 It's going to be fun. Hey, I want to thank all of our presenting sponsors. Without you, we would not be here having a great time and also really learning and sharing all things nonprofits. So we want to thank you from the bottoms of our heart. Again, I'm Julia Patrick, CEO of the American Nonprofit Academy. And today, Yay team Jerry Diaz CFRE extraordinaire founder and CEO of Geronimo Consulting. Jerry is a man who has incredible knowledge and depth of experience in the nonprofit sector through many, many things. He's been a powerhouse in the development of some amazing nonprofits doing great board leadership work as a board member as well. And so I thank you for that, my friend, because board leadership is a tough gig. It is. And it pays so well. Yeah, it pays so well, but it's so rewarding in so many other ways, the ability to give back to your community and where you live. It's, you know, I think of when you are involved with board work, that's an investment. That's an investment in all of us, right? And the nice thing is you get to decide, as a board member, you get to decide whether you want to do, I don't know, social services or arts or culture or environment, you know. So for those of you on the, that are listening, that are not board members, even if you work in nonprofit, I highly encourage you to think about that. I think it's true. And you know, I think that one of the really big things is that if you can get board members that are serving in the nonprofit sector, what a wealth of knowledge you get, right? Because oftentimes we get entrepreneurs or people that are in big business. And then they come in, they sit on a board and they get all chotted over the structure and the work and the mentality. And so we do need people from the nonprofit sector serving our boards. And I would say amen to that. And that isn't even one of our questions. Oh my gosh. Okay. So are you ready to go? I am ready to go. Okay. Josefina from Tampa, Florida writes, I'm a new, oh, this is funny. I'm a new board chair. And after reviewing some of my duties, I came upon the word quorum. Can you please explain what this is and how we get to the right number? Good question. That is a really, that is a really good question. In short, quorum is 50 plus one. So you need a quorum to do business, whether it's passing, you know, bylaw changes or reviewing financials. So, this is a good question for so many reasons, right? So this one is very focused on quorum, but the larger discussion, which is much richer and deeper is has to do with board governance, right? So I think this gives a wonderful opportunity to learn more about board governance. So you can go to places like board source, which is the leader at least in North America around board governance. You can go to webinars, you can do a quick search. So when you think about quorum, that is just one piece of the governance piece. And I think sometimes people get intimidated. We're talking about people in the private sector on nonprofit boards, you know, nonprofits boards, you know, use Robert's rules of order, which also can get a little like, oh my gosh, like I'm intimidated by that. But a quick search will give you those as well. But just, you know, my final tip to you is this. I think this is the really wonderful opportunity for mentorship. So talk to other board chair people or other, maybe the past board chair, and maybe they can mentor you for maybe four or five meetings to get you up to speed so that you become more familiar. Because once you get past those procedural things, that allows you to really talk about substantive issues dealing with your board. Right. You know, we have on the American Nonprofit Academy website, several free classes just about board chair work. So check those out, Josefina. The other thing to Jerry's point, you know, quorum, a Latin word that we use in democracy, right? It's a very, it's an old, word and old concept. And this is one of those things. Jerry's right, it most often is 50% of your board plus one, which allows you to take a voting action, right? But this is the gig, you need to check your bylaws. Because in some cases, your organization might have a different quorum strategy or number. So you need to make sure because without the quorum, you can still have a meeting, and you can still chit chat and talk and whatever, but she cannot take a vote. And that's the thing. You can't take a recorded vote. And so in essence, Jerry, it's almost, that meeting turns in almost like a social time because no actionable decisions can be made and therefore enforced. Well, and that also brings up the point about board commitment, right? You have to make sure that you bring on the right board members who are going to be committed to investment and then on profit that showing up to meetings doing pre reads. And that allows you to really focus on the business of the organization instead of these other things. So yeah, great, great point. So it all ties into that governance piece. So there's really some wonderful tools out there to help. And I love that you said that because you're right, that is a governance issue. And I would imagine Josefina has other is going to have other questions, if not, if she doesn't already have them with that journey. Okay, let's go to Raya, Aurea and little rock, little rock Arkansas. I've been tasked with heading up a live fundraising event in the spring of 2022. Looking at the committee report from the last event, which was a gala. It's probably in 2019. I see the mention of a BEO. What on earth is this? It's a BEO stands for banquet event order. Very common in the industry with either conventions, hotels, any basically anywhere you're going to need food, beverage, audio, visual. So that basically determines for them what's going to happen in the right sequence, what foods you're going to have to set up the layout. It is really the mechanics of how that event is going to work. This is a really relevant topic because for the last year, we've all been virtual. And now we are moving either to hybrid or in person as more and more of us get vaccinated. But I will give you a piece of advice based on this. The real work actually starts with the contract. Okay, I was going to ask you about that. Okay, so explain that difference then Jerry. So the BEO basically is how the event's going to run, right? But the contract determines the cost. So this will determine like, you know, what kind of food you're going to have, the cost for the food. So lots of people will sign the contract and then when they get to the BEO, they find a little surprise. It's like, oh, this is going to cost you this and this is going to cost you. And by the way, if you're going to bring an outside AV company, that's going to cost you some additional fees. So I would think that before the BEO have a conversation and ask, say, what are the costs? And remember, you can always negotiate these, right? And you can also negotiate that. And like some places will say, we'll give you a discount if you give us a table at your event. Right. Or, you know, or can we put something, can we put a slide on your overhead? Like, so, you know, you kind of can negotiate. And, you know, a lot of organization or hotels will give you like free things. Like, oh, we'll give you a package that includes hotel and golf or, you know, some spa package or meals. But when you get to the BEO, the work is done. But, and I would also recommend that talk to other people who have done this before, particularly for the BEO, if you don't put it in the BEO, it's not going to happen, right? So you shouldn't assume that somebody's going to come and cling and gather people into the ballroom. If it's not in the BEO, that's, you know, not going to happen, right? So, and I think a lot of people are very intimidated by those, but you shouldn't be. So really, as I understand it, that contract is going to be handled with, let's say, the resort or properties sales team. But the BEO is actually going to be managed or used by that catering manager, which is our two different people, right? Yeah. Such a good point. Such a good point. I mean, two different people with different responsibilities. And if it's not on the BEO, my experience has been there's a significant upcharge. Yes. Because everybody kind of has to scramble, right? So get it on that banquet event order. You make such a great point as you think through the process of it, right? Because you may be thinking about it. Then you realize when you get to the BEO, like it wasn't on there. And then suddenly like, oh, and then it becomes like a chaching, chaching, chaching. It's, it's horrific. And I think little things that you might think are important become really a heavy lift for that catering team. So for example, the difference between having an outside four-year area where you're going to be doing like a silent auction or a pre-meat and greet or whatever. And the last minute you decide, oh my gosh, we need linens on those tables or something like that. Something that might seem innocuous becomes a big deal and a big cost. Or even lighting. Even lighting for the outside area. If you don't have lighting, you know, people can't see what they're bidding on. I'll give you an example of one thing that we did in a company that I once worked with. We had heard some, we'd had a lot of people come in a very short amount of time, right? So we're trying to get them through the registration process. So we work with the hotel to develop Butler service. And they went out with trays of cocktails and wine. And so people were like, oh, like, this is really wonderful. I feel this feels very VIP. And we were able to just really go out and we would chitchat with them and say, thank you. And so it really started their experience in a really great way. But again, that was in the BEO. Right. Because if you went to that catering manager, who catering managers are the saints of the earth in so many ways. They're unflappable. They deal with bizarre things that come up. I mean, they have to get good food out on the table in a snap, you know, wine and coffee. They have crazy things they have to do. And so they tend to be very flexible, but you're going to pay for it. So Reina, have we scared you? Reina's going to be like, okay, I don't want to do this. Oh my gosh. Well, good luck, Reina. Let us know how it goes. And, you know, we are going to start to see more things coming up and more live event event items. And so, yay team for you on that. Oh, name withheld from St. Louis, Missouri. Now you know, I love the name withheld questions. They're always a little bit of a scandal. Okay, what is the average tenure of an elected board member? We're thinking about updating our bylaws and need to tighten this up a bit. Admittedly, we have some older board members that need to move on. And we think this might be the way to do this. It's so funny. I have to say in all my years of doing this work, I've never seen anyone come forward and ask me a question about these types of things, Jerry, that they weren't in duress. Yeah. That they were like trying to figure out how to get rid of somebody. When everything's working great, they're like, what bylaws? We love it. Well, and this is a very tricky situation, right? You have to handle this delicately. So I don't blame the person from St. Louis, Missouri, not giving their name. So in short, bylaws are the rules that govern the nonprofit, right? So they determine the scope of your mission. They just say how many board members, we had an earlier question about quorum. It lists quorum in the bylaws, which you mentioned. But in those bylaws is also who can serve on your board, right? Sometimes it's like 50% have to be from the who you serve or geography. So every situation is completely unique. And I've seen in my experience what typically I've seen for membership is typically a three year. You serve for three years with the option of another three years for a total of six. And then you rotate off. But there are some older bylaws that don't have that, right? So this gives you an opportunity to really take a look at this. So if you're looking for a starting point, here's what I would recommend. Do a board analysis. Figure out who's on your board and does it align with your mission, right? Because sometimes the board members you need when you are on a startup or in a growth are different than when you need, when you're mature, when you're a mature organization or even in decline, you have to come to turn back to turn around, right? So being able to do an assessment of your board and then have that very substantive conversation and say, we're going to make some changes. We're going to bring some new board members on and then and give people that grace to say, you know what, this was a really wonderful experience. But maybe it's time for me to move on. Maybe you can create an emeritus board, right? Or an advisory board. So there are ways to still keep these people involved, make sure their work is meaningful, but really have the opportunity to make your board maybe look for more opportunities, more dynamic. I think that's true. And I'm a big believer of the emeritus board concept. Again, it's a Latin word. It means old soldier. It's where you take people and put them onto another structure. It has no fiduciary responsibility. Generally, it would just be a group that meets for once a year, maybe at a cocktail party or something like that, where you update them on what's going on. But you don't want to lose your ambassadors. You want to keep them tied to you, I think. Another thing I've seen Jerry with groups I've worked with who are thinking about making a big structure, like maybe adding a give or get, which can be filled with drama, things of that nature. It's okay to say, we're going to make this change, which you have to vote it into your bylaws, right? So it's a legit thing. But you can move it into a starting period of, say, 12 months, 18 months, 24 months, so that everybody has the opportunity to get ready and navigate into this new structure. Generally, when you do start something like this, and it's like, okay, we voted on it, and then like everybody looks around the room and they're like, oh my god, tomorrow, you know, we're out of board members or whatever. That's not a good thing to do. But yeah, I think you need to have this in good times and in bad times. Yeah. And, you know, the board members you need based on the life cycle of your nonprofit will be completely different. I love the idea of bringing in the give or get, right? Either you make that financial contribution or you go get that contribution or those services. You know, but that analysis will really help you to say, oh my goodness, there's nobody on our board that can help with the technology issues or legal issues or marketing issues. So having that ability and the final piece of advice is if this ends up being a very tricky situation, bring in outside help. Okay. Bring in a bring in a consultant, engage other people, see if there are other resources that you can reference for your decision. So it doesn't feel personal, right? So you're just like, this is and just remember this when you have these exercises, mission first. Right. Ego. What's in the best interest of the mission? Although, Julie, I would say this is the second time you reference the meaning of Latin words. Very impressive. I know. I know. What the heck? You know, I'm a geek. I'm a total geek. What can I say? Okay. So then before we go on to the next question, I'm going to ask you this question. And this is kind of like off the cuff and maybe name withheld in St. Louis is thinking this. I don't know. But when you say bring in some outside help, if you do have some board members that need to be moved on for whatever reason, I've always been of the opinion that this is the responsibility of the board chair, ultimately, and that it should be done mono a mono, you know, one on one off, off camera, as they say. And in so that there is an honesty and there's a way to say face for everybody. But what when you say bring in an outside source, would you ever recommend that for a disruptive kind of environment or a board member that maybe isn't performing? I would. Really? Yes. And I'll tell you why. But every situation is completely different, right? Every situation is completely different. So it is absolutely the response of the board chair. And what we found in our experience is that sometimes people don't want to have those conversations because they're awkward and they're and they're difficult. They're they're uncomfortable, right? People think it's going to be confrontation. And what we found is that when people finally had that conversation, it comes from a sincere and genuine place with mission first, the conversations typically are not that difficult. However, if you have a board that, you know, is not high performing, we'll we'll just say even dysfunctional and they're out there. Oh, yeah. You may need to bring in some outside help to help analyze the board, its structure, its composition, you know, a lot of people will use in the industries called the board metrics, matrix to kind of analyze who's on that board. And then from there, the consultant to the outside help can make some recommendations and say, Hey, this was an this was an outside independent party that came in and did the analysis. And this is a recommendation and now as a board, we have to decide what we're going to do with that information. And you know what, I really like that approach. I hadn't thought of it that way. But it is sometimes more powerful to say we've had an outside expert come in and this is what the recommendation is. And so yeah, team, that's great. I appreciate you sharing that that kind of gave me great question the other way. Yeah, I mean, I think that's a real question. Okay, Arthur from Brooklyn, New York, I bet it's chilly there today. Okay, not a question, more of a comment. We like your idea of doing a mission moment. Our development director is doing a funding fact the beginning of all staff meetings. She is doing a super quick chat or tip on how everyone on the staff can be a part of the fundraising team. It's going quite well. Love this love this and love this. And I'll tell you why Arthur essentially what the development director is doing is trying to create a culture of philanthropy, that everybody it's everybody's responsibility to ensure the financial wellness and healthiness of the organization. So this goes against the silos, right, like, oh, I'm in programming and you're you're you're responsible for raising money, right? Well, it's everybody's responsibility, right? So if you're in programming, and you come across a wonderful example, or people are very grateful for the services. How about you highlight them in a newsletter, or in social media. So it all kind of ties together. This is when we talk about high functioning organizations, right? So this development director clearly is thinking big and bold, right? Like, how are we all in it together? How do we help more people, right? And that when we talk about culture philanthropy, that permeates to the board, staff, volunteers, everybody, right? I love that you tied this to the notion of the culture of philanthropy, because we we hear that a lot. And who doesn't want to be engaged in the culture of philanthropy? But what does it mean? And I and saying, what is the action? I love that. I love that you actually tied that together. Because, yeah, I think it's really important, because we burn out, I mean, you're a CFRE, you know this better than anyone, but we burn out our fund development people in this sector. Oh, it's tragic. And that's because they're like demonized, or they're like celebrated. They catch the big whale, and then they're a team. And then if things aren't, you know, moving the way other people think, it's just brutal. I've always said this about development. There's nowhere to hide. It is hyper performance, right? Yeah. And frankly, it needs to be a little bit of a little bit of that, because, you know, they would say no money, no mission, right? So you have to make sure that, you know, but you're absolutely right. What's happening is there's a terrible burnout. There are people, nonprofit, you know, development people are moving from organization to organization. And some of them are frankly just leaving the industry all together. Right? So this is kind of where the culture philanthropy gets, like, we're all in it together. This is not just solely your responsibility. It's our responsibility as an organization. And do we have the right people doing the right things with the right resources to get the right results? Exactly. I love it. I love it. Well, hard to believe our time is almost up. We have one more question. This comes to us from Don in San Diego, California. Have you heard of nonprofits sending an anniversary card to donors instead of birthday cards? This would be the anniversary of when the person became a donor. Is this a good idea and worth the effort? We are looking for a new twist on donor communications. Oh, this is a good one. This really talks about the cycle of donor giving and how you identify donor and you kind of get to know them. You ask them to make an investment in the organization. And that third piece behind that is the stewardship, right? So this piece talks about that, right? Like, how do you engage people? What does it look like? How does it feel? And this also talks about the science of fundraising about donor segmentation, right? You may not be able to give everybody a birthday card, but you can certainly give some people who have made a significant investment and you can certainly do some electronic pieces for everybody else. So I think that there's some really nice things. When I was at a nonprofit once, we did not send out a holiday card because our thought was it would get lost with everybody else's. So we'd send out a New Year's card and we just added a quote. We all signed it and we just said as we look back on last year, we're so grateful for so many things, including you. And as we move forward, we're super excited about the future and how you can still be involved to make an investment, right? There is one other piece I want to talk about this because money is tight for nonprofits and you have to decide how you're going to spend your money. So look at it from the lens of is this an expense or is this an investment, right? So this would be on the investment side. You're investing in people, you're investing in the process, you know, you are making sure that the donors and the people and this also can go to vendors, by the way, and board members, right? You can go to a lot of people and just say, we are so grateful for you, but we want to, in this case, we want to recognize you on your very special day and another trip around the sun, right? So you can make it kind of fun and you can, but you can also do other things beyond this. So, and there are a whole bunch of things, including and probably, you know, the library, Julia for, for the nonprofit show that have a whole bunch of ideas like this, right? Innovation, innovation, right? Innovation. You know, I'm thinking of one of our sponsors, Sasha Lewis from Moves Management, who again, she was like you early on, we had her on and we had her on several times because we always tease her, she makes data sexy. But one of the things that, you know, I can see how this is directly tied to your CRM and how this information needs to be in there, it needs to be accurate. And I can even see kind of like a tickler situation where, and I'm dating myself now, but where when that data is entered, you could physically even do a card or, you know, sign something that was somewhat pre-printed, inexpensive to do, and then already get it ready to go so that as something, you know, as that anniversary comes, it's just in a file kind of situation and, you know, every June, all of those go out or, you know, the beginning of June or the beginning of July, everybody who's, you know, anniversaryed out, because I think this is an important thing. I think people appreciate being recognized for a year of supporting an organization. It's also a great time to remind people, depending on how you structure yourself, it's time to re-app or re-engage. And you can even, we're talking about that, I say donor segmentation, but just segmentation in general, you know, I've seen lots of great organizations that have a lot of volunteers, and they will do an annual volunteer appreciation lunch. Yeah. They will do certificates based on milestones. Oh my gosh, you know, you've been, you don't need a 500 hours, here's the certificate, and people like that, right? And that's low cost, right? And that ends up on the refrigerator or coffee talk with their friends, say, oh my gosh, that's wonderful organization, and, you know, they spread the good word, they become the ambassador and the champion for you, right? So it doesn't just have to deal with donors, although that question was specifically around donors, it can be anything, a very large organizations that have major gift officers know how to do this. So in Sasha's point, it's like, how do you honor that gift? How do you engage, you know, and, you know, the language is investment. Investment. I love it. Well, wow, it's been another great day. I always love the Ask and Answer episode. Again, I'm Julia Patrick, CEO of the American Nonprofit Academy. My co-host and sidekick, Jared Ransom, she's actually facilitating a board retreat today. So she'll be back on Monday. And we have missed her, but we've really enjoyed having Jerry Diaz with us. You have questions. You know how to get ahold of us. Here's Jerry's information. He is a wealth of knowledge, super, super active on LinkedIn. So check him out and link in with him because he's got super cool ideas. We want to remind everybody that we're partnering with the Fundraising Academy. We have another, one of our training series coming up next Tuesday. So don't miss out on that. Again, we want to thank our sponsors. Without you, we would not be here. And then we also want to mention something really cool. And that is next week, we will be launching our book club. So tune into that and you'll get to hear more about how we're doing something new for the nonprofit sector. Wow, my friend, you are a wealth of knowledge. Thank you. Thank you, Ray, for tuning in. This is such an honor. Thank you for the opportunity. Have a wonderful weekend, everybody. And be well to yourself. Absolutely. I love it. And Jerry, we end every episode and we have now for a year with our mantra. Stay well so you can do well.