 Good morning everybody and welcome to I should say maybe good afternoon. Good evening depending on where you're joining us from Welcome to another episode of the nonprofit show We're thrilled you're with us because this is Friday and one of our favorite days for many reasons But most of all it's ask-and-answer day Brought to you by our friends in our collaboration with fundraising academy at national university today Muji kawaja trainer with fundraising academy and the co-founder of the american muslim Community foundation is joining us. You're in the hot seat my friend I know it's like, oh, you know of muhi one of my top 10 most favorite episodes and we've done nearly a thousand Is the one that we did with you not too long ago about the intersection of faith and Serving a community of faith and what that looks like and if you have a chance to see it If you haven't seen it, you should go back and look at it because I just thought it was riveting and really filled with A lot of good information no matter what you do within the nonprofit sector I just thought it was really magical. So I wanted to kind of give that a plug again, i'm julia patrick CEO of the american nonprofit academy And just thrill that you're with us today And also who's with us today are our presenting sponsors. They include bloomerang american nonprofit academy nonprofit thought leader staffing boutique your part-time controller 180 management group fundraising academy at national university jmt consulting nonprofit nerd and nonprofit tech talk These are the folks that join us day in and day out And you can also find us on our new app streaming broadcasts and podcast formats We're on nearly 40 different channels. So we go with you wherever you need to go And are there to help you with like I said nearly a thousand episodes. Okay, my friend First question ready Let's do it We are rena writes from orange county california We're starting to fundraise outside our city center and actually visiting donors and funders across the nation This may seem odd, but is there a way for us to be thinking about regional differences Or cultural differences as we work with folks outside our area. That's a good question Yeah, you know, I really like this and you know I've worked as a one person development team So I did have to travel across the country and I've worked as part of a national team Where I was very much localized to a specific region But what I can tell you is like having lived in the midwest in detroit having lived in san francisco and now in tamba Definitely notice different cultural things but one of the Things that stood out to me was coming from Detroit midwestern very Business formal if you were meeting and things you may be doing at least a tie a suit jacket You know a combination, but west coast was very laid back meetings and t-shirts hoodies sweatshirts Polos you name it So I'd seen it all when it came to donor meetings, but you know holding a standard on behalf of the organization You know, maybe a branded shirt If it was a polo or obviously if you're out volunteering a t-shirt being comfortable things like that So just being mindful of the setting in which you're meeting your donor Uh, and I think that a lot of the things will stay true. You want to ask them open-ended questions You want to get them talking but in terms of how you engage with them there may be differences By the region and if you are going to be traveling out to different areas and you don't have a local board member there Or a team member there It might be Interesting how you experience those things, but I would say If you do have colleagues in that area just kind of get a sense of you know What is a typical professional meeting like? Right. I think that's super smart. I I hadn't thought of that and rena. I hope that's really good advice for you You know, I was thinking as I looking at this question You know, I live in the west in the desert west southwest and so we take our meetings generally early in the morning Because it's so damn hot in the afternoon. Right. I mean our cars are hot You know, it's hot to walk across the parking lot, right for a big part of the day And so, um, it's interesting. We you'll see a lot of donor Breakfasts where people go to breakfast and not Not lunch or dinner or happy hour because it is the heat of the day Once you get past three the other thing I was thinking about in in my community We have a very very large LDS Mormon population and so we don't say oftentimes. Let's grab coffee You know, um, because that's not a part of of their culture. And so We'll say, you know, well, let's get a nice tea which is still, you know, kind of off It's still caffeinated. But do you know what I mean? It kind of changes We're not meeting it like the coffee shops as much as Is as other places. So I do think this is a good question. I really do I think it's important to know Kind of what's cooking and what's going on and Sometimes it's subtle things like you said coming from the Midwest with the tie in the suit and people are in hoodies Okay, you know, it's very interesting Rina, I hope this helps and good luck because I love that you're spreading out And spreading your wings and going somewhere else. Okay. And you know, moohi how I adore the name with health questions And of course it's like they're the best And this is not the first time we've gotten this question We get it. I think a lot of times at the year end or right when people are starting their budgeting cycles And it goes like this. Can you give me some ideas and on how I can bonus members of our development team? While I don't want to navigate the commission issue I feel there must be some areas where I can extend additional benefits In response to performance. Please give me some help I Love this, uh, you know at the red cross we had performance bonuses if we had a goal to raise $750,000 from our portfolio Did we get to 90% of that there would be a certain payout if we got to a hundred percent of that a certain payout Uh 110 or more of that a certain payout and that was also for the regional goal So was our entire region's goal? Uh 100 million dollars collectively. Did we hit that? Did we exceed it? So that's how it was built out But it was a percentage of your salary that you would receive So it's not that you're getting you know a piece of that 750,000 that was raised Just for easy math if you are salaried at a hundred thousand dollars and you had a 12 percent bonus commission You would receive a $12,000 bonus interesting so Were there any other things like? um extra days off or you know like I don't know You know like gift cards or other things that weren't like tax because this is taxable, right? I mean when you get I mean were there was there ever consideration to that or was it just strict like You knew going in mathematically. This is how the bottom line you'd be impacted Yeah, I did have a very lenient manager that would give Uh extra days off or like a work from home day just like you know, don't put it on the books But you know enjoy it. You did a great job with getting meetings this week or you were able to um Interesting push this relationship a little bit forward, you know and provide those types of things So I think it depends on manager to manager in the culture of the organization how they do those things for you Was it important? to have this spelled out and defined So that you knew as where you were going or was this like the end of the year kind of surprise Definitely on the performance bonus. It was written out. It was clear You kept track of it in monthly reports So it was clear What was expected? Uh, and it was paid out typically in q4 like early like october time frame um, so our fiscal year was a june to july and then in in october it was paid out um, so Seeing yeah, okay. Thank you for clarifying that because that was kind of like my next thing was like, well, how How is this administrated like how do we manage this and um, the magic that I heard from you is This has to all be determined up front in advance So there's no miscommunication or hard feelings disappointment, right for sure Question number two then if you left the organization, how did this how did this play out? Yeah, if you weren't an employee in that october time frame good luck you could maybe um Make a case for it and behind closed doors. They would still be paid out But you did see some team members transition after october or during the next cycle things like that Yeah, I mean it kind of makes sense and I I think that these are really you know You you start here at this point movie It seems like wanting to do the right thing wanting to incentivize somebody But then you have all these other things that you have to think about In order to administrate it. It seems like we forget those things Yeah, so having the right measurements in place agreeing on what those kpis and metrics are And you know, they didn't really focus on number of meetings in terms of receiving your bonus but it was definitely tracked and Encouraged To get those meetings and you know, I've talked to different people at other institutions Some say it's really hard to get a hundred meetings in a in a year Others say that's like the golden standard And some other organizations set their Minimum visits above that so it's really hard to determine how engaging a portfolio can be and what you base the performance bonuses on So that's a really interesting thing and before we move on, you know, you're I'm hearing you say it's not just a dollar's metric It's not just what what comes in during that time frame. It has a lot of other things Yeah, it could be tied to a lot of other things at red cross it was strictly the metric of how much it was raised which I think is A good practice if you tie in visits to it, it could get tough because Not everybody's meeting that metric and what constitutes a meeting. Is it a phone call? Is it a zoom? Is it an in-person face-to-face? Is it a response from an email that moves closer to setting up a meeting? Yeah, you know it's Could be a lot of things. Okay. Now i'm exhausted. Well, I mean Yeah, I hadn't thought of it in that I hadn't I hadn't drilled down to that level. So thank you for sharing that Okay, uh, melissa from buffalo new york interestingly enough moohi is in new york today Melissa writes. I know a melissa writes Are you seeing more people come back into the office or still working from home? We're trying to determine a work policy and it would go into effect at the start of our next fiscal year Which starts august 1st? We believe this is enough time to get everyone on board with the new mandate We've been having this question a lot in a lot of different forms And um, I think there was a lot of fear because of the labor shortage and the tight marketplace and people were afraid to You know, frankly make their their teams cranky and you know, so what do you say? Yeah, I mean talking about kpi's and metrics some corporate offices have tied their structures to coming into the office, which is really Uh at the other spectrum of things, but I think I'm a staunch believer in remote working and that flexibility Uh, like you said today, I'm in new york and next week I'm going to be in michigan and I'm not in florida and our team is based out of san diego I'm there a few times a year But I one point I was traveling the world and working like I Love the fact that remote work is a thing and I think there needs to be a stronger culture for it You know in person is definitely Benefit, but I don't think it needs to be a weekly thing I know some that you know have to be in the office four times a month And they get to choose. Do they do four days in a row? Or when those four days are I think all in-person meetings for quarterly or like a team strategy. Those things are definitely helpful um, but I don't think that a hybrid or Back fully in office is a must Um, I think that work can be done effectively remotely. We saw that through covet And even prior to that I've always been remote Since like 2018 so You know, I think that there's a lot of opportunity for remote If not hybrid work Interesting, you know, it seems to me like this when you drill down on this question Or this this sentiment It's like the older management members Don't feel like their their employees are working Bottom one It's kind of like I want to be able to walk across You know the office and see people in their chairs Whether or not they're working or what they're really producing doesn't seem to factor into this It's more just of like a how does this look and how do I feel about? My team, right? I mean, it's kind of an interesting thing to look at Yeah, you know, there's responsiveness. I you know, whether it's teams or slack or a text You know or a good old-fashioned email um getting the uh team cadence and figuring out what works for your team is very important Um, but I think in the right circumstances people can still be very productive in a remote environment If not just as much. Yeah, you know, I I I know that you and I work remotely And um, I always think you respond like immediately Superfast You know, and I know This has been throughout the trajectory of our work together You've been coming to me from places all over the world And um, yeah, so it's it's an it's an interesting thing I think it's a new time and a new way to be thinking about it But I do like I do like you that, you know, you're going to make this more official and not just Play it by ear. I mean you got to make it Understood by everybody Okay, let's go to Bruce from San Diego The home of fundraising academy at national university I keep seeing guests on the nonprofit show and social and across social media using their cf re designation next to their name Do donors ever ask what this is or is it more of an internal issue within the nonprofit sector? I ask this because I've been pushed by my development director to get this designation Okay, because you have it next to your name Yeah, I do Bruce. Uh, so You know, I think it's encouraging that your development director wants you to receive it I think there are benefits to having it Hopefully it could bring you with a salary Upgrade and if not, then there are ways in which it makes you more attractive to Find other positions because some specifically want a cf re on their team I haven't had donors outright ask me what it means But I think in my introductions to them I bring it up So Yeah, yeah, just letting them know my background, you know where I went to school what I did You know, I earned my certificate in fundraising as I am a certified fundraising executive Things like that just to show my passion for this sector for my profession. I think it Establishes credibility Interesting and I've worked as a consultant as well. So in that regard is I think it's been really helpful Well, it's fascinating that you that you um I most want to say you educate Somebody in that conversation To let them know sure because once you learn that then I would imagine as a donor You're going to be looking at that profile Like, you know a little differently some other place. So that's interesting. Yeah, that's cool. That's good Well, Bruce, you know more education is always a good thing and Like you said if you have a development director who's gonna support this and fund this Oh, yeah, I mean, you know, it's 750 bucks to take the exam So hopefully your development director and organization are helping with that if not AFP has scholarships Definitely join a study group a frequent guest on this show jack a lot of my mentor Is hosting study groups all the time So you can have the tools to be equipped to be successful and earn your CFRE Awesome, great advice. Well, Bruce, I hope that helps and I hope that You come back on the nonprofit show in some form or fashion with that designation. That would be cool Okay, here's a really interesting question Never I don't ever remember it coming in But I think it's going to start to come in more because of what's going on in higher education Comes to us from Sheila from Chicago and it she writes. I will be a college freshman next fall 2024 My question is this should I enter a nonprofit management program or be a business major? Both programs are in different colleges and while I want to work in the nonprofit space I don't want to limit my options. I will be picking out courses soon I need to make a decision Wow Didn't exist when I was in school Yeah, it's really cool. She's being very forward thinking And I would say that Um, you know, I was fortunate enough to have an internship in my undergrad That was a development summer internship program at the university of michigan focused on fundraising as a career um, and That led me into choosing a master's in public administration With the focus in nonprofit management Um So I think that that's helped me in my career Especially the courses around organizational behavior around accounting and finance and management strategic planning Some of those you might find in a business major, uh, but they're going to be in a different context for sure Which one makes you more versatile? That's a tough question Because if you do want to be in the nonprofit space, I think you'll have value with both degrees But maybe if you are thinking about a master's program, you could do your undergrad In one and do a master's in another and that gives you that flexibility I love I love that idea because it would help you this is the thing that just freaks me out about Making a decision When you're still a child in high school that's going to impact the trajectory of your work life, right? I mean and the people you meet and who you hang out with and how your brain is still developing and and yeah, so I like that approach to Learning, you know a broader spectrum and then taking that That second play or second process of a master's program and leaning into something that's more defined and narrowed You know, I think the thing she let what's an exciting time is that there are places around the country That are putting forth this type of education I mean, it's really cool. It's really, I mean, amazingly Movie that we could even have this conversation and even think about this, right? Because it didn't exist. Yeah, really cool. Well, I hope that this Helps and and I hope it helps for others people for other folks that are looking at this Um, moohi before I let you go. I want to brag a little bit moohi was quoted in uh, Chronicle of Philanthropy about dafts and your relationship with this This process and this this avenue of fundraising My question to you is this which is a little different, but it goes like this What happened once You were quoted in in in this publication like what went on around you and can you kind of respond to that? Yeah, you know, I think with visibility in a publication like that, you know, certain peers reached out think you know said congratulated me um, and Beyond that, you know, I think more importantly It gave me a boost of confidence it gave me a sense of ownership in this space to be a respected peer to also Know that the work i'm doing is making a difference And whatever challenges and doubts and imposter syndrome that i'm dealing with at different times in my career To know that uh, I too am somebody of value and importance and in the space And it's just good to see that small acknowledgement Go a long way. Um, so it's kind of given me renewed energy in this space That is awesome. Okay. That's not at all what I thought you would say it's better I love that. I really do. I think it's cool. I mean I was a publisher for 30 years and you know, I I did this work and um, you know, some a lot of times you never heard back from the people that you covered or quoted and so To hear that for me personally is just super cool. But um, I gotta tell you our executive producer Kevin pace ran into my office Holding this edition and was like, oh my god We'll be soon here. I mean So just in terms of us We were super excited for you, right? I mean because Oh, thank you. We didn't expect it. Um It was like you promoted yourself out and said read about me here or there I mean, it was like a genuine Reading and coming upon it. And so it was really cool. I'm really proud of you to you know Be included in such a thought leadership publication As always moohi koaja, you're a rock star. We love having you on Um, you're kind of like my where in the world is Carmen San Diego. I am dating myself when I say that I played the game on floppy disc. So it's you know Oh my god, that's great. Well, it's really cool today coming to us from new york one of the trainers at fundraising academy But more I think more interesting and the things that he brings to the table as a trainer Is that he's the co-founder of the american muslim community foundation and you know about community foundations across this world They've really been a foundational part to american growth and american philanthropic growth And so to learn more about His work within this very select group of people of faith is I think absolutely fascinating You can find out more about fundraising academy at fundraising dash academy dot org Um, you can meet the other trainers. They have learned about their projects And all of the different things that are going on in their world Again come out to cultivate may 2nd and 3rd in san diego Okay, we're gonna start talking about that more next month, but give us a quick preview Yeah, no, it's just gonna be an awesome opportunity. It's the second you're doing it in person in san diego So if you are looking for a professional development opportunity and want to come to one of the most beautiful places in the country Check it out And it's sold out last year Yeah, already halfway sold out already. So tickets are going It's gonna sell out quickly. Um, and it's it's just really powerful. Um, we'll be we'll be broadcasting from there So, yeah, we'll we'll see you there Again, our presenting sponsors are amazing and they join with us in nearly now a thousand shows Bloomerang American non-profit academy non-profit thought leader staffing boutique your part-time controller 180 management group, of course fundraising academy at national university JMT consulting non-profit nerd and non-profit tech talk Again, these are the folks that join us day in and day out and they really do Work with us and and row in the same direction with us. And so it's just been a pleasure Hey new he quasi. Thank you for your time and your wisdom and and the cadence with which you deliver it. I appreciate it Pleasure is mine. Thanks for that opportunity. It's a lot of fun. Hey everybody as we end every episode of the non-profit show We end with this mantra And it goes like this To stay well So you can do well. We'll see you back here next week. Thank you everyone. Thank you