That Time I Went to Cause Camp

Cause Camp was recently named by Forbes as one of the Top 10 Nonprofit Conferences. Held at the Nebraska Innovation Campus in Lincoln, Nebraska, it did not disappoint. (Neither did the famed local Hurts Donut or Honest Abe’s Burgers, but that’s a story for another day.) If you don’t want to schlep to Lincoln, you can stream the event for $99. (I did that last year to see if it was worth going. It was. Donuts and burgers notwithstanding.)
 
Sponsored by Nonprofit Hub, Cause Camp draws about 400 people/year to Lincoln for both lecture-style and breakout sessions. There are parties and lots of local beer, too, but in Lincoln they call that networking so it’s all very legit.
 
My favorite thing about Cause Camp was the intimate size of the crowd and conference space. There were plenty of opportunities to get to know your seat neighbor or lunchmate. And lots of non-structured time allotted for, you know, being human with each other.
 
My second favorite thing about Cause Camp was the speaker lineup. Truly fantastic, engaging, and actionable information presented by every single speaker. And because the crowd was an intimate group, you actually had time and opportunity to chat with the speakers one-on-one. That’s unusual in conference-land.
 
Here’s (just some of) what I learned from the experts at Cause Camp.
 
On Saying Thank You
Steve Shattuck from Bloomerang gave a fantastic talk on the importance of thanking donors and thinking about thanking strategically. I think this info applies to for profit entities as well. Thanking the customer is a lost art in modern sales. Check out these stats:

• First-time donors who get a personal(ized) thank you within 48 hours of making a gift are 4x more likely to give a second gift. FOUR TIMES! Whoa.
• A thank you call from a board member within 24 hours increases the same donor’s next gift by almost 40%. Can you imagine the uptick in fundraising if you instituted just this one gratitude practice?

 
On Donor/Customer Retention
Speaker Rachel Muir is my new best friend. She just doesn’t know it yet. (Is that weird? IDK.) A “recovering nonprofit executive,” Rachel is a renowned fundraising consultant. Just a few of the fascinating things Rachel taught us:

• “One-time donors are the one-night stands of philanthropy.” Enough said.
• Have a specific thank you for first-time donors. It shows you value the donor immediately, it honors their first gift as a unique moment, and shows that your organization is committed to a long-term relationship.
• Celebrate your donors’ donor-versaries. I love this idea! Why not send a special note or video message to a donor on the date of their very first gift to your org? Powerful stuff.
• Valentine’s Day and Thanksgiving Day (not Giving Tuesday) are SUPER unsung holidays for talking to donors.
• “One of the greatest gifts you can give your donor is the gift of being known by you.”

 
On Video
Here again, Rachel Muir and others wowed us all. The power of video is undeniable. I’m working on a video content to do list for Blue Fox as we speak. Highlights:

• Use a tool like bombbomb.com to embed and send personal videos via email – super different and impactful
• This dog wants you. Here’s a video that made me want to fly across the pond just to get a dog from the Battersea shelter.
• “Emotion needs no translation.” Rachel Muir is a genius. (Free handouts and resources at her website.)
• Check out this smile-inducing video from Ball State. The Ball State Alumni Association sends happy birthday videos to their donors every year. (Yes, they do make a new video each year, keeping it fresh and intimate.)

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On Finance
Just kidding. As with #19NTC, there were NO sessions on finance. I guess I will just have to apply to speak next year?!
 
This year’s Cause Camp was pretty well focused on storytelling and fundraising, and as you can see it was fantastic content. (I have 11 pages of notes – this blog just scratched the surface.) Maybe that will change in the future. But if not, I think if you do or implement just one of these takeaways from Cause Camp, you will be advancing your mission.
 
My favorite quote from the conference is an old proverb:  The knowledge of fire does not keep you warm.
 
How often do we know things and not do them? So get going. Do the things. Try the things. Think about the things. And let us know if we can help. 
 
Resources: Speakers and their Twitter feeds teach us a lot. Julia Campbell and Kishshana Palmer’s tweets and Insta posts (Kishshana's) make me either think or LOL almost every day!

About: Our team at Blue Fox provides customized, boutique financial and back office services for social impact organizations. Services range from standard bookkeeping and payroll services, to coaching and consulting, to full-blown virtual CFO services. Our mission is to disrupt the traditional accounting model through technology, innovation, and a radically client-focused approach that truly empowers nonprofits and social enterprises. For more information call (321) 233-3311, email hello@yourbluefox.com, and visit www.YourBlueFox.com. 
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Author:  Founder & CEO, the Original Blue Fox, Chantal Sheehan, MS, CFP(r) ​​​​