Your Questions Answered: 2024 Trends Report Webinar  

In a time of fundraising shortfalls, economic uncertainties, staffing shortages, and day-to-day operational challenges, nonprofit leaders are leading the charge to innovate, improve, and succeed.  

We hosted the 2024 Nonprofit Research Study: The State of Fundraising, Technology, and Operations Impact on Mission Sustainability webinar on June 6, discussing the Momentive Software 2024 Trends Report. The report examined the nonprofit sector’s state and how organizations embrace innovation to optimize operational processes and improve mission-critical success drivers like fundraising, technology use, and staffing efficiency. 

GiveSmart’s expert team answered several questions in the Q&A portion of the webinar that we have recapped for you below.  

Webinar Questions and Answers

Are in-person fundraisers outdated?
Have you seen a majority of nonprofits return to in-person events?
Are the in-person fundraising events that are happening
raising similar dollars to pre-COVID days?

We’re seeing in-person events return in full force and have a series of stats to support that. When we looked at events held during the 2023-24 spring fundraising season, we saw a few trends:   

• In 2023, 12 organizations hosted hybrid events, with 15% of attendees tuning in virtually.
• In 2024, only eight organizations hosted hybrid events, and virtual attendance dropped to 9%.

The dwindling number of virtual attendees supports the idea that people are back into the swing of in-person entertainment. 

Furthermore, ticket sales data also shows that in-person events are back. Looking at data from May 2021 to January 2024, we saw a 335% increase in in-person ticket sales between those three years. 

These stats together show that in-person events are back, and more popular than ever.   

How can communication be regulated and targeted
towards different types of stakeholders to inform but not overwhelm people?

Regulating and targeting communication with different types of stakeholders requires an approach that considers each group’s needs, preferences, and information overload thresholds. We recommend a two-pronged approach to this:

1. Create Detailed Personas

Develop personas for each stakeholder group to guide the creation of tailored messages. Examples include: 

• By generation, such as Gen Z
• By donation amount, such as donors who gave between $25-$100 last year
• By the number of times a donor donated throughout the year
• By event attendance records, such as those who attended your annual gala
• By status, such as volunteers or recurring donors

2. Segment Mailing Lists and Channels

Use segmentation to ensure each stakeholder group receives information relevant to their interests and needs through appropriate channels (email, social media, newsletters, meetings, events).   

How can you utilize social media to increase donations?  

Social media is a vital part of any fundraiser and a crucial way for your nonprofit to engage with audiences. Your organization likely uses social media to raise awareness of your mission and to gain more donors and volunteers. But it’s important to have a strategy and set goals to make gains.   

Our nonprofit fundraiser experts created this helpful guide for how your nonprofit can successfully leverage social media. In general, we have three best practices:  

• Test out different platforms

While Facebook is America’s most popular social network, you can expand your reach by representing your organization on all platforms. Plus, different platforms appeal to various audiences and age ranges. While creating content for all these networks can be challenging, the investment is worth it.  

• Create engaging content

Don’t post just to post. Spend time creating content that will resonate with your audience. Whether a funny video, a heartfelt story, or even an album with a few photos from an event you held, your stakeholders care about your organization and what you do. Social media is one way to keep them informed and show you’re making a difference.  

• Test content and analyze stats

Just because something has worked before doesn’t mean it will work again. With how social media algorithms present content, don’t be afraid to experiment. Then make sure to track the analytics (shares, likes, comments, etc. ) for your experimental posts to help aid your future social media strategy.  

For more information, check out these other resources: 

• 5 Social Media Stats Nonprofits Need to Know
• Social Media Strategy Guide

What are the basics of fundraising every organization should know?
How can we find more donors?

It’s important to fundraise year-round and define your donors. How a donor experiences the process of supporting an organization may impact how much they give or if they choose to give again in the future. Everything from different ways to give to how soon and frequently someone is thanked for a donation affects the overall donor experience. According to survey respondents, donations were the number one funding source for most nonprofits, and organizations are turning to technology to make the donor experience as seamless as possible.  

Before finding ways to reach more donors, get to know your current donors and work on segmenting your donors into groups. Our donor segmentation guide details how to segment your donors by their likelihood to give and capacity to donate. Segmenting enables you to target them individually and allows you to personalize your outreach.   

Segmentation also helps your organization prevent donor fatigue. When you have diverse fundraising segments, you can target these segments throughout the year instead of reaching everyone all the time. For example, those who give smaller gifts would be great for a recurring giving or a monthly giving campaign. While your mid-level donors would be perfect for a small fundraising event.

Year-round fundraising keeps your organization engaged with your donors, and helps you reach your goals more efficiently.

Thanks for all your questions during the webinar!

Watch the second part of this webinar,
hosted by MIP Fund Accounting Tour GiveSmart