Ruth Grayson from Bliss Auctions offers up tantalizing info on how nonprofits are engaging with ‘Streamers’ to bouy their fundraising. By leveraging relationships with influential content creators that have established audiences, NPO’s are adding another layer of cash to their events, particularly with the younger more tech engaged audiences. More about Bliss Auctions.
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Telecast Transcript:
Speaker 1- Jarrett Ransom
All right. Welcome everybody to another episode of the nonprofit show. We’re really excited today because we get to talk with Ruth Grayson coming to us from Southern California and she’s going to be talking to us about charity live streams. I think everybody realizes that a lot of changes happened because of the pandemic, and one of those was this concept of like, how do we reach out? And just because the pandemic is supposedly over doesn’t mean that everything is now, you know, back as it was. So we’re going to really engage with Ruth today to find out. What she’s seeing, and how does the benefit auction work now in this new ecosystem and so? Ruth, we are. Thrilled to have you with us to learn and to get your amazing expertise on this. So it’s going to be worth your time today because it’s a really important. And changing topic and again if we haven’t met before. I’m Julia Patrick, CEO of the American nonprofit Academy. She ran some the nonprofit nerd and my trusty co-host will be rejoining us shortly. Again, we’re here today because we have amazing partners such as Boomerang American nonprofit. Academy your part time controller nonprofit thought leader, fundraising Academy and National University Staffing boutique, nonprofit nerd and nonprofit. Tech talk these are the. Folks that join US day in and day. I was sharing with Ruth. You know that in the next couple of days we will officially hit our 8th, 800th episode. I can’t even say that Ruth, which is like stunning to me because I think 800 of anything is a lot.
Speaker 2 – Ruth Grayson
Oh yeah, amazed.
Speaker 1
It’s kind of like, wow, but anyway. These folks, most of them. Have been with us from the very beginning when we had this kooky idea to do the nation’s only daily broadcast dedicated to the nonprofit sector. So our gratitude, our gratitude, our gratitude goes out to them. We are also on a couple different portals and processes and places where you can find us from streaming to podcasts. But now the Super cool app that our team at the American Nonprofit Academy has. Worked so hard on. You can take a quick scan of this QR code if you’re watching. The archive we’re watching us live through video and we will get you signed up for a daily push that lets you know what we talked about today. It’s a really super tool. Because it connects you with where you are at that point in time and it. Will also help you. Search if you need some help on a specific topic. So check out the new nonprofit show app. OK Ruth. I’ve gotten through my housekeeping. I’d like to say welcome to you, my new friend.
Speaker 2
Thank you. I am so excited to be here and I just want to say I am a. Huge fan of your podcast. I think what you and Jared are doing by sharing knowledge and by showing curiosity about all things nonprofit is just a really awesome thing for our industry, so. Thank you.
Speaker
Thank you you.
Speaker 1
Know, Ruth, it’s a fascinating thing. I learned something new every day and I I get energized every day. I mean, every day. I’m like, wow, we are this, this marketplace is doing amazing, cool things and we are we are innovating and we are doing, we’re we’re taking risks. And we’re we’re being creative and and and looking at solutions in a different way. And one of those things has to be within the auction segment auctions have. Dare I say such a mysterious thing? I mean, we’ve all been through, like, fabulous auction environments and experiences and awful auction experiences, and then we throw all of this up. In the air. And we have to do it in stream in a streaming format. So talk to us about your journey. Not a lot of female auctioneers. I’ll say that right out the gate. Talk to us about how you’ve navigated this and how you continue to navigate this.
Speaker 2
So you’re right, there’s not that many of us out there, though our ranks are swelling and I need really wonderful women auctioneers all the time. So I definitely recommend your nonprofit to see who is out there in their market, they. May be surprised. By the wonderful talent that is available to them, I joined the. Auction industry and the fundraising industry through my partner Michael, who is a third generation auctioneer. His grandpa sold cars. So did his dad. He started in cars, but moved into benefits and just loves it. And after a few years of dating, I realized, hey, what you’re doing, I could do that too. I think I could be great at it and he was been. He’s been very supportive. And so we have our business together, bliss auctions. And our goal is to decrease the amount of stress. That Gallup planners. Feel because it’s a whole. Ball of stress and anything we can do to minimize that. That’s what we are aiming to do.
Speaker 1
I love it. Well, you know, I will profess to you and all our viewers. I have a secret. I have two secret desires in my life, and one has passed me by. I always wanted to learn how to slide into second base which now I will never be able to do it because. Of my age. But my other has been to learn how to to. To do auction calls. Because I think, I think it’s fascinating. And and and I I’ve been to so many, I mean, I’m on the rubber chicken circuit by by doing this work, I mean I go to so many events and it’s appalling how many big ballrooms will be filled with somebody, oftentimes from the board, oftentimes a man. That’s like, how hard can that be? I’ll run the. Auction or I’ll run the paddle race and it’s just a disaster, right versus looking at. Having a professional and so it’s really, really an interesting, interesting thing. Oh, shoot. It looks like maybe Ruth has frozen up just a little bit. Let’s see if we can get her back because this is such an important topic and I’m really hoping we can get her. Back with us. Ruth, are you there? Oh Nope, almost. Ruth, we might have lost you there for a minute. Ah, connectivity. This is like one of those things, isn’t it? Oh, I think. We’ve lost her. Let’s hope we can get her back in on this because this is such a huge topic. For those of you watching us live, if you’ve worked on an auction platform recently and you want to share with us, maybe some of the opportunities that you’ve had. What’s worked with you? What hasn’t? What are some of the things that you wished had worked? We would love, love, love to get your information. And here she comes. OK, you’re back.
Speaker 2
So sorry about that.
Speaker 1
It’s all good. It’s all good. Hey, Ruth. You know, let’s dive into our conversation and and let’s have you explain to us what this, this. Nomenclature of Charity Stream actually means.
Speaker 2
So one thing that we are seeing is that there is actually a really wonderful way for nonprofits to lean on their supporters to fundraise on their behalf. AA really wonderful peer-to-peer grassroots strategy and that is through live streams. Now live streams like what we’re doing right now. Sometimes they’re podcasts, oftentimes folks who are live streaming, are playing video games or cooking or making arts and crafts. Whatever their activity. People watch them do it for hours on end and this is actually what a lot of younger folks are doing. One of the most popular platforms for doing. It is twitch. And they have over 250 million people watching and over 7,000,000 people streaming and so. That’s a lot of people. Creating content constantly and and you know. How hard it is. To keep the content machine going, so one of the things that streamers like to do is raise money for. Causes that they can. About and in doing so, they’re having a fun stream. They’re talking about the nonprofits mission, and then they’re getting their viewers to donate. And by doing that, they’re kind of reaching those younger donors, the 16 to 30 fours and they are leveraging the relationship that the streamer has. With their viewer. So it’s a really, really powerful way to go about fundraising.
Speaker 1
You know, let’s talk about this a little bit more specifically. In terms of that age demographic, because this is one of the conversations that we hear all the time, and I know you do as well is that we have this like schism between the older perceived more wealthy donor and then that younger, maybe more engaged donor or potentially financially engaged. In the future, donor. So where do we marry those two? Sometimes Polaris. Sized demographics in this ecosystem. What does that look like to you?
Speaker 2
That’s a great question. So I think that these charity streams are primarily targeted at younger donors, donors who might not necessarily be interested in attending your Gallup and having your rubber chicken but still want to support. I do think that there is the potential for transitioning those folks to eventually be ready for a more gala level of support, but by getting to them while they’re still young, while they have some income, but. Not a lot. You start to get them invested in your mission and supporting you, and then you can steward them into a more significant. Owner as they age and as their own income grows.
Speaker 1
So what I. Are you saying then is that maybe this is like a form of, if you will, segmenting your donor population and not just saying it’s. All or nothing? Isn’t that a fair statement to say? Look, we’re going to do something for this one. You know, this one bucket of people where we might have different opportunities is that. Fair to say?
Speaker 2
I think it is, I think definitely. So I think you might have a harder time getting your over 50 / 60 people to want to sit down in front of a screen and watch someone make art for three hours, but you won’t have as hard a time getting someone who’s 25 to do that. And so I think by providing ways to donate and ways to support for your different segments of donors, I think you do stand a a better chance of diversifying your donor base and then ensuring your longevity over time.
Speaker 1
Yeah, it’s it’s really an interesting conversation because it’s more than just this one opportunity or fundraising, but we are here to talk about fundraising and we are trying to figure out how to look at this segment, talk to us about what this actually like physically looks like when. We have when we’re using this this vehicle, the streaming vehicle.
Speaker 2
So one way that nonprofits are using this is they just make themselves available for streamers to fundraise for them, and then the streamer does it all on their own. They produce their own content. They set up their own rewards and their own milestones, and all they really ask from the. Nonprofit is that, you know, keep doing what you’re doing. I’m going to fundraise for you. But some nonprofits do choose to take a more active approach. And you do find some streamers starting to stray into wanting to create a more gala like experience where they might have auction features. We see a lot of giveaways. We’re starting to see some auctions and I think the reason you don’t see them as much in the charity live stream space is simply because the technology isn’t quite there yet. The main platforms that these streamers are using to fundraise, like tiltify like event gives they don’t have an auction function, so the streamers are getting savvy they’re using. Their chat bot. And they’re kind of creating a work around, but because it isn’t readily available, we’re not seeing it that much yet. What we do see when they do their own auctions is that they’re often auctioning off personal items, which again their viewers are relating to them so they love the idea of buying this sweater. That their favorite streamer war when they got engaged or something like that. That whereas obviously with regular auctions it’s all about the experiences and the trips, and you know the good stuff, so.
Speaker 1
Right. Really interesting. So what would and I know this? Is like a. Super broad question, but what would would be the amount of engagement that you could expect? I know when you start off one time that’s, you know one thing, but what do some of these? Engagements look like from what you what you’ve seen in terms of numbers?
Speaker 2
So that it really depends on the nonprofit and the approach that they take. If they take a more passive approach and they just make themselves available for streamers without heavily recruiting streamers and and trying to get them to fundraise on their behalf, then you you’ll see some engagement, but it won’t grow quickly and. Will it will be kind of a slow growth situation. I do think that by being a bit more proactive by going after specific streamers or demographics of streamers, creative ones, gaming ones, what have you, then you will find it much more, much more engagement. It really depends. Also on the streamer themselves, some. Streamers are really highly engaged with their community. That’s how they get them to stick around for hours on end.
Speaker
Right.
Speaker 2
And I will say that when nonprofits want to get into this, never underestimate a smaller streamer. Initially, you might think. This is just. Like a gala, I need to attract big name talent in order to have the effect that I. Font and in reality the smaller and mid sized streamers have stronger relationships with their viewers, and that’s what you’re leveraging that relationship there. So by focusing on those smaller and mid tier streamers and then having an aggregate of them fundraising for you, that’s how you really get your messaging out there and start. Racking up the new donors.
Speaker 1
Right. Do you think that I know that for so often, you know, we we were like, OK, if we can get a Blogger to talk about us, OK, then it moved. And if we can get an influencer to, to champion what we’re doing through their, you know. Socials, now we’re looking at streamers, and we’re understanding that that this is kind of a journey that the technology and the the personalities are taken, how incumbent is it upon us in the nonprofit sector to search out somebody that was going to? Be a good fit.
Speaker 2
I think I think it’s definitely incumbent on the nonprofit to be actively looking for streamers or streamer demographics that are going to be a good fit. I don’t think it necessarily needs to be a one to one. I don’t think. If you for example, if you are an animal group, you don’t only need streamers who are streaming animal stuff. You could get. A A video gamer or an artist or someone like that. I really think that the key is diversifying and I think it’s also just being aware of the the shifting trends. Being aware of what streamers are interested in and how to. Them and that is that that’s a key sign for success for nonprofits wanting to get. Into this space.
Speaker 1
Do you feel like right now with the demographics of streamers that there are certain topics or certain? If you will, sectors within the nonprofit sector as a whole, that are. You know more engaging. So for example, I mean and and again not to be prejudice, but like you know, an opera company, are they going to get as much interest as, let’s say, a children’s museum? Probably not. I would think maybe I’m wrong but but set me straight on this. Like what is that ecosystem looking like in? Terms of interest.
Speaker 2
Well, so the great thing about things like Twitch and about live streaming is that there is a niche for everybody. So if you are into opera, there are definitely musicians on Twitch, and not all of them are doing opera, but they can definitely support a musical theme nonprofit. And so I think there there’s something for everybody out there. Definitely, definitely.
Speaker 1
And you know, I I love your answer too, because. So often in fundraising, we come to the table with preconceived notions, just like my opera example, and then we we don’t lean in because we’re like, Oh no, that’s never going to work. And then we shut ourselves off to opportunity.
Speaker 2
Right, this is definitely an opportunity. I think all nonprofits should be looking at, definitely just by making yourself available just by signing up with one of these sites that the streamers are using to fundraise will, I think, open a lot. Doors, I think another great thing that nonprofits can do, even if they want the passive approach, is put something on your website just like you have that donate button up there at the top, above the scroll on your support page. Have something that says are you a live streamer? Would you like to support us? Click here. And it’ll take them to the page where they can create their own campaign and just go for. From there.
Speaker 1
So let’s dig a little deeper, because you did kind of mention this proactive versus passive. Help us to really understand what this looks like, so that when we engage in this concept, we have a better understanding of the foundational approach to this.
Speaker 2
So the passive route is one that I think every nonprofit out there should consider taking, because literally all you have to do is sign up for a free account on a site like Tiltify stream labs. Twitch is another example, but Tiltify is the one that most streamers are using at. Time and then put it out there. Put it on your social media, put it in your e-mail newsletter. Reach out to your supporters and say, hey, if any of you are a live streamer or if you know any live streamers you can support us. Here’s how and that’s it. Just sit back and let it happen. That’s the passive approach. A more proactive approach would be having someone. On your staff, like a charity stream manager whose job it is to go out there and recruit specific streamers and specific demographics and streamers, and then also support them around a specific campaign that you. To create so a great example is last year during the invasion of Ukraine, project hope mobilized a ton of streamers and raised over $1,000,000 in. I think it was about two months for their for their humanitarian efforts there. So yeah.
Speaker 1
Yeah, it’s that’s a great example because. It was incredibly short. It was, yeah. And and super successful. Really, really interesting. So then this leads to the next big question because for a lot of people, you know that have joined us today that have been listening to this. This will be a new concept. And how best do we look at this? I mean, do we find somebody in our team who we think is young enough to be engaged and engaging or do we contract out? And if we do that, what? Does this look like?
Speaker 2
So that’s a great question. I think if your goal is to take a more passive approach, then you can definitely manage this internally and you could probably between your social media person and your finance person who’s going to be on the tiltify end or on the platform and making sure that your all your ducks in are. Four in a row and you can receive your. Payments between those two, they should be able to handle it. If you wanted to take. A more proactive approach. Which I do recommend. Then hiring someone from within your team would be great. You can definitely start asking around any of you, any of your interns, any of you under 50s, really. I mean, I’m in my 40s and I’m involved in in live streams. So it’s not just. The kids, but. Definitely asking the younger folks like, hey, do you have any experience in this and getting them going? So some things that they want to do, they want to be sure to be working with the social media manager and having having campaigns go out to recruit streamers. And of course, once streamers start fundraising. Were you supporting them, liking them? Resharing their promotional posts? Because it’s just more marketing for you? And then also they’ll want to work with the graphic designer. Streamers use a lot of graphic assets like overlays and logos and that sort of thing. So if the nonprofit can provide branded things to the streamers, that helps create a unified look makes it all more seamless. And the more the streamer feels supported. The more confident they can be and the more likely that they will fundraise for you again in the future. Studies have shown that once a streamer does a fundraiser, they are very likely to do it again, and ideally you’ve positioned yourself to be the one that they fundraise for every time.
Speaker 1
You know I love that because I think that is the secret to sauce to so many engagement pieces is that having that collateral, those assets that you can turn over also it it keeps your branding message and your branding promise more pure because it’s frightening to hand over. Control to 3rd party fundraising where a message might get mixed up or a brand isn’t, you know, color specific or the logo gets shifted or you know this, the messaging gets all jacked up and then you’re like you know. That’s not really what we wanted to communicate.
Speaker
Right.
Speaker 1
Or the fundraising is I don’t want to say disingenuous, but it’s not really aligned to what the organization is doing, nor does it really cultivate future donors. It’s just more like a one off.
Speaker 2
Right.
Speaker 1
So I love that you said. Said that, yeah, the assets are just so, so important.
Speaker 2
Talking points, videos, whatever streamers love to have that.
Speaker 1
Yeah, I think it’s really smart, you know. Before I let you go and this is like that, get out your crystal ball. Shine it up for me. How do you see this? Yeah, you’re like. Oh, car neck. How do? You see this going like what’s the future? What’s the time frame on this? Is this going to grow? Is this on the downside with the technology?
Speaker 2
Oh I.
Speaker 1
Changing what?
Speaker 2
I think it’s definitely going to grow. I mean, who knows where we’ll be in a few years? What, what the kids will be into at that point. Obviously, the older I get, the less I feel like I know. What the kids are into. But I try but so. The the statistics. Are currently that live streaming is expected to grow 15 times this year, just in 2023. So it’s only going up and of those 7,000,000 streamers on Twitch, only a small slice of them are doing these charity streams consistently. So there is a large pool of content. Creators out there who could be ambassadors for your mission. And I think I think it’s only going to grow from here, definitely. And what I’m hoping to see is that we do eventually find a way to bridge that gap where we get some of these streamers maybe to come to our gala and stream a portion of the gala to their viewers, getting the viewers excited about the idea of going to one of them and also getting their feedback as far as. Storytelling and messaging because at their heart these are very creative people who know how to make fun and engaging content. And so I think there could be a lot of two way St. helping each other out.
Speaker 1
Well, they can see if you’re a streamer and you have a passion or a niche for a certain topic, there can just be some amazing collaborations out there.
Speaker
Right.
Speaker 1
I mean, just amazing. And so it’s really about finding that fit and then nurturing that fit just like we do donors. You know, we never. One-on-one time thing. I mean we want. To get people. To be familiar with us, to be champions, and you use that word that I love Ruth. You know, ambassadors, we want to cultivate. That you know as part of our journey and I think it’s a, it’s a really wonderful fit and I I agree with you. I think it’s smart to be thinking about that next Gen. wave of donors, their behaviors and their desires are not the same as is as previous donor generation. So we need to be. Thinking about this. It’s it’s not the same same.
Speaker 2
Yep, I agree. I agree. We have found that the younger generations are wary about institutions. They’re they’re skeptical. But they believe in their streamer. They have an authentic connection with their streamer and so if the streamer. Says hey, you should donate to. The Trevor Project cause they’re out there. And great work. Then the donations come in.
Speaker 1
Yeah, I love it. Well, this has really been an enlightening conversation. I know for a lot of our viewers. You know you, you see auctions and you see Ruths title as benefit auctioneer and we have this like viewpoint in our head of what’s great and what’s not great and to layer in this new concept I think is really engaging and and really interesting. Before we let you go, Ruth Grayson a bliss auctions. Can you briefly give us the names of some of those platforms like Twitch that you gave us earlier?
Speaker 2
Yes, definitely. So the platforms that folks are streaming to, you’ve got Twitch, YouTube, live, Instagram, and Facebook. TikTok, LinkedIn even has streaming.
Speaker 1
Doing this.
Speaker 2
Don’t forget about E sports. That’s a that’s a whole side conversation when it comes to streaming. I think there’s a lot of potential there for collaborations. And then the. Fundraising platforms that streamers are using our tiltify. That’s the biggest one. Then you’ll also see some on. Give butter donor donor Dr. I had one more soft giving. That’s it. Soft giving is another one so yeah.
Speaker 1
It’s been amazing, you know? Check out Ruth at blissauctions.com. She’s got a great website that gives you a lot of really insight into how this piece of our fundraising is changing and how it doesn’t always have to be the same thing that we can do innovative pieces of it. And I really like Ruth, that you’re speaking to this concept. Of really understanding the different segmenting that we need to be thinking about, not all fundraising works for everyone, and the more we can understand that diversification aspect, I think the stronger our nonprofits and our entire sector is going to be. So I love how you joined us today. And given to us this information. Again, I’m Julia Patrick Jarrett, rants on the nonprofit nerd. We’ll be back with us shortly. And again, we want to make sure that we give our gratitude to our presenting sponsors that include Boomerang, American nonprofit Academy, your Part Time controller nonprofit thought Leader, Fundraising Academy at National University Staffing boutique, nonprofit Nerd and nonprofit Tech Talk. These are the folks that join US day. In and day out, with amazing guests like Ruth has been with us today. OK, Ruth, you’ve really painted a new picture for me. I really want to be more engaged in this concept because I think to your point this is a major communication. Journey that we’re we’re going down and those nonprofits that jump in and understand this, this connective tissue, if you will, with this next generation of donors, they’re going to be a lot more successful.
Speaker 2
I agree. I agree. Thank you. Much for having me. Julia, I’m great.
Speaker
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1
Yeah, it’s been a lot of fun. It’s been really fast. And everybody, as we always like to end every episode, we end with our mantra and it goes like this to stay well. So you can do well. We’ll see you back here, Ruth. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2
Thank you.
Speaker 1
Have a great day everyone.