 start by saying welcome and thank you to each and every one of you that have joined us on your fryer. We reserve this day for our ask and answered and extremely grateful to have the support from fundraising Academy and their cost selling education tool and model, which I actually referred to yesterday for a client of mine. So really glad to have fundraising Academy supporting our fryer ask and answered. We're also very grateful to have the support of each and every one of these companies. The logos you see in front of you on the screen, whether it's your laptop, your 64 inch television in your living room or who knows. We're so grateful to have their continued investment and support, not just here in these episodes, but truly in the sector at large because these companies are right. There are running buddies. That's what I'm going to call them because I keep talking about this marathon that we're in. So these companies are our running buddies and Julie, I'm glad to be on your team. It's kind of like a relay race. Julia Patrick, the CEO of the American nonprofit Academy. I'm Jared Ransom. You're a nonprofit nerd. I brought out the big glasses again. Wow. I know. Big glasses. I thought I was the one with the big glasses. I had to outdo you. I had a little bit of big glass envy. Oh my God, that's hilarious. Well, I need to get like medical tape on all my glasses. We do. Yeah, and really, really do. Let's get going because we got a lot of questions today that have come in and I don't know if we're going to get through all of them. You know how I love the name withhelds. They're the best. This one comes to us from Chicago, Illinois. I gotta tell you, this person kept their put their name on, but I took it off because I was being withheld so much. You know, well, because I know Chicago is a big city, but it's not that big when it comes to this question. So I want to announce my retirement and would like some guidance as to the advanced notice I should give my board with a great resignation. I am thinking that I should give more advanced notice than I had been planning. So I'd love to know name withheld what your position is. My assumption is that you're probably the CEO. They are they are and they are. Okay, that's my assumption. And you know, I'm gonna say there is no right answer. And right now with everything going on, I would say six months. I think that would be a really good time frame. I hope that you would recommend to your board to engage with a professional interim succession leader, because this professional can come in and help navigate this change in a strategic manner. So not only not only do they keep the organization going, you know, the lights on the mission achieved, but truly, they're also able to provide an assessment for your, you know, organization moving forward with a new leadership, a new culture, perhaps new current events that were taking place. So I would say the sooner to have this conversation, the better more or less six months to give them, you know, just just a knowing and then I would also approach it to say, and here's my recommendation going forward is that we do bring in a professional interim. This is what that might look like. Here's, you know, three individuals that I would recommend that you speak with. And really, I always approach boards as we want to spoon feed them and make their job as easy as possible. And this is no different. So I would really, I would approach it in this manner. So let me ask you this then, are you saying that this interim person would would actually they wouldn't start when this person leaves, they would be going now to almost help create a jobs, a job search and structure like for what it is the new CEO is going to need or the organization is going to need or what does that look like? Absolutely. And so I would really use this time to provide some of that institutional knowledge from this person leaving to provide that institutional knowledge to the interim that might be taking place. Again, I recommend a professional interim. So we're not looking at someone in your office that you will tap on the shoulder and ask them to serve in this role. We're looking for someone outside and in particular, you know, someone who's trained in and in this space. Third sector Academy, it's it's I've gone through it, they're based out of Seattle, Jeffrey Wilcox leads that organization they've been on with us many times. And this is really the the thing to do when you have someone in in that leadership position resigning or leaving, you know, for whatever, whatever reason. Okay, one more question before we go on, because I'm really interested in this. What do you feel? How do you feel about using a search firm? And I know there are some search firms that just deal with nonprofits. Would you still say this interim assessment piece would be conducted and then hand it over to the to the search firm? Or what does that look like? Not all interums provide the search phase of of the opportunity. So the interim could work in tangent with a search firm, which I think is phenomenal. And I think there's a couple of things to consider. But your first step is to, you know, take a look at your options and form your board provide to them the roadmap in which you have laid it out and to, you know, suggest. And then I would also include a search firm as an option worth considering. So really, what I hear you saying is that this CEO needs to come before their board, not just with the hey kids, I'm out of here and retiring. But with the pretty full throated, this is the process I recommend. You do. So that you're not left without leadership. Yeah, why not? I mean, it's good leadership. I mean, yeah, interesting. Well, thank you, Jared. I think that's really, really great. I have to say I've been on far too many boards where you run your meeting. And at the very end, the CEO says, Oh, and I have an additional thing I'd like to say. And then they're like out of there. And you're like, well, what? Yeah, not good. Okay, good. Cool. All right. Well, that's a barn burner to get us started for today. And I got to say, I think there are going to be more questions and discussions about this because of the great resignation. So yeah, it's a lot about to Julia and the previous episodes now, now going on three years, that a lot of senior leadership stayed during COVID. And so now they're saying enough, I'm not staying anymore, you know, the pandemic is still here. And if I keep staying, I may be here another year or two, three years. So many or many leaders are saying that's it. I can't I can't continue to do this. Yeah, I think that, you know, we just got numbers from the labor board that said November was a record month for people leaving their jobs. And I suspect that this January is going to be far more intense, only because not only, but because a lot of people for this very reason in our sector have said, look, I'll stay through the year. You know, maybe they want to get bonuses, maybe they want to burn through their their time off or their vacations or, you know, any of those those things that they have. But I think it's going to be a critical issue for our nonprofit sector. And so heads up, I think we're going to be talking about this more and more. I really do. I really, really do. Okay, let's talk about our next question. And this comes to us from Sean in Las Vegas. Since we just wrapped up a very successful holiday giving campaign, what is the appropriate time to wait before we contact our donors again? Okay. Good question. Good question. So I'm going to go back to ask, thank, report, repeat. So you're saying contact, not solicit or ask. So contact them right away and and thank them for their donation. Share the success. That's the impact. That's a report in which they helped to make during this campaign. It's never too soon to contact your donors. It's never too soon to thank them or to let them know the impact in which they helped you achieve the organization, the community achieve. So get on it, Sean. I agree. You know, and I love what you just said. And I think this is where this is the time when you're like, Hey, you know, we're like everyone else, we have our own goals, and we have our own, you know, things that we want to move forward. And this is what they are. And because of you, boy, be oh, why? Because of you, we did this last year and this year we're going to be doing this. And yeah, I like what you just said. I think that it's really an impact issue. Contacting, communicating. Jeff Tribal said some really interesting things yesterday about how we don't recognize the frustration that our own donors have when they don't know what's going on with our investments and how this impacts them and how this actually turns them away from us. And so just to communicate that, wow, we're doing some great things. And this is what you helped us achieve, or this is what you're helping us to achieve. I think that's gold. And that should really be an ongoing strategy. I think it's important for not only Sean, your your donors, but your community, your community investors, your grand tours, and your your own staff. Yeah. Now, a lot of times our teams don't really know what's going on. That because of you is so important. And it's not just about, you know, what it's not just about asking them to make a donation, it's sharing the impact. So contact, contact, contact, stay in contact. Yeah, absolutely. I love it. Okay, Sean. Great question. That was a good way for us to start out our first ask and answer for 2022. Okay, is there a minimum age for a board member? We have a great prospect, but they're only 20. And I'm wondering if their age will impact any of the fiduciary responsibilities board members have. They will be 21 at the end of 2022, which is a year away, John from Tampa. We've had this question before. And this is a really interesting thing. I don't know, Jared, about you, but my sense of it is, is that this is a big deal, depending on what sector you come from. If you are a nonprofit that has any ties to a highly regulated mission, so let's say your health and human services, you're doing things with youth, anything in health care. Yeah, they gotta be 21 because you have legal policies that each board member needs to execute. And these are not to be messed with everything from conflict of interest, which every board member has, no matter the sector, but especially if you're dealing with HIPAA laws, or you're dealing with anything that might have a non-disclosure. Yeah, sorry, I don't care how great they are. Now you can put them on the board, maybe without voting privileges to get them trained up. You might be able to put them onto a committee to again get them trained up, get them engaged. But I don't know about you, Jared. I know getting board members could be tough, but this is a sticky wicket. Well, there's great opportunity to engage them in committees. There's also a great opportunity to build an advisory council or what is also known as your young board leaders or members. And so that is really trending and has been trending now for probably about a decade. So again, great opportunity to engage these individuals. If your mission predominantly serves youth, you know, and you really want to have the presence of your community there on the board. You know, again, there's so many ways to engage these individuals. You mentioned, you know, having them on the board without a voting right. So again, take a look at your bylaws, see what exactly it lays out. And of course, your legal guidelines, because there are some limits, John, sorry to say. But there's also so many great opportunities, regardless of age. And again, what a wonderful way to give this opportunity to individuals that have not experienced it before. We've talked a lot about diversity, equity and inclusion. This is a great opportunity to bring in, you know, a diverse population and to have them experience what serving on a board might look like. And again, I just encourage you and challenge you, John, to think a little, you know, differently on how else might we be able to accommodate this? Yeah, I agree with you. And I think on the American Nonprofit Academy educational portal, we do have some free courses just about how to set up young professional boards. And I'm a big proponent of this. And I think you can get them funded, because there are a lot of corporations that really like having their up and commerce as well as their senior leadership participate in the community. They know it's great training. Absolutely. So yeah, I mean, but yeah, you got to be really careful on this fiduciary thing. I don't know about you, Jared, but this is one of those things I see far too many organizations that don't really understand this until there's a problem. And so you need to be educated and understand the seriousness of this going forward. And so yeah, good job. Okay, Shelley from Fort Worth, Texas. We have some training funds for our entire team. There's an opportunity to spend it on fund development or interpersonal communications. We have team members who would participate who are not in fund development and they would be involved. What do you think is the better investment? This is such an interesting thing. Very you know, and again, this is something that reminds me of questions that come at us where they're very siloed. You can tell by the way the question is structured. There's us and there's them. I know. Why don't you go ahead and start answering this one? You know, I believe fund development is everyone's job. I think it's from if you have a parking lot attendant to you have janitorial facility staff management programs. It's everyone's responsibility. Now, does that mean you're going to have a portfolio and you're going to work it and you're going to be involved in marketing and asking and everything? No, but you need to understand as a team what is going on here and what your your development team does and some training. I don't know. I think it could be really good. And I think interpersonal communications is a part of fund development. And you talk about this so much, Jared, the ROR, the return on relationship. How do we communicate? It's not just the as you said yesterday, gimme, gimme, gimme. It's it's it's about a bigger picture. So I say get your whole team involved and what it looks like to be involved to be a part of the fund development team. I don't know. I say ditto. That's exactly what I would say is that it is so and everyone is a part of telling the story of your mission. Everyone is part of fund development. Again, that return on relationship. So ditto. That's interesting. Well, that's good. I mean, I think that some people will be like, but I think now I think they need to be I think they need to be there. I really, really do. Okay, this comes to us from Jana and Rob and Boise, Montana. I keep hearing. No, it's not Boise, Montana. Isn't it Boise, Idaho? I don't know. I don't think this is accurate. Okay. But Jana and Rob from up there in the cold Climes. I keep hearing fund development and fund raising being used the same way. Isn't this two different things help us understand the differences? That is interesting. And again, I do not see these questions in advance. So I'm shooting from the hip, but I also remind you these hips have 20 years of development and fundraising experience, nonprofit experience. I see fund development as a bigger approach and fundraising is one piece of that fund development. And you will also start to hear if you haven't already really philanthropy intertwined with all of this and philanthropy initiatives. So for me when it comes to fund development, it is the holistic and the entirety of revenue generating stewardship, cultivation, reporting, management, all of the task and initiatives that make up fundraising and the efforts and again initiatives of fundraising. So you know, fundraising itself is bringing in the dollars to help you do your mission. But that is one small piece of the fund development strategy and plan or it should be one piece of the fund development plan and strategy grant writing, right? That is a way to fundraise, but it is an initiative within fund development. So you will hear it, Jana and Rob, whether you're in Idaho or Montana, kind of, you know, intertwined. But again, I think it really depends if you are looking at this for your organization and perhaps your strategic planning or your annual planning and you're saying, OK, what is our fund development goal versus what is our fundraising goal? You might really want to discern and define the two and how you are approaching it, you know, within within your walls. I love, love, love the way you described that. And I would say absolutely. One is more, I think of fundraising as an action and fund development is a strategy. And to your point, I mean, you just rattled off so many different pieces that all add up. And you've been you've been very good Jared about alerting us to the percent to totals that we should be following. Like what should be in grants? What should be in a fundraising event? What should be in a male campaign? You know, all these different all these different things, not one thing is going to be the end all be all. I always say you would not buy one bill board to advertise your business, right? I mean, no matter how great that billboard is, you do different things to be more strategic. And that fund development piece, I think is a much more strategic thing, because it, it allows you to have take on a bigger, more futuristic picture. And to actually, I think, Jared, look at the concept of philanthropy and relationships. And not just that quick, you know, well, let's, you know, I always put on, I always say, you know, my dad has a barn, let's put on a show. It's that concept from the old, you know, 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s movies, where there was a problem and they were going to put on a show to solve it. It doesn't work like that. I mean, we need to have much deeper conversations and strategies moving forward. So Janet and Rob, I hope this helps because it's a really good question. Wow, Jared, the day has flown by really quickly. We are going to be having on next week, Hannah Berger talking about the cause selling accelerate program, which is getting underway, getting underway. I mean, really soon, I think it's going to launch at the end of this month, maybe the beginning of next. So look forward to that because it's going to be a really interesting opportunity for those of you that are wondering about how you can navigate your organization and even yourself, even from personal development through some of these concepts. This will be a cohort. They're going to meet its educational. It's also information sharing with professionals across the country. And it's online. And so you don't have to leave your office or your home. And again, having that connection, that cohort and camaraderie throughout the nation, I think is going to be one of its best values. I do too. You know, I think that we get so ingrained in the things that we do in our own communities and hear what other people are doing is just super valuable. And you can come away with some great ideas, and you can also share some of your impressive knowledge. So I really am looking forward to having Hannah Berger talk to us about this, because she's going to be leading this group for Fundraising Academy. And I'll tie. I know I'm going to be like, sign me up. I want to do this, you know, because it'll be really, really cool, really, really cool. Hey, everybody, I'm Julia Patrick. I've been joined by the nonprofit nurse herself. Jared, this is our first fry. Yay. Ask an answered episode of 2022. I know it went by so quickly. The day went by quickly. The week went by quickly. And again, I have a feeling this year is going to go by quickly. I felt like last year went quickly, you know, just really fast. But so glad to be back. And again, I hope that all of you will tune in with us each and every weekday. And if you missed anything, thanks to our supporters and our sponsors, we have them on archive and you can find them online, many places, including your TV, wherever that might be. If you have a smart remote, and you say the nonprofit show, I will remind you that we are just this close to the technology Tesla and Lucid cars are helping us with this. So we can become hologram sitting next to you. I'm just kidding. But imagine if we were able to do that. So thank you to our supporting sponsors that keep the nonprofit show going and growing and having these amazing conversations. Julia mentioned, you know, next week, we have a phenomenal lineup and we do. And in fact, most of our Q one episodes are filled with phenomenal guests, phenomenal topics, and we will continue to bring to you the current trends and best practices as they unfold live right here. So again, thank you for joining us. Absolutely. And as we end every episode, we ask you to remember this. Stay well. So you can do well. We'll see you back here on Monday, everyone. Thanks so much.