Ep. 158: The Real ROI of Human-Centered Fundraising Events with Joey Goone
EPISODE 158
The Real ROI of Human-Centered Fundraising Events with Joey Goone
About the Episode:
Joey Goone is back, and I couldn’t be more excited to have him return to the podcast. If you’ve ever felt like your fundraising events are starting to blend together, or you’re craving something more intentional, joyful, and authentic, this conversation is your permission slip to shake things up.
Joey is the President of Utopia Experience, and honestly, he brings so much heart to the events space. He’s not here for stuffy ballrooms or robotic run-of-shows. He’s here to help nonprofits lead with humanity, center their mission, and create events that people feel long after they leave. We talk about everything from ditching the performance pressure in storytelling to why A/V isn’t just a tech checklist, it’s a storytelling tool. This episode is full of lightbulb moments and reminders that joy and profit are not mutually exclusive. Whether you're a seasoned ED or planning your very first gala, Joey will leave you inspired to lead with more heart, more clarity, and way more impact.
Topics:
Why the energy and intention behind events matter more than perfection
How to avoid transactional storytelling and make your audience feel
The difference between entertainment and impact—and how to do both
What it means to design experiences with dignity and strength
How Joey's team creates nonprofit events that are both joyful and profitable
The ripple effect of honoring people, not just logistics
Building community through connection—not performance
It’s not your stories—it’s how you’re telling them. If your amazing work isn’t getting the attention (and donations) it deserves, it’s time for a messaging shift. The Brave Fundraiser’s Guide guide gives you 10 done-for-you donor prompts to make your message impossible to ignore. Get it for free here! https://christinaedwards.krtra.com/t/xKuLs6tOiPZa
Christina’s Favorite Takeaways:
“We've got to get into that deeper sense of connection, which creates community in our attention, and focus on those emotions and those connections going beyond the invitations, going beyond the rubber chicken dinner, and focus on human initiation and human potential.” Joey
“People don't want to be entertained. They want to feel something. They want to be moved. They want to be included. They want to be seen.” Joey
“We're all craving social interaction and connection, not more content.” Joey
“What’s one simple thing you could do ahead of time—like sending a letter, asking about a preference, or requesting they bring something—that could start leaving strategic breadcrumbs at scale?” Christina
“We gotta keep the nurture cycle going.” Christina
“It’s so important to return to the humanity of business—because we often overcomplicate it with systems and processes, when sometimes all it takes is turning to the person next to you and simply asking, “What resonated with you?” Joey
“Pick up the phone, write an email, send a personalized video.” Christina
“Your CEO has to have the level of humility to step aside and say that's okay, it's not about me.” Joey
“Having the right people in the right roles affects the entire energy of the room.” Christina
“You know how important it is to approach your marketing with honor, dignity, and strength—and to avoid “the dip” in your messaging; that emotional journey belongs in your events and storytelling, not in your core marketing messages.” Joey
“Attendee experience is the new ROI.” Joey
“Events are being judged less on how flawless they were, and more how people felt and how connected they were in that sense of belonging.” Joey
“It's not about spending less, it's about spending more intentionally.” Christina
“People need to be using their events to create evergreen material for marketing and content follow-up strategy.” Joey
“Instead of making the ask for money from the outset, we get people involved by getting their hands dirty, and have them in for a volunteer day.” Joey
“When the mind is still, the soul speaks.”
ABOUT Joey:
Joey Goone is President of Utopia Experience, an event management company that focuses on A/V, event production, videography, and event planning for nonprofit organizations and businesses.
For Joey, success isn't just a business metric; it's about leaving the planet better than he found it. His ultimate goal is to uplift those who've dedicated their lives to bettering the world. Whether orchestrating unforgettable events or spreading kindness beyond its boundaries, Joey's drive to create a better world is his guiding star.
Connect with Joey:
Episode Resources:
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Christina Edwards 0:03
All right, y'all we have a special guest back on the podcast today. I'm so excited to welcome back. Joey Goone, president of Utopia Experience. Now we're going to be talking about events today, and if you've listened to the podcast for more than a few episodes, you have may have heard me, and you may think I'm anti Gala. I'm anti event. You may have heard me talk about bloated, exhausted, outdated, non profit events. You may be thinking, Christina, why are we talking about events today? So I'm gonna first, like, level set with our listeners. I am not anti event. And, in fact, I am more pro event than ever, especially in person events. And we're gonna dig into that like I think we are so hungry for for that connection. I'm anti let's throw a party that is expensive, that is costs, a lot of time and people power to put on just because we had an idea from a board member, just because we think we should, and where we bury the lead in the event actually being fundraising. And that's why I love Joey's philosophy so much, and the way that he thinks about well executed events, well executed fundraising events, and that's why I had to have him back, is because since we talked, I think it was last summer, we've been connected on LinkedIn, and there's a lot of alignment in philosophically, the way that we think about people, the way that we think about gathering. And that was a really long intro, Joey, but I had to level set with our listeners. So welcome back to the pod.
Joey Goone 1:29
It's great to be here. I am so grateful that you think highly enough of me to bring you back a second time. And I also wanted to thank you for recommending this book. Yes, the last time we were together, it took me almost a year, because I have quite the like I had to get through, but I'm 200 pages in, and I'm absolutely loving it. So you are brilliant in your the way that you know you think about fundraising and helping people, and your thinking is expansive, and you're wonderful. And I could sit here and compliment you
Christina Edwards 2:03
all day. Oh, I received them. Thank you. And he's holding up Priya Parker's the art of gathering. We will link to it in the notes. It's it's very synchronicity. I was just on a call with a client this week, and we were talking about the importance of priming your guests before the event actually begins. And that is a lot of of what I learned in previous book. And so maybe we could start there. You want to talk about, should we dig into readying, the readying of people? You were talking a little bit in the green room about it. So talk to me about your philosophy there and what you're seeing work. This
Joey Goone 2:38
is going to be so good. I have to take a sip of my favorite black caffeinated beverage here, coffee.
Christina Edwards 2:45
And we're in good company. In Good Company. What do you got? Iced coffee? Yeah, iced coffee, yes, exactly.
Joey Goone 2:52
My coffee cut off is usually 2pm central time, like, no coffee after that. But up until then, it's like, you know, game on, game on, absolutely. So, yeah, let's talk about the readiness of people versus the readiness of logistics. So Priya Parker talks about or the readiness of things, rather, is how she frames it in her book. So she talks about Martha Stewart Event Planning Guide and how it's focused on invitations. And hey, when I send out my invitations, am I going to do calligraphy or am I going to have them digitally printed? And am I going to use Eventbrite as, like a hosting platform, and so am I going to prep the charcuterie board before my guests arrive? And what kind of peppers am I going to have? And like all of those things are important. Yes, don't, don't get me wrong. But in that event planning guide on her on Martha's website, there's nothing mentioned about the reading of guests and actually initiating them, yep, setting expectations where you act, where you create a social contract. And Priya, in her book, gives a specific example about a workshop that she was facilitating, and she sent a workbook out beforehand with a bit of pre work. And the workbooks give the facilitator kind of a sense of the group, and you get in their heads, and you see what they value before they arrive based on their answers. And then you design the experience the workshop around what they're telling you and the feedback. And then we weave in quotes from their work, from their workbooks, and the pre work, then, inadvertently, kind of creates a connection with the organizers and the attendees. And by asking for the pre work, we're creating a social contract and letting people know ahead of time, like, this is going to be engaging. This is going to be active. This is not going to be a place where you just completely disengage and talk about the weather, like, that's not what we're what we're going to do here. And so that was her example, yeah, and I want to remember an example of how you could do that at a fundraising event, because I think that'd be relevant to many of the listeners. And what we just did, I was out on the West Coast facilitating a work workshop for a 30 different top fundraisers at a national organization. top fundraisers nationwide to celebrate successes and to strategize for the future? Yeah, and at the event's conclusion, the executive team of the entire organization chose one innovative idea to fully support and launch as a beta test. And this winning idea was not about logistics, it was about the readying of people. And so the idea that one was to have attendees submit a photo of someone who they fight for. Oh, that's so good mentor or a parent or a friend or a family member. They submit those as pre work before they show up when they buy their ticket, there's a little form submission. And you, you type in a little why blurb as to why this person matters to you, or why they remind you you know the importance of showing up for other people and what they've done for you, right? Just very short blurb. You drop the picture in and and and these pictures at the event are going to be displayed digitally, and then the table connection activities before dinner and before the program are all going to be centered around guests sharing their stories about the individuals in the photos. And so the guests knew we pre enrolled them through the social contract. They submitted those photos so they knew they were they came prepared for these meaningful connections. And so nine times out of 10, I think that organizers want to build stronger communities to ensure that their attendees don't just want to come but they want to come back. And we have to take it deeper. We've got to get into that emotional you know that that that deeper sense of connection, which creates community in our attention, and focus on those emotions and those connections going beyond the invitations, going beyond the rubber chicken dinner, and focus on human initiation and human potential.
Christina Edwards 6:58
It's this idea I've been talking a lot about, which is, like breadcrumbs. We want to leave breadcrumbs on the front end. And I think in the last, the last time we had you on, I loved and it's something I just have referred back to, is the back end after the event. You talked a lot about that being like those that week that follows being really important. But these breadcrumbs in the front help seed the experience of what's going to happen and in the world we live in. I think it's a harder lift to get people to go to an in person event now than 10 years ago. I don't know I could be wrong. I don't know if there's data to support that, but it's just like, we're just I think I'm seeing my best friend because I saw something on Instagram that she shared. I think I'm more connected. It's the social media kind of veil, and I so for that reason, I think it's more of a lift to get people to purchase the tickets to the event. And if we can get them more connected and more excited about attending, we get that that stickiness right, and then maybe they're bringing a friend, maybe they're bringing a family member or something like that, and then seeding with what you're talking about before the event actually begins, is, it is the opportunity to create a high converting event, a high connecting event, yeah,
Joey Goone 8:15
yeah, for sure. And like, to your point, I want to come back to that, because I think you have a really, a really solid point in that people get content from the internet. Yep, like, content is pervasive. It's everywhere. If I just want to sit at home and get to know, like, what Christina is doing, I could go on your Instagram, and I could probably get, you know, a reel of, like, the last couple months of your life, and know what's going on in your world. And if I want to get motivational content, well, I'm better off just, like, not going to your event, but pulling up Tony Robbins on Instagram, Tiktok and like, just getting outside of my head and into his so I think what we have to do is realize people are it's not that they're not craving events. They're just not craving 1.0 events where you're just giving them content from the stage. They don't want bigger, better, louder, they don't want to be entertained from the stage, or they don't want a CEO sitting at them doing some type of, you know, dissertation on why they should be giving and who we are and how we get like they don't want any of that. We've seen this shift firsthand as event producers. And you know, our company is producing events now all you know, all over the country, and I mean this, this is happening from West Coast to East Coast and everywhere in between. People don't want to be entertained. They want to feel something. They want to be moved. They want to be included. They want to be seen. So the bar for events has just been elevated because people now can get content from the comfort of their own home on Netflix. You've got to go beyond the content and dive in, yes, and dive into community.
Christina Edwards 9:38
I couldn't agree more. I love that, and that's originally what we started messaging about for this conversation, was this idea of, like, why part, why are participants in and attendees are out? Sort of this, yeah, it's not that. We just need butts in seats, right? I need it. May feel that way for the organization is like, I gotta sell these tickets, right? But truthfully, that's not what you need. That's when you get into that very one and done kind of transactional relationship, versus creating longer lasting relationships. And again, instead of me and my husband going to an event, us going, we can't wait to go to this event, and inviting our friends and inviting our neighbors, where they become advocates and spokespeople and ambassadors for that event, where there is that connection. So talk to us about those, that trend that you're seeing of like participants versus attendees.
Joey Goone 10:30
Yeah, well, I mean, I come back to what we just shared with you know, people submitting a picture beforehand is making the experience really, really sticky by getting them emotionally invested. I actually, what comes to mind to me is like, we're just repurposing these ideas. We're taking really innovative ideas, trying to tweak them 10, 15, 20% to innovate them and make them our own, and pasting them like you don't have to reinvent the wheel every single every single time you're producing an event. And what I mean by that is this idea of submitting a picture beforehand, like I got this idea from an event that I went to after my mom passed away, and it was an emotional wellness event, and I went as therapy because I just lost this, yeah, one of my best friends in my life, and I was dealing with all that emotional trauma. And one of the things they had us do before we got there was, if you're grieving the loss of a loved one, write that loved one a letter, and then we're going to break you up in small groups, and you're going to read that letter out loud to somebody else who's experiencing the same kind of loss. And so that kind of activation and getting me in the mindset before I stepped into the room, that I'm going to feel the feelings. My face is going to leak, I'm going to cry, I'm going to feel I'm going to love, I'm going to connect with another human being who's got a shared experience like that prepared me going into the event to know that that's okay. Like, I'm going to be emotional and I'm going to be vulnerable, and I'm going to, like, strip myself down, bare, naked, metaphorically, and that's cool. Like, that's what this is for. And so I think a lot of that is just the importance of it. It's just getting people into that mindset from the outset, yes, and getting them ready to be okay, being vulnerable and sharing stories with their peers. Because ultimately, that's what we're all craving, is not more content, but just social interaction and connection and like the person who I cried with when we shared stories, like he shared a story about how his dad committed suicide, I shared a story about how my mom lost her life from stage four cancer. And we're we still, we're still great friends to this day, because that like that visceral, emotional, raw experience that we shared together was just a that was just an un that's that's just a spiritual bond that we now have, yeah, you know, as brothers. So I share this because I think there's just we tend to over complicate, yeah, you know, like, we over process and over analyze and we overthink about, like, how do we make it different? We want to be different. Everyone's doing the same thing. We don't have to, like, install hundreds of 1000s of dollars worth of AV technology and decor and balloons and big centerpieces to make the community sticky. This was as simple as me writing a note to my mom on a piece of paper and showing up to a thing, yeah, and wow, that event like it's been 10 years. Still remember it like yesterday. Still you could probably see in my eyes, I get, you know, emotional thinking about it. How can you create that level of connection for your attendees, and it doesn't have to be over complicated. Let's just go back to, like, simplifying things.
Christina Edwards 13:46
Yeah, I love that. Thank you for sharing that. And it is not always the most expensive, whatever, right? The best band, the best, I don't know, lighting the best flowers. Flowers? Yeah, I went to an event recently, and she was talking about how much it costs to just the event. Host was talking about how much it cost to put on the event. And I just was like, Huh? Like, I love flowers too, but that I don't remember the flowers. Just so we're, I don't remember the flowers. I if you, if you pulled me and asked me what color they are, I like flowers. I don't know what color they were. I don't know if they were roses. I don't know if they were tulips. I don't remember. I remember the people I had lunch with at the event. I remember the people the speakers at the event. I remember the conversations happening in the elevator at the event. Those like, like, cozy connection points, one of my clients hosted her. She was a newer nonprofit executive director, and she hosted her first garden party about a year and a half ago. That's cool. And yeah, it was at her house, and she invited members of the community, she invited friends, she invited family, and ahead of the event, she asked every. One their favorite flower, I believe, was the prompt, tell us your favorite flower. And she did her best to find that flower, and they got to take that home with them. I believe it was on a flower wall and or the favorite color. And it was just like the beginning of creating some connection. Because for this, she was starting at zero, right? She was also starting to build her donor and supporter base, and for people who didn't know what her organization did, it was just the beginning of like, creating a little bit of conversation too, and it gives people, even who don't know each other, something to talk about at the beginning of the event. So I think a prompt here for everyone listening would be, what would be that thing you could do ahead of time, whether it's the, you know, a letter, whether it's asking them about a to bring something, asking them about a preference, there is something you can do, and this can be done at scale to start to leave those breadcrumbs. I think that that would be really cool. I I don't know that I've been asked that before. I don't know if I've had that moment. Aside from, what are your dietary restrictions, right? Are you gluten free? Right? I don't know that. I've been primed, you know, in in the way that we're talking about, have you beyond, like, from, from a nonprofit? No, yeah,
Joey Goone 16:11
no, yeah. We're actually, we're designing an event right now for for an organization that deals with poverty in a different country. And one of the questions we're asking as a part of the registration process for the event, What is the moment or experience in your life in which you first experienced poverty, earliest memories, or of facing or coming into contact, of someone in poverty that could be yourself, or, you know, you know, a family member, or whomever you know, community member, or just someone you saw on the side of this, you know, side, yeah, who's homeless and so just again, priming people so that we kind of understand where they're coming from, because it's an organization that deals with poverty. And we're going to pull some of those stories out and talk about the importance of like, Listen, this is pervasive. This affects all of us.
Christina Edwards 17:11
It starts to connect people to your cause, if, even if they aren't connected, and even more, if they already are, it starts to add that depth. I love that.
Joey Goone 17:21
I love that. Yeah, another, another thing you could do. I'm just thinking about this from like, a digital perspective, Christina, because you mentioned a few moments ago, like, like, you know, our company is very much about, like, how do you leverage the technology at your event to create post event content, to keep yourself relevant, to keep your organization, your event relevant? Yep, you could almost install a content booth if you didn't connect people with this stuff ahead of time, just let them know. Hey, one of the things that will be at you know, that will that you'll have the experience to participate in that we invite you to participate in, is when you walk into the event, you'll have an opportunity to answer some question. Yep, you will have cameras there, and we're going to be using that for our own data and insights on how we want to design the future of our organization, or the things that matter most to our attendees. And so then you're inviting your attendees, basically, to tell you all of the things they want to learn from you that perhaps like why they show up and what's most important to them. And then that's all data, like rich information, for you to take back to your organization and say, wow. Christina said that the first time she experienced poverty was this thing that happened with her mom. Yep, we could send her a little note and let her know we're thinking about her and that, you know, we're thinking about her mom, and just or we'll grab coffee with her, and it gives us a connection point to be able to mention, like Christina, this is something you mentioned on camera at our event. We pulled the sound bite out. We just want to let you know. Let you know we heard you. We received love. You tell us more about that. Like, what can we do to add value to your life? So I'm thinking about like, you could do it. These are like, you can also install it, like little activations for attendees. They're
Christina Edwards 18:56
like, lead generating follow up calls for your development person or no ask calls for your board member so that they have something to say that doesn't feel too scripted, and they're just conversational. So these are like helping to create that pipeline, right? If you don't know your donor base very well, your supporter base, your prospects, this is a great way. I love that idea. That's so great. Thank you for sharing that one for sure. Yeah, so let's dig into fundraising. I feel like I've been to my share of events that are I know they're supposed to be fundraisers, and I can go through the event, and have attended the event thinking it was a party, okay, and not actually, like the fundraising, ask the fundraising part of it was pretty buried. And I I'm curious, because given, given your line of work, you attend a lot of events, you. Attend a lot of fundraising events. What do you feel like is, what is a standout event or so you could, you could answer it one of the two ways, what has been an event that you, that you attended, where you're like they nailed it. There was such the energy of the room, the fundraising ask was there. It was loud and proud. People stepped up. Or in more kind of a wider view, what do you feel like makes a good fundraising event? What are some of those elements you like to see?
Joey Goone 20:29
Yeah, such a great question. I think, of an event. So there was an organization that came to us after COVID, which you know was, it was, it was, I think, in 2021 or 2022 and they were trying to, like, re engage their donor base. And what they had done in the past were, like, large a list celebrity performances. And people would come for Bruno Mars and sell them a bunch of seats, but then people would leave not knowing anything more about the organization.
Christina Edwards 20:57
Thank you for giving actual that's what I'm trying to say. Is, like, cool. I attended a concert. I don't know much about your cause, but that was fun. I spent some money on the ticket. Thank you,
Joey Goone 21:08
nerdy, yes. And so they said, Great. Well, we realized now that that transactional kind of event is not going to be sustainable, because it cost us a million dollars to bring in an A list celebrity like that, we might raise 1.5 but then when we pick up the phone to call these people, they have no idea who we are, and they're like, Oh, you were the guys that brought Bruno Mars in. Like, that's great. When are you bringing them back? Yep, Call me when you're bringing them back. So they found that that love, they had to deepen those relationships. And so what we did was we said, Great, let's put the right people in the right seats that have the propensity and the capacity they know the organization, and let's help them better understand the why behind it. And so if you think of the Van Gogh Museum, the art experience, where there are different exhibits and like digital activations and displays, we designed that and that the center of those displays were video stories of all of the families that were benefiting from the donor generosity. So we had tour guides and we had small groups of people because psychological safety. If you study psychological safety, you know that when, like we as human beings, primarily have largely existed in tribes, and we connect when we feel safe in smaller groups, it's just the way the human brain is wired. And so we know that those groups shouldn't be any larger than 40 people, because that can feel intimidating and overwhelming no less than really four people. So we put people in groups of 10 to 15, and we took them to these different activations, and they saw the stories of these families that were benefiting from their generosity, and they that is the piece, like the human initiation. We're not just giving them content, we're giving them opportunities for connection, and we're building community, because they're going through this visceral, emotional experience as a shared connection point where they're turning to each other and you're like, I had no idea. Like, wow. Can you believe? Like, we, we only gave this much money, but like, look at the impact. We Yep, and they were turning to each other, and there were tears and there was laughter and people making dinner plans by the end of the whole act, you know, the end of the tour, and and then they sat down, and once they were initiated and had the opportunity to share stories with each other, then we went into the formal program. And like, this isn't a I use this as an example because it's relevant and it's topical, and it's like, it's something for me that that that comes to mind. But this isn't like, I'm not just patting our team on the back and saying great, like there are other organizations out there and events that I've attended that are not produced by our team, that have done an exceptional job. And I'd be happy to unpack what those I think what
Christina Edwards 23:54
you're also bringing up is like this breaking of the fourth wall, which is, instead of just showing the formal program, instead of just showing the boilerplate video, right, is giving the people attending an opportunity to talk to each other, but first we have to give them a reason to talk to each other outside of like so what do you do for work? How's your day to day? So putting them through that immersive experience gave them a topic, gave them it like, opened up the conversation. That is, and that is something that you may be you may be thinking, Well, how am I going to put an immersive experience on right? I can, like, hear them. But I would argue there's 20 different ways you can do this. It is possible. So it doesn't have to be Van Gogh level immersive experience if you've seen that. It's very cool. But there's so many different ways you can bring people in and then pause and before you just let that lead into something else, giving people an opportunity to have a conversation around it,
Joey Goone 24:58
for sure. Yeah, yeah. And I would share this installation, the immersive like the production and the video, the pre production, all of that, there was about 100 $120,000, all in to do it. Yeah. Organization ended up raising 500,000 the night of the event. So, you know, there was about expenses were paid. They made about 300,000 all in on this. But what happened afterwards was so much more powerful. They raised additional million.
Christina Edwards 25:23
That doesn't surprise me at all. They had tell us why, like,
Joey Goone 25:27
stickiness and like, Hey, by the way, you know we we had cameras in the room so we knew, like, which donors were feeling the most emotional and which donors were like connecting with other donors. And so that gave the the develop the development director and the CEO touch points and connection points to follow back up with people, because we sent them all this footage, and we're like, hey, these two were really hitting it off. Maybe you facilitate some type of thing with them in a smaller group and bring them together as donors and figure out what they want to see at the next event, or what they were most excited about, or what resonated most with them. So following that framework and that formula, they raised another million dollars not by asking for money, but instead by asking for advice. And there's a, there's a, I don't know if it's a Robin Sharma quote, or somebody's like, you know, ask for money, get nothing. Ask her advice, get money. Yes, yeah,
Christina Edwards 26:15
that's always the icebreaker. What do you think I should do here, dear donor, yes, my guest organization,
Joey Goone 26:20
and I'm like, hey, what? What do you think about the 120,000 you invested with our creative team? And they're like, the 120,000 that was nothing we made, one point, whatever, million. So I think we have to start framing it like looking at opportunity and possibility and realize, like, there is a cost associated with that. Maybe for your organization, it's not $120,000 Yeah, maybe it's 2030, 50,000 but like, you gotta invest the money in the strategy, if you know. And to your point, Christina, to have the technology there to help build the top of the funnel pipeline and the marketing approach, yeah, afterwards, you gotta invest.
Christina Edwards 26:57
I think there's a couple of things I really wanna dig into. One, don't be so short sighted on the investment cost, because if you looked at 150 k1, 20k you could be like, That's too much. But when you look at what it produced in the ROI, it's a no brainer all day, every day, and it takes a little bit. There is a little bit of a leap there in making that investment, right? So you have to go, okay, is this a worthy investment? Is this aligned? And this was a really great example of that. So there's like that, like front end, and then as you are sharing that example, I was reminded of another event I attended, and this was really more of a conference, and you're just saying how your team sort of flagged to the organization. Hey, this person seemed to be very touched. This person seemed to be very engaged, so that they could, the organization could then reach out, right? And I'm like, oh, yeah, I was on this bus ride back. We're on the one of those tour busses, Coach busses, whatever. And everyone was, it was a range of emotions. You know, there's some people tipsy, there's some people who are feeling great. There's some people who are just, like, excited to be together, and there was a couple of different people who are very emotional, and they were so connected. And so like, like, it really, it really clicked for them. This event really clicked for them. And I'm like, Oh, what an opportunity for that organization to have been flagged. Of like these people. These are your warm leads. These are the people who are most engaged with the event. These people you should reach out to. We forget, I think we forget. We think, and this kind of goes back to we think the event's over. Thank God we did the event. It was so good. We hit our goal, whatever it is, and then we're like, done, so right, wrong. We gotta, we gotta keep that, that nurture cycle going. Yeah, yes,
Joey Goone 28:47
that's so good. That's so good. And, like, How simple is that? I think it just comes back to what I, you know, what I shared earlier, too, is just to it's more of more of the same. Like, we're just over complicating the process, just like, getting back to the core humanity of like, we have a tendency when, like, we're in the fire. Tony Robbins says it's so hard to see the forest through the trees. Yeah, it's like, when you're in the forest, all you can see is what's right in front of you. Or, like, when, yeah, fire, it's very hard to see outside of it. Like, gosh, Christina, it's just, it's so important to just get back to the humanity of business. We tend to over complicate and transactionalize and throw systems and processes at it, like, strip all of that away and just realize, like, my gosh, the power of turning to the person next to you and asking them a question about the experience, or, like, what resonated with you, and that's it. Why you could be anywhere in the world tonight, I see you're very emotional. What what resonated with you? Why'd you decide to show up? Why? Yeah, the way you're feeling, help me understand
Christina Edwards 29:45
that's right, yeah, uh, dad, pick up the phone. People, that's it. Pick up the phone, write an email, send a personalized video. To this point of over complicating, I'm curious, is there an event? Element or strategy that you feel like, generally, kind of flops. And is there one that always hits? Is there kind of a something that comes to mind there of like, said, another way, when you have a client who's like, good news, Joey, we're going to do X, you're like, Oh, please don't do that. And you're like, Let's do Y? And do do any? Does anything come to mind when I say that?
Joey Goone 30:23
I think bringing in a creative agency is the best thing that you can do, whether it's us or someone else. And I'll share an example. And I don't just mean a creative agency that's going to help, like, with the event planning and producing the show. I also mean like, a fundraising person like Christina, who's going to help you with strategy, yeah. I mean a fundraising auctioneer, yep, the events that I see flop are the people like the executive directors and the CEOs, who are far too close. Just to come back to that last analogy, they're too close to the fire. They can't see the forest through the trees, and they get up there and they're so passionate, and they're awesome, and they're wonderful because they care so much, but nobody else resonates with them on the level that they're like the data and the insights and like all the change work that y'all are doing that's wonderful. Keep that for the L 10 meeting or the board meeting or the strategy session or whatever at your office. Hire the professional fundraisers and creative agencies that could come in and take some of that, that emotion out of the decision making and install some strategy as to like this is what we know works. Here's the framework, and just let us run with it. That's not to say that you can't be involved in the creative process. I just think that you'll feel such a weight lifted off of your shoulders when you have a strategic team as a sounding board that has the insights, to say, your CEO getting up there and going rogue for 40 minutes when we get Yeah, probably not the right, not the right move and but then your CEO has to have the level of like, humility to step aside and say that's okay. Like, it's not about me, yes, yeah, about the leadership team as well. Totally more philosophical answer than, like, a hard, tactical like, No, I like it doesn't. I think it's just those approaches are really important.
Christina Edwards 32:09
I think I'm hearing it's not always the CEO, it's not always the executive director who needs to be spotlight, microphone, doing all the talking and leaving and in fact, that can hurt not help, right? They absolutely are still involved. They're they're there, they're working the room, they're doing all of the things. But they not, may not be the the right, best person front and center. And I would say so my dad is an antique dealer, or was, since he retired. And so I grew up in, like, the auction world, and, like, it was like a it was a production. He would have auctions maybe six times a year, and people would come in out of town, and it was like hype. Like the energy of a true auctioneer is something unmatched, so much so that when you give the microphone to like Joe in accounting, who said he could do be the lead auctioneer, like, it's the difference of 1000s, hundreds of 1000s of dollars. It's a difference of an event experience. And so having the right people in the right roles affects the entire energy of the room. It affects like, I know I've been places where I'm like, can we just like, do we have to say bye and you just want to leave because, like, the vibes, the vibes, you know, quiet, or you're like, oh my gosh, I can't believe it's already 11. This was so amazing. This was so fun. This was so connecting. Right? The right people in the right roles are so so key here, and it's worth investing in, and it's worth maybe having hard conversations with your CEO on that
Joey Goone 33:44
for sure. And the first time we worked with her just to snowball in the auctioneer, like the first time we worked with a professional auctioneer as an organization, I was like, oh, like she was up there, Shannon. Do you know Shannon Eason? Yeah. I know, I know of her work, yeah. So she was up there and she did an Oprah moment with a Mexico trip. Because like, 14, 15, people raised their hand, yes, and they're like, yeah, we'll go for 5000 and she's like, you get a trip, and you get a trip, and it is $5,000 trip, yep. And converted that into like, 60, 70, $80,000 by selling multiple of them, and we're like, like, and here's what happens. Counting is not going to get that.
Christina Edwards 34:27
I here's what happens. I don't, let's say I don't want that trip. I'm not interested, or it's out of budget, whatever. I'm in the audience. I'm feeling that energy. You're going to see my paddle race. So hard on the thing I want, this is real life true story, because I'm in the hype of it now, like I'm excited. There's a lot of that snowball effect that happens. So when we see one person be really generous, and then two and then three, so the whole room changes, whether it's the trip or an auction or anything even. Even if the goal of your event, there's no option. Let's say if the goal of your event was Christina, we want to get 200 people to sign up for our monthly giving program, right? Even if I there's a leaderboard happening, and I walk in and there's four people that join, but then I start to see that snowball effect. What is going to happen? I'm gonna be like, well, I want to see them win. Of course, I'm joining. We need that. We need that like hype. We need that momentum. And I think having a captain, a coach, a hype person, an auctioneer, spearheading that energy in the right way is the difference between a money maker and a knot, a goal hitter and a knot worth the investment. Yeah, every single
Joey Goone 35:39
time. Oh, I love that. I raised my panel too. By the way, I was an attendee in the room. Yes, I
Christina Edwards 35:44
also want to offer that like, it's not just the auctioneer. I don't I guess it depends on the size of the event. You tell me if this is normal, but in the actual auction world, like, not nonprofit world, so it would be like auctioneer, like guy, and then it would be out in the crowd, the like deal closers, spotters, or the people, yes, yeah. And they were as essential. I can picture them. I'm like, eight years old. They're always on a knee. They've dropped a knee, they've run out to the far, you know, and they're, they're closing the deal, they're coming in close. They're talking to the prospect, right? There? Yeah, yeah. I know. Come on, they're gonna go, like, those are also your players, too. And then again, I'm watching this, going, what's the next thing? What's the next thing? And so I love an auction, of course, but this does, this is not just about doing it an auction, but it's about having the people to beyond that. One person who's the kind of the lead there being your your networkers, your closers, your your warm uppers, yeah, yeah. I could talk about auctions for
Joey Goone 36:49
you and like, the the team that's out there, and just having them whisper that encouragement. Like to get in between my spouse, Stephanie, and myself, and be like, This trip was designed for you guys. Like, this is it right now? You want to go to Mexico. Let's go. And we're like, we raised our pad, and, like, when I raised my paddle, I was a table captain, so like, I brought my wife and I brought four couples, or there were four couples at the table, eight of us at the table, and every single one of them didn't want to be like, Oh, well, you know, Joey and Steph brought us, like, we need to also do our part. They all raised their paddles. We all went, you know, we didn't go together to Mexico, but we all won that same trip and helped raise a boatload. Our table raised $20,000 for the organization. Just how cool.
Christina Edwards 37:36
Ah, I love that. Talk about, like, that kind of momentum, where you're like, we did that table like high fives. Yes,
Joey Goone 37:43
they and they got, they got, they felt a certain responsibility because we were raising our paddles. But they also, too, were so caught up in the emotion of the room just erupting. It was, it was awesome. I also think, like one of the things our creative director talks about when he's filming fun to need videos or purpose videos for organizations, is to do the climb at the beginning, like the hero's journey, and then you do the dip. And the dip is, let's get real, raw and emotional. But then you have to leave people, not from a sympathy giving, from a sympathy, pity state. You want to bring them back up with encouragement and inspiration. And so we follow that format, not just for the videos that we produce, but also for the events. So like we always do, the fun to need. First, if we show the emotional video, people's faces are leaking, they give they raise their paddles. And then we go from the dip back to inspiration, energy high point. And that's where we leave people. Then from there, we transition into the after party or whatever else you
Christina Edwards 38:44
wanna do. I hope everyone wrote that down, because that is the secret there. Because what I see, and this is very common in marketing, so this would be for profit, nonprofit world. You could get somebody to buy a thing or donate once off of like, stop the bleeding painkiller, right? Of like, something that's the down point that you described. Right? Of like, this is really heavy and hard donate once, right? But when we actually give them something us aspirational, future focused, what we're working towards, that's the vitamin that's, to me, the longer term donor. And having that arc in an event is really smart, especially to leave them in the place of like the aspirational Where are we going, showing them what's possible and inviting them to give there. I think that's so so good, and a better place to leave them to totally,
Joey Goone 39:38
yeah, and I, I received an email marketing message from an organization I'm on their marketing list, you know, six months ago, then, you know, five, then four and three, and it was like, Should I say something? And it finally got to the point where the conversation that they were trying to have with donors on the other end, or their potential. Donors like myself was coming from a lens of pity and sympathy rather than respect and empowerment. And to be honest, I felt a responsibility. Because not I just don't feel like many people would be, they're like, Yeah, well, you know, whatever, just delete, yeah. And I wanted to offer that from the lens of a donor and a prospective donor, but also, you know someone that works with the agency, yeah, to honor, dignity and strength when you're when you're approaching your marketing messages, and to not do the dip in your marketing like, that's a journey you want to take people through at your events and perhaps your stories, yep, not in your marketing messages. Like, one of the messages I got was, this is your last chance. It's like scarcity mindset, not abundance, not enriching, not not from a, like a power position point of view, we as a community are coming together, doing meaningful work. It felt, I just didn't feel aligned. It
Christina Edwards 40:58
can sound very traumatic, very like, hair on fire, 911, and when you're using that repetitively to it's gonna, yeah, you're, you're, you're the people on the receiving end of that, of that appeal are going to feel it and be like, what's going on here? I think it's different when it's an emergency, like an emergency relief something. But this, this urge, this scarcity, this is your Yeah, no, no, no. I think that's really smart to kind of look out for in messaging.
Joey Goone 41:28
And I shared with her from a place of love, and I hope, how'd it go? I haven't received a reply yet. Okay, my my email was pretty soft, okay, I was coming from like a place of, listen, I'm a I'm, you know, I'm the CEO of our company, like, I'm leading the ship here. And like, this is how it came across to me. And it from as a friend, a friend CEO to CEO. I just wanted to help you understand how it landed with me. And I don't know that I'm the only one. Perhaps I am, but I just wanted to share this feedback, and it gives you a different perspective, because your organization matters so much to me, and I want to see
Christina Edwards 42:04
you succeed. I'm glad you did that.
Joey Goone 42:07
I am too like, I feel a certain level of like, I hope she received it and receives it in the way that I intended, because I wanted to come in it from like, the lens of a partner and a collaborator and a friend, yeah, someone loving on them. But I think it put her on the defensive, given that it's been over a week, I've not received a reply, but if she ever hears this, I hope she knows that I love her and I love her. I want to see him win.
Christina Edwards 42:28
That's all it is. That's it, right? There is you just want to see him win. Yeah, I'm curious, as we look ahead, lots of changes going on. You know, if you, if you read the headlines for our sector, you could feel a type of way of sad if you you know just lots of lots going on, whether in an in and out of the sector, in the economy, etc. And I'm curious for you, when you think about events, when you think about nonprofit fundraising, when you think about this work. What do the next few years look like? Where? Where do you think events are kind of trending into what's working? Walk us through your vision for that.
Joey Goone 43:12
Hmm, yeah. I think, Oh, I could just rapid fire, yeah, because there's so many things that come to mind? Yeah, I think attendee experience is the new ROI events are being judged less on how flawless they were, and more how people felt and how connected they were in that sense of belonging. I think shorter, smarter, more immersive experiences. People are burned out from content overload, because we get it from our like, open my email, like, I get a couple 100 emails a day. It's insane. And I'm not the only one. I'm sure many of you out there feel that same pain. It's like, content overload constantly. Yeah, brains are overstimulated. There's so much information. How do we discern, like, what information is most important? Don't do that at the event. Don't just bomb, drop information from the stage. Make it less about content and more about connection, and you can do that in a shorter timeframe, so two to three hour events, instead of four or five, six hour events, live storytelling, wellness activations, tech experiences, like we've talked about, those immersive activations that connect people to the mission but also to each Other. I think budgets being restructured, not cut. Yep, it's not always about spending less. It's about spending more intentionally.
Christina Edwards 44:25
Thank you. Louder for the people in the back. It's not about spending less, it's about spending more intentionally.
Joey Goone 44:32
I just, I come back to like, Christina, I know you're a marketing person, through and through, and that's like, you're really, you're really good at it. I think people need to be using their events to create Evergreen material for marketing and your content follow up strategy. And how are you going to leverage insights and nuggets from the event to inform your follow up strategy? You've got to be doing spending hundreds of 1000s of this event.
Christina Edwards 44:58
We just spent 45min That's talking about how your event could be a donor pipeline and lead gen pipeline if you do it right, and it can be not like we made money on this one day.
Joey Goone 45:08
Yes, multi use content is Thank you. Yes, events are not just one and done. And if your event is one and done, like, let's rethink it. Yeah, for sure, you've got to retool it and re engineer it. And you're, you're, you're one step away from making it work much better for you and up leveling the level of efficiency and effectiveness from your event, because it literally can inform your next like your marketing strategy and your follow up strategy to fill your pipeline for the next six months. And it should be doing that. It's all stewardship and cultivation can be happening at your
Christina Edwards 45:40
event that right there. Yes, amazing
Joey Goone 45:44
Gen Z and Millennial donors, changing the game, values driven, community oriented, like our company. Now we've got a bunch of Gen Z full time employees. We now, as an organization, we ask like, Hey, what should we do as a group? They want to donate. They want to volunteer. So now, as an organization, once a month, we go and donate as a full time core team. And so I think like finding teams like ours that are filling the topic, that have Gen ZS and millennials that want to give back, that want to donate, that want to get their hands dirty, like tomorrow, actually, right now, we've got a team of like seven or eight people that are volunteering for an organization in downtown St Louis that needs help. And so I think like going to companies and maybe not making the ask of like the bias seat at our table, but at first getting them out to your organization. We just volunteered as a team last month at an organization called duo dogs here in St Louis, and it's all about therapy and providing dogs for those who might be disabled or physically impaired or have a you know situation where they need a dog to help guide them through life, going to their thing and their organization and volunteering that made their like, we're all going to buy a table now and show up to their event, just because we understood, like, oh, wow, this is, like, a huge thing. And like, anyway. So I digress. The point is, perhaps instead of making the ask for money from the outset, we get people involved and get by getting their hands dirty, and have them in for a volunteer day. And you could do that through like, finding organizations that are young and
Christina Edwards 47:11
mighty. Yes, don't just look for the old white dude as your next donor. Don't do it. He's great and all. But we love, we love our Gen Zers. And is it Gen Alpha? Is that what it is? One below? Yeah. I mean, come on, yeah.
Joey Goone 47:31
Can I share one more thing? Because you mentioned, of course, and we didn't talk about conferences at all. But like, conferences are a big part of our our portfolio. Okay, yes, please, like you tell me, because it's a sponsorship idea.
Christina Edwards 47:41
Yeah, I Yes, please.
Joey Goone 47:45
So sponsorships, we also, we don't have to, like, I think we, we've got to do more about, like, making our sponsorship less transactional, like printing your logo. It's
Christina Edwards 47:56
not the logo slapped on the thing. Wait, what?
Joey Goone 48:00
And, you know? And like, maybe I'm, I'm sharing something that's like, intuitive. And like, people are
Christina Edwards 48:05
like, Yeah, tell us No. Sponsorships are still they're still wanted, an enigma for many. So what's working? We would love to
Joey Goone 48:13
hear two, two things that recently worked for us at events. Number one was a content installation that was, that was installed at an entrepreneur Association event. It's a nonprofit organization. Yep, about 1000 people flying in from all over the world. We had a content activation booth where entrepreneurs could walk into that booth and record social media content for their businesses while they're on site, and leave with something tangible beyond the connections that they make that are obviously the intangible. And the whole thing was sponsored and paid for and underwritten by someone who was like, I want my brand all over
Christina Edwards 48:44
that. My mouth is open for our listeners, non YouTube watchers, that's such a good idea. What a great sponsorship opportunity.
Joey Goone 48:52
So that was one. The second one was we had a sponsor at the $50,000 level, sponsor massages, slash spa. Spa day for all of the attendees checking in. And so how we did the activation was people walked into the lobby. They're checking into the hotel. There were a bunch of TV screens with a QR code. They scan the QR code. It was Mr. And Mrs. Sponsor, founders, executives in the company, introducing themselves, very quick 30 seconds, saying, Hey, you landed. Welcome. You made it to the right place. And to welcome you here tonight. We have a welcome reception at 7:30pm It's noon now. You're checking in, hanging out whatever. We just wanted to invite you like the hotel has ramped up their spa services for today for all of our attendees, because we want to sponsor a 15 minute thing for you in the spa that could be a hand massage, a foot massage, a facial, a pedicure, a manicure, whatever you can do in 15 minutes. My company is completely paid for it. Once this video is over, you'll see another QR code to book your spa time. Go pamper yourself, because you know you're here for the next two days like you're going to be learning a lot and your brain is going to be filled with a lot of information. So decompress. Chill. We know that airport stress and the travel is probably sitting with you. We want you to leave all that here at the spa so you're ready and prepared tonight for the reception, so you can actually, like, really dig in and connect. So
Christina Edwards 50:12
the sponsor, in that case, was a third party, not the spa, correct? It was a third party. I love it, love it. Love it, love it. And what traveler is not going to go get this
Joey Goone 50:22
massage? The sponsor was a celebrity, because you bet your butt. Every single person that took advantage of that spa thing went to thank that sponsor personally because they had a booth. They're like, the celebrity spa person that, like, gave me a 15 minute massage. Yes, right? So, like,
Christina Edwards 50:38
yep, really smart. Okay, so good outside the box ideas. I like that. That's really good.
Joey Goone 50:44
Think outside the box. It didn't cost the organization much more money, but it people were talking about that thing because no one else at any other conference that they'd ever attended had done anything like that before. That's
Christina Edwards 50:56
it. That's it, right there. Yes. Thank you so much. This has been such a wonderful conversation, so I appreciate your your second time back on the podcast. I know our listeners are going to be so appreciative of your insights. We ask every guest to share an affirmation mantra, just a thought they like to think on purpose. So I would love it if you would share yours with our listeners.
Joey Goone 51:21
Oh my gosh, there's so many good ones. So I have, I can I share two? Yeah, okay, so one I say that the journey is the destination. And so the like, the joy that I get, and I always tell people to, like, my name is Joey, it's joy with an E in between, like they had an E. I try to bring joy everywhere that I go, and I'm just reminded that the world needs more joy. And the thing that really resonates with me is like, there is no second mountain top or third mountain top or thing that we have to get to. It's just like enjoying every breath, every moment, every heartbeat, as much as I possibly can. And then the second one is Robin Sharma. It's his quote, and it's when the mind is still the soul speaks. And so you ever wonder why you get those shower thoughts that pop up? It's because you're giving your mind a break, like when you meditate, why you feel so free? Or when you're doing yoga, or you're working out in the gym and your mind is off and you're just like doing the like, actually giving yourself some like time to just spend with yourself. That's when the soul really speaks. So for me, it's giving that purposeful like disconnection time and reminding myself, Robin Sharma quote, whenever I'm feeling distracted or overstimulated, I just come back
Christina Edwards 52:43
to that. That's we've talked a lot on the podcast about the power of the shower, driving a phone list walk. We have to give ourselves the opportunity for the soul to speak, and when you do, that's when the creative ideas come in. That's when the courage comes in. So I think that's a perfect place to end, thank you so much for coming back on. All right, bye.