 Welcome and thank you for being here. I'm so glad that you're joining us for another episode of the nonprofit show. Today is our dedicated Ask and Answer episode. Thank you to Fundraising Academy for being our underwriters of each and every Friday. We are so grateful to have their continued partnership and sponsorship as the exclusive sponsor, in fact, for today's day. Julia Patrick is here. She's the CEO of the American Nonprofit Academy. I'm Jarrett Ransom, honored to play alongside Julia each and every day for the nonprofit show. I'm your nonprofit nerd CEO of the Raven Group, and we are coming up on our 600 episode. Thank you so very much to our presenting sponsors. Those of you watching, you can see their logos on the screen and we encourage you to check them out. Those of you that might be tuning in and listening, I will go ahead and let you know who our sponsors are because they are big deals. So thank you so much to Bloomerang, to your part-time controller, Fundraising Academy, Nonprofit Nerd, American Nonprofit Academy, Staffing Boutique, Nonprofit Thought Leader, and the Nonprofit Atlas. So thank you so very much. These companies keep us going and growing. You can find all of our episodes on Roku, YouTube, Bimeo and Amazon Fire TV. For those of you that are podcasters, you can also stream us on your favorite podcast channels. I think we just got a notification from Buzzsprout that we've had over 100 downloads currently for our nonprofit podcast. So thank you to all of you that are downloading and listening to us wherever you might be tuning in. So we're so grateful to have you. Yeah, it's really fun. It's it's been really an interesting thing. And I want to make sure that we give a great shout out to our producer, Kevin Pace. He's on with us every day. And when those days when I'm off or Jared's off or we're doing other things, Kevin is still here. So those 600 episodes that we have, you know, produced and put through, he's he's behind that. And he's the one that's taken our files and put them into that podcast format. And it's really been an interesting thing to see because, you know, we really started and and pridefully so as a broadcast as a streaming. And so we really felt like, OK, the visual part was where we needed to be. Or at least maybe I should say I felt that I felt very strongly about that, Jared. And it's so it's been great because I know you really like to consume media through podcast formats. And correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you pretty much listen to a podcast every morning as you're working out or getting started? Every morning, in fact, it's like the first thing I turn on as I walk out the door to walk and as I am, you know, getting ready for the day. So I have a couple that I go back and forth with. And then I also just took a really long road trip and I listened to an audible book and it was the Brene Brown Atlas of the Heart. So I'm a bit I'm a really big, you know, audio consumer. Yeah, I think that's great. And, you know, we've talked a lot about the notion of self care and self motivation and encouragement and all that. And I think that's one of these things about this podcast consumption. And I really appreciate that you just shared that, because I think for you, it seems like it really serves you well as a motivational launching pad daily. Is that right? Oh, yeah, it definitely helps to set my mind for the day or the week or whatever is kind of going on. And, yeah, it's it's it's become a ritual, you know, kind of like taking that first sip of the coffee cup. It's like, oh, it just feels so good. Yeah, I know it's really it's it's an interesting thing. And I think, you know, we can have good habits and we can have bad habits. And and I think this is a really cool thing that you've been able to do. Hey, I want to chat with you briefly, because before we get into our questions and we have some great questions and we have a lot of them. But talk to me a little bit about what you did with Bloomerang yesterday, because you really did something super interesting. And I'd love to know more about it. Absolutely. Bloomerang, as you all know, is one of our exclusive our presenting sponsors, rather they've really been with us from the very beginning, March of 2020. So we owe a lot to Bloomerang for believing in us when we weren't even quite sure what we were creating. And they offer webinars, they have offered webinars and they asked me to come on and present. I gave them a couple of my key topics that I am typically asked to present on. And so the one that they hooked into and I presented yesterday to 600 people and again, it's a virtual webinar was was is finding and living in your zone of genius. And it was a an hour long webinar. And for those that were, I guess, registered will also receive the recording. I think you might actually be able to find it online, too. I'm not quite sure, but I can check that out. So, you know, really glad to give back and be of service to our partners and truly our community at large. It's a big thing that Julie, I know you do and I do. And so really just being of service to share our expertise and our personal experiences with the world. Yeah, I think that's great. You know, Bloomerang was so generous with us to have us broadcast from their booth at the conference, the global conference. And and it looks like we'll be doing some other things with them in the future. And so it's really cool that you were able to do that and really share your knowledge, because, you know, getting an hour in that type of a format is much different than just doing our daily 30 minutes. You can go a lot deeper. And so it was really cool that you were able to do that, Jared. Good job. It was very engaging. We had similar to here where, you know, the audience participation was through Q&A and then a chat box. And so there was no video component for the attendees, only for those of us that were panelists. And so it was it was really good. It was a very engaging, very engaging conversation. Awesome. Well, good deal. I'm really I think that's super cool. And I always love to see what Bloomerang is going to be talking about. And it's it's really fabulous because they're not just talking about their product and their services. It seems to me like their content is really, you know, for the betterment of the sector. And so that's it's a really wonderful thing that we get to see that. I guarantee you, finding and living in your zone of genius had nothing to do with a donor database. Right, right. And exactly. And so good for them. Good for them, you know, is really good. You're investing in the nonprofit leaders. Yeah. And we don't see that enough. It seems like, you know, so many people and you and I have talked about this offline that want to get in front of our viewers with the nonprofit show. And they want to, you know, promote or hawk their wares, which is great. And I respect that. But, you know, we we do want to find people to talk about, you know, bigger picture issues for our sector, for the betterment. So that's really cool. Well, hey, I mean, we've got a lot of questions, but I did want to start with that today. And and I'm really, again, thrilled and proud of you for doing that. And you know how I love the name withheld, city withheld. And we're going to kick off the day with that. All right. So I've been asked to interview for a direct development director position of a nonprofit that I'm familiar with. The issue is that I don't or that I know the current DD. The CEO is going to fire them and has expressed an interest in hiring me as a replacement. Any strategies on how to manage this? No wonder this is name withheld, city withheld. You know, this happens more than we probably admit are more that we talk about. And what I am seeing here is that they know the current development director, but they don't state how they know them or if they're friends, professional colleagues, right? I was just talking to a company yesterday, actually in Florida. They used to be with another company. We're talking about the AFP icon and conference in Vegas. And I use the word incestuous by saying our sector is very incestuous. And, you know, we've also talked, Julie, about how once you hit this point in your career and this point of your reputation, you no longer apply for jobs anymore. Jobs are seeking you out and you're receiving that tap on the shoulder. So I see that very much in this question that we've received. And so what I would encourage you to do, and I believe firmly in transparency and honest communication, but I would really have a self-reflective time of who is the current director of development? How might your relationship change with this person, knowing that this is a consideration? And, you know, I say consider that because what we don't see in this question is are they close? Are they, you know, are they peers? Like how are they perceived in each other's relationship? You know, we've all been in very kind of awkward situations before. The most recent one I can think of, Julia, I was actually given a contract over someone else that introduced me by way of this contract. It was very difficult. And for me, with my integrity, I knew that I had to tell the person that made this introduction. And I said, look, this is very uncomfortable for me. I have chosen to take the contract and I wanted to be the first to tell you before things got hairy. And then also, you know, just really give you that, that honest, this is how it came about. Now, the short of the long is it was a horrible contract. It ended early and I should have seen the writing on the wall. Oh my God, that's hilarious. Yeah. And of course, I called the friend back and I said, you know, hindsight's 2020. And now I know why neither of us should be working with them. Right. You know, I'm really mortified that and I don't, I'm mortified that a CEO would go forward to another professional and say, I'm interested in possibly hiring you after I fire the current person. I just think that's reprehensible. And I agree with you the tap on the shoulder. I mean, we've talked about this and we're continuing to talk about this and that the marketplace, the labor pool is shifting and there's more opportunity for the professionals in our sector undoubtedly. But it just seems to me that that is a real suspect way to do business. And my sense of this, and it really is interesting, Jared, because it dovetails exactly what you just said is you're like that contract was not a good relationship, right, for whatever reason. And I just wonder, and I don't know what you think about this, but it just seems to me that if that's the way the CEO is behaving or thinking that it's not a healthy way to approach these decisions and that's going to maybe be reflective in other ways that the organizations run. So what could happen to you if this is happening currently and you're being tapped on the shoulder, it could also happen to you down the road. So there's a lot to consider here. Yeah, I just feel really uncomfortable with that. And at the end of the day, your integrity is the only thing that you leave this planet with, I think, you know, not to be too preachy, but I think that's kind of the thing. Okay, so now we're into the next question. And again, name withheld. Okay, this is a tricky question. We love those. We run a human services nonprofit and our CEO does not want to speak out against the social conditions or causes that drive people to receive our services. This is a huge deal. Our CEO wants to remain neutral and discuss only our programming. I'm frustrated by this. I think this is a poor decision. Very interesting. I am fascinated with this because I served as a board member for the nation's largest domestic violence shelter more than a decade ago. And I was of the belief that every time there was a national issue that involved domestic violence that our organization needed to speak up and not, you know, shame or get involved in the individuals, but to eliminate what was going on. We have tons. We know lots of information. We have tons of education. We have statistics. And I always thought it was a great platform or a time to become a source expert to talk about, you know, the actual ecosystem of or ecosystem of domestic violence. And it was very controversial and the majority of our board members, they didn't think we should do that. Interesting. Yeah. I feel the same way that when something is national, local, you know, regional, that this is a great opportunity to share the mission of your organization and the solution that's provided to the community residents and those, you know, that could seek services and support. I've worked with a lot of human service organizations. In fact, that is typically, I would say 75% probably of my portfolio, maybe 60%, but the majority regardless have really been in this human service space. And I think the best way, honestly, to talk about your mission is to talk about what I just said is that solution to the community problem. And so whether it's homelessness, whether it's poverty, whether it's, you know, access to health care, I think there's a lot to position your organization. As you said, Julia, and I love this, that you're like, we are the go to, like we are the resource for this ecosystem. And so I'm curious, you know, at the core name withheld, if you can find out from your CEO why they are so hesitant in sharing this because there needs to be more. You know, I really think there needs to be a better understanding. The other thing I highly recommend, and I don't know your budget or your size of your organization, but you might want to address this with a public relations agency. How might they address this and how might they, you know, create vernacular and language to support a win-win opportunity? I think that's a great idea because it seems to me, and again, we don't know what, where they're serving, but even if they just had a fact sheet of 15 different points that every time something publicly comes up, they could send out to the media to reflect upon what the actual situation is. Because a lot of times we don't know. I mean, we're undereducated about these root causes or what's available, you know, who's impacted. I mean, I think that could be just a basic thing. Any, every organization should have that, by the way. That's right. Our quarterly, I think you said. Well, yeah, depending on what's going on, absolutely. I mean, that should be, to your point, Jared, you know, that's information that you would put in your grant applications when you're talking with donors or donor investors, funders. I mean, these are stats that we should all know and we should be using. So anyway, but very interesting. I think this is a topic that really needs to be amplified because this is a common thing. There are a lot of nonprofits that don't want to stand up and wave their hand and say, we work in this space. That's right. Kind of controversial. Very interesting. Well, name with help. I feel your pain. Okay. Oh, so this actually came to you. Oh, okay. Okay, wow. Let me get this up because this is like a really good one. Several weeks ago, Jared Ransom, the nonprofit nerd, gave a stat that was and the national average win rate of a grant proposal. I can't remember what that number was. It was uncomfortably low and I need to share this with our CEO. These questions come in for you. I know. As soon as you said that, Julia, the first thing I wanted to respond with without even seeing the question was 30%. Like I have this feeling that I know where we're going. Call it intuition. Call it mind reading skills. I'm not quite sure. 30%. So Andre, that was the national award rate and I forget when I found that data. So it might be worth looking again to see if there's updated information. Giving USA is one of my go-to research information and resources. So giving USA and it pulls from accumulative data points across the United States. And so 30% was and possibly still is that national award rate and it is uncomfortably low. And the silver lining is you can absolutely increase it. It takes some strategic planning, some strategic thought process and initiatives and tactics. But I have been able to get my workload when I was only doing grants, Julia, to 60%. 60% award rate. So that doubles the national standard from 30 to 60. And again, that's a much higher percentage. So that's an average, is that 30%? But there are ways to increase it. Yeah, I'm Andre. I'm not, it was uncomfortably low and I need to share this with our CEO. That is fabulous because I think that and I hear you say this number and I'm always like, oh, that can't be right because it just, you know, we hear about grants, grants, grants, everybody, you know, seems like they're getting them and it just seems like there's so much more out there than there really is. And so... Much more. Well, and what I also like to say because a lot of people have this misconception, Julia, that grants are the end-all be-all. Like they are that magic pill and they're not. The truth of the matter is it's very competitive out there. We talk often about the 1.8 million nonprofits in register in the United States alone, not to mention our friends around the globe. And so, you know, really looking at that, you also, the other 30% Andre that I'm going to toss in there is you never want your operating budget of your organization to be made up of grants. So more than 30%. So you want 75% of your operating budget essentially to come from individual giving. No more than 30% to come from grants. And the reason for that truly is you become solely dependent on that grant funding and it is competitive. It's becoming more and more competitive. And so you want to diversify your funds. I can tell that forever. And I'm glad that you put that in because I think when you just give that other 30% stat, it puts it in context. So it's not only just, oh, I'm going to win or I'm going to lose. It's like, no, it's not only what are you going to apply for, but what should you have as that pie? How are you dividing that pie up? And I'm going to be really forward here. I think the misconception of grants truly comes from the lack of education in the startup space. And so a lot of people have been told, oh, once you become a nonprofit, then you can get grant money. And guess what? Grant money does not have to be paid back. Well, that is not a sustainable, scalable business model. And so while you're a $100,000 organization, you might actually get a grant that's $60,000. So you're already a skew. But as you grow to $5 million, I guarantee you, Andre, and all of you out there listening to my soapbox, you do not want $5 million to be of grant funding. That is very dangerous. Yeah, it's so scary. Okay, that's cool. I think it's a characteristic trait, lack of education, and information for the smaller, more startup organization. That's where I see it and hear it the most. That's cool. Well, that's a really good... I mean, yeah, that's good information. And I appreciate you sharing that because it kind of curls my hair when I think about that. I really do. Okay, let's talk to Mitch from Ames, Iowa. He writes, We are considering a short day on Fridays where the office closes at noon. This would only be for the summer months and would end on September 1st. We have never done this and we are wondering if it will make us look like we are goofing off. Funny, Mitch. I know a lot of organizations that do this and they do not change their four-day a week schedule. So they keep it the same as it's always been. This is typically done like Memorial Day to, I don't know, maybe that's the day, September 1. And so it is that Friday off and not even just closing at noon, but Friday off. So essentially just taking that Friday as a rest recovery day. To me, I definitely do not see this as goofing off and I think it really matters as how you position this in your language, right? Like how you put this on your website. If you have brick and mortar locations, how you put a sign up on your door, that this is truly, you are committed to the individuals on the front line and you are committed to their rest and recovery and their mental health. There is nothing more highlighted right now than mental health in the world. And so I do not see this as goofing off. And I, you know, to me that really makes me sad that that even came about in my way of conversation because I really do think that we owe it to our workforce and to ourselves because we're part of that to have the ability to recharge. Burnout is serious and our suicide rates are extremely high. So do you think that it is a good idea and for the organizations that you've seen to like totally close off the entire office or do you like a 50-50 where say one Friday half the staff is off and, you know, you have it the scale to prove? Yeah, I think it depends for the agency and the community. The organizations I know they take it completely off. They're smaller. So I think it really depends on your service lines and what you offer to your community, right? You exist to provide a need in the community. And then what I have seen also is, you know, just the request of not working but please check your email. So if something does come in at least it's not a three-day weekend it can be addressed promptly. So really kind of having that check-in. But again, that is not required. It's a request. Yeah, it's interesting. You know, when I look at this, Mitch, my sense of it is and maybe this is the wrong approach but you need to look at this in terms of your employee retention. You know, because the marketplace is so tight and it's so such a challenge. And if this is one thing that you can do that helps protect your team to your point what you said about, you know, work related stress and pressure and all that. But just the actual HR issue, I think you need to really dig into this because... You know what would be interesting, Julia and to Mitch, our viewer that asked this question, you might want to take a look and assess your organization and the cadence of your organization. Where are their peak seasons? When are their lower seasons? When might you be able to consider this? An organization that I know that's doing this for the summer, they are highly engaged with the school system. And so they're taking this time off because the schools are closed during the summer. So that cadence worked in harmony. It might be Mitch that based off of, you know, your organization and your community need, the summer might not be the best time to do it. There could be another opportunity to provide this. Right. Yeah. I think that's very wise. Very, very wise. Well, you know, Jared, his time once again has flown by. I say this pretty much every day. Okay. I mean, it's always like, what happened? Thirty minutes. Cool. But anyway, again, I'm Julia Patrick, CEO of the American nonprofit. I've been Academy. I've been joined today to the great pleasure of my week by the nonprofit nerd herself, Jared Ransom. Hey, Jared, thank you so much for, for really giving us some great information this week, not only on the nonprofit show, but off the nonprofit show with Bloomerang. Of course. Happy to be of service. Well, it's been a lot of fun and thank you again so much for doing that. And we want to make sure that we thank our sponsors again without them. We would not be here having these discussions. Bloomerang, your part-time controller, the American nonprofit Academy, nonprofit nerd, fundraising Academy, staffing boutique, and nonprofit thought leader. These are the folks that allow us to come in to your homes and offices and your pets, your buds, and your car stereo, everything, and your TV, any and all things. And so we are very appreciative. Thank you. Absolutely. And hey, as we like to end every episode, and especially I think this is important on Fridays, you know, stay well so you can do well. We need to rest up and really be prepared for what hits us on Monday. And so, Jared, thank you so much. I'm speaking to you, sister. Thank you. I hope everyone has a great week including yourself, Julia. I'll see you on Monday.