Brian Arnone
Attendees of INTIX 2024 in Las Vegas are getting excited about many things. One of the numerous workshops that is generating buzz is the “Going Cashless. Increasing Engagement. Diversifying Fundraising” session. It will take place Wednesday, Jan. 31, at 11 a.m. PST.
Today's fundraising landscape is rapidly evolving, and nonprofit venues and event producers are continuously seeking new and innovative ways to engage patrons and boost financial support. During this workshop, Dipjar CEO Brian Arnone will lead panelists from museums and theaters in a discussion in which they will share firsthand experiences and success stories of how they are raising funds in person and online via their existing fundraising platforms to increase engagement and diversify their fundraising efforts.
The main goal of the session is to highlight how cashless technology can transform how fundraising can be done in today’s modern landscape. Arnone says, “It’s all about how to reach more people to gain more donations, right? Everybody is so focused on the main categories of donors. There are the mass donors, who are giving the $10 to $250 a year. They give what you ask. There are your major donors who will give a pretty decent amount of money and give consistently whether you ask them or not. They truly care about your venue, your theatre, your museum, whatever it is, and they’ll give money regularly and talk about you to their friends and contacts. The third donor is your big donors, your corporate or high net-worth donors. These are people and organizations who really do change the game. They’ll fund as much as 80% of your nonprofit effort each year.”
He continues, “What’s nice about the cashless experience is that it gets you a whole new category of donor. It’s easy to just tap a card or insert a chip. It can feel almost like a tip. It can happen so fast that the donor sometimes doesn’t even need to be convinced of anything. It just needs to be there [as an option] and be fun. Places that are free to get into, like Loggerhead [Marine Life Center] in Florida, are a great way to raise funds because people didn’t pay an admission fee.”
Arnone is the right person to head this panel. He has more than 25 years of experience in the event technology space. His career has held decision-making and leadership roles for such companies as Ticketfly, ShowClix and Patron Technology. Today, he indeed is CEO of DipJar, a company that is aiming to change the game of fundraising with a cashless donation device and an integrated payments platform that enable engaging and frictionless giving. With DipJar, organizations of any size can collect donations anywhere and create more “Giving Moments.”
So, what is the one key lesson or piece of wisdom Arnone hopes INTIX members will take away from the presentation? His reply: “When going cashless, it is easy to ask for $10 or $20 or whatever and not put the individual through too many deterrent points along the process. Once they sign up for a list and they consent to being emailed, then you can go ahead and put them through your drip campaigns. But when they’re attending a show and they are on their way out the door and you’ve done a quick appeal after curtain that you’re just trying to raise a couple thousand dollars that night and all they have to do is tap a card and not give you any personal information, they’re more likely to give something. It’s worth the sacrifice of a little data once in a while. Some of them will become interested donors. You will get them into your funnel. Just don’t make them start there.”
Arnone has been spearheading panels and sessions of this nature for some time. When discussing what makes a good workshop at a conference like INTIX 2024, he offers the following wise words: “The number one ingredient is getting the audience engaged early. What happens at a lot of sessions, you do your 30 or your 45 minutes, and then you save questions for the end. And, by the way, I’ve seen some of those be incredibly successful. Their content is so well-prepared and their messaging about what the panel was going to be was well done. But the ones I’ve walked away from and thought, ‘Wow, that was a really good session!’ felt more like a conversation had just happened.
He adds, “What is unique about INTIX is that for every group on a panel — whether it be three people or five people or however many it is — there are another 10 to 15 in the audience who can share great insights and even content and take that session up to the next level. So, I try to engage people early.”
In addition to the experience to deliver a good session for INTIX attendees, Arnone also has had plenty of good counsel thrown his way over the years — advice on how best to connect with audiences. He recalls attending a user group meeting early in his career and collaborating with a customer on one particular segment of the session he was about to lead. He says, “One of the things he said to me that really stuck out and has stuck with me is, ‘There are times where ticketing professionals think they have to have all of the answers. I am just going to tell you that, for this particular session, you don’t have to have all of the answers! No one is expecting you to be the expert. They are expecting you to be open to learning and to understanding that there is a lot more to know.’”
Arnone is a firm believer that one can be an expert and still have a lot to learn. “When we talk about the cashless experience in front of an audience, I love learning from other organizations,” he says. “We just completed our season with the Tennessee Titans, for example, and we had devices all over the stadium on game days. It was really cool to experience some of the Titans’ best practices, things we might not have even thought to try before or, frankly, things we may have been too scared to try before.”
And Arnone is especially looking forward to making new memories and meeting new industry people at what has become an annual event for him. His favorite past INTIX show? “That would probably be my first one … the one in Toronto in 2001! What was cool about that experience — and why it will always stick out to me — was that it was a time where I recognized that as big as this industry is, it’s also a close-knit community. It’s an industry that is going to test your patience and your will. It’s very competitive. Hey, we’re not selling towels or cars or things that can be built again. We’re selling a seat to an event at a specific date and time and there is a limited supply of inventory. Whenever you have an item in limited supply where there is demand, it’s going to test you. I didn’t truly understand that until that first INTIX, and I didn’t understand the level of respect members have for each other — for those who have gone through or are going through the same things they are. That respect is pretty unique and special. It’s a real badge of honor to be a member of INTIX!”
It's almost time to gather with your ticketing community for INTIX 2024! Register now to join INTIX in Las Vegas, Jan. 29–Feb. 1.
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