The State of Fundraising Events in 2025 with Samantha Swaim

Summary

Podcast Summary: The State of Fundraising Events in 2025 with Samantha Swaim

Introduction

In the March 12, 2025 episode of Nonprofit Nation with Julia Campbell, host Julia Campbell engages in a comprehensive discussion with Samantha Swaim, co-host of the Fundraising Elevator podcast and a seasoned consultant with over two decades of experience in nonprofit fundraising events. The episode delves into the evolving landscape of fundraising events in 2025, exploring trends, strategies, and challenges faced by nonprofits in maximizing both impact and financial success.

The Evolving Landscape of Fundraising Events

Timestamp: 04:00

Samantha Swaim opens the conversation by emphasizing the fundamental role of gatherings in fostering community and connection within the nonprofit sector. She reflects on the pre-pandemic view of events as just one tool among many, highlighting how the COVID-19 pandemic underscored their essential nature for maintaining donor and volunteer engagement.

“All social justice movements are built on gathering. All religions are built on gathering because it creates a shared language, it creates a shared sense of community, it creates a shared investment.”
– Samantha Swaim [04:35]

Swaim discusses the transition from in-person events to virtual and hybrid models, noting that while virtual spaces provided continuity during the pandemic, the return to physical gatherings has rekindled the neurological and emotional connections that drive donor commitment and community support.

Enhancing Attendee Engagement and Ensuring Safety

Timestamp: 07:24

Julia Campbell shares her personal longing for in-person interactions, particularly after experiencing isolation due to health issues. She inquires about effective strategies nonprofits are employing to boost attendee engagement while ensuring safety amid various concerns, including political tensions and personal anxieties about public gatherings.

Samantha addresses these concerns by distinguishing between general engagement strategies and specific safety measures. For engagement, she advocates for:

1. Timely Gatherings: Hosting quick, responsive events such as town halls to address current issues and mobilize community action.
2. Hybrid Accessibility: Incorporating virtual elements to allow broader participation, thereby increasing accessibility and inclusivity.

Regarding safety, Samantha underscores the importance of proactive measures:

“Safety comes in lots of forms... We can simply say, if you're not feeling good... please stay home.”
– Samantha Swaim [09:15]

She recommends practical tools and resources, including partnerships with the ACLU for legal protections, clear event signage, and alternative security measures tailored to the specific needs of the community and event type.

Integrating Virtual Components for Enhanced Accessibility

Timestamp: 13:58

Samantha delves into the advantages of hybrid events, highlighting their ability to democratize access and reduce production costs. Key strategies include:

• Live Streaming: Utilizing AV teams to effectively broadcast events online.
• Interactive Participation: Engaging virtual attendees through chat features and real-time interactions.
• Integrated Giving Platforms: Implementing tools like Give Lively to facilitate seamless donations from both in-person and virtual audiences.

She also introduces innovative technologies like Sync Words for multilingual and ASL interpretation, enhancing inclusivity and broadening the event’s reach.

“Technology has made a lot of things more accessible.”
– Samantha Swaim [17:56]

These integrations not only widen the audience but also foster a sense of unity between in-person and virtual participants.

Attracting Younger Donors and Supporters

Timestamp: 20:26

Addressing the challenge of engaging younger demographics, Samantha explains that younger donors prioritize mission impact over transactional incentives. She observes a shift towards:

• Mission-Centric Themes: Designing events that directly reflect the organization’s impact and societal issues, such as climate change or housing insecurity.
• Leveraging Peer Networks: Encouraging younger board members and volunteers to utilize their social media platforms for broader outreach and authentic engagement.

Samantha notes that hybrid events have been particularly effective in attracting younger supporters by offering low-barrier participation options, such as free virtual attendance with opportunities for small donations.

Innovative Event Themes for Memorable Experiences

Timestamp: 23:54

Samantha emphasizes the importance of aligning event themes with the organization’s mission to create memorable and impactful experiences. She provides examples of creative themes that resonate deeply with donors:

• The Chair Fair: For a furniture bank nonprofit, the event centered around furniture resources, featuring interactive elements like decorating trucks to showcase impact and highlighting essential items like silverware.
• Animal-Centric Themes: Events such as the Fur Ball or Whisker Wonderland that directly tie into the mission of animal welfare organizations.

“Themes that directly tie back to your impact and work... really resonate with donors.”
– Samantha Swaim [25:35]

These theme-driven events not only engage attendees but also vividly illustrate the nonprofit’s mission, fostering a deeper emotional connection.

Navigating Legislative Changes and Funding Uncertainties

Timestamp: 29:16

Samantha discusses the impact of legislative shifts on nonprofit funding, particularly the fluctuating support from corporate sponsors amidst changing political landscapes. She advises nonprofits to:

• Diversify Funding Streams: Reducing reliance on any single source of funding to mitigate risks associated with legislative changes.
• Storytelling and Transparency: Sharing narratives about lost and gained sponsors to maintain donor trust and highlight steadfast partnerships.

“Embarking on storytelling at the event to say, 'We lost two of our sponsors... but here's who stands with us.'”
– Samantha Swaim [30:16]

Additionally, she underscores the importance of strengthening individual giving cycles through events to ensure financial resilience.

Adjusting Fundraising Strategies Amid Economic Challenges

Timestamp: 31:57

In light of economic uncertainties, Samantha outlines strategies for nonprofits to adapt their fundraising events:

• Extended Campaigns: Incorporating ongoing donation drives alongside events to provide multiple avenues for support.
• Budget Reassessment: Streamlining event costs to allow for greater inclusivity, such as offering free tickets to ensure broader community participation.

She highlights the necessity of flexible budgeting and innovative fundraising models to accommodate the evolving financial landscape and donor capabilities.

Collaborative Efforts Among Nonprofits

Timestamp: 33:34

Samantha champions the idea of collaboration over competition within the nonprofit sector. She shares successful examples where organizations have worked together, demonstrating collective strength and shared goals to donors. Such collaborations lead to increased donor trust and a unified approach to addressing community issues.

“When organizations collaborate, all organizations benefit, and donors respond by supporting all because they're pieces of the same puzzle.”
– Samantha Swaim [34:08]

This collective strategy not only amplifies impact but also fosters a supportive ecosystem where nonprofits can thrive together.

Conclusion and Resources

Timestamp: 35:03

As the episode concludes, Samantha provides listeners with valuable resources to enhance their fundraising events:

• Website: swamstrategies.com – Offers webinars, downloadable tools, and information about the upcoming Elevate Conference.
• Give Lively: A free text-to-give platform designed to simplify the donation process for both in-person and virtual attendees.
• Sync Words: A tool for multilingual and ASL interpretation, enhancing event accessibility.

She invites listeners to join the Elevate Conference on March 12-13 in Portland, Oregon, offering a deep dive into fundraising event strategies amidst current challenges.

Final Thoughts

Julia Campbell expresses gratitude for Samantha’s insights, noting the practical tools and innovative strategies discussed. She emphasizes the importance of in-person gatherings and looks forward to future collaborations and learning opportunities.

“People will never forget how you made them feel... that impact is what drives lasting connections.”
– Julia Campbell [27:43]

The episode concludes with Julia encouraging listeners to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast, furthering its mission to support and empower nonprofits worldwide.

Key Takeaways

• Hybrid Events: Combining in-person and virtual elements to maximize reach and inclusivity.
• Safety Protocols: Implementing comprehensive measures to ensure attendee safety and comfort.
• Mission-Driven Themes: Crafting event themes that directly reflect and enhance the nonprofit’s mission.
• Younger Donor Engagement: Tailoring strategies to align with the values and preferences of younger supporters.
• Legislative Preparedness: Diversifying funding sources and strengthening individual giving to navigate funding uncertainties.
• Collaborative Networks: Building partnerships within the nonprofit sector to amplify impact and donor trust.

Resources Mentioned

• Give Lively: givelively.org
• Sync Words: syncwords.com
• Samantha Swaim’s Website: swamstrategies.com
• Elevate Conference: swamstrategies.com/conference

For more insights and strategies on building impactful fundraising events, tune into future episodes of Nonprofit Nation with Julia Campbell and explore the resources provided by Samantha Swaim.

Transcript

[Samantha Swaim]

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[Julia Campbell]

That sounds ridiculous, right?

[Samantha Swaim]

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[Julia Campbell]

Hello and welcome to Nonprofit Nation. I'm your host, Julia Campbell, and I'm going to sit down with nonprofit industry experts, fundraisers, market, everyone in between to get real and discuss what it takes to build that movement that you've been dreaming of. I created the Nonprofit Nation podcast to share practical wisdom and strategies to help you confidently find your voice, definitively grow your audience, and effectively build your movement. If you're a nonprofit newbie or an experienced professional who's looking to get more visibility, reach more people, and create even more impact, then you're in the right place. Let's get started.

Hello, this is Nonprofit Nation and I'm your podcast host, Julia Campbell. The topic today, the state of fundraising events in 2025. So we know the landscape of nonprofit fundraising events is evolving rapidly as well as everything is evolving rapidly in 2025.

[Samantha Swaim]

So.

[Julia Campbell]

So with the return of in person gatherings, the rise of digital engagement, changing donor expectations, the political climate like how can nonprofits design events that maximize impact and financial success? So in this episode, I'm sitting down with Samantha Swaim, co host of the Fundraising elevator podcast and 20 year consultant to nonprofit fundraising events. We're going to explore the latest trends shaping nonprofit events this year, drawing on her decades of experience in event strategy, storytelling and fundraising. Samantha, thank you for being here. I'm so excited to talk to you.

[Samantha Swaim]

Oh, thank you for having me. I'm excited to chat with you. It's such a crazy world we're in right now.

[Julia Campbell]

I know. And I was just on the Fundraising Elevator podcast, so I'm not sure as of this recording, I think it will be out by the time we release this. So anyway, you should check out, everyone should check out the fundraising elevator podcast. But I have been lucky enough to be a guest on it a couple of times, so thank you for having me. So I don't even know where to begin. So as of this recording, we are still in the longest winter, the longest February of our lives. This will probably be released in March. We are suffering whiplash. News headlines, bad news coming from every direction, misinformation, disinformation. In today's deep political divide, why is gathering so important?

[Samantha Swaim]

Well, I think for a very long time, we felt like gathering was one of the tools in the toolbox that we had in the nonprofit sector. Way to help people feel connected. It was a way for them to feel invested, to feel a sense of being a part of something bigger than themselves. And then in Covid, we learned that it was a really essential part of being connected to our nonprofits, that as donors, as volunteers, as advocates in community, we needed that sense of connection, of familiarity, of updates, of storytelling. And a lot of organizations really moved to continuing that path in a virtual space and then even moved into a hybrid space. And now as we're thinking about the political divides and how do we rebuild out of this, how do we connect? How do we continue to bring people together? The biggest, most sort of influential answer is when we gather, we physically, neurologically connect to each other. All social justice movements are built on gathering. All religions are built on gathering because it creates a shared language, it creates a shared sense of community, it creates a shared investment. And when we're connected to each other, we see each other more, we understand each other more, we care more about the impacts on our community. And that is sort of the antidote to what's been happening over the past five years between isolation through digital technologies, isolation through Covid, we are rife to create an environment of us, them, scenarios, and red blue scenarios. And now I think the work is how do we come together as often as possible, sort of as politically motivated or even just sort of community minded as possible. And that is a sure way to increase donor engagement, increase support. Because when you look at all the research and studies about why people give, feeling a part of something is a giant motivator for why people give.

[Julia Campbell]

Mm. Really, it is part of what makes us human is gathering together and sharing ideas. And I know for me, just based on, you know, my recent health issues issues, I've really missed conferences. And it's so hard to not have Any, like, on the horizon? I think I have one in September. Fingers crossed. But it's such for me a big part of my work, my job, what spurs me, what, what total, what motivates me, especially working from home by myself, constantly kind of feeling kind of isolated. And it's funny, I do feel like it's my own personal, like little Covid all over again because I have to isolate and I really miss that gathering in person. I love to see in person fundraising events making a strong comeback post Pandemic. What are some of the most effective strategies that nonprofits are employing right now to enhance attendee engagement and also just ensure that people feel safe gathering for a myriad of reasons, whether it's gun control or whether it's not wanting to fly right now or whether it is just being scared to leave your house. So how are, yeah. What strategies are nonprofits using to sort of enhance engagement and get more people out of their houses?

[Samantha Swaim]

Well, let me tackle that one first. Just the like, engagement piece, I think the safety piece is a really big, a really big nut to crack. But the engagement piece, I think is twofold. One, the sort of quick, responsive. Gather tonight for a town hall conversation. Gather tonight to talk about the recent executive orders and how this is impacting our community. Gather today online, we're having a zoom call, a virtual town hall that allows us as a nonprofit sector to position ourselves as community builders, as experts, as specific experts to the mission and service we provide. Right. So if our community is going to be dramatically impacted in some way, being able to gather quickly and sort of have that urgent call to action of if today's news is upsetting, here is a place that you can come and have community and talk and be in connection to each other. I think is powerful. So I don't think people should wait together. I think people should find ways to connect to each other as often as possible. But when it comes to like our annual fundraising galas or our big fundraising events, I think right now there's a real trend moving towards access. How do we create more access? How do we perhaps broadcast? So if Julia is unable to attend because of health conditions right now and the risk in being out in community, that being able to tune in virtually online is a way that you can still be in that community and participate. So hybrid is something that has been very popular post Pandemic and is just growing, especially right now, because I think that there is that. How do we mobilize on a bigger scale? It's a low cost way to be able to Take all the effort you put into your event and your storytelling. The second thing is that we always recommend that you take a look at who your key stakeholders are and mobilize them. So thinking about a board member, a major donor, being a table host and bringing a group of people or hosting a group for your event. So it's not just that 300 individual yeses have to come through to get a room with 300 people, but instead, maybe 30 yeses from those who will host a table can help fill your room. So I think the relationship component is a big way to mobilize people and engage it. And the responsiveness of, like, how do we quickly get information and gather people together. The safety issue, however, is a whole nother ball of wax. And I would suggest in the nonprofit sector that we take that more seriously. I think there is a little bit of a sort of inclination to say, I'm not sure how to address this issue. So we're not going to address this issue, and we're just going to do what we've always done. But safety comes in lots of forms, right? So if we're just talking health risk, there's some really simple things we can do. We can simply say, if you're not feeling good or you haven't been feeling good, or you know, you've been exposed to something, please stay home. Like, we are happy to refund you your ticket so that there is that upfront request to take care of each other. When it comes to things like ice and protection of your audience and the demographic of community you serve, ACLU has some great resources. We just published some resources in partnership with them on our substack page of what are the tools you can take? What are the resources you can implement to be able to protect your audience? More things like, know if you're in a public or private space, and if you're in a private space, you have laws that protect you. We have a little emergency card ACLU created that you can download that you can easily give to all your volunteers that says, this is these are your rights, and this is what you can say no to. And the easiest thing is that you can simply put signage on your event space doors that says private ticketed event, and that makes it a private space that allows you to say no and keep people out. So when it comes to gun safety, I think that there's, you know, a lot of things that can be done to talk to, take a look at what are the venues, policies, what options are there, and protecting you when it comes to Security and understanding that, you know, security does not always feel safe to every community. An armed officer is not something that feels safe. We've implemented all kinds of things. Like we were working with an organization that was a social justice organization. They wanted a heavy security presence because of the fact that they had a keynote speaker who had had some death threats on her life. And we hired a whole bunch of drag queens to come and be our security defense because they think they could defuse. Like they have that sassy attitude that allows them to sort of approach in a way that an armed officer would feel intimidating. Right. So I think it's thinking about gatherings as being something that we want to make sure are safe, protected. And walking through some of those tools. We have some checklists on our [e-mail] that also include things like if you're expecting protest action and how to handle that so that people have a first amendment right and a voice. You know, there's, I think, ways that we can make sure that people feel safe but also feel like they're rights and their voice are being heard.

[Julia Campbell]

All things that I did not even think about. Which just goes to show, I mean, that's, that is so important because we do know we do now have to really be focused on, you know, our community and protecting them, but, you know, making sure that they feel safe and that they want to attend. These are really fantastic strategies. I'm going to put the link to your substack in the show notes with the ACLU event resources as well. I really do think that right now I know that we're working on this in the school district, you know, training teachers and administrators and you know, having the ACLU come in and having those kinds of resources on hand at the school just for field trips, things like that, for volunteers, it's just so helpful. I never even thought about training volunteers at a fundraising advocacy event, but it's essential. It's essential right now. So you talked a little bit about integrating some virtual components, maybe making the event hybrid. So what are some ways that you've seen have been most effective to integrate virtual components into the in person events? And then the second piece of that question, I guess is how can we enhance accessibility at our events?

[Samantha Swaim]

Hybrid is probably my like favorite thing to talk about because for me it kind of cracked a nut open that we were sort of confronted with all the time in fundraising events is that they're super expensive to produce. And because they're expensive to produce, they often became very exclusive. And yet here we are like addressing things like homelessness or housing or food insecurity in our community. And we're like, but only the wealthiest can come to our fundraising event. And that was always a dichotomy that was really hard to tackle. When virtual and hybrid came around. The hybrid option made the door of accessibility wide open. And there's a couple of key things that I would recommend. One is that you need to basically have a resource of an AV team that knows how to live stream. That's the key resource. And there's so many ways you can livestream. But basically you set up that video camera, you have a film, sort of one or two cameras present at your event, and all of that can be captured and streamed out live. The second thing that you want to think about is when you're streaming, is there a way that your home audience can be invited in to participate? So the easiest way to do that is a chat. And we typically have a chat moderator that sits in the chat and makes sure that the chat is appropriate. Make sure that there's conversation happening, some cheerleading, kind of like, that was great. And what an awesome speaker. So that the chat feels exciting. We also have our host to talk directly to the camera and make sure that they include that there is a in person audience watching and a home audience watching so both audiences can feel connected to each other. And then giving. We highly recommend integrating some sort of giving that allows the home audience to participate. It can be as simple as a QR code on the screen. It can be as simple as a text to give tool. In fact, Give Lively is a free text to give tool that you can set up. And they can easily have a call to action for both the guests in your room and the guests at home to give via the same mechanism.

[Julia Campbell]

Wonderful. Give lively. Okay.

[Samantha Swaim]

Give lively.org it's free to all nonprofits and has a thermometer that allows you to show your fundraising and every donor name that's coming in, which is awesome. People can choose to be anonymous or choose to be recognized for their giving. So I think having a hybrid element allows for all the time and energy and storytelling and video production and entertainment that we put into our events to be something that can reach a broader audience. Especially if you're in the northern half of the US and you have donors that are snowbirds that go south for the winter, you're in Canada and you have folks that go to Mexico over the winter. This is a way for you to continue to reach your donors. And we've seen organizations with statewide presence or national presence, be able to include everyone in their event because they simply included a hybrid element. So very simple way to create access, but there's other ways to create access. And one of my favorite things coming out of technology and progression of technology right now is language interpretation. We work with a company called Sync Words and they can have any language you want, they can have multiple languages and they can be available to your guests in multiple ways. So it can be as simple as if I'm a home viewer, I can click and see captions in another language. That's real simple. But I can also, if I'm in the venue, I can scan a QR code and listen through my own cell phone, or put an earbud in and listen through my own cell phone. And it's interpreted to me in the language of my choice.

[Julia Campbell]

Wow.

[Samantha Swaim]

So that is a very low cost way to be a lot more inclusive to be able to say that our program is offered in multiple languages and.

[Julia Campbell]

Then, wow, what's that tool again?

[Samantha Swaim]

It's called Sync Words.

[Julia Campbell]

Okay, I'm looking it up. I will put it in the show notes. Sounds great. And then I'm interested for a summit that I'm putting on later in the year, so.

[Samantha Swaim]

Oh, they're fantastic. Especially if anything is like done online virtually. It's as simple as they give you a button that you can click and add to your website and say, I want this in Chinese and it'll translate to whatever language you choose.

[Julia Campbell]

That's amazing.

[Samantha Swaim]

Yeah. Then the other thing I would say is things like ASL interpretation. We've had organizations that have had requests for ASL interpretation but didn't have an interpreter available in their community at the time. Now, with the simplicity of Zoom, you can have an interpreter anywhere in the world that is supporting your event with a small little box on your screen. They can be at home listening to your event and interpreting into their zoom camera. And it shows up as you can set it up as a little box on your screen. So all of a sudden technology has made a lot of things more accessible.

[Julia Campbell]

That's amazing. And that is going to get a lot more engagement and get people a lot more excited. And I love what you said about don't just set up the camera and set it and forget it. You know, have people that are interacting, answering questions. Because I find there's usually questions in the chat, in the Zoom chat or whatever technology you're using to live stream it and. Or someone didn't catch something and someone, you know, wanted to hear another fact again or get more information. So if there's a couple of people working for the organization, monitoring the chat and answering questions and interacting, that is going to, that's going to just spur engagement within that hybrid component. I think that's so important.

[Samantha Swaim]

We have an event coming up that is our Elevate conference. It's like a fundraising.

[Julia Campbell]

Yes, the Elevate Conference.

[Samantha Swaim]

And in that we are demoing a lot of these technologies because they're so easy to use and so new. And one of the things that we're doing is a screen that is visible to the in person audience, that is the chat from home. So it's very easy for the speakers to be able to actually interact with the home audience as well. And they might be standing on a stage, but they can see the questions that are coming in and we'll have a moderator that's helping to like highlight them and say, hey, you have a question from the home audience. But very cool things being, you know, sort of accessed now with the addition of some very easy to use technologies.

[Julia Campbell]

That's fantastic. When is Elevate? I'm going to put a link in the show notes.

[Samantha Swaim]

It is March 12th and 13th, March 12th and 13th hybrid. So folks can come in person and join us in Portland, Oregon or tune in virtually and join online.

Oh, fantastic. Oh, Portland.

[Julia Campbell]

Oh, that's wonderful. Okay, well I will make sure this goes out Wednesday, March 12 then. I just made the decision right now. So if you're listening, go to what's the website?

[Samantha Swaim]

Just swamstrategies.com and there's a conference tab and you can sign up and log in and join us. We'll be all day. Content on both the 12th and the 13th and it's really fundraising events. So school, like diving into what's new, what's working, how to mobilize and raise more money through your fundraising event.

[Julia Campbell]

And I love that because people can go and kind of just look at the tools that you're using. So that's what I'm going to do. I that's why I love attending virtual summits or hybrid events because I like to see how they do it, what they're doing and get ideas for my own events. So. Okay, very cool. So how do we get younger donors and younger supporters and activists to attend in person or virtual events? Do you find that that's challenging or is that something that's maybe on an upswing? What's the trend there?

[Samantha Swaim]

Well, I think younger donors tend to give for different reasons than boomers. Right. So our boomer generation was Very into stuff and transaction and buying and winning the prize. And so our events, you know, 20 years ago, auctions, auction centric. Yep. And now that is not the case. Our younger donors are very interested in how much of my dollar is making an impact. What mission am I impacting? And what we're seeing is that organizations are really leaning much more into designing for mission, designing for purpose. Themes that really focus on what are the issues we're addressing, like how to stop a climate crisis, how to improve housing in our community. And everything that they choose in their event is designed around impact and telling the story of their work instead of stuff. Right. And so that's kind of the biggest change that we've seen for younger donor demographics. The other thing that I would say is the virtual aspect has allowed for a more sort of diverse range of attendee. We've seen that it kind of tapped both ends of the spectrum because the broadcast can be free. We see a lot of folks that are younger that maybe are first time participating, that are giving a $10 donation, tuning in for free. And then we also see an older demographic who used to attend the event and don't attend anymore because it's not as accessible to get out. And so I think the virtual aspect has been another way to increase attendance. And then just the key element that we're seeing is how do you lean on those who are most involved with your organization to help you with your audience? Building their social media, their advocacy is going to go much further than your organizational social media. So you being able to mobilize your younger donors, mobilize your younger committee members, your younger board members to share out your content, to get the word out to speak to why they're attending. That makes a big impact for sure.

Yes.

[Julia Campbell]

Really. Using all of the technologies, communication, tools available, I love that. So I know that creative themes, they're kind of becoming incredibly important. The 50th anniversary gala doesn't really have the draw that it used to. So can you share some examples of maybe some innovative event themes that you think really have resonated with donors? How can we tap into our inner creativity and, and make these events more memorable?

[Samantha Swaim]

The first thing I will say is no one cares as much about your anniversary as you do.

[Julia Campbell]

Right, right.

[Samantha Swaim]

So one of the things that we've seen folks mobilize anniversaries around though is bringing people back and doing like big recognition. So that can be a way to mobilize around on anniversary, but it's certainly not a theme that like carries a ton of weight for your donors. What does carry a lot of weight are themes that directly tie back to your impact and work, Especially if you're trying to target a younger demographic of donor. We, for example, have worked with an organization. I love this organization because they are so creative. But we work with an organization that's a furniture bank. So their event is the chair fair. They do not try to hide what they do. They do not try to, like, sort of go with the. The fun without having mission in it. And so the chair affair is a gala event that they've designed all around furniture resources for those who are newly housed. One of the stories I love to tell about their event is we asked them for details in our. In our planning process with them. I said, what are some of the things people really need? We heard two stories. One was the story that mattresses are the number one reason why people do or don't show up for an appointment at the furniture bank. If there is not a mattress in stock, they'll reschedule because it's such a needed item.

[Julia Campbell]

Oh, yeah.

[Samantha Swaim]

And so at the event, we had mattresses all around the event and had a mattress partner and a mattress sponsor that every time someone signed up to buy a mattress, the mattress sponsor would donate a mattress.

[Julia Campbell]

Oh, wow.

[Samantha Swaim]

The other thing that we had was the fact that because they're a furniture bank, a furniture warehouse, we had the event in a warehouse, and we pulled two of their trucks up, and we decorated one of their trucks to look just like the inside of a children's bedroom and decorated one of their trucks to look like sort of before the furniture had come in and gave people the experience. Experience of seeing the impact, but also seeing, like, the iPad that the. That the client gets when they walk in and what they get to choose and how they get to choose it. And then we've learned that their biggest need is silverware. The number one request they get is silverware. That being able to have access to, like, canned goods is only so good if you can open the can. Right. And so when we serve dinner, we served it with no silverware, and we served hot soup without silverware and had everyone kind of looking to figure out where the silverware was and then started our program to explain that it's the number one requested item. And the simple act of not having it here makes it more challenging to enjoy our meal. And as our waitsaf comes out with the silverware, all of tonight's silverware is going to be cleaned and donated back to the furniture bank.

Wow.

So just Fun ways to incorporate, like mission directly in the theme. We've done a lot of work with animal based organizations where the animals become the center of the theme. Right. The Fur Ball, the Whisker Ball, Whisker Wonderland. We've had a number of. I love that based themes. And then we've also worked with schools that do a ton of fundraising events where we take a core mission for them and focus that as the theme. Like student leadership is one of the schools we work with is a key element. So every single speaker that was on that stage was a student or an alumni, so that we were tying it back to demonstrating our students and their leadership. We involved them in the planning. The students were coming up with what the decorations would be and helping us to understand what some of the songs or events or elements they would want to see at the event. So really tying to purpose, I think, would be my biggest recommendation.

[Julia Campbell]

I think that all goes back to the Maya Angelou quote. People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. So they're not going to forget how they felt when they did not have soup or a soup spoon. And they probably felt sheepish and maybe everyone else had one and they couldn't find theirs. And like that feeling of not knowing what to do. And I know that they're going to remember that feeling. And it just makes that moment so much more impactful than if you had just kind of said it. You really showed them, so that's wonderful.

[Samantha Swaim]

You touched on the importance of joy, too, which I think is a critical element right now especially. It's always a critical element. But right now I think that being able to sort of stand in defiance and say, we understand that the world is hard and we understand that the headlines are scary and there's a lot of bad news is coming our way. And yet here we are standing together, standing strong, and we're going to be a community that celebrates together. That school that we work with just had their event a week ago, and I can't tell you how much social media and how much coverage of their event they got simply because there was so much joy at their event.

[Julia Campbell]

Yes, yes.

[Samantha Swaim]

And people left there talking about they couldn't wait to go back to the next event because it was so joyful. And I think that that's such an important sort of act that we can bring to our gatherings as nonprofits right now to sort of counterbalance the sort of oppression that we're hearing everywhere, especially in our sector.

[Julia Campbell]

Well, that leads me to my question about potential changes to a variety of laws affecting nonprofits, not just with executive orders, but also potential bills being passed that can really affect funding, that can affect philanthropy. How do you feel that these legislative shifts are going to impact fundraising events? Like, and is what can we do to prepare?

[Samantha Swaim]

We've already seen a little bit of a weird whiplash that happened. We started to hear about two weeks, three weeks ago, we started to hear stories of corporations removing DEI work and therefore not sponsoring any organization that would lean into social justice or DEI work at all. And so table Sponsors and corporate partnerships were something we thought were at risk. Almost immediately, we saw a backlash of companies doubling down and saying, oh, no, this is important to us, and we're committing to dei and so we're going to actually increase our support, which became a narrative sort of storytelling piece that I think is important for the event to be able to say, yeah, we lost two of our sponsors, and they're choosing not to to support right now because of executive orders. But look at what we gained and look at those who are standing with us. So I think that that becomes part of your social media story, becomes part of your, you know, sort of storytelling at the event. And then I think just for preparation, we don't know what federal funding is going to look like. And a lot of us, even though we may not actually receive direct federal funding, we might receive a foundation that.

[Julia Campbell]

Gets federal support, one of our key partners. I depend on it.

[Samantha Swaim]

And so I think because of that, we have to think about always looking to the diversity of how many different ways we get support. An event is a really great way to build up our individual giving. And so a lot of organizations, I think, are sort of already right in the middle of spring fundraising season right now and thinking about how do we bring more people in, how do we connect people deeper, mobilize numbers to get that support right now so that we're continuing to feed our individual giving cycles and not just relying heavily on one area of giving. We don't know how those will change.

[Julia Campbell]

Exactly, exactly. And there's so many ongoing economic challenges, and people are really struggling. How can nonprofits adjust their fundraising event strategies? You talked about this a little bit before to really address financial constraints on donors and just financial unrest in general.

[Samantha Swaim]

Yeah, I think there's a couple of things we've seen folks applying right now really quickly. One is that folks have started to tie a campaign around the event as well, so that if you can't attend, make a donation anyway, here's how to give every gift makes an impact. And so leading up to the event, organizations have started to look to and apply. How can campaign funding, how can an ongoing ask be recognized and celebrated and, you know, give shout outs even before the event happens? The other thing that I would say though is we're starting to see folks shift how they build their budget revenue model. So a lot of organizations have been really dependent upon corporate giving as a giant revenue and then their table sales and the giving at the end event as their other big revenue. And we're seeing folks look to a pay it forward model, creating more access, getting more people in the door. We even had an organization talk to their caterer and look to how could they significantly reduce their catering costs in order to make sure that they could get more people in the door without it costing them a ton of resource. And we had an organization budget in that they were going to have at least 100 free tickets to their event so that they were including their whole community and thinking more inclusively about how do we open the doors and bring everyone in. So I think that in this time where we're trying to understand how our donations are going to shift and evolve and what our budgets are going to look like, more support from lots of different avenues and resources is sort of the way that folks are looking to cast the widest net possible.

[Julia Campbell]

Rising tide lifts all ships. Do you see nonprofits working in tandem or working in collaboration with each other around fundraising events? That's something I've seen lately in my local community. Whether it's a community foundation hosting some of the grantees or whether it's a couple of different organizations like the library and an after school program joining together. I love to see that. I don't know if that's a trend that you've been seeing.

[Samantha Swaim]

Yeah, I think it's a misnomer to think in the nonprofit sector that we're competing for the same donor dollar.

[Julia Campbell]

Yes.

[Samantha Swaim]

You know, like, I think we need to embrace that concept of all a rising tide, you know, like all boats rise. Because when I have seen organizations collaborate and work together, I've seen all organizations benefit from that. In fact, we have a group that we work with that across a metropolitan area, six different organizations. We're all serving a similar demographic with different solutions around housing. And each one of them started showing, showing up to each other's event and recognizing. I want to thank all of the other executive directors that are here with me that are working in this sector, because what it said to our donors is, we Are collaborating for the greatest good.

[Julia Campbell]

Yes.

[Samantha Swaim]

And the donors started to respond by giving collectively to all. Not reducing to one, but saying, I want to support all of you because I see that you're all pieces of the same puzzle.

[Julia Campbell]

It's really amazing. Oh, wow.

[Samantha Swaim]

I love that.

[Julia Campbell]

That's fantastic. So as we wrap up, I just, I really want to, I want to thank you. But I want to know, where can people find you, learn more about you. We mentioned the substack. We mentioned elevate conference. So give us a little wrap up of all the things. Yeah. And I'm putting them all in the show notes.

[Samantha Swaim]

It can hub everything at our website, which is swamstrategies.com and there we have a ton of free webinars and downloadable tools. Our podcast, the Fundraising Elevator, our substack community. Community is building and is a place that we're really trying to create cross conversation with folks about what's working for their event and trends that we're seeing and tools to be able to think about things like guest safety. And then our conference is March 12th and 13th, and if folks are able to join us, we'd love to have you join us. It's two day deep dive. We call it fundraising event school. It's really intended to sort of give you the tools you need to raise more right now in this moment with your fundraising event.

[Julia Campbell]

Fabulous. Oh, so thank you so much, Samantha. This has just been wonderful. Wonderful. I learned a lot. I was taking notes like furiously for some of my clients and taking down the fabulous tools that you mentioned. So thank you so much again and I just can't wait to be in person again and gather in person with you.

[Samantha Swaim]

Well, I look forward to seeing you when you are able to join us at the next conference.

[Julia Campbell]

Well, hey there. I wanted to say thank you for tuning into my show and for listening all the way to the end. If you really enjoyed today's conversation, make sure to subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast app and you'll get new episodes downloaded as soon as they come out. I would love if you left me a rating or a review because this tells other people that my podcast is worth listening to. And then me and my guests can reach even more earbuds and create even more impact. So that's pretty much it. I'll be back soon with a brand new episode, but until then, you can find me on Instagram @JuliaCampbell77. Keep changing the world, you non profit unicorn.