501c Drop

Your community is not your audience. It is your fundraising engine.In this episode of 501(c) Drop, BetterUnite Co-founder Leya Simmons sits down with Floyd Jones, Founder of BackBlack, for a Webinar Wednesday conversation on turning community into a force that mobilizes supporters, activates board members, and drives real dollars.Floyd breaks down his Four C's framework (Captivate, Communicate, Convert, Catapult), why fundraising is a team sport, how to build tiered pathways for volunteers and peer fundraisers, and why the data says your next gift is already sitting in your database.

BetterUnite CEO & co-founder Leya Simmons is pulling back the curtain on real auction data from spring 2026 events to show exactly what drove revenue and what didn't. Listen to a powerful conversation with Leya as she breaks down the numbers behind high-performing galas: live vs. silent auction results, item performance by category, bidding patterns that signal strong donor engagement, and the specific strategies that raised the most money. No theory: just data from real events, translated into decisions you can make right now.

In this episode, BetterUnite CEO & co-founder Leya Simmons is pulling back the curtain on data from hundreds of BetterUnite customer events this past spring to show you exactly what happened. She is breaking down what worked, what fell flat, and what to do differently this fall. You will see the patterns behind the events that overperformed, the common mistakes that quietly cost organizations revenue, and the concrete moves you can make now so your next event lands in the first column, not the second.If you run events, sit on a development team, or carry a fundraising number this year, this is the benchmark conversation to listen to.

Most nonprofits spend major-gift-level resources to put donors in a room then walk away from the relationship the morning after. In this 501cDrop, Leya Simmons reframes event fundraising as cultivation, introduces the Five Roles in the Room framework, and gives gift officers and development teams a tactical playbook for making every event the start of a relationship, not the end of a transaction.

Struggling to turn your fundraising event into real revenue? In this fast-paced webinar, benefit auctioneer Matt Newsom of Custom Benefit Auctions reveals the proven run of show that keeps donors engaged - and giving. You’ll learn how to structure your event for maximum impact, avoid costly mistakes, and create momentum that leads to bigger gifts. If you want to raise more money without adding more to your program, this session is for you.

In the world of fundraising, myths often shroud the truth, creating unnecessary barriers and misconceptions. Capital campaigns are no exception.In this session, Steven Shattuck from Capital Campaign Pro will sift through the most interesting insights gleaned from their annual State of Capital Campaigns Benchmark Report. You’ll come away with benchmarks with which to compare your organization.

You care deeply…about the mission, the people, and doing this work well. But over time, that kind of care, without the support to hold it, gets heavy; and when mission demands outpace capacity, compassion fatigue quietly takes hold.Maybe what you’re feeling isn’t failure, it’s a signal. An invitation to steward your energy and your generosity differently, in a way that allows both you and the work to last.Guest Megan Draper is a fundraising strategist, generosity coach, and unapologetic Cheerleader for Good with a passion for helping good people do good things. As founder and CEO of Philanthrope Reimagined, Megan works with leaders across sectors to steward generosity well, bringing clarity to what matters, building rhythms that last, and making impact sustainable in real life. At her core, she believes that when leaders are enabled and encouraged, generosity flourishes.With more than 20 years in advancement leadership, she knows the weight leaders carry and how easy it is for deep caring to turn into quiet burnout.

By Friday, most nonprofit leaders are too depleted to do the one thing that actually matters for growth — looking honestly at their own organization. This conversation is about why scale is impossible without a weekly reflection practice, and how AI can make that discipline feel less like homework and more like having a strategic editor on call. Join Erin Peshoff of Vivia Studios as she provides an easy-to-implement AI framework for nonprofit executives to help manage time, work smarter and lay a foundation for scaling.

Dean Crownover joins 501(c) Drop to break down the raffle pricing, prize selection, and event sequencing tactics that turn nonprofit fundraisers into bigger-revenue events.