Nonprofit events often feel like a finish line. The auction closes, the paddle raise hits its goal, the room clears, and everyone exhales. But as Stephanie Paz Townsend shared during this 501(c) Drop, what happens after the event is what determines whether it was merely successful or truly transformational.
In this conversation, Leya Simmons and Stephanie explored how nonprofits can reframe events not as isolated fundraising moments, but as intentional entry points into long-term donor relationships.
Events are often treated as transactional. A sponsor gives. A guest attends. A thank-you email goes out. And then momentum quietly disappears. Not because nonprofits don’t care, but because exhaustion, unclear ownership, and lack of systems get in the way.
Stephanie challenged this mindset directly. Fundraising doesn’t happen at events. It happens in relationships. Events are simply the vehicle that brings people into proximity with your mission.
Event sponsors already signal capacity, alignment, and engagement. Yet they’re rarely cultivated beyond recognition benefits. The missed opportunity isn’t a lack of interest. It’s a lack of intentional follow-through.
Understanding why a sponsor shows up is the starting point. Visibility, employee engagement, leadership involvement, or personal passion all point toward different next steps. When nonprofits take time to learn those motivations, sponsorships naturally evolve into deeper relationships.
One of the biggest takeaways from the discussion was timing. Moves management doesn’t start after the event. It starts the moment someone commits.
Waiting until the event ends often means losing momentum. Energy fades, staff burn out, and valuable context disappears. By contrast, when ownership and follow-up plans are defined early, nonprofits can convert excitement into sustained engagement.
A recurring breakdown after events is simple. No one owns the relationship. Without a clear steward, even high-potential donors quietly disengage.
Stephanie emphasized assigning ownership early, whether that’s a development staff member, board member, or executive leader. Ownership isn’t about asking for money. It’s about building connection, asking thoughtful questions, and keeping the relationship moving forward.
Throughout the conversation, Stephanie reinforced a key truth. Technology doesn’t replace human connection. It supports it.
When engagement data, communication history, and donor behavior are captured in one place, fundraisers no longer rely on memory or guesswork. They show up informed, curious, and prepared. That confidence leads to better conversations and stronger relationships.
Stephanie closed with a simple but powerful reframe. Momentum isn’t accidental. It’s intentional.
Nonprofits don’t need more events or bigger budgets to build stronger donor relationships. They need a clear definition of momentum and a plan for how people are invited into it over time.
When events are designed as the beginning of a relationship rather than the end, everything changes.
Recording Transcript:
Leya Simmons (00:00)
Hi everyone. Thank you so much for joining us today and welcome to our 501 C drop. I am beyond thrilled to be joined today by my good friend, Stephanie Paz Townsend of Paz Principles Consulting. are talking about, honestly, it's like one of my favorite topics about event momentum and how we can, actually, let me share my next slide so we see the title.
how we can go beyond the event and build sponsorships and sponsors into a major gift pipeline. So hey, Stephanie, thanks for joining us. Welcome.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (00:37)
Thank you so much for having me, Leah. I love that we get to keep having this conversation and bring others into it.
Leya Simmons (00:42)
I agree. It couldn't be more timely. Honestly, you're kind of stepping into better unite and moving through, looking through all of our tools. Stephanie has been instrumental in diving deep into better unites moves management system and really, you know, you and I, Stephanie, we've talked a lot about, you know, how this, this now new component within our tool, within better unite can really move the needle with events.
So I'm so excited to kind of have this full discussion today. And full disclosure, we are not gonna talk about only Better Unite today. We're gonna talk about really taking events and kind of next leveling them. So I'll start out here. I'm gonna stop my presentation because I am always forgetting to do that. So what we'll talk about today is like something that every nonprofit has experienced. You plan this incredible event. The event goes actually very well. ⁓
absolutely a success by any metric. And then the event ends and guests leave. And what happens next is personally for me as a development director and as an event director was always the most difficult part, right? We are exhausted as the people working on the event were just done as well. We've worked with a million people, you've had committees, you've had all these things. But what happens next is actually so important.
And that's where, and what happens then is that kind of moment that determines whether or not the event becomes a transformational event for the nonprofit, or if it becomes really a transactional experience for donors. So I'm encapsulating here what Stephanie has been working on and we have been talking about a whole lot. So we talk here a lot about taking an event and moving it from an episodic event or something that occurs.
into something that has momentum-based fundraising, where the event is intentionally designed from the outset as an entry point and into the donor life cycle. So, okay, with all of that, let me introduce Stephanie. I'm gonna pull up my notes here and read some of her bio. ⁓ Stephanie is a nonprofit strategy leader with nearly two decades of experience across development, marketing, and brand strategy.
And what makes Stephanie's work so impactful is the way that she blends relationship driven engagement and data driven decision making. I'm really glad I had that written down. I would have never gotten through that if not. She brings together behavioral analytics, personalized communication and ethical storytelling to help mission driven organizations build sustainable growth.
not just one time wins. And let me tell you, I have seen Stephanie in action, working with really large nonprofits, making these things happen. She's known for her analytical approach and people-centered solutions, particularly when it comes to cultivating strategic relationships and building cross-sector partnerships. In every engagement, Stephanie challenges organizations to move shared intent into meaningful, lasting results.
And that lens makes her the perfect guide for today's conversation. So one more time, welcome Stephanie. I'm so happy that you're here. Of course. Yay. Okay. So let's start out. I want to like kind of take us into, um, really describe the main challenge. And like I said, something that we, we often, and all of us have experienced, but we don't really talk about. And we also, think as nonprofits, a lot of times don't have the strategy or the systems.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (04:02)
Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.
Leya Simmons (04:24)
or frankly the time to do anything about this. event sponsors, let's start there. They consistently show clear capacity. They've got mission alignment. Of course, they wouldn't be a sponsor without it. And they're obviously engaged. They've purchased the sponsorship. So why is it that they're one of the more underutilized major donor segments? Why do you think that is?
Stephanie Paz Townsend (04:47)
Well, I think it speaks to kind of how nonprofits approach events in general, I think. In particular, we look at events as one of the primary tactics through which fundraising happens, as opposed to the vehicle for where the fundraising actually takes place, which is in relationships, right? The relationships with the donors, the organizations that are supporting. ⁓
that's where the actual fundraising success comes from. The event is just the vehicle. It's just the activity that people get to do and galvanize around. And so I think that's the where it starts. And then I think the other part of it is that donors are treated or especially sponsors are treated as if the stewardship component is built into the event. And therefore it's kind of all wrapped up with a nice little bow at the end as opposed to using the opportunity
of getting to know the sponsor throughout the event as a way to decide where the relationship should go next. And I think that's where organizations ⁓ tend to fall short. And to your point, there's a lot of exhaustion, there's burnout, there's all kinds of other ⁓ logistical matters that take place ⁓ and take precedent over relationships when actually at the end of the day, the relationships are what's gonna sustain the organization and help it to.
Leya Simmons (06:06)
Right, like, hitting here, going off script. I mean, I know that you, we've both been in this situation where you're just exhausted. So I feel like also couching this whole conversation, and there is no shame in the fact that we've all been there and done that. That, you know, the end of the event is just the end because you have no more to give as a human person involved in the event itself. But if we can...
reframe that and start it from the beginning, like I know you're going to guide us to do, I think that that's where a real change can happen. So ⁓ I guess maybe that's also for myself because I know I did that when I was a development director as well. we learn as we go. Now we know better so we can do better, as Maya Angelou says. Yeah, go ahead.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (06:49)
Yeah, and I think that donors
and board members are sort of conditioned, right, to think that that's the best way to fundraise. Events have an inherent ask built into them, and so it's easy for volunteers and board members and those that are already supporting your organization to kind of share and spread the word and use that as a fundraising vehicle. But for those of us that consider ourselves professional fundraisers, I think that there's an opportunity
Leya Simmons (06:54)
Yep. Yeah.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (07:15)
to take it further than that and to really be intentional. And I think that's where we get to kind of transition the conversation.
Leya Simmons (07:21)
That's exactly right. So unlocking the opportunity that's been there and just latent in the whole thing. then what, I'm already talking about it, but the mindset shift, right? That needs to happen for nonprofits to stop treating the sponsorships as one and done and start seeing them as the beginning of a relationship. I mean, can you talk a little bit more about that? Like how to, and maybe also how to, if you are the professional fundraiser in the room, how to condition your maybe executive director or your board or the other people.
that are involved in the event to really think about this as a longer term engagement.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (07:57)
Yeah, well, I think you've already said it, right? Like, the sponsors have already indicated that there is capacity, there's affinity, there's some kind of engagement that's already taking place with your organization. ⁓ Now you get to understand by starting that relationship with the sponsor, what is the value proposition for that sponsor? What are they looking for? ⁓ Are they looking to be part of the problem that you're solving in the community?
Are they looking for visibility and alignment with your organization? Are they looking to engage their employees or are they looking to ⁓ activate their family members around it? Once you understand what their value proposition is, their motivation, ⁓ then it opens up the channels of the next step within the relationship. And so I think that that's where... ⁓
Leya Simmons (08:26)
you
Stephanie Paz Townsend (08:45)
By using the information that is already being given to you through donor engagement, you have the opportunity to then identify what are the possible next steps and then ask them, where do they want to go from here, right?
Leya Simmons (08:56)
Yeah, the
big why that's your opportunity there. I love that. That's actually so clear to me because a lot of it, does, you know, when we talk about this just from this very high level, it feels very, you know, squishy or ephemeral or these like that sounds lovely. But, you know, I really love your approach, which is grounding these, this opportunity in, okay, here's tactical next steps. Thank you for that.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (09:21)
And I think organizations do such a phenomenal job at events of painting the picture. This is the problem we're solving. This is the issue. This is who we're helping. And they think that because there's a call to action to give within the event that that's where the action should take place ⁓ from the donor's perspective. But really, that's just the start. And you have to continually be inviting them into the work that you're doing through specific channels in order to keep.
Leya Simmons (09:26)
a leeching.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (09:48)
that relationship and ultimately that fundraising support moving forward.
Leya Simmons (09:52)
yeah. So then we're, this is, here's my next question. When the theme of like when the relationship management actually begins, at what point then before the event should their moves management process start? it, you know, and also is it too late or, you know, maybe tell us why it's too late if we wait until the event ends.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (10:18)
I hate, I don't want to say that it's ever too late. I think that ⁓ if you have any actual engagement with a donor, then it's not too late. There's still an opportunity for a relationship there. But I would say that the minute there's any kind of commitment made or any...
Leya Simmons (10:30)
That's good to know. Happy out.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (10:35)
engagement demonstrated, there's a huge opportunity to take advantage of that and turn that into momentum. So it starts with energy and excitement. And if you can convert that into momentum that moves to a deeper relationship, that moves to ongoing commitment financially and otherwise, then that's where you're going to see the relationship grow. And you're going to see your organization grow because of the support that you're generating.
Leya Simmons (11:00)
All right, so in your experience then, what are the most common breakdowns that you see post-event, right? Like from the ones that would cause high potential donors or sponsors to kind of quietly exit the room to disengage. Even when, and you know, this is I find too, like a big part of the problem is that we've kind of stamped the event successful. The paddle raise did really well, the auctioneer was on their game, like everything went really well. So, you know, what happens?
happens then?
Stephanie Paz Townsend (11:32)
Yeah, so I think, you you just said we hit our goal, right? And there's this big celebration, this moment of relief from the staff and the supporters. And then the momentum stops, the energy kind of stops. And so even though there's some kind of generic.
thank yous and recap summaries, most of the time those feel really transactional and based on just this moment in time as opposed to an invitation for continued momentum. And the reason that I think that that happens is because there's not clear ownership over who is going to move this relationship forward. Right, and so a lot of nonprofits have different donor portfolios and
Leya Simmons (12:10)
Sure, like what's next? Who does what next?
Stephanie Paz Townsend (12:18)
people who are managing those portfolios, but who is actually making the moves management plan for this donor to move them to their full potential? Who's the one that's actually gathering the information that tells you what is motivating them to give and support in the first place and what results they're looking for, how they want to be a part of an impact. ⁓ And so if you can assign that early, right, as soon as somebody makes a commitment or even as soon as you make an ask, if you can assign an owner to that relationship,
a major gifts officer, even a board member, and invite them to think through and explore with that donor what next steps look like, and they can propose the next plan. I think that's where you're able to maintain that momentum because you have a specific owner and they are cultivating that plan intentionally.
Leya Simmons (13:09)
So then how do you decide who the owner is? And who is on the table as far as owners go? And maybe if you could break it down into a much smaller development staff or even smaller organizational staff to a mid-size to a larger, who's at your beck and call? Who would even be in the option mix?
Stephanie Paz Townsend (13:30)
Yeah, mean, so I think it starts from even like the CEO of the organization oftentimes is one of your most prolific frontline fundraisers because they're the ones that are out there and they're the most visible. But you really want to preserve their time and use them strategically in relationships to move things forward. And so I think if you're able to, even if you are just defining your donors based on
Leya Simmons (13:39)
Yeah.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (13:55)
know, certain giving capacity that they've indicated and certain engagement levels that they've indicated. ⁓ Donors that are really actively responsive to the things that you're sending out, ⁓ who are eager for the next update. Those are the donors that you want to spend most of your time cultivating. And so start by taking the criteria ⁓ based on your organization and finding, you know, who are the
those that are best positioned to work with them. Sometimes it is honestly a board member. A lot of organizations, small ones have a fund development committee. And if you can give each of those board members three to five donors that they're gonna find at your event and make sure that they have a direct connection to, that's going to start that momentum away from transactional into relationship. And so that I think,
Volunteers can also be helpful, but it's also based on who's willing to take the responsibility for the relationship ⁓ and then make sure that that's being tracked and moved forward intentionally.
Leya Simmons (14:59)
That's so, yeah, I was curious. So we've identified, and I totally agree too, particularly relative to board members because that's a direct peer-to-peer request. And we know that people give to people like them. So I love that. But then how do you prepare them? Do you give them a kind of set of questions that they need to have answered? what would that process look like? Again, sorry, I'm going off script here, but I'm curious.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (15:25)
Yeah, no, so I think for me, know, one of the things I focus on is transforming fundraising through data and relationships. And so you have to have the data, right? And so the first thing I would want to do if I was giving a board member or a volunteer or even a junior staff member,
Leya Simmons (15:28)
Thank
Stephanie Paz Townsend (15:42)
responsibility for a relationship is I would want them to have all of the data. How is this individual given in the past? What are they responding to when we send them information? Are they opening our emails? Are they ⁓ replying back with the information that we need from them? ⁓ Those kinds of things will be really helpful for them to then prioritize. Who are the ones that are really engaged? Because those are the ones that deserve that personalized engagement back. And then you can...
Leya Simmons (15:46)
Mm.
Interesting.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (16:09)
try to coax the rest into more of a relationship by giving them more options in the future. ⁓ But start with the data. When have they given? How do they get introduced to the organization if you have it? ⁓ It's one of the reasons why I love a CRM that can be customized and can help you to identify what their focus areas are and how that aligns with your mission. Because all of that data gives you a talking point to start a conversation with a donor. And so...
that gives them the opportunity to then take that information and start just being curious with the donor about, I understand that you first supported us a few years ago. Tell me how you got started in this. ⁓ What other organizations like us do you support? And that conversation and so much more can flow from that.
Leya Simmons (16:53)
Oh, that's a good question.
I have this picture in my head of handing a board member a series of like, here's what we'd like to know. And then basically the sponsor, potential manager, donor feels like they're in some sort of interrogation, which is the opposite. So you're saying more, give them information, give the board member information just to spark the conversation and spark the relationship. That's a much better tactic than what's in my head.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (17:20)
I've had
a lot of board members that I've worked with over the years that'll say things to me like, I don't like asking for money. And it's, know, absolutely. But at the end of the day, that's not what I'm asking you to do. I'm asking for you to strike up a conversation with someone just like you would at any other social events, just like you would with any other connection. And the great thing about it is that you already know that you have this shared connection around this issue that's so important to you that you both are showing up.
Leya Simmons (17:27)
yeah, like the number one board member comment, I
Stephanie Paz Townsend (17:50)
and giving of your resources to make sure that this mission succeeds. And so there's already such an opportunity there for a relationship. Now just let it fly.
Leya Simmons (18:01)
I, that is really great guidance. I, okay, so you've talked about data. So I'm going to jump back into my actual, actual list here. ⁓ So we don't want to like overwhelm the donors with too many touches or like actually the real concern is always duplicative outreach, right? Like over and over, they get the same message mistakenly, which we've all experienced from for-profit companies as well. How do organizations design sponsor follow-ups? So it feels like
personal and coordinated and timely and that, you know, avoids being too generic or too redundant.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (18:38)
Well, I think have a plan ⁓ and sit down and figure out what that looks like for your organization. ⁓ You can do it analog, right? Where you can actually just map it out with your team and say, this is what we're gonna commit to, that we're all gonna reach out to our donors at this time around this ⁓ bit of information that we wanna share with them. Or ideally you have a system that helps you to do that and it at least triggers reminders, if not actually sending it for you.
Leya Simmons (19:06)
And it's
been.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (19:06)
⁓ And one of those opportunities then is to say, okay, now by doing it through a moves management system, we have done so consistently across the board and everyone has gotten the same quality of touch. And then you can build that ahead of time so that you're not trying to remember what the next step of the relationship is. You've already.
built it into the system so you're being prompted by the system to say, that's right, they got this email. I can see here that they didn't open it. Let me follow up with them and make sure that they get this information because I think they'll be really excited to know that this is the result of the funding that they gave or whatever the case may be.
Leya Simmons (19:47)
I mean, and it's so personalized. It's so interesting when I know that, you know, we've been talking about automations and workflows within better unite when we've released moves management and I, and I've gotten this pushback that, we don't, you know, we don't want it to feel like robots are in charge, but what you've just described is an absolutely human touch. It's just prompted by the tech. It's not at all being, I mean, sometimes maybe, but most of the time not delivered by the tech.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (20:13)
Yeah, and I think also, even if it's being delivered by the tech, it's the input that has triggered it, right? I think that that's really important. Yeah, and I think that that's what's really important, right? Is that I've worked with organizations ⁓ who...
Leya Simmons (20:20)
We can't customize a lot these days. Yeah.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (20:30)
we've created industry specific strategies because that we know that some of our sponsors within specific industries ⁓ activate around a certain time of year or are motivated by certain types of issues. so even though we are applying a similar strategy across a whole segment of donors, it is personalized to that.
Leya Simmons (20:40)
⁓ interesting.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (20:53)
⁓ donor because of when they gave and how they gave and what they're giving to and making sure that that's really clear for them that this isn't just ⁓ you know kind of a blanket statement that you're sending to everybody but this is based on what you already know about them and ⁓ is intentional in the relationship you're trying to cultivate.
Leya Simmons (21:12)
And what you just said, know that will vary, this next question of mine, will vary depending upon the organization, but are there some common engagement triggers that you see kind of utilized across the board?
Stephanie Paz Townsend (21:25)
Yeah, I think ⁓ one of the easiest ways to do that is to look at what information you're currently gathering about a donor and ⁓ using that as a response. I think I've even done it with ⁓ development teams where we've reached out to all the donors that opened our email and said, hey, we're so excited that you opened our email. Can you tell us a little bit more about what
what motivated you to do that, what you were excited about, what you read first, because we want to know how does that affect the relationship? Are they getting the message that we wanted them to get? And we're using that to curate how we send communications moving forward. So I think any engagement trigger that you can pick, whether it's that they open to or responded to something, if you can set ⁓ those engagement triggers to also track around
when they've given a gift or when they've engaged with any of your social media content. Those are other ways that you can show that your appreciation. It shows that you're paying attention and that you care about their willingness to contribute to what you're trying to accomplish.
Leya Simmons (22:35)
So then that's incredible. I love that. And then another piece of this that I'm just also hearing is that a lot of this will reduce the reliance that a lot of nonprofits and frankly for-profit companies have on a single person's memory about a person, a donor, a relationship, or can you speak a little bit about how utilizing technology like this can really help in that regard?
Stephanie Paz Townsend (23:02)
Absolutely. I how many of us have come into a nonprofit role and been handed a portfolio ⁓ and had to sift through it to figure out who were the engaged donors, who were the ones that would actually take our calls, who were the ones that actually would activate around a particular event or activity? ⁓ And most of it was just some cold calling and cold emailing and hoping that people responded. ⁓
when you have a system that can actually capture each activity that's taken place, every task that's been ⁓ completed, every time that there's been a call or an email or a visit with a donor, and there's an opportunity to look back through that relationship history and see...
where the donor's been responsive and where they haven't, ⁓ helps you to know how to approach them the next time. And so I really, that's why I rely so much on data and I've worked with a lot of organizations to try and transform.
their data capture systems into things that they can actually use and analyze as opposed to just disparate systems that sit all over the place and they have to try and cull together that information manually. ⁓ yeah, I think anytime that you have a system where you can actually keep that legacy data there ⁓ invites the next generation of fundraiser that comes through your organization to be able to do their job better.
Leya Simmons (24:29)
Well, I've had the experience of walking into an organization, being handed this dump of information that didn't really make sense, and then actually beginning the outreach just to find out that the person I was reaching out to has been a long time donor and very engaged, but I had no visibility or knowledge into that and I feel silly. my question is, this is coming from my experience, so my question is, how do you encourage or get the folks on your team that might be resistant to
know, capturing that data because I mean, a phone call or a text message, we, you know, there's, there has to be some way that you kind of manually put those things in. So how do you encourage people on your staff or your board to do that?
Stephanie Paz Townsend (25:11)
So I think ⁓ one is making sure that the system that you're utilizing is ⁓ user friendly, right? That they're not having to get their own certificate in order to be able to know how to use the system, right? They can jump in there. And more and more developers are creating platforms that have that really great user interface where they are comfortable ⁓ engaging with it.
Leya Simmons (25:17)
Sure.
Right.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (25:35)
But I think then also it's looking at making sure that there are integrations with the system that help so that you're not having to add everything in manually, whether you're able to import it ⁓ as a bulk upload or ⁓ being able to ⁓ even just send the email in a way that captures it within the system already. Exactly. I think those. ⁓
Leya Simmons (25:53)
Like with the BCC and those sorts of things, yeah.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (25:59)
tools make it easier to capture those things. And then I think it's also about how the team is structured, right? I worked for an organization once that told me that if it wasn't in Salesforce, it didn't exist. It didn't happen and I didn't get credit for it. And that was a little harsh, but it also was their transition away from
Leya Simmons (26:13)
⁓ It's a bit harsh, I get it. ⁓
Stephanie Paz Townsend (26:22)
you know, relying on institutional knowledge and building towards a more relational approach to the donors. And so I think that's where you can ⁓ support the adoption of new systems. You can ⁓ integrate the systems with tools that are already being utilized. And then I think you can also encourage or incentivize ⁓ the participation by showing them how that can be successful. And that's where, you know,
moves management, once you can see it be successful, it makes you want to do it more and more. So once you had an intentional plan that you knew that this donor was coming to your event and you were excited to ask them a couple of key questions, and then you acted on those questions after the event and they deepened their engagement and you got to have further funding conversations. Once that starts to take hold, there is excitement and ⁓
Leya Simmons (26:57)
That is true. I agree with that statement.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (27:20)
a realization that happens that this actually can work. And so then to start to do it at scale can transform an organization and their financial success moving forward.
Leya Simmons (27:28)
That's totally true. Nothing breeds success like a little taste of success. ⁓ Okay, so back to, we were speaking about the sponsor or the donor relationship. you know, we've all done on the stage recognition of sponsors, even a social post later about, you know, thank you to our sponsors. How do you, you know, advise organizations to go from
And how do you know if a sponsor feels that they have, you know, more than just recognized, if they feel really known by the organization? I know you've touched on a little bit of this, but I wanted to bring that back up.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (28:03)
Absolutely, because I think it's important, right? I think we talked a little bit at the beginning about what's the sponsor's motivation in the first place? Is it the visibility? Is that what's most important to them? And quite honestly, why? Why is the visibility important? Is it because ⁓ it's important to their leadership? Is it because it's important to their customer base? Is it because it's important to their employee base? Those are the kinds of things that can help you to understand and therefore tailor the execution in a way that really delivers the result that they're looking for.
Leya Simmons (28:31)
They want, yeah.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (28:32)
But I also think. ⁓
understanding the motivation, asking the question around, you know, kind of what they're getting out of it, what they're most excited about, where relationships for them have been successful in the past, ⁓ helps you to understand where the relationship can move forward and sort of what opportunities exist that you can take advantage of. ⁓ you know, organizations that are really excited to deepen their engagement post-event and ⁓ do an activation in the community.
community, ⁓ or just what is it one example of how you can take the relationship and move it forward ⁓ by asking a few questions at the beginning.
Leya Simmons (29:15)
I always circling back to that why the why for the sponsor. That's that's so key. And so I love that you're driving that point home. Okay. So after the event, not just, I'm thinking about the post-event debrief, but also those kind of critical first hours after the event, what, what do those, you know, kind of most typically look like in your estimation that kind of seven to 14 days post-event?
Stephanie Paz Townsend (29:45)
Well, I think that's the time where if you're going to automate something, ⁓ definitely automate it in some of that time frame, right? Because that's where you're going to have the most exhaustion, the most kind of burnout, and the most ⁓ kind of wanting to dry your hands of the event and sort of be done with it. So ⁓ planning ahead, ⁓ an automated thank you, ⁓ but not just a thank you, an opportunity. I always like to include ⁓ an invitation to a next step.
Leya Simmons (30:00)
Totally.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (30:14)
in those communications ⁓ because it gives you two things. One, the engagement behavior with that invitation, if you're inviting them to a site visit to come see your work in action, or you're inviting them to consider becoming a part of a committee or something like that.
Those that click on the opportunity or that reply and say, yes, I'm interested, ⁓ those are the ones that it can help you to prioritize that low hanging fruit right then and there. And for those that don't, doing... ⁓
Leya Simmons (30:43)
Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (30:48)
even an automated kind of quick survey that says, hey, we want to know, you know, what were your favorite moments of the event? ⁓ Those are the kinds of things that can help you to customize the offerings the next time around, but also can give you an indication of ⁓ how folks are willing to engage post event. Sometimes not all of them have the ability or the opportunity to come ⁓ join you again in person, but they might be willing to give you their feedback.
⁓ And that engagement can be just as valuable. It just means that you need to take the relationship in a different direction moving forward.
Leya Simmons (31:25)
That's really, that's so interesting that, yeah, that's wonderful. So then now if the, know, relationship with your sponsor feels strong, they've maybe answered some questions on the post-event survey, they at least read the email. I love that actually as a data point. I think that's totally a really valid one that, you know, is underutilized just seeing if they looked at it. So if all of these things occurred, how...
How do you start and maybe you can even describe a potential progression from sponsor to major donor. So something that feels natural because I do think there's hesitation in that because it can easily feel forced.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (32:10)
Absolutely. And I think, you you've shown your curiosity, you've gotten to know a little bit about them, you're understanding more of what motivates them. They continue to engage with you, which is giving you all the right signals. ⁓ I think it's important to take what you've learned and apply it appropriately. you know, for example, if they have made it clear to you that visibility is really important to them, then ⁓
you know, continuing to ask them to do things that are anonymous, like surveys, is probably not going to move the relationship forward on an ongoing basis. But if there are things that can help them to get visibility, ⁓ that is where you can have, you know, kind of a bigger conversation. I also think ⁓ people are reluctant to ask again right after an event because
Leya Simmons (32:47)
Right.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (33:04)
they already, you the sponsor has just given. But there's no reason why you can't turn that conversation into, hey, we'd love to make sure that you're able to join us again next year. And could that relationship actually look like, ⁓ you know, you sponsoring a couple of other events to make sure that your visibility with us continues? Or if there's an interest in, ⁓ you know, inviting... ⁓
Leya Simmons (33:06)
Sure.
We're interested.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (33:31)
leadership, like a lot of organizations like to use sponsorships of an event as ⁓ a benefit to their leadership to make sure that they get to go and attend a ⁓ event. If that's important to them, hey, here are some other ways that we can engage your leadership. Would you be interested in having your leadership join us on one of our committees? Would you be interested in having your leadership join us for a community activation that we're doing? Those taking the data, the information that you've gathered and ⁓
creating ⁓ a relationship that's custom to that organization or that individual is really going to help them feel like they haven't just been feeding you information that you've been ignoring. You've actually turned it and used it to invite them to take a further step with the organization. And so I think that ⁓ builds trust. builds... ⁓
Leya Simmons (34:21)
Yeah.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (34:22)
you know, kind of a continuity within the relationship that they can rely on. And I think it's also why having an owner of the relationship is so important because they're not just managing the logistics from step to step. They're actually building connection that invites the next layer.
Leya Simmons (34:37)
and being creative and figuring out something that's absolutely tailored to that one single person. I love all of that. Actually, you know what? I just realized that I did not say at the outset that Stephanie and I will have a few moments. Yeah, we're only at 2.05 to answer some questions. So if you do have questions about any of this incredible information you're getting from Stephanie, please drop that in the chat and we will answer the questions that we can get to and then we can also follow up. And if you're watching a recording.
Send us questions to support at betterunite.com and we'll send answers over to you. Sorry, I totally forgot to say that Stephanie at beginning of the conversation. So, okay. ⁓ So then, let's see, where am I? What indicators tell you...
Stephanie Paz Townsend (35:11)
No problem.
Leya Simmons (35:19)
This is a really good question. I like this question. What indicators tell you that a sponsor is ready for a major gift conversation, even if they've never personally given before? Maybe their company or somebody like that ⁓ was a major sponsor. They raised their paddle and they gave money or they bid on everything. And so you can tell that they're engaged. Where is that line?
Stephanie Paz Townsend (35:43)
Well, I think it all depends on sort of the relationship that's been built. But I also think that when the donor is choosing to, if they invite friends or family, not just like their colleagues, I think that that tells you that there's a personal relationship there or a personal opportunity there. I think
Leya Simmons (35:44)
No.
Interesting.
Yeah.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (36:11)
Oftentimes, the sponsorship is treated as sort of the box check, ⁓ but any of those other behavior indicators, ⁓ the auction participation, the paddle raise, the fund in need, anything that they've participated in.
that's not always being funded by the company that sponsored the event. And so I think it's important to look at that and say, hey, you were really personally active in all of this. ⁓ Even if it was sharing information on social media or things like that, I think you can start to see where it's not just about the administrative task of executing the sponsorship. It's actually about ⁓ their personal interest. And then,
I can't say it enough, just ask the question. ⁓ And I think there's a lot of hesitation, but I think it's very fair to say, is there any way that we could get you more personally involved in this work? We have so enjoyed getting to know you through the course of the sponsorship. Would love to keep you engaged moving forward. What would that look like for you? ⁓ And letting them tell you.
Leya Simmons (37:00)
I agree, yeah.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (37:25)
⁓ it certainly doesn't hurt to have a few options, you know, committees that they can join or, you know, legacy circles that they could be a part of, but it really, ultimately it just comes down to asking the question. ⁓ and. And treating it like a separate relationship. think we've talked a little bit about it, but it also means treating it like a separate relationship in your database. A lot of times the sponsor contact just lives as a contact within that organization.
Leya Simmons (37:34)
yeah.
and relative to
that one event, not, yeah.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (37:56)
Exactly.
But they have their own household, they have their own network, they have their own set of resources. And so that's where you can also create a separate Moves Management Plan for that individual or that family as opposed to just the company that they represent.
Leya Simmons (38:16)
That is really great guidance. I mean, as you're talking, what I'm hearing too is that both within the context of the event and also more broadly is having a lot of options out there for people to engage in. I mean, as you were speaking, I was thinking of even some of the activations that we'll see at events. And by the way, we're not only talking about galas, which I know Stephanie, you've run quite a few kind of peer-to-peer based walk runs and things like that. So.
⁓ Would you say that the more opportunities even within the events that you have for engagement, the better? Or is there maybe a limit, too much at some point?
Stephanie Paz Townsend (38:55)
⁓ Well, I always let the data tell me if I've hit my limit or not. ⁓ I've had segments of donors that are ⁓ what I have termed reactive donors. They don't tend to love ⁓ a lot of direct interaction with individuals, but they will respond to a campaign or an appeal. ⁓
Leya Simmons (38:58)
Okay.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (39:16)
multiple times a year. And so I let the data tell me ⁓ when they stop engaging, ⁓ then we know that we've either missed our mark from a communications perspective or we've kind of saturated the market when it comes to how many times we've asked. ⁓ And we use kind of indicator donors within that segment to tell us whether or not that's happened. ⁓
by asking them, by getting feedback, by inviting them to be in active relationship with us where they're telling us how ⁓ they are receiving our information and if it's working for them.
Leya Simmons (39:50)
I always end at this kind of with this question, I frankly honestly feel like I might know what you might say. But what if somebody who is listening to this conversation today and they were to take away a single concept or, and you can answer both of these separately or they can be the same thing, or they were to do one thing differently tomorrow. What would that be? What would you tell them?
Stephanie Paz Townsend (40:16)
I would say that if they keep everything else about their organization the same, they keep the current systems that they have in place the same, they're not growing in terms of being able to hire on a whole bunch more staff right now, ⁓ I would say that it's picking or defining what momentum looks like within their organization.
Leya Simmons (40:43)
yeah.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (40:43)
and creating a plan for how they're going to ⁓ invite donors into that momentum moving forward. And I think that that starts with the event taking a slightly different approach when it comes to the event and saying, you know, every person that supports this event has responded to that invitation to be in a relationship with us and we are going to treat it in kind. ⁓ And then
keeping that intentionality around if I was going to cultivate a relationship with a new colleague or a neighbor, how would I continue to make steps in that relationship to make sure that ⁓ it was growing and becoming stronger and use that same approach to your donors? How am I going to continue to create relational touch points with these donors ⁓ that are not contingent upon the event?
Leya Simmons (41:41)
That, I mean, that to me, for me as a former frontline fundraiser, that it almost takes the pressure off, right? Like I don't have to accomplish this big ask tomorrow. I'm just being asked to begin, and I loved the reframe of think of how you would talk to a new neighbor. ⁓ That's, I mean, we've all been in that position. Like I want to invite this person to tea, but I don't want to seem weird at the first outset and just like do this. So I, that is such great.
great advice for someone like me anyway.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (42:13)
Well, I ⁓ have been really privileged to work with a lot of different organizations who have a lot of different approaches. And I think that what I keep coming back to is we're all just looking for connection and the way that we can connect around a mission ⁓ sparks and inspire something in each of us that, you know, we...
have an opportunity or even like a responsibility to cultivate. So how we do that, ⁓ you know, we're trying to improve the lives of our constituents. We're trying to, you know, make the world a better place. Let's do so in a ⁓ way that feels relational and comfortable.
Leya Simmons (42:58)
And in community is the, our collective, I, and to me as well with, with nonprofit events, they are such a unique opportunity to begin that conversation and then laying the groundwork before the event. mean, honestly, from what you're saying, Stephanie, I just hear that it's really possible for organizations well before they even engage their committee in the event. Like the minute the event is decided upon, you can begin to, please correct me if I'm wrong, but begin to lay out a plan and a pathway for.
or those that come in as a sponsor, those that come in just as an event attendee. I mean, is that how you see this?
Stephanie Paz Townsend (43:37)
Yeah, I mean, I think you could come in as, you know, looking at an organization, look at the last few years of events, look at the sponsors that have been at those events and look at where the relationships are with those ⁓ previous supporters and look at how you would want to move them forward and, you know, invite them back, you know, those that have maybe lapsed for a year or two, invite them back in.
Leya Simmons (43:44)
Yeah.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (44:05)
⁓ And if you start there, then it feels like you have a little bit less of a hill to climb when you think about your fundraising goal and how much you need to accomplish, how many tables you need to sell, you know, all of those kinds of things feel a little bit more manageable when you're talking about known entities and you're talking about, you know, friends and connections as opposed to... ⁓
Leya Simmons (44:17)
you
Stephanie Paz Townsend (44:32)
you know, more transactions. Transactions are definitely always going to be harder ⁓ because they're
Leya Simmons (44:34)
Yeah.
and necessary,
but you know, yeah.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (44:40)
Yeah, and those are going to be the pieces that come more as a byproduct of the event occurring itself as opposed to the intentional relational components that we've been talking about today.
Leya Simmons (44:55)
Stephanie, I can't thank you enough. I mean, I just feel like every word you've said here is gold. this is such, it's in both, it both gives us a new kind of set of marching orders, but also relieves some of the pressure to me. So thank you so much for joining us today and for all of the work that you've done both within everything, by the way that Stephanie has mentioned does exist within Better Unite. That will be my single plug, but I am so grateful to have you.
kind of expounding upon it for us out here.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (45:27)
Yeah, I'm so grateful to be a part of it and honestly excited to see new resources emerge. mean, there's some tools here that I wish I had five, 10 years ago. I wish I had two years ago. I'm so excited that they exist now and that they're available. ⁓ And quite honestly that they're accessible, right? I think the opportunity for an organization to start using a system like Better Unite for an event.
Leya Simmons (45:36)
Same. Yeah.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (45:54)
and have it evolve into full moves management with automation and workflows. I think there's just so much ⁓ opportunity to kind of use the relational momentum and combine it with a technological momentum that gives them more capacity.
Leya Simmons (46:07)
Yeah.
Momentum based fundraising. It's like my new favorite three words All right, so thank you again so much Stephanie and thank you all for joining us if you've got questions for Stephanie her email address is up here if you Miss that later and you want to ask other questions of better unite or of Stephanie You can always email support at better unite comm and I will quickly plug next week We have our next 501 C drop on February 10th
Stephanie Paz Townsend (46:16)
Yeah, absolutely.
Leya Simmons (46:40)
at 130 Central as always, this time with Sean Hale, who's with nonprofit CFOs and we're going to talk about nonprofit myth busting. So if you would like to join us, please scan that QR code. You'll likely get some emails about this and everybody will also receive the recording from this today. So if you missed any of these gems, Stephanie will appear in your inbox here in the next little bit.
And if you would like to see more about Moves Management within BetterUnite or anything else with BetterUnite, our event tool as well, please scan that QR code or again, email support at betterunite.com and we can set you up with a demo. Thank you so much, Stephanie. I so appreciate you and your time and also your efforts and the work that you've done with us. ⁓ Thank you so much for joining me today.
Stephanie Paz Townsend (47:29)
Thank you, Leah. Thank you for this community that you've created and this opportunity for fellow nonprofit workers to come together and learn about these opportunities and resources. And I'm just really grateful that people like you exist to create these ⁓ great new tools that we can use moving forward.
Leya Simmons (47:46)
our nonprofit enthusiast community right here. I love it. Well, thank you everybody and I will see you next Tuesday. Bye Stephanie and bye everybody else. Let's all go do some good.