that engages all stakeholders and contributes to long-term success. During the session, Mariana Keller will use generative AI to demonstrate practical applications.

Key Takeaways:

• How to use AI to support your fundraising efforts.
• How to create a positive culture of philanthropy.
• How to develop your team to use AÍ wisely.

Join us for an insightful panel discussion on the essential fundraising trends that every nonprofit should be aware of to ensure future success. Our expert panelists will provide valuable insights and practical strategies to help you navigate the evolving landscape of fundraising to stay ahead of the curve and maximize your nonprofit’s impact.

This cutting-edge session is for current and prospective leaders who aim to excel in an era dominated by rapid technological advancements. Join Cherian Koshy as he addresses the triple challenge of mastering adaptive leadership, evolving within leadership roles, and effectively leading and “managing up” in the context of ongoing technological transformation. By integrating theoretical foundations with real-world tech scenarios, this session will offer leaders the tools to not only adapt and grow but also harness technological change as a catalyst for organizational and personal success.

Key Takeaways:

• How technology impacts leadership dynamics.
• The importance of staying ahead in digital literacy.
• Ways to leverage technology for enhanced decision-making and team inclusivity.

On average, nonprofits lose more than 60% of their donors every year, and an average of 80% of first-time donors don’t make a second gift. The number of donors has shrunk by 20% over the last 20 years and is continuing on a downward trajectory. Houston, we have a problem!

The donor churn we’re seeing in the sector creates unnecessary work for fundraisers and isn’t cost-effective for nonprofits, especially those with limited capacity. The commercial world spends billions to understand how to drive loyalty and strives to reach 90% customer retention. Why are we so far off as a sector?

This session will break down how we need to redefine stewardship from just sending thank you notes to more of a “donor experience” mindset that inspires and welcomes supporters in a radically different way to keep donors longer. Join Barbara O’Reilly of Windmill Hill Consulting and Nicholas Kristock, Founder of Fleece & Thank You, as they break down how we need to redefine our mindset around stewardship and how that applies to donor journeys. Whether you are looking to refine your donor experience or need first steps, this session will give you valuable and real-life takeaways.

Key Takeaways:

• Understand giving trends that are forcing fundraisers to think differently and could cause a crisis in the sector if not addressed.
• Identify ways to adapt current stewardship strategies to a new approach that centers donor retention and experience.
• Create the main donor journeys every organization should have along with the “nice to haves”.

In the not-too-distant past, fundraisers spent a lot of time soliciting donations for their favorite causes from friends and family through personal outreach methods like letter-writing, phone calls, and pledge solicitations. Today, we rely on the latest technology to support our peer-to-peer fundraisers and streamline the donation process. While technology is essential in meeting the evolving needs of society, successful peer-to-peer fundraising still requires a human touch.

One of the most valuable resources we can offer our fundraisers is a dedicated staff partner who guides them toward achieving their goals and making a real impact for the causes they love. With the shift to remote working environments and the evolution of many front-line fundraiser roles, the importance of our staff’s role as fundraising coaches has become even more crucial.

In this session, we’ll workshop actionable next steps for you to support your organization—no matter where you are in your coaching journey—to effectively blend digital communication with personal, in-person engagement.

Key Takeaways:

• How National Kidney Foundation (NKF) is retraining its local field staff and volunteers to fundraise.
• The importance of actively coaching participants to achieve their goals.
• Systems that NKF is putting in place to help local staff achieve those goals.

Join us for an enlightening panel on ethical storytelling in the nonprofit sector. Ethical storytelling is crucial in nonprofit fundraising, fostering trust and credibility among donors, and ensuring authenticity, honesty, and respect for the individuals or communities involved. This panel will help attendees examine their practices, provide tips to ensure clients understand their rights, and share how to set up policies and procedures that encourage respect and dignity while showing organizational impact.

Midlevel donors are the backbone of many donor files. They represent a tiny percentage of all donors but generate a third or more of the income. The last study exploring the preferences and attitudes of these valuable donors was conducted by Sea Change and Edge research in 2008, and much has changed in 15 years. We thought it was high time to take a fresh look at the midlevel universe through the eyes of the donors themselves.

In this session, we will present critical learnings from a survey of more than 5,900 midlevel donors drawn from 36 different organizations. You’ll discover what motivates a second, annual, monthly, larger, and/or planned gift and who these donors are. We’ll also cover the stewardship treatment midlevel donors expect from organizations and the impact of recognition, benefits, and/or gifts on acquisition and retention.

Lastly, we’ll touch on the role of donor-advised funds and planned gifts, learn about midlevel donors’ digital habits, and explore the extent to which Millennials and Gen X are replacing Baby Boomers as the dominant force in midlevel philanthropy.

Key Takeaways:

• Identify the must-have strategies and tactics necessary to build and support a thriving midlevel giving program.
• Understand the three psychographic profiles that identify key differences in midlevel donors’ attitudes, expectations, and the necessary strategies for attracting and retaining them.
• Know the key to building a future-proof program amidst all the changes swirling around philanthropy today.

Unlike weddings, corporate events, or social gatherings, fundraising events present unique challenges that are often impossible to explain to those who are not in our world of event fundraising. On the surface, fundraising events are implemented to attract sponsor dollars, engage supporters, and showcase your mission. Nonprofit leaders are looking for a net-positive ROI and are often willing to cut corners (and budgets) to achieve this goal. Instead of asking: “What is the cost of our AV provider?” We need to ask: “What is the cost of trust?”

Anyone can follow a checklist of tasks before a fundraising event and create a decent experience for their donors. But for fundraising professionals who are seeking to take their events to the next level with a deeper understanding of donor psychology, this session is just for you.

Magen will explore the nuances of donor engagement by leveraging data analysis, understanding human behavior, and acknowledging the risks we take every time we invite someone to our events. Ultimately, we need to think of our events as trust-building vehicles, not just a means to earn more dollars, and if you follow the guidance in this session, you can achieve both!

Key Takeaways:

• Understand how building trust with donors will lend to greater fundraising results.
• Learn how to avoid “trust breakers” at your events and how to set yourself up for success.
• Refer back to the acronym “S.P.I.C.E. it Up” to use as a resource for planning future events.

Volunteers are essential to the success of many nonprofits. They not only offer their time and expertise, but they can also become reliable and consistent donors. Research has shown that volunteers are 80% more likely to donate and make larger gifts than non-volunteers. Moreover, donors who also volunteer have a significantly higher retention rate than those who don’t.

In this session, Josh will use data to explore the connection between volunteers and financial donors. He’ll then provide you with practical tips on how to turn your volunteers into loyal, engaged donors. You’ll learn how to identify what motivates your volunteers and donors, take actionable steps to apply these insights to your organization, and double down on your storytelling to volunteers.

If you’re one of the many organizations that are hesitant to ask their volunteers to become donors or their donors to become volunteers, this session is for you. Don’t leave money on the table — learn how to maximize the potential of your volunteers and donors.

Key Takeaways:

• Understand the motivating factors of why donors and volunteers engage with an organization.
• Explore current trends with donors and volunteers, allowing you to create benchmarks for your organization.
• Walk away with key actionable next steps to apply the findings with your organization to grow your donor and volunteer base further into Super Supporters.

Join us for an enlightening panel on ethical storytelling in the nonprofit sector. Ethical storytelling is crucial in nonprofit fundraising, fostering trust and credibility among donors, and ensuring authenticity, honesty, and respect for the individuals or communities involved. This panel will help attendees examine their practices, provide tips to ensure clients understand their rights, and share how to set up policies and procedures that encourage respect and dignity while showing organizational impact.

Join us for an enlightening panel on ethical storytelling in the nonprofit sector. Ethical storytelling is crucial in nonprofit fundraising, fostering trust and credibility among donors, and ensuring authenticity, honesty, and respect for the individuals or communities involved. This panel will help attendees examine their practices, provide tips to ensure clients understand their rights, and share how to set up policies and procedures that encourage respect and dignity while showing organizational impact.

As donors reengage with in-person events and flock back to the ballrooms, golf outings, and special events – they want more!

What makes today’s donors tick, stick, and give has evolved since the pandemic. They have a unique set of motivators, preferences, and expectations for their in-person fundraising experiences. Get it right and you’ve got a loyal donor. Get it wrong and well, they’ve moved on to the next nonprofit.

The connection between events and donor loyalty is real! Based on our research, we’ll explore what today’s donors expect, want, and need in event fundraising to convert and stay. We’ll share practical strategies to grow loyalty via your events, so you can increase retention and drive more impact.

Key Objectives:

• Top donor motivators for today’s event donors
• What you need in your event experience to engage donors
• Strategies to optimizing your event experience to build trust & loyalty

As Miles Davis once said, “Timing isn’t the main thing, it’s the only thing!”

In 2023, learning from over 250 events, the team at Custom Benefit Auctions noticed that timing was a common concern among clients. They often asked questions such as: How long should the guests have cocktails and socialize? When is the best time to close the silent auction? When should we conduct the live auction? When is the ideal time for fund-a-need? And when should the speaker present? Ben and Matt will address these concerns and provide the steps necessary to ensure a successful event for you and your organization.

It’s natural to feel overworked and understaffed while planning for your organization’s biggest event of the year. Don’t fall into the trap of doing things the same way as last year or sticking to old habits. Ben and Matt will provide you with specific timelines that work for any event and live auction best practices on timing, including when to start the auction, how many items to sell, the order of items, and the hottest live auction items for 2024.

They’ll also share new fund-a-need techniques related to the special appeal, including the “matching money model” used to incorporate three distinctive roles for matching money and how to move sponsors into this leadership position of giving. You’ll walk away with actionable tools to implement immediately.

Key Takeaways:

• Create a strategic and efficient timeline for your next event to increase results.
• Implement a fund-a-need strategy to include the “matching money model.”
• Gain tools and language to overcome negative myths presented by committees and boards.

On average, nonprofits lose more than 60% of their donors every year, and an average of 80% of first-time donors don’t make a second gift. The number of donors has shrunk by 20% over the last 20 years and is continuing on a downward trajectory. Houston, we have a problem!

The donor churn we’re seeing in the sector creates unnecessary work for fundraisers and isn’t cost-effective for nonprofits, especially those with limited capacity. The commercial world spends billions to understand how to drive loyalty and strives to reach 90% customer retention. Why are we so far off as a sector?

This session will break down how we need to redefine stewardship from just sending thank you notes to more of a “donor experience” mindset that inspires and welcomes supporters in a radically different way to keep donors longer. Join Barbara O’Reilly of Windmill Hill Consulting and Nicholas Kristock, Founder of Fleece & Thank You, as they break down how we need to redefine our mindset around stewardship and how that applies to donor journeys. Whether you are looking to refine your donor experience or need first steps, this session will give you valuable and real-life takeaways.

Key Takeaways:

• Understand giving trends that are forcing fundraisers to think differently and could cause a crisis in the sector if not addressed.
• Identify ways to adapt current stewardship strategies to a new approach that centers donor retention and experience.
• Create the main donor journeys every organization should have along with the “nice to haves”.

Crafting a successful fundraising event goes beyond logistics; it’s an art ensuring the right people are in the right room at the right time to hear the right messaging. Elevate your nonprofit events to powerful catalysts for securing major gifts!

This interactive workshop guides participants through a journey from initial invitation to final thank you, optimizing each step for maximum impact and donor engagement. We’ll dive deep into engaging donors and transforming passive attendance into active participation. Discover innovative strategies, including interactive elements, storytelling, and experiential touch-points aligned with your nonprofit’s goals and values. Master the transition from engagement to inspiration, ensuring your event leaves a lasting impression and motivates major gifts. Explore emotional triggers, impactful presentations, and the power of a well-told success story to inspire generosity.

Key Takeaways:

• Learn how to inspire action and generosity among attendees, using emotional triggers and impactful success stories to create a compelling case for support.
• Gain insights into innovative engagement techniques that transform event participants from passive observers to active supporters and strategic asks during and after events to maximize major gift contributions.
• Acquire the skills to execute effective post-event follow-up, turning event enthusiasm into substantial major gifts.

The OneCause Fundraising Platform makes giving modern, flexible, and seamless to drive deeper engagement and grow your fundraising. Join the OneCause team for a live demo and a look into the future of fundraising.

The OneCause Fundraising Platform makes giving modern, flexible, and seamless to drive deeper engagement and grow your fundraising. Join the OneCause team for a live demo and a look into the future of fundraising.

Tom Riles is in fundraising because his daughter was born with a heart defect. She had a 1 in 2,500 chance of survival when his wife was 20 weeks pregnant. Now, she’s 13 years old and healthy! After Tom and his wife told their daughter’s story on Ellen, the American Heart Association (AHA) asked him to start emceeing their galas. Soon he became one of their auctioneers, and now Tom fundraises for AHA, St. Jude, and Make-A-Wish, amongst many more nonprofits.

After going through his daughter’s open heart surgery, Tom began to live life FEARLESSLY and with HEART. In this session, he’ll encourage the attendees to do the same while giving them practical advice on how to break records in the ballroom and throughout the fundraising year.

Does your gala experience feel flat? Is fundraising down?

Tell your nonprofit’s story with HEART so that donors can’t help but invest in your cause the night of the gala and throughout the year.

Key Takeaways:

• Learn the best practices for fundraising galas in 2024.
• Understand how to bring your organization’s HEART into a gala and yearlong messaging and content strategy.
• Live life fearlessly and market like a pro.

Over the span of 900+ fundraising events, Reggie and the Gala Team have developed best practices about what works and what doesn’t. Join Reggie to learn simple fixes you can deploy at your next event, including proven strategies that will help you unlock the power of your paddle raise and optimize your gala for fundraising success.

Key Takeaways:

• Eliminate simple, yet costly mistakes.
• Discover solutions that are easy to implement.
• Set yourself up to raise more money than ever before.

Crafting a successful fundraising event goes beyond logistics; it’s an art ensuring the right people are in the right room at the right time to hear the right messaging. Elevate your nonprofit events to powerful catalysts for securing major gifts!

This interactive workshop guides participants through a journey from initial invitation to final thank you, optimizing each step for maximum impact and donor engagement. We’ll dive deep into engaging donors and transforming passive attendance into active participation. Discover innovative strategies, including interactive elements, storytelling, and experiential touch-points aligned with your nonprofit’s goals and values. Master the transition from engagement to inspiration, ensuring your event leaves a lasting impression and motivates major gifts. Explore emotional triggers, impactful presentations, and the power of a well-told success story to inspire generosity.

Key Takeaways:

• Learn how to inspire action and generosity among attendees, using emotional triggers and impactful success stories to create a compelling case for support.
• Gain insights into innovative engagement techniques that transform event participants from passive observers to active supporters and strategic asks during and after events to maximize major gift contributions.
• Acquire the skills to execute effective post-event follow-up, turning event enthusiasm into substantial major gifts.

Learn how AI and digital fundraising are changing the landscape of fundraising in the nonprofit sector. As more organizations are exploring AI and technology to find new donors, reach younger audiences, create engagement opportunities, and save time and money to exceed fundraising campaigns, board members have a responsibility to think about ethical considerations, accountability, and strategic integration of AI in organizational operations.

Key Takeaways:

• Learn how to position AI and digital fundraising and oversee its ethical use ensuring fairness, transparency, and data privacy.
• Discover how to use AI in messaging, storytelling, and marketing to make it easy and fun for donors to engage in the life of your organization.
• Define metrics and methods to evaluate the impact of AI implementation.

How can we flip the downward trend of individual gifts into something good? We live in a subscription economy that’s projected to grow to $1.5 trillion by 2025! But is that trend impacting how donors give?

Backed by data-driven insights from the Neon One Recurring Giving Report, you’ll learn how and why donors are supporting their favorite causes with recurring gifts in larger numbers than ever before!

You’ll also walk away with a step-by-step guide for building a successful monthly giving program, plus 5 practical case studies on donor acquisition and retention from fellow nonprofits of ALL sizes.

Key Takeaways:

• Create a successful online monthly donor program.
• Do a self-audit of your existing platform.
• Execute unconventional donor acquisition and retention strategies to stand out.

Join us for an insightful panel discussion on the essential fundraising trends that every nonprofit should be aware of to ensure future success. Our expert panelists will provide valuable insights and practical strategies to help you navigate the evolving landscape of fundraising to stay ahead of the curve and maximize your nonprofit’s impact.

Change is hard. Making systemic changes at your nonprofit that help build more personal relationships with donors at scale can feel like boiling the ocean. Effective fundraising in today’s world requires increased team collaboration, integrated technology, and real-time data insights. The amount of change can feel overwhelming, and it’s difficult to know where to start.

Maturity Models are designed to provide a structured approach to systemically level up your organization’s performance over time. The importance of a maturity model lies in its ability to provide an objective assessment of your organization’s current capabilities, as well as a roadmap for improving those capabilities over time. These models are often used to benchmark your current level of maturity against industry best practices and then identify areas for improvement.

The Responsive Maturity Model is designed to guide you, step by step, through the stages required to un-silo your data, increase team effectiveness, create personalized connections with each donor, and grow giving at scale.

Key Takeaways:

• Build data health processes that create trusted data.
• Build reports to create transparency and alignment around key fundraising KPIs across your organization.
• Identify tools that can help your team better collaborate and understand the entire donor journey.
• Segment and personalize your donors’ communication based on donor behavior and affinity, and create robust, automated, dynamic campaigns that connect to each donor at the right time with the right next step.

Fundraising models should respect donors and build strong relationships with them. They must also be centered on the communities who know firsthand what is needed for meaningful change. This session will introduce ways to engage donors differently by fostering a sense of belonging and engaging them in transformative (not transactional) work. Drawing on examples from capital campaigns to donor engagement, Frank Velasquez Jr. & Diana Farias Heinrich will demonstrate how a simple reframing can create powerful collaborations between your organization, your donors, and your community.

Key Takeaways:

• Recognize the role of nonprofits in engaging donors effectively, emphasizing the shift from donor-centric to community-centric models.
• Develop strategies for building transformative, not transactional, donor relationships that foster a sense of belonging and partnership.
• Master asset-based language that focuses on the strengths and contributions of community members.

We’ve got great news: data is showing that volunteering levels are higher than even pre-pandemic! However, you still have to employ the right tactics to recruit these volunteers and we’re here to teach you how. In this session, Geng Wang will show you how you can recruit volunteers from different generations and how event-based volunteering is one of the most efficient ways to build both your volunteer and donor pipelines. Through hands-on exercises, you will learn to reimagine your marketing and communication tactics to best engage these new generations!

Key Takeaways:

• What the latest volunteer trends are, including how volunteering levels are higher than ever.
• The distinctive characteristics of Gen Z volunteers and how they differ from previous generations.
• How you can unlock the language that speaks to and inspires different generations to volunteer or donate.
• How to leverage event-based volunteering to foster recurring volunteers and build a new donor pipeline.