Unknown Speaker 0:04 Hey everyone, Happy. Happy Happy Wednesday, Happy Wednesday. Unknown Speaker 0:11 This is Tim Sarrantonio neon one head of partnerships in business development really excited about today's presentation really excited about today's presentation. Where are your changes how you give, I wouldn't even call it a report suhaila it's more like a, like a fun unpacking of different concepts, but Unknown Speaker 0:32 it's gonna be good. It's gonna be good. So Happy Wednesday. Technically, it is also national beer day, too. So we have a lot to celebrate. Unknown Speaker 0:43 This is being recorded, as are all our webinars, we should actually have this up no later than tomorrow you will be receiving the recording. We will this is actually going to be a highly discussion, heavy presentation, we'll get into kind of the format. We're trying something a little bit new today. But this is this is something that we would love to get questions. So I want to test this out. Especially given it's very community based region based, geographic based, can you test out in the q&a? typing in who you like? Where are you from? Where are we hearing you from? Let's test this out. Test the q&a out, type in in the q&a, where we're where we're talking to you from we got Indiana. Awesome. We got Washington, we got Connecticut. Unknown Speaker 1:35 cago Long Beach. Very cool. Very cool. We got Canada, Hawaii. Oh, Hawaii, Unknown Speaker 1:43 Minnesota. Unknown Speaker 1:45 Do we have anybody from Texas because this is a treat for you in particular today? Hey, how you doing? Unknown Speaker 1:56 Very cool. Very cool. Well, thanks for using that and folks and get get comfortable using the chat, we'll be taking a lot of questions. This is going to be one where we're going to actually kind of focus on a nice combination of data and practice there's this is a really nice dive into some interesting ways to think about data. But then that's going to be about the first half, we're going to unpack the idea of a geo cultural analysis for your fundraising prak practices. But then we're going to open it up and suhaila and I are going to have a nice discussion on just this topic, and anything that you might be wondering about. So we'll get into the weeds there, I would say. Unknown Speaker 2:40 And this is not really like a product webinar. By the way, we talk a lot about product data. But we're not doing any like presentations or anything like that. So just use this as inspiration for any product, any technology that you that you're going to be working on. You know, we both are big data geeks, giving geeks is your firm. So Unknown Speaker 3:02 we'll definitely be talking about technology, but but you don't have to worry about seeing any product demo. So so this is obviously good quote, kind of the historical genesis of the think global act, local, global local, quote can be traced to a Scottish town planner, and social activist. So Unknown Speaker 3:22 but it's been used in many different ways. So what are we going to be doing today? First, we're going to be kind of unpacking the idea of a geo cultural data approach. We're going to look at some regional trends that we're seeing in the neon one ecosystem, and kind of do a deep dive on Texas, I actually asked suhaila Hey, what do we want to what state do we want to analyze? And, you know, we she said, Texas, so we're gonna do Texas. So really, really fascinating stuff. Unknown Speaker 3:54 And, and then we're going to have a chat, we're going to have a chat. So let's get into kind of what we're going to learn about. And then we definitely want to get introduced to our presenter today. Unknown Speaker 4:05 So who is this for this is for development and marketing professionals looking to kind of rethink or add a new layer of analysis to how they approach their work. Unknown Speaker 4:16 So suhaila What are we going to learn today? What are we going to learn? Yeah, we are going to learn some really awesome stuff. Today, we are going to talk about the you know, the core idea behind approaching this what fundraising looks like when you're going into a geo cultural space. And, you know, this question kind of arose from a conversation Tim and I were having once about, like, you know, what does giving do in each of the spaces and communities that we live in, and so it was like, so we just have so many thoughts around it, and we were like, okay, we absolutely have to look at this because, you know, amazingly they he has the technology to be able to you know, find that out and so we spent some time you know, looking into subsidy Unknown Speaker 5:00 things that were, you know, important to me. And I wanted to know, like, what what did giving look like for the community that I come from. So, you know, what we're going to, is just about looking at through that lens, as well as trying to identify different KPIs that, you know, you are key performance indicators that you can utilize to track around these wins. Unknown Speaker 5:21 In every fundraising space, you know, we are going to emphasize the importance of storytelling, because they're really, you know, that's the, that's the most essential part of of communicating properly with your donors is through thoughtful storytelling, as well as how to use the technology at your fingertips to implement this analysis, and how to communicate using the framework that works best for your organization. Unknown Speaker 5:49 That's another big thing that we're all about is like, using the technology that we have in front of us today is going to get us to a different space, you know, it's going to allow scale. So, you know, those are just a few things that we will learn today. Um, yeah. But we won't learn is that we're not really going deep into like, everything across all these different regions. We're not going to be doing like a lecture on what's happening in like the Pacific Northwest versus the Midwest or anything like that. Do we have that data? Yes, stay tuned. Also, I actually have been selected for AFP icon. And this is actually a really big part of that presentation, kind of the idea of what was happening during COVID. So we're, you're going to get a tease of that in terms of our Texas analysis, by the way, Unknown Speaker 6:40 but we're really going to kind of organically kind of go through the lens of Texas, we're going to try to engage your your your questions. But you know, if you're kind of looking to say like, well, what can I do, and I live here, Unknown Speaker 6:56 we're going to give you the tools to start to do that yourself. Basically, that's, that's kind of the the outcome here. suhaila? Tell us a little bit about yourself. Unknown Speaker 7:06 Yes. So first off, you know, I just wanted to start with, you know, we're talking about, Unknown Speaker 7:12 you know, looking at the giving trends that are going on in the communities that we're from, and I first wanted to start off with where I'm from. So I am originally from Durham, North Carolina. And that is where I got my fundraising career started, which Unknown Speaker 7:27 I know was fundraising, you know, when I was doing it for my school and my local Masjid, we spent a lot of time just raising funds, you know, to create safe spaces for us to learn and for us to worshiping sometimes, and so, I didn't really know that this was a whole thing until later. And, you know, so I had the opportunity of being home grown in North Carolina. But I now live in Austin, Texas, where we are absolutely a huge philanthropic community. And, you know, this is another reason why they information in this conversation is going to be extremely important, because Unknown Speaker 8:02 in my work, my clients are not always in the same space. And so I want to know what's going on where they're from, I want to know what's going on in the community, you know, at the time, and so I wanted to be able to look through some of those trends. And so I'm so excited about this, because each of our communities, you know, it's gonna have a different identity, and absolutely 100% you can see that with the places that I'm from, like North Carolina, as well as Texas. So, something important to me, you know, as far as who I am, and why, why I'm a fundraiser is because I appreciate the importance of recognizing and endorsing the power of community met organizations. And I always want to do this through a thoughtful lens, through and being mindful that each of us has different identities, and we need to be respectful of how we do our outreach, you know, who were who were bringing to the table to participate and partner with us as donors. And so, you know, those are, that's something that's extremely important to me. And then why I'm here again, is because I live for good data, I live for some good data, okay. And like, I just I absolutely think that that is how we are able to make, you know, better decisions. And we can drive out sustainable funding by look taking a closer look at whatever is going on with our, with our donors with our community, and find out where the money is going and how we can kind of connect with those missions and how we can make sure that we're communicating properly through storytelling. So um, those are those are just some important things that that relate to me. And then something else you should know about me is that I live like, I might be a professional or you know, a lifetime fundraiser, but I'm also a lifetime macaroon eater. I live for good macaroon. So if you know the place, absolutely get in touch with me DM me on Twitter, where Unknown Speaker 10:00 Have, you might find me, it might be at your local macaroon shop. But absolutely hit me up and let me know where you can find the best macroom because I'm still on the search in the United States. I know some good places. But that's just something interesting about me. Duly noted, duly noted, and we did get somebody Lynn said, Go Carolina, by the way. Yes. Unknown Speaker 10:21 Awesome. Unknown Speaker 10:22 Alright, so we're gonna run a quick poll here. Just to kind of, you know, keep you all engaged. Unknown Speaker 10:30 here a little bit understand a little bit about our crowd, too. So our poll is is, you know, does your fundraising plan take into account your your kind of community giving? That's happening? Unknown Speaker 10:43 So we got about, typically, we let this run for about 30 seconds at the most Unknown Speaker 10:49 suhaila. What do you think people are saying? What do you think the breakdown is? Unknown Speaker 10:54 It's looking a little closer to the reason why we're here today. Unknown Speaker 11:00 All right, I'm going to close this up. And we got a not an outright credo principle, but we have a 3070 split, folks. 3070. In terms of 30 people do take into account the types of information that we're going to talk about today. 70%, don't. Unknown Speaker 11:21 Oh, Mary just had Unknown Speaker 11:24 a macaroon. Actually. Unknown Speaker 11:27 Okay, Mary, find me in the dance. There you go. There you go. Mary kalon, neon, one consulting partner to? Okay. So when we're talking about what are we talking about today? Because it's okay, that if you said no, by the way, yeah, that's why you're here. So what are we going to be talking about today? suhaila. Yeah, so we, you know, again, Tim and I have had multiple conversations where we totally geek out on this subject, but also on a lot of other, you know, matters as it relates to data and fundraising. But really, geo cultural data, and using it as a point of decision making for your organization allows you to kind of have a balance between art and science, right. And we want to make sure is that all of our all of our communication that is going out to our community is is is because we know that this is what they want to hear. And the reason that we know this is because we've done our due diligence to read the data, to analyze it, and to make better decisions off of it in a collaborative manner that allows us to really identify the ways in which we can support them in the best way. And, and that also means the way that we ask them for their support their financial funding, right, it's not just about storytelling to just to tell them, like, here's what happened. But there are so many different ways that we may ask for a gift. And where you live, that, you know, they're kind of there's a, there's a cultural relation there. So, you know, 90% of our US consumer site that personalization will make shopping experience more appealing, right. And we know this, if you ever walk into a target, you should know this, right. But this also applies to your donation of pills as well. You know, using your geographical data and understanding cultural differences in your community can absolutely have a major impact in your appeals. And so we again, want to bring you in and recognize the importance of your data. And, and which is your science, but also the artful manner in which you communicate. So this is this is really a space where you can go crazy and go free. And just be free to to learn about who you are, can be the beginning. lot of it comes down to identity. Right. And, and being comfortable in in engaging your community that way. So we're really excited to have. Unknown Speaker 13:51 So let's what what actually goes into the data side? Unknown Speaker 13:56 Yeah, yeah. So, you know, this is, this is so interesting, because Unknown Speaker 14:03 we have our macro trends, right. And some of what we're going to be looking at is, you know, the community demographic data, which has to do with our senses, like, who, who are the people? What are their identities, like Sam just said, Unknown Speaker 14:15 you know, what counties do they live in? That gives the most, you know, what, what, what states are giving the most, we have to look at some of the economic factors about, you know, or trends that are going on as far as the household income. I mean, I think we talked about donor segmentation a lot in the fundraising world. And, you know, where you live in economic circumstance or where you live is extremely important in making that ask as well. You know, everyone has the capacity to support in one way or another and we know that sometimes this is not always by funding. Unknown Speaker 14:49 Absolutely. 100% you need to know kind of what economics you know, circumstance your communities in at the moment before you before you might go on that capital campaign or or Unknown Speaker 15:00 Fully draw out their annual fundraising plan, you want to look at that year over year growth? Your geographic factors also are extremely important. So, you know, where where are the services, you know, located, that you're going to be utilizing that you're asking for support with? Are they in this suburbian? area? Or is it more rule is a more urban that kind of determines your reach? You know, sometimes I know that, it seems like we're kind of always overcrowded with a lot of people because of social media, like we can never get away from each other completely. But at the same time, when it comes to funding, your actual geographic location, really important, it's gonna look very different from, you know, someone in Lubbock, Texas, versus someone in Austin, Texas. And so we kind of want to, you know, take a look at that as well. And use that as a determining factor in how we make our Ask, and then your nonprofit growth rates, right? How are other missions serving in your area? How often are they popping up? You know, how are maybe you might be collaborating with a few. Unknown Speaker 16:07 How nonprofits growing in the space you live. And, to me that is so important, because I think, almost every other day, a new amazing mission pops down in Austin, Texas, right. And that's really great, because we recognize that people are willing to collaborate with each other and work with each other. And that also means that there's a, there's a healthy space here for us to all lean into the philanthropic trends that are going on where we live, right. And so you know, if that's, if that's not happening, where you live, we kind of might have to consider our strategic plan a little bit differently. So Unknown Speaker 16:41 you know, what other missions are doing in your community is extremely important. Unknown Speaker 16:48 And also, that's kind of the macro side of things, and suhaila. And I had a really good conversation, because I was like, Well, what are some takeaways that people can have on? Like, great, that's all well and good, like, I know what's happening in my community? How can I use this information. And so the key performance indicators that you should be tracking, specifically around geo cultural data are average gift size is a very important one, depending on who you're you're soliciting, the size of the gift is going to be different. So that's, that's a key item here. And and it isn't necessarily economic factors, or racial factors in that it's just, there's certain and that actually leads really well into the next one, which is the method of donation? Are people giving online versus offline? on? What do you offer? Do you offer an easy way for someone to give you stock? Or how do you engage the different ways that people might want to donate online? And how do people know about these things? What are the communication methods that you have? Because depending on your segment, depending on the geography, of people having internet access, for instance, maybe Oh, looks like direct mail might actually be the best way to reach them? Right. So there's a lot of different factors that go into that. suhaila. What are your other thoughts in terms of this? Yeah, I definitely want to jump in on that, because I was working with an organization recently, and in Canada, and we were kind of talking about the difference in giving days, you know, Unknown Speaker 18:27 looking from the lens of like, Austin, Texas, or just Texas in general, you know, we A lot of us collaborated, that are growing with, with our giving base for sure, like we're raising millions of dollars in 24 hours, right. But when you know, you have amazing organizations from other spaces that are kind of looking at what, you know, major cities like Austin, Texas is doing right now. Unknown Speaker 18:52 It doesn't always translate it in the same way. And so, you know, it doesn't mean that given days are never going to, you know, just boom, pop in the space that you're in the community that you live in. But by recognizing that different things are happening for other canoes, because of where they are, check, live, whatever it means economically. Unknown Speaker 19:15 You know, you might consider how even in your communication, how you're moving towards that space. So let's say it is, you know, you want your community to move want to help your community move to more and more digital space, with fundraising. You know, looking at the small organization, or excuse me, what are the some of the major organizations are doing in some of these bigger cities, is very helpful. But first, you have to recognize that things are different from you. And you've taken you've taken note of that and you're willing to kind of do the research to say, let's, let's try to, you know, move forward with our giving trends a little bit where we live. Unknown Speaker 19:52 And that actually just reminds me I had a conversation with with our mutual friend Simon skriver from over an IRA Unknown Speaker 20:00 And giving days just came up. I talked to him about two hours ago. And and I was like, do you have this and I like walked around the concept of a community Giving Day. And he's like, this just doesn't, you know, exist in the same way in in Ireland and the UK and Europe. And and in turn, Unknown Speaker 20:17 you know, even the number of given days in Canada, are are lower. There's GivingTuesday campaigns, for instance. But this is a very, in some ways, unique US based item, but not every community has a given day either. And that changes the tenor of the conversation. Arizona, for instance, the entire state had a given day yesterday, and that raise several million dollars, but some some of the organizations in Arizona don't participate. Right. And so there's, there's different tenders and conversations depending on where you are on, you know, what strategies are going to best work for you. I love the idea of like also looking at a larger organization, but then checking yourself and going Yes, but Unknown Speaker 21:00 your identity matters, you know, it's it's, it Unknown Speaker 21:04 absolutely matters. And it just because another organization is doing something that looks very shiny and pretty does not mean that that may be what your community needs. Cool. So how does this lead into the the art side of things? So So if we're paying attention to those metrics to create segmentations, and we're going to unpack that in a little bit more practical detail later. But what about the art side? Here? Yeah, I think that this is probably Unknown Speaker 21:33 this is storytelling is one of the most important pieces when we like, yes, we absolutely love data. But storytelling is where the experiences. And in order to reach the funding that we need, you know, we need to accommodate space for storytelling 120%. And so some of the things you might want to consider focusing on when you know, moving into how you tell the story about what is happening in your community, is your your branding and tone. One of the things that Tim and I talked about, it's just the difference between like, the way that organizations communicate, whether you live in Austin, Houston or Dallas, extremely different, like everyone, I think, generally, if you're live in the United States, kind of even outside Nancy's kind of having has an idea of how Texas moves as as one state as a whole. And, you know, when you actually live here, you can see the stark differences between all of the ways in which the organizations communicate with their donors based off of where they live. Unknown Speaker 22:39 You know, Austin, you know, we thrive off of the keep Austin weird, you know, campaign, and that is something that is unique in this space. And so when we communicate with our donors about how we want to, Unknown Speaker 22:54 you know, make Austin bigger and better and, and, and, and thrive in a way that we've always imagined about, we can communicate with them sometimes in interesting ways, you know, not, not all the time, but that's just a part of our culture here. Right. And, you know, for Dallas, it may be different for Houston, it may be another story. And so the way that you brand, your communication and your story is extremely important. And considering what, what your the culture is, like, where you live, Unknown Speaker 23:28 you know, and, and also, that always has to do with tone, you know, like, it's, we're not always going to speak to each other in the same way, you know, there may be certain words that we use that you understand differently, depending on where you live. But you want to really think about what is your voice? Who do you speak to, for and with, and, you know, Tim, you, you said this previously, and I think that it really stood out, because Unknown Speaker 23:55 at the end of the day, we're all here for a very specific reason. And that is to uplift the communities. We live in time after time after time again. And so while we do have many cultural differences that occur in many different ways that we might communicate, at the end of the day, it all comes down to speaking up for the communities that we are actually serving and speaking with them, you know, not not just speaking for them in a way so absolutely. Your considered the way you brand yourself as it may or may relate to the community that you live in or may not as long as your tone. Unknown Speaker 24:32 And that actually even reminds me of a conversation I had earlier this week with crystal Sherry, where she was we were talking about this webinar, and she said, You know, it's also important, like, like to not stereotype, for instance, program participants as like, oh, they're never gonna be donors, right? Oh, yes. Yes, yes, it because because your staff might be like, Oh, well, that's not the type of donor that we typically Unknown Speaker 25:00 We have and like, think about that for a second. Unknown Speaker 25:04 When it's, it's, it's insane. Because, you know, again, for us to even to even get where we are, it comes from a lot of advocacy with within the communities that we're serving first, you know, that is where the conversation started. And and we are here to aid we're here to support. And so there should be no reason that we erase them from having the ability to fund the communities that they live in. And so, yeah, there's, we definitely have to put some respect on on the individuals that we serve. And that leads into some of the more practical questions that an organization has to ask themselves about their usage of pictures, imagery, the language that they're using to talk about their mission, where the events that they're holding, or the appeals that they're making. Unknown Speaker 25:51 And, and and, you know, are you for instance, using very technical jargon about your mission, that that might appeal to program staff, for instance, about something but but maybe the average donor has no clue what you're actually talking about. So. So, again, when we talk about also, like geography, culture, things like that, we this is not a binary element culture. Unknown Speaker 26:15 There's so many elements that go into it. And so even when we say, dominant versus underrepresented suhaila, I actually want to flag this as let's unpack this, because I think a lot of people might be like, Oh, you're talking about race, right? No, we're not necessarily talking about that. Like you. You use the example of like the dominant culture when, Unknown Speaker 26:36 you know AFP chapters, different AFP chapters, like they have a different culture and way that they talk because they're from a certain part of the state. Right, so so let's unpack this a little bit of what we mean by dominant versus underrepresented. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, we were talking about that. And I, Unknown Speaker 26:59 it's, it's so interesting, because a lot of us we do come together for the purpose of joining, collaborating in to have social and better social impact together. But sometimes we do have to recognize that there are those dominant cultures that that lead the conversation, you can see leading the conversation all the time. And then we have the underrepresented stories and experiences that are happening that are not being told, because we may have already just branded our community as a whole. And so I absolutely want to and I think Texas is a really great Unknown Speaker 27:40 is a really great example of how this exists with like I said, you know, there being kind of sometimes a stark difference between how things are operating in Dallas versus how things operate in Austin. And we can quickly stereotype each community to communicate in one way. But at the end of the day, it comes down to, you know, the experience and the story that each organization is telling for themselves, right? Telling on behalf or with the community you're serving. And so Unknown Speaker 28:11 in no way do we want anyone to feel like just because your community may communicate in a very rigid way, lets you know, in a very professional way, that means that that is how you have to represent yourself in the community that you serve. That's absolutely not what you have to do at all in any way whatsoever. But we do want to just take into consideration, you know, when you are planning out your communications plan or your annual fundraising plan, what is currently happening, and versus what it is that you want to do? And it's not necessarily always, you know, two completely different things, but how can you kind of men what's working best in your community with what you forward with? So, So recognizing the underrepresented voices, you know, and and, and methods of storytelling and your community is, is going to have an exponential, you know, outcome for you an impact, as soon as you incorporate that into your fundraising plan? Absolutely. And I think what I'd love to do, maybe during our discussion, because I don't want to rush this, but it we're hitting the half an hour mark. So I'd love to, to kind of unpack some of the data. Let's come back to ethical storytelling in a really kind of deeper dive during our discussion. How's that sound? Yeah, for sure, for sure. Cool. So let's look at some of our high level geographic insights. Folks. What I want to do is walk through for the next few minutes. Unknown Speaker 29:32 And this is downloadable too. So the handouts, something that you can get now, it'll be included in the resource download afterwards, because there's some really interesting stuff here. And Unknown Speaker 29:45 this is the good stuff, right? So and feel free to dive in and and like comment or ask any clarification questions, because she's actually just seeing this for some, some of it a little bit for the first time too. So we wanted to start kind of at the highest of the high level Unknown Speaker 30:00 In terms of of the data sets, which is the industry standard growth that we saw, during 2020, right, the average donation was about 2%. A lot of this is drawn from either Blackbaud data Fundraising Effectiveness Project data, you will also see some giving us a data a little bit later on, but they tend to draw from those primary sources too. Unknown Speaker 30:21 So, Unknown Speaker 30:22 you know, 2020 was hard. Unknown Speaker 30:25 And year over year growth for small organizations actually flagged a little bit with the more resource resource, Unknown Speaker 30:34 kind of the ones with more resources, they saw some growth, okay. Now, within the neon one ecosystem, we actually saw some pretty healthy growth across the board. And so the smallest organizations 31%, the largest ones 12%. So just overall, what what we were seeing in the past year, and the data that you're going to see within kind of unpacking, and in the geography, Unknown Speaker 31:02 it's just good, this is just a very good sign in terms of, of where things are going. And then breaking down into mission a bit because we did a little bit of mission analysis to Health and Human Services, obviously, getting a lot of that, but but even educational institution saw some growth. But we're gonna get into this, this type of impact when we look at things geographically. So that's why we're starting here, as as a benchmark, in many ways. Apologies in terms of my ability to to provide an accessible deck, I know this is probably not the most color, distinct one, but I was trying to get some Canadian love, I actually know that we have somebody from Canada, at least on on the call today. So what's happening in Canada, and in particular, I want to do it, this is one that I really want to do a big deeper dive, we're seeing some really awesome stuff in Canada, for multiple parts of our ecosystem. But the vast majority of folks still writing checks. There's some healthy credit card usage, very little cash actually being logged. Unknown Speaker 32:10 And then a little bit of a spread of the digital versus the the kind of the offline giving. So offline, still still driving a lot, but some healthy online giving for our Canadian organizations in the neon CRM side of things. Unknown Speaker 32:29 Now let's dive into Texas. What we did is deep dive into the Lone Star State. Now let's talk about Texas in particular. So suhaila tell us about Texas tell us so actually in the chat, folks, when you hear Texas what is the first word or few words that you think type it into the chat? I want to see what you think you hear Texas? What's that? Unknown Speaker 32:55 I said I can't wait to see that. Unknown Speaker 32:57 Cow Unknown Speaker 33:00 boy, or just cow big conservative. Just cow he's Nathan. Unknown Speaker 33:08 Just cow Yep. Unknown Speaker 33:10 Okay, got big conservative and cow Unknown Speaker 33:15 noble word I thought was gonna pop. Unknown Speaker 33:20 red state poor leadership. Okay, so let's get it. Unknown Speaker 33:25 Cool. No ocean. Unknown Speaker 33:27 Expensive galas. That's a fun one. Unknown Speaker 33:32 Okay, very cool. Very cool. So so they laugh but what's your what's your Unknown Speaker 33:37 thought the word that was gonna pop up first was gonna be y'all. I absolutely thought that was going to be the word that everyone is. Says constantly. And so. And Texas is like, Listen, if if we ever rename ourselves, it's going to be y'all. Like, I'm telling you right now. I know what mine is. What? Dr. Pepper? Unknown Speaker 33:58 Really? Yeah, I can see you there. Okay. All right. My, my dad's friend is an author named Joe Lansdale. And he kind of put that into my head of like, Dr. Pepper. So let's talk about the actual the actual state's nonprofit sector itself, which is I mean, billion with a B in terms of the money side of things. You know, here's some base data that we've withdrawn from a few different reports that were aggregated into the non National Council of Nonprofits profile on Texas, nonprofit impact matters. Fantastic report for your own state to if you want to get some information. They actually do not have a state association registered with the National Council of Nonprofits. So interesting fact. They're the suhaila where it's kind of the breakdown though Texas is a big state somebody did say big so you know, that built for Texas report actually does do some breakdowns but kind of walk us through the the cultural, geo cultural elements of Texas that we should be taking into account here. Yeah, for Unknown Speaker 35:00 Short. So, you know, Unknown Speaker 35:03 those words that you all listed are very important. Because sometimes that may be like a key indicator of some of the missions that that really moved individuals in, in Texas, you know, and, you know, whether you find yourself on the red side, or the blue side, or, you know, maybe somewhere in the middle, or maybe, you know, completely off of the political track, that is extremely important to a lot of Texas. And so, you'll see some, you'll see absolutely see some, you know, push in a lot of organizations that either lead one in one direction or another. And so, all of these words are, I'm so glad that you asked that question. Because, again, I in Austin, Texas, I can absolutely tell you for sure that this city is growing and growing every single year and with with everyone that year or with with every, you know, new young adult that ventures out into a new career, there's nonprofits that are that are circulating, that are popping up and that are growing out of out of the ground to really, you know, adapt and support the community to in thriving, right. And so, Unknown Speaker 36:16 you know, absolutely, there's, if we're looking at Austin, or we're looking at just the major cities, Austin, Dallas, and Houston, there are depending on the, you know, economic circumstance that's occurring, depending on even things like how they're dealing with the pandemic, these are all so many different layers that have to do with what is thriving in the nonprofit sector in those spaces. Unknown Speaker 36:40 And so, for sure, I'm absolutely not surprised to see that, you know, we have billions of revenue going, you know, funneling and running through Texas, because people here really, really do care, and they're willing to, they're willing to dig deep, and they're willing to support a cause that is extremely important for them. And, you know, I know for myself as well, there was like a just a plethora of organizations to really connect with, in the city that I live in, as well as the, you know, cities around me. And which was, which was a little bit different from, you know, growing growing up in North Carolina. And so, you know, I was kind of able to see that these statistics here that you that you put up Unknown Speaker 37:25 really do tell a true story about what's happening in the state of Texas. Unknown Speaker 37:32 somebody's talking talking about the Gulf. Unknown Speaker 37:36 So okay, let's let's kind of break down because I've been I've been, you know, my chicken scratch here, in terms of my, my notes here, I was reminding myself in terms of, of exactly how much money did we run through the neon one ecosystem. And it's, and it's, and it's not in the billions, but it's it's several, you know, several 100, millions of dollars in 2020. And so here's the breakdown in terms of national rank, national rank that Texas has in terms of where or so this is an important distinction, we have to keep in mind that this is our data. This is not the industry's data. This is who we have as clients that we're analyzing, we have 1000s of organizations, so we have a pretty good sample size. But this is again, by who we have attracted into our client base. So this is interesting. The next set of slides are way more interesting, in my opinion. But most of our organizations in terms of where they rank in the neon one ecosystem, Texas, ninth in terms of arts and cultural revenue, generated 12 for education, Human Services, number three pretty high up there. religious organizations, number four Unknown Speaker 38:53 environmental organizations number six, and because somebody said football, I also think football sometimes. And so the the N t code of recreational sports, I was like, I gotta check. Number two, who what, who do you think is number one in the neon one ecosystem for recreational sports? Unknown Speaker 39:17 What what state or territory or area in the US? Unknown Speaker 39:25 I would think Dallas in terms of Texas itself, probably up there. I didn't get too deep into the cities. But this is another state externally. So actually, it was washington dc ranks number one in the neon CRM client base for attracting the most money for sports. Go figure. Very odd stat. Now, this is where it gets more interesting. This is where it gets way more interesting, in my opinion. What we also did was we pulled a report of Texas donors, not the organization is that Unknown Speaker 40:00 That's who we signed, right. So interesting. Not exactly representative of giving trends. However, when we looked at people who have their address or IP address for their for their online donation from Texas, that's where it gets cool. So what do Texans give to how do Texans give? This is where the more interesting analysis is, because this is actually where we apply the concepts of geo cultural giving, and analysis. So online giving most Texans in 2020 did not give in state. They actually gave two causes outside now suhaila what state Do you think attracted the most online gifts? Other than the internal Texas like outside of Texas? Where do you think most of the money went? Unknown Speaker 41:00 To be honest, I really would still have to move towards the safe. Unknown Speaker 41:06 That's that's that's my first guest. Absolutely. It but anybody else have a guess here? Unknown Speaker 41:16 Cool. Thanks, Nathan. totally get it. So weird week. Unknown Speaker 41:21 We're recording. So okay, Alabama, Alabama actually attracted it. But but this is where like, it's a weird outlier. Turns out that most of that is because of one nonprofit, who really, really, really rocked it out with Texans, we're talking 40,000 Texans, donated to this one nonprofit for over $4 million. Unknown Speaker 41:48 Wild, it was super interesting that this one nonprofit attracted it. So the average Unknown Speaker 41:57 Texan who gives to a Texas nonprofit gave $228 anybody who's giving to a cause outside of Texas gave $256 Unknown Speaker 42:08 that's pretty high, by the way for online donations. Unknown Speaker 42:11 I also, you know, I think that this point was, was Unknown Speaker 42:16 probably the part that was like, so interesting, of course, because this is why we're here we want to know what our donor donors are doing, you know, where they live, where we are. And that average gift. As you know, I talked a little bit earlier about the importance of like, you know, we as fundraisers know, we, we, we need to consider how we may segment our segment our donor list, right? How we may make an ask for a specific amount, and that average gift right there when you're considering, you know, even considering you know, what your reoccurring gifts may be, that is extremely important to know, because it allows you to know what the capacity in your community might be and and and, you know, allow you to kind of alleviate the stress you make feel around a specific ask. So I love that you included that here. Cool. And so offline, kind of it, you know, inverse Texans are sending their their checks. Unknown Speaker 43:14 In state, they're they're they're they're not write it out of state for the most part. And then the average gift, though, is still a little bit higher when people are giving to external organizations just to kind of keep the conversation moving. By the way, the top state outside of Texas for offline is Virginia, Unknown Speaker 43:35 is Virginia. So okay, um, some people are wanting to know concrete action steps. So I want to make sure we have good 15 minutes to unpack that. So let's kind of move on, by the way Texans actually give to countries beyond the US, Canada, Belgium, the UK, Dominican Republic, and Bermuda, you can't see it, but it's over there. And Australia. So, some other interesting data before we move into our discussion to kind of unpack, Danielle, is that during the surge, the first surge of COVID in basically March through May of last year, community improvement and capacity building and food agricultural and hunger relief organization saw increases in their giving disaster preparedness and relief and housing unsheltered saw a decrease in Texas. And then during Giving Tuesday now specifically on May 5 2020. The top mission to receive was international and foreign aid interestingly enough on that one day, and the animal related organizations which actually because of Giving Tuesday now vaulted into the second spot of overall giving Unknown Speaker 44:51 in all of Texas for that period, it was primarily because of Unknown Speaker 44:56 Giving Tuesday now and all gifts, all gifts and gifts. Unknown Speaker 45:00 Tuesday now, cash online check. We're under $1,000. We're under $1,000. On that one day. So again, it gives credence the importance of giving days. So suhaila? Danielle asked, Okay, I'm gonna get us out of the screenshare. So people can just see our beautiful faces. How do you begin to explore cultural differences in our region? What are the concrete action steps? So if you're going to give her three things to start with, what would you say? Unknown Speaker 45:28 Yeah, for sure. So for one, I, if you have we just talked about the North Texas Giving Day, right? So if you do you have a Giving Day where you live, I would consider absolutely looking at some of the top nonprofits that are that are fundraising well in your community, just to kind of get a basis around, you know, if you don't, if you don't have the neon technology to kind of just go look, that look, look deeply into that, you know, I would, that's one of the things that I've been doing is really taking a look at what some of the organizations are doing around me that are raising the most funding, you can kind of, there's so many different free platforms that you can find this information at. If you have a giving a Giving Day in your community, you should be able to see the information there. But there's also another platform that we always use GuideStar, of course, to kind of see what is happening. You know, as far as on an annual basis, where where is most of our funding going out, I really would say that that is a really great place to get a lot of information from. Unknown Speaker 46:33 Because you can kind of break you can filter and break out the information that you're specifically looking for as it relates to your cause and mission. And so the first thing just starts with one recognizing this is going to be important for you as you begin to build out your fundraising and communications plan. But essentially, you really want to, you want to do the research that is that is going to help you identify some things that you might need to consider. And you do that by utilizing a platform like GuideStar or neon, to really take a look at what's happening where you live. Unknown Speaker 47:06 We talked about this is the idea of finding in Simon Sinek call that in his book, The Infinite game, your worthy rival. This is a organization in your geographic area similar to your mission that is doing well. Unknown Speaker 47:21 Look at what they're doing. And so, however suhaila it's not copy what they're doing, what would you then practically start doing once you found your worthy rival? Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, I think that's pretty crucial. And one of the other things that, you know, kind of Unknown Speaker 47:39 touched on really was the ways in which our communities are giving. And so, you know, we have seen digital fundraising take off like, right and absolutely, within the space of us experiencing the pandemic, we absolutely have seen that kind of expand even wider, right. And so, when you're doing your, your your annual plan, Unknown Speaker 48:03 if if your community is still currently running a lot of checks, consider that, you know, consider what your your team has the ability to do. And so the way that you ask for that funding is going to be extremely important is to apply that whenever you're, you know, building out that story. And in that specific space where you make the ask, you know, you might consider, okay, if we recognize that a lot of organizations and donors are moving towards credit cards, that we have multiple options in which they can give, I see a lot of organizations right now, or even bringing in Apple Pay. And if they are using tech, if they are, Unknown Speaker 48:41 you know, recognizing that checks may be coming in, you know, there's still different ways that they can keep a record of that, that makes it easier using the technology at their fingertips than kind of having a ball, you know, bogged down their, their historical data. And so I absolutely want to say to consider the way in which your community is giving, and, again, using these platforms, and some some opportunities in which you can see that. And that might lead into to understanding demographics, and changing demographics of of age in your community. And so not only your larger community, but your donor community, are they getting older? Unknown Speaker 49:22 You know, are you seeing more young people, and that's going to influence the types of communication channels that you'll also start to rely on to? Yeah, and the last little tip that I'll also say, too, is that one of the things that I do is I join email list for I once I've taken a look at those organizations, those were the rivals that are really killing it, especially in the space that I'm in. I joined their email list, and I look at how they're making your asks, right, I take a look and see how are they communicating with the same within the same community that I live in? And that's where we kind of go back to storytelling and the cultural differences. Unknown Speaker 50:00 In which we communicate, right? That is another thing that you absolutely want to do is to join that newsletter list join, sometimes join as a donor, you know, it doesn't hurt any of us to to support one another. And so see what that stewardship method is that they take their donors through, to really help you make proper decisions when you're creating that annual plan based off of the community that you live in right now, the last thing that I will say really quickly to, if you want to get this information from the best source, ask your donors Unknown Speaker 50:33 donor survey, I was literally going to say, donor, sir, I know we say this a lot. But I know that there's, there's absolutely a reason that we say this, because that is how you recognize some of the trends that are happening, some of the things that are important for for your donors at that moment. But it really just allows you to also say, okay, you know, this organization over there may be doing this for their donors. And that may be that may work for them. But something, there may be something different for you all. And so, you know, again, just to go back, you know, utilize GuideStar utilize neon if you can reach, reach, reach out to us and connect with other fundraisers who are, you know, doing this work and looking into what is important for their communities, Unknown Speaker 51:15 and survey your donors and ask them directly, you know, how do you want to give, this is an important point too, because Unknown Speaker 51:26 this information, obtaining this information, you need to practically apply it to, don't just collect it, and then not do anything with it. And I'll tell you why. A recent tap network and TechSoup study from 2021, they surveyed a bunch of nonprofits, and 41% of them said that they have no capability to segment their donor email lists, Unknown Speaker 51:52 no capability. And that's even easier than then direct mail. So use segmentations to help tailor who you are actually speaking to, you can create donor personas around the type of donor that you're reaching out to, okay, we're going to reach out to this donor in this geographic area. And what's the typical tone that I would use with this person, you can create a persona around that neon one has a great blog on creating donor personas, go check it out neon one.com. And so you can use that to create segmentations to create the right tone that matches both your organization, but also that donor segmentation to? Unknown Speaker 52:35 Yeah, you know, Tim, when you said, you know, creating your donor persona, you know, Unknown Speaker 52:43 that is I love that you said that, because, again, that's where we draw right back to that identity that matters, right? There is a reason and an experience that your donor may Unknown Speaker 52:56 have seen or may recognize or feel, that is drawing them into what you're doing. And by pulling out those pain points. That is how you can write based off of what is going on in your community, what it is that that you're that has called your daughter to have interest in what you do, you can consistently, you know, hit them kind of, right, what right where it matters, by having that donor persona on hand, you know, before you create that annual fundraising plan. And as you move through certain appeals that you write, Unknown Speaker 53:31 again, look at the words that matter. If you are in Unknown Speaker 53:37 a state, a smaller city, you know, or even if you're a major city, sit down with your team and ask them what are the words that you think of when you think about where you live? What is what is the culture here? What are the things that, you know, people are drawn to, you know, if you're in Louisiana, I mean, we can, if you happen to be in Louisiana, we can think of a million things of words that we all use. Unknown Speaker 53:59 Now, you know, that represent the cultural identity for New Orleans or Louisiana as a whole. And so if you're in if you're in Texas, if you're in Louisiana, if you happen to be in Alabama, and are just killing it, you know, somebody's killing us with the with the Texans donors, Unknown Speaker 54:16 sit with your team, and draw out that cultural identity that your donors may connect with, to then translate that into an ask and do as Tim is saying, you know, and we're also seeing this, even with national organizations that have chapters in that each of the individual chapters also ends up having their own identity that still like think about your local boys and girls club, or think about your local Big Brothers Big Sisters. They're not there's not some primary plan that like okay, this is how I work with my, you know, my little basically right, like, like, and then you do the same thing over and over, they're doing things in their community. And so this is not just a question or a lens that that only works for for Unknown Speaker 55:00 small nonprofits, any sized organization should absolutely be thinking about this now, in our final moments, though, how do we do this ethically? How do we do this? Where we're not stereotyping? or making assumptions about our communities when we're reaching out to them? Unknown Speaker 55:21 Sorry. Can you say that one more time? Oh, okay. I was I was kind of leading us into the ethical storytelling conversation, you know, in our final moments of like, how can we do this through an ethical lens? And not stereotype or not kind of make assumptions? And how do we do this? Right, and should be noted, I'm not asking you to answer for everybody. I want to add, like, just what do you think we should do? Because I have my own thoughts on that, too. Unknown Speaker 55:46 Yeah, um, for sure, you know, again, I think this is where I would go back to your donor survey, for sure. That is how you, you, you don't observe as well as your, your, your community and service or recipient survey, right, you want to go back to the things that are important for those individuals, for you to create that story for, excuse me, for you to pull together that story. Because obviously, this may not be your experience, you are not creating it, you You are not the person that you may or may not have an individual that has been in this person's shoes before. And so you know, you want to go to the source. And whenever you start to tell any story, you have to you have to you have to you have to always remember Unknown Speaker 56:35 who you're doing this for, right? Unknown Speaker 56:38 Who are you partnering with, in telling this, Unknown Speaker 56:44 of of, of, you know, being able to click, secure the ask, and into the experience, because that is the thing that matters the most. And Unknown Speaker 56:55 that I believe is what always helps me from just generalizing an entire community, Unknown Speaker 57:02 based off of what I think should be said, about what's going on, and moving into telling, you know, in through their eyes, what this experience might be like, and, and knowing as a fundraiser, how important it is to connect to the donor from what they're reading. So I truly say that it's about putting your own experience, you know, your your own ideas, sometimes to the side, just that just a tinge just to give space in rural, for the service recipients that really need you and rely on you to communicate properly sometimes on their behalf. Unknown Speaker 57:39 That's, and I and we're actually just about to hit top of the hour. I think that's a lovely place to stop our conversation today. But But here's the thing, folks, we actually Sohail and I have talked about, let's take this on the road, right? If you are interested, and in learning how we can kind of approach this lens for your own community, we're actually talking to some community Foundation's about this type of framework. We'd love to have that conversation. Unknown Speaker 58:08 And and so this was such a pleasure to have you today. I'm going to wrap up with a few resources, and then you get the final word. How about that? Unknown Speaker 58:20 If you could still hear me? Yeah. Okay, so just a few wrap up items before we end today. Our next webinar is we're going to be talking to an organization using the neon one ecosystem. April's theme is volunteerism, so time, talent and treasure, how open books turns donors into volunteers, we actually took a deep dive into this Chicago based organizations data to and so we're going to actually interview Allison and understand how did you do it. And then we're going to turn around and start to actually show how you could use neons, new email segmentation builder to reach these types of donors to and maybe some of the frameworks that we learned about today. Unknown Speaker 59:04 We also have some great case studies from around Texas, actually, San Antonio Food Bank leveraged our neon fundraiser integration with Salesforce to really rock things last Easter, for instance, we also have some other amazing case studies from around Texas that we would love for you to check out. Get them in the handout, go to neon one.com as well. suhaila any final words as you help sign us off? Yeah, I was just excited to be able to dive into this a bit. I know this is this is deep work like this is d day to work right. But I look forward to being able to kind of see how this relates to each of our communities. And that I just want to point out that Mary Callahan says Unknown Speaker 59:57 you have a wonderful spring Unknown Speaker 1:00:00 And Unknown Speaker 1:00:04 keep in touch for ways that we can collaborate with each other. If somebody wants to, if somebody wants to reach out to you, how can they reach out to you? Well, Unknown Speaker 1:00:13 yeah, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter Unknown Speaker 1:00:21 to Wahid su w. h, Ed, and then on Instagram, my Instagram, slack I'm at at giving geeks. So feel free to check me out are giving geeks calm Unknown Speaker 1:00:32 on around the internet, you'll find me you know, so so definitely keep in touch. Awesome. And we'll make sure to have some some follow up information in our in our in our follow up email, too. So awesome. Thank you folks, so much for attending today's presentation. This was so lovely suhaila it was such a pleasure to have you with us today. And I know you and I are going to be in touch. Absolutely. Alright folks, have a lovely Wednesday. We'll talk to you soon and Unknown Speaker 1:01:04 have a great day. Transcribed by https://otter.ai