543. Fundraising Best Practices in an Election Year - Shanna Birky

Meet Shanna.  She’s the Vice President of Customer Experience at Classy, a GoFundMe affiliate. She’s helping nonprofits stay strong amid election-year noise 🗳️ Even during election years, charitable giving has increased in 8 of the last 9 cycles 📈 Nonprofits need to know how to maximize fundraising dollars, even if not directly linked to election causes. Tune in to discover key strategies to keep your fundraising strong even when emotions are running high and mailboxes are overflowing 📬

💡 Learn

• Tone-setting and myth-busting 
• Fundraising Best Practices During an Election Year
• Using storytelling to stand out in a crowded, noisy space

Today’s Guest
Shanna Birky, VP of Customer Experience, Classy

For more information + episode details visit: weareforgood.com/episode/543.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 3:06

Hey, I'm John.

Speaker 2: 3:07

And I'm Becky.

Speaker 1: 3:08

And this is the we Are For Good podcast.

Speaker 2: 3:11

Nonprofits are faced with more challenges to accomplish their missions and the growing pressure to do more, raise more and be more for the causes that improve our world.

Speaker 1: 3:20

We're here to learn with you from some of the best in the industry, bringing the most innovative ideas, inspirational stories, all to create an impact uprising.

Speaker 2: 3:28

So welcome to the good community. We're nonprofit professionals, philanthropists, world changers and rabid fans who are striving to bring a little more goodness into the world.

Speaker 1: 3:39

So let's get started, becky, what's happening?

Speaker 2: 3:43

Oh, people might've been scared to click on this. They're like we are talking about election cycle. Get me away from this. But no friends, we are busting these myths, these preconceived notions, and we're talking about how we can break through during election year. I'm so excited about our guests.

Speaker 1: 3:59

I'm so thankful we found our guests that can take our hand. You know the emotions are high. I feel like our mailboxes are full. Our SMSs are blowing up. We're like where did this person get my number?

Speaker 1: 4:09

It's like the election is full on how did I get in this, but the fundraising must go on, which is why I love this conversation. Like our missions have to go on, and so it is a huge honor to have Shanna Berkey with us today. She's the VP of customer experience over at Classy and if you don't know Classy, my friends catch up Like they just hosted this beautiful Classy collaborative of pouring in community and idea sharing and learning and just showing up in a really authentic, beautiful way. But Classy is just an affiliate of GoFundMe. They're a giving platform that enables nonprofits to connect supporters with causes they care about, and they're one of the best in the biz doing this, and they're powered by incredible humans that center community, that center this growth mindset, things that we talk about on the podcast all the time.

Speaker 1: 4:48

It's how they show up in the world, and so Shanna is no stranger to the Classy platform either. Before this current role, she spent nearly 15 years at Classy. She's passionate about serving nonprofits at the intersection of technology and social good. Thank you, my friend, for knowing that so well, and thank you for being willing to talk to us about the election. Shanna, get into our house, we are so delighted to have you here.

Speaker 3: 5:07

Oh my gosh, Thank I'm. I'm so excited to be here and on a really fun topic. I consider it fun, so I'm, I'm here to demystify. You know what it means to fundraise, yeah, In an election year. So I'm really excited it will be. It will be tons of fun and hopefully informative.

Speaker 1: 5:27

Well, I mean, we cannot wait to get into the convo, but you know how this works around here. We got to get to know you. Like, take us back, shannon, to growing up. Like, what are some of the formative experiences that put you on this path to such an impactful role in social impact and mobilizing people around? More good, like, take us back.

Speaker 3: 5:42

Yeah Well, I was born and raised in Las Vegas, so there's a story.

Speaker 1: 5:47

That is a story.

Speaker 3: 5:52

Oh, um. So there's a story that is a story. Oh my gosh. I know I and not typically what you know is associated with social impact, but from a really early age my family was always focused on, you know, and always had a philanthropic mindset. So I feel, really at a young age I started, I started this journey, um, especially with my mom, who was really passionate about ensuring all I have two brothers, all of us kids, you know had an outlet to support and to help, and so we did a lot of volunteering when I was young and then that kind of grew into a passion for me, and then that kind of grew into a passion for me. But I actually went to school to be a sideline reporter for the NFL.

Speaker 2: 6:33

Shut up. I love that about you, John. The NFL is the National Football League. Oh my gosh, Thank you so much. Okay, great.

Speaker 3: 6:40

Yeah, important clarification. But decided that was not the life I wanted to go into and had moved to San Diego and in college actually found Classy. At that point we were called Stay Classy.

Speaker 1: 6:56

Oh my gosh, you were OG.

Speaker 3: 6:58

Very OG, wow. And so, yeah, I think early on, this has always been a fabric of who I am. And getting into Classy and then seeing this grow into what it is today it's, you know, it's, it's not a coincidence, and so it's been a phenomenal crazy journey. On the Classy side, we've seen so much and evolved and grown and to be where we are today and in partnership with GoFundMe. It's an incredible. It's. I'm just incredibly proud. It's not a linear path. I don't think anyone really has a linear path.

Speaker 2: 7:35

None of us, no, this place isn't that. I just think that Classy is such a good partner of we're for good. Thank you for believing in this community, thank you for believing in so many communities, and we love the way you show up. And I also have to confess that I wrote a paper my sophomore year in English that said I want to be the St Louis Cardinals public relations officer. That's what I wanted to be. I love the Cardinals, we have long history there, so I am feeling so connected to you at this moment.

Speaker 2: 8:01

But I think it's so interesting to me that we're going to have this conversation. I mean, we are in the middle of one of the most contentious election years that the states may have ever seen, and we know that nonprofits are sort of sitting in the go-between of all of this noise that's happening right now all over wherever we go in media, whether it's on our phones or on the TV or whether we're listening to it, and it's really hard to like. Stand out in that noise and keep that drumbeat going of. Our mission is still important. We still have to continue to do this work, and so I'd love for you to just kind of set some tone with us, because nonprofits are really going to grapple with the potential impact that this election has on charitable giving, and I want you to just start out busting down those myths that you referenced at the very beginning for this audience, just based on the data that you're seeing and how nonprofits can really start to lean into the opportunities that are presenting themselves.

Speaker 3: 9:02

Yeah, absolutely. So. A few things. One, it's not just the US that is going through a really crazy election year. There are other places around the world that are also seeing this. So you know we're going to focus on US election, US fundraising, that sort of thing. But it is when I'm talking to a lot of nonprofits, especially at the executive level, it's not just the elections that are happening here that can impact them, especially from a programmatic level, which has been interesting, the more conversations I've had.

Speaker 3: 9:36

But to start from the beginning, we actually started a lot of these conversations prior to the year starting, and what we found was a lot of nonprofits were already thinking about this. What do we do with this very potentially combative year coming up? Is our message going to be lost? When do we communicate? How do we communicate? Do we fundraise? Do we ask for money when they're being asked for money on a lot of other places? What does timing look like? So we started a lot of these conversations across the board, whether it was with really large nonprofits or small nonprofits. Everyone had the same question. So we knew this topic was so important. So, as we went into, the first thing that I always wanted to make sure was. We went back to the data to inform how we wanted to show up in these conversations and, surprisingly, the data actually shows that we are trending upwards, that, even though these election years happen, we actually don't see fundraising dip that much. So the 2023 philanthropic landscape reveals that charitable giving increased in the nine of the 10 last presidential elections outside of 2008, due to what was happening from a financial crisis perspective. So the data is actually showing that we shouldn't be that nervous from the nonprofit space because we are continuing to go up and to the right, but that still doesn't mean that you shouldn't be really thoughtful on your strategy.

Speaker 3: 11:23

So in the first, what we found with a lot of conversations that we were having was a lot of nonprofits were focused on their high net worth donors, which was a smart place to start. Their high net worth donors are probably the ones that would be most likely tapped by some of these larger campaigns to get involved. What we found is that was actually happening. They started to have conversations with the high net worth donors. That would say I've decided to go down more of the political for fundraising this year or I'm only going to give you half, and that started, I think, to have the really good conversation internally of what do we do. And so the high network donors, especially in the larger organizations. That's where we saw the conversation initially starting.

Speaker 3: 12:11

Then it started to move to timeline, which was okay, I'm going to launch something my gala typically happens in the fall. What does that mean? So timeline started to really play a role and then it went into programmatic conversations conversations. So it's been a really interesting, you know, conversation to have. Initially to see where do people go first when they thought about election year fundraising and how to, you know, arm themselves with a really comprehensive strategy to ensure that they stuck with the trend of up and to the right. But the conversations, I think, have been critical and if you haven't had them for any nonprofits listening, it's, and if you haven't had them for any nonprofits listening it's okay that you haven't had them, but you should have them now and you can utilize your data to basically help you understand where you should be leaning in or where you should be focused on. So, from a high level, that's initially the conversations that we started to have. And I'm here to say fundraising continued to go up and continues to go up year over year, even during an election year.

Speaker 1: 13:23

I'm so glad you came in here and just started busting myths left and right because I think we just make a lot of assumptions and then we start to say them in the office.

Speaker 1: 13:30

Being honest, I'm saying when you start saying that in the office, then people start repeating it and you're like, can we even back that into the data set? That is true for us and I also got a lift. You know, I think it's great to point to these big reports that come out and we appreciate their efforts, because it's gotta be really hard to corral that data.

Speaker 1: 13:45

but it comes down to, like, what's happening in your shop, what's happening in your walls in terms of your organization and knowing that is empowering, you know, and to spend time, uh, leaning into that and letting us inform our strategy is much healthier place to start from. So, as we think about this year, I feel like it's almost a battle more of attention than anything else, you know, and like how do we cut through the noise? How do we bring a little bit of uplift? We want to see a little more joy in our feeds because, gosh, it feels like so downtrodden A lot of the messaging around the election. So can you talk to us about some of the best practices you know that nonprofits could lean into? What should we be paying attention to? So we can kind of pass that into and form our strategies as well.

Speaker 3: 14:23

So the first thing is don't stop communicating. Oftentimes we're hearing organizations shy a little bit away from their communication strategy. That should not happen. This is a really good time to communicate your impact and communicate your impact well, because people are listening and especially the community that you have built want to hear the importance of the work that you're doing, no matter what's what's happening on the on the political spectrum. So that's first, first and foremost, where I typically start. When we get into what are you communicating? It goes back to, like I said, the impact piece, but also saying thank you Right now piece, but also saying thank you Right now.

Speaker 3: 15:24

We are being inundated with the problems of our country and we aren't necessarily hearing a lot of thank yous, which is really important, especially if you have a really strong recurring or sustained donor base. Right now is a really good time to lean into thank you. This is what it means to be a part of our journey. When we are hearing continually that there are problems, your solution is often a way to address those problems and people want to hear about that. So during this time, we know that donors kind of go through this period and really everyone of how do we get involved? How do I support? How do I take things to the next level? They're looking for that interaction, which we'll talk a little bit about in a few minutes regarding making sure that you have that strategy in place, but they are looking for a place to go so that they can support, even if they're new to your community, even if they're new to your nonprofit.

Speaker 3: 16:24

So one thing that we are a little bit mindful of is you might not want to be launching massive campaigns in the month of October because of how much you are actually competing for noise during that time. So if you're thinking about spending ad dollars or spending money, the ROI there is probably not going to get you what you want just because it's October. So if you're thinking about launching new campaigns, if you're looking at going into new markets or attracting new donors, you probably don't want to do it prior to October or after the election week, just because, again, we want to acknowledge that it exists, the noise exists, and we want to make sure that you're getting the biggest bang for your buck, whether it might be sending an email or doing some sort of advertising, but showcasing what your program is is so important during that time. It's just we don't want you to shy away from it. Maybe just move it up a little bit from a timing perspective.

Speaker 2: 17:31

Very, very smart, and thank you so much for talking about resisting the urge to lean back in your chair and doing actually what my therapist calls the left-handed move, which is like leaning forward into this moment, because I think what you said is so brilliant and I don't want anyone to miss it that, friends, you are the balm to the world right now.

Speaker 2: 17:49

You are the hope that people are looking for In a time such as this, when people feel so rudderless and they're looking for opportunities to connect, to make a difference, to see hope, to see rise, you know, in some way to see a positive shift. You are the torchbearers of that with your stories, with your content, with how you connect people and engage them in community and see them. And so I want to get super practical on this, shanna, because I want you to provide some pro tips that you can share with listeners for how they can maximize these donation dollars during an election year. But also, you talked about data and it's like where do they go in their data? Like, even if you can give us some points about things to look at or places to start, we'd love to hear your pro tips.

Speaker 3: 18:37

Yeah. So if we start with data at the top right, which is really where we start often, the gut reaction often doesn't lead you to exactly where you want to be. So I definitely suggest going to your data If you have, you know, at least four years worth of data, you know. Going back to just the previous election, looking at a few things average donation size did your average donation size change during that year? Did your numbers go up from a donor perspective or go down? What happened on your recurring strategy? Did you see recurring go up or down? So it's essentially just taking five or six really important data points average donation size, recurring, number of donors even if you're heavy into peer-to-peer fundraising and you could look at events but events are kind of finicky, but more of your digital strategy and then comparing them to, okay, during that year, what happened the other three years? What does that data look like for us? Did it go up? Did it go down? And then again going back to those high network donors what happened with that specific group of individuals? Did we see them drop off? Did they give us half of what we were hoping for so that data no-transcript types of donors stick around? Did we have a marketing strategy for those specific donors.

Speaker 3: 21:29

So this leads me into kind of the second pro tip of after you obtain new donors. During this time your strategy to retain them is critical and important. Oftentimes these types of donors will come in and they'll be a little bit lower on your maybe average donation size, but their attention is critical, especially in the first month to two months after they started donating or made that initial one-time gift. And so having a strategy after the donation where the attention is high, it's across the board. You should always have this, but especially with this type of donor, to see if you can actually turn them into more of a sustainer or want to take that next step. Maybe it's volunteering, but the strategy after they make that initial donation during this time is really important. It's always important, but really important during that time.

Speaker 1: 22:27

Yeah, I mean these are just things that are so good for, like, the health of your organization, you know, because it leads to sustainability and from sustainability helps us just build stronger organizations. It's like a business case. I mean, there's no reason not to pour into these fundamental things. And so, you know, this is a storytelling community. We love the power of story, we believe in its ability to cut through the noise, and I know you've got some pro tips, shana, of like how we can really contour the messages, the stories, to stand out and really, you know, drive impact in this really noisy season that we're going through.

Speaker 3: 22:57

So this goes back to how we are communicating our impact, which can be difficult when you feel like there's a ton of noise in this space. So be clear in your message and your call to action. So when you are sending, whether it's on social media, whether it's an email or even you know different types of media be clear in your message, concise in your message and always have a CTA. It's surprising how often CTA, yes, it's surprising how often, especially during noisy times, that organizations won't have a call to action, won't have have whether it's volunteering or donating or becoming a fundraiser, those sorts of things. Do not forget that point. It's so important, especially if somebody is reading, you have that captive audience to potentially for them to have that action that we're looking for. So that's one. Another one is offering incentives, which can somewhat help reduce friction and anxiety, which ultimately help to drive better results, right? So what do we mean by incentives? Well, we're seeing a lot of programs where organizations are going more down the path of membership models, and so you know, as you sign up, there's an incentive to sign up and then you become a sustainer with that organization. Sometimes those incentives can really drive a lot of great behavior. We've seen it everything from you get access to education all the way to you know something like a blanket or a physical good. I just signed up for an organization recently and I don't get mail often and I was shocked when I got like a pin, a little autism pin, and so it was kind of nice. I didn't actually know I was getting something I probably should have, but swag is and can be so important during this time.

Speaker 3: 25:06

And then the last piece on communication is having more of a or and again. All of these tips to your point earlier. It's good to have this, no matter what, whether you're in an election year or not, there's just a lot of emphasis on this. So making sure there's an omni-channel approach to reinforce your impact, reinforce your message. So what does that really mean? And how do you become an echo chamber? What you're saying on social media, what you're saying in your emails, what you're saying in potentially webinars, what you're saying in person, all should match, and that story is so important, consistency is so important, especially if you have a captive audience who wants to hear from you. Making sure that you're reiterating your mission, you're reiterating some of those impact metrics that you might have. But having this omni-channel approach and this echo chamber is is just such an important point, especially during this time when you're competing with a lot of other noise.

Speaker 2: 26:04

Yeah, Okay, so good. And I think the thing that's just sticking with me, shanna, is this idea that we need to have a plan of intention. Like as we're moving into the fall, as we're moving into a time where media is going to be at a frenzy like we have probably never seen before. Like, have a plan of intention here. Put all of your joy filled, impact driven content in a funnel, in a loop, and just start putting it out there. It can be joyful photos, it could be impactful quotes, it could be data that underscores why your mission is so important and so needed in this moment for your community, for the world. And I want to encourage you, dear friend, who is listening right now in Impact Work, to find your voice in this time, to be a powerful advocate for your cause, for your mission, for talking about what helps your mission, for talking about what harms your mission.

Speaker 2: 27:07

We just had an incredible podcast episode with Michael Sheldrick, who is like one of the founders of Global Citizen, and he said to us nonprofits truly forget that they have a powerful voice in the advocacy and the policy reign, and so how do you stand up and become that change agent? How do you bravely and boldly say this is what we need and this is how you can help us, and it may not always be money. As you're planning that plan of intention, think about your role in this. Think about how you can create a 1% shift because you have a unique purview, a unique lived experience, a unique eyes into the data and what's happening, and step into your power. Okay, stepping out of my pulpit, but I have to just empower you as somebody at the end to know that you can be the change.

Speaker 2: 27:59

It doesn't necessarily have to just be your nonprofit, it doesn't just have to be this campaign. You play an integral role too. But, shanna, I think you just have such an interesting journey and I want to thank you for even talking about your parents modeling philanthropy, giving for you and how that's just been a through line, it feels like in your life, and we want to know about a story of philanthropy. You've been in this work for so many years. It's like what is a moment that moved you, stopped you in your tracks and changed you? We'd love to hear it. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 28:34

I have thought about this a ton because I see it so often with a lot of our clients, but I kind of went down a little bit more of a personal route, if you're okay with that, when I first got to Classy. At that point what we were doing was trying to bring young people to the space. We were trying to bring young people to the nonprofit space. This was like 15 years ago where it wasn't trendy and it wasn't in the DNA of young people to really think about philanthropy. It wasn't top of mind. You know when it wasn't top of mind. So when I first came to Classy, one of the first events we did was a pub crawl because we felt that, okay, let's bring philanthropy to where young people are. And so I was really nervous. I had really no idea what I was doing and just kind of blindly went okay, let's do this.

Speaker 3: 29:29

It was one of the largest pub crawls that ended up happening in San Diego, where over 1000 people showed up and they donated and they wanted to be a part of something that was bigger than just your typical pub crawl. It was advertised as a philanthropic event, right, and so I remember, I remember walking to the next pub at this point and just looking around and being like, wow, I'm in the right place, this is really cool. This is what it means to bring people together for something much bigger than ourselves, and being able to educate and also have a good time was also really nice. But I'll never forget that moment of just looking around and recognizing that there was so much of an opportunity you know that was a front in front of us to to bring more people to the, to the space. Um, but it was. It was really cool.

Speaker 1: 30:26

Oh my gosh, I'm obsessed with y'all's early stories of gathering community, making it fun, like I feel, like those of us that this has been our professional career, like we forget, like that it has that effect. You know it has that effect to like bring all the senses together and just have this deeper meaning and like fun elements. I just love the kind of compilation that you shared there, like this beautiful. As we round out, though, we got to get your one good thing, I mean, think about a piece of advice that you could share, maybe a pro tip that's lifted from this conversation that you feel like you want to share with this community, like what you got.

Speaker 3: 30:58

Yeah, I actually was just having a coaching conversation with another nonprofit. This was probably a week or two ago and the focus of the conversation was around how they just are rapidly growing and changing and evolving. And it was around the election year. Who needs to be in the room to make these decisions? And okay, well, if I have a rapid response strategy, what do I do with it? Who should be the execution person on something like that?

Speaker 3: 31:31

And one thing that I always go back to is ensuring you have the right course for the right course. So always making sure that you're going back and thinking through okay, do I have the right people at the table for this stage of where we are at? So it doesn't have to mean because you're evolving or changing. It could be just because you're having a crazy year because of the election and things have changed. But going back to your strategy, ensuring you have the right people around you for that course is just so important. I feel like, as I've seen, a lot of nonprofits continue throughout the years. They aren't evaluating that. We on the tech side are forced to do that often, but we don't see it as much as on the nonprofit side. So that's something that I always try and weave into conversations is making sure you have the right horse on the course that you currently are on, and it's not just status quo and moving through the motions that you've done every single year. So that's probably my one big one right now.

Speaker 2: 32:38

I mean, we got a word for innovate here called try stuff, and it's like totally just try some stuff. So, shanna, you've been so great. I appreciate just your wisdom on this and your pro tips. People are going to want to connect with you. Tell us where you hang out, how people can find you and any more details about Classy that I do use, but, yeah, that's the best place to find me.

Speaker 3: 33:13

And then, as far as Classy is concerned, we're always wanting to have conversations, so one like this and just appreciate you both so much for having me and talking about something that's, you know, for a lot of people a little bit more uncomfortable, but at Classy we have these conversations a lot. Um, classyorg is where you can find us.

Speaker 1: 33:31

Seriously Thank y'all for convening community resources. I mean y'all's website is such like a hub of great information and insights too, so really grateful for for this time and appreciate you so much.

Speaker 2: 33:43

Thank you.