Management

Classy Collaborative 2022: What to Expect from the Nonprofit-Focused Event

Data — how to protect it, how to analyze it and how to use it for better donor engagement — will be a key topic of discussion.

Ernie Smith

Ernie Smith is a former contributor to BizTech, an old-school blogger who specializes in side projects, and a tech history nut who researches vintage operating systems for fun.

The nonprofit sector has evolved significantly over the past decade as mail-driven fundraising and awareness campaigns have given way to a digital-first approach that many organizations now use to engage with their donor bases.

This evolution means that nonprofits with digital-oriented donor strategies no longer stand out online. Those that want to distinguish themselves must get creative as they take steps to reach their donors and serve their constituents.

Classy Collaborative, a hybrid event taking place June 15 and 16 in Philadelphia and online, will highlight some of these issues as it returns to an in-person setting for the first time since 2019.

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The event, which reached 7,100 attendees in 93 countries last year, is a hub for nonprofit discussion, something reflected in the wide array of presenters who are expected to convene both in person and online.

Officials from some of the nonprofit sector’s big names, including Giving Tuesday, Amazon Web Services, GoFundMe, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, will be among the speakers at the event. Attendees will gain insights into how they can protect donor data, improve their relationships with donors and use data to better understand giving trends.

Observing the Latest Nonprofit Technology Trends

Donor trust is everything, and nonprofits don’t want technology to be the issue that breaks this trust. For this reason, platform security will be a key topic at Classy Collaborative. During a June 15 session, Chris Silver, Classy’s vice president of product marketing, will discuss this topic with panelists John Downey, the CISO at GoFundMe, and Madhu Bussa, a senior solutions architect with AWS. The trio will examine strategies for safeguarding systems and teaming with partners that can help nonprofit organizations protect their data.

Also on June 15, the event will host a discussion about building a technology stack that can maximize workflow management within an organization, with insights from Robbie Rusbuldt, Concern Worldwide’s vice president of marketing and business operations, and Classy Chief Growth Officer Marc Ferris. The speakers will discuss the importance of marketing, fundraising and constituent relationship management platforms.

Understanding Engagement Needs for Nonprofit Donors

Peer-to-peer giving is an increasingly important trend in the nonprofit sector, with research showing that it can increase fundraising by as much as 30 percent. Brett Vanderblock, Classy’s manager of data science and analytics, will highlight what the company has learned from analyzing more than 54,000 active fundraising campaigns on the platform, representing more than $1 billion raised from more than 12 million donations.

The data, which provides the foundation of Classy’s ‌“The State of Modern Philanthropy 2022” report, will help outline strategies that nonprofits can use in their own campaigns.

What’s Next for Nonprofits?

What lies in the future for the nonprofit sector? Members of Classy’s leadership council — including officials from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Jane Goodall Institute, Southwest Airlines and the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research — will take on this question with the help of Classy’s COO, Soraya Alexander.

Alexander will also take part in a data-driven session on individual giving trends aimed at helping attendees better understand a worrying phenomenon: the decline in individual giving for nonprofits. She’ll be joined by Woodrow Rosenbaum, Giving Tuesday’s chief data officer, and Jeannie Sager, director of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute. While the data might suggest bad news, Alexander and her fellow presenters promise to highlight positive trends as well.

Keep this page bookmarked for coverage of the event, and follow us on Twitter @BizTechMagazine and the official conference Twitter feed, @ConnectAtCollab.