 Hey there and welcome, it's another day, another episode, another week of the nonprofit show. And today we have with us Deb Nelson, partner nonprofit industry leader with Ide Bailey. And she has brought to us a conversation, especially on the heels of yesterday's Super Bowl, a win for being resourceful and the resourcefulness awards. So Deb's gonna share a lot about this awards and the opportunity for your 501C3. So stay with us. But before we pass the mic, we want to remind all of you who we are, if we've not had the chance to meet you yet. Julia Patrick, hello to you. Julia is the CEO of the American Nonprofit Academy. And I'm Jared Ransom, nonprofit nerd and CEO of the Raven Group. Truly honored to serve alongside Julia day in and day out thanks to these amazing partners that allow us these opportunities. Shout out of immense gratitude, goes to Bloomerang American Nonprofit Academy, nonprofit thought leader, fundraising academy at National University, 180 management group, your part-time controller, staffing boutique, JMT consulting, nonprofit nerd and nonprofit tech talk. Next month we will come up on our 1,000th episode and we are so grateful to have the support of our partners and all of you, our viewers and listeners around the globe. If you missed any previous episodes or you wanna go back and listen to what Deb's gonna share with us here today, scan that QR code. Thank you, Vanna White. You can download the app and get it on your phone. You can also still find us on the streaming broadcast and podcast platform. So wherever you like to consume your entertainment, you can queue up the nonprofit show. So Deb, we are so thrilled to have you with us today especially after like the morning after the Super Bowl, we just spent our green room chatter talking about the Super Bowl. But for those of you that have met Deb, she is a partner at I-Bailey, pardon me, and also serves as the nonprofit industry leader at I-Bailey. Welcome back Deb, we're really glad to have you. Thank you so much. Like I was saying earlier, it's like just having a nice chat with friends today. Thanks for having me. Yeah. You know, talk to us about I-Bailey and what you do. I mean, we know you for your nonprofit work, especially in our community that it's so strong and vibrant. But talk to us about what you do and how your organization really impacts American business for profit and nonprofit. Well, I-Bailey is a public accounting firm. We're in the top 25 CPA firms in the nation. And we have a very specific practice dedicated to serving nonprofit organizations. So we serve more than 3,400 nonprofits nationwide. And it's more than just what you think of with a CPA firm. Yes, we do audits. Yes, we do taxes for nonprofits, but there's so much more that those organizations need to be able to, you know, do their business operations. So we can help with outsourced accounting functions, technology needs, really any business advisory service we can help nonprofits with. You know, I wanna tell you that as a young woman, it was the late Rob Leslie along with Brenda Blunt who educated me about the 990s. And one of the things that they said and it has stuck, you know, decades later was to think about the 990 as a brochure. And that if you can think about, you know, these things, they're not just a compliance issue of drudgery that, you know, these accounting things can be your friend. And it's always, I'm telling you, I have repeated that a bajillion times throughout my career. Well, nonprofits are so unique that, I mean, who else has to share their tax return publicly? So it really is a good marketing tool to tell everyone all of the good things that you're doing. Yeah, absolutely. Well, one of the ways to tell everyone all of the good things that you're doing is the Ida Bailey resourcefulness awards. And I love Julia that you called out the spelling of resourcefulness because it does have full as F-U-L-L. So talk to us Deb, what are the Ida Bailey resourcefulness awards? Like what was the origin story? How long has this been happening? What's the process of this? Because I've had the opportunity to be involved and the privilege to be involved. It is so much fun. And I look forward to seeing the applications and the awards come out every year. So take us back to the beginning, if you would, give us a little bit of a time capsule sneak peek. Sure. So we started these awards back in 2013. So we've already been doing this for 11 years going into our 12th year of offering these resourcefulness awards. And really it was thought of by our leadership of what can we be doing with our normal marketing dollars that instead of just putting an ad in some business magazine, how can we use those dollars to have an impact within the nonprofit sector itself while also highlighting Ida Bailey as a partner to the nonprofit organizations? And that was where the resourcefulness awards came from. So we decided that we were going to take that money and create an award to honor nonprofits for doing something creative to generate revenue. So we wanted to stick with kind of that financial lens coming from us as a CPA firm. And again, just recognizing and celebrating those organizations that are thinking outside of the box to generate revenue for their organizations. You know, it's amazing because I was at one of those very early resourcefulness awards where at the time you held them in different communities and I searched on a board that won and I literally screamed because it was at the time it was a $10,000 award which to our organization was huge. I mean, it was like money that just fell out of the clouds because we hadn't planned on it and it was a really, it transitioned the organization Deb to realize that we could go for awards and we could get involved in this ecosystem outside of our sector, right? Like looking, it made us look broader, I guess is maybe the thing to say. So talk about the actual award amount because it is significant. It is so when we started this you referenced doing this in certain geographic locations which we did and at that time we had a few different awards where the winner in those locations would get $10,000 and then there were some runner up or honorary awards. Just with the size and scope of I Bailey's national practice we decided to start to offer this award on a national basis. So it doesn't have to be an organization who's within I Bailey's footprint. It's nationwide, any 501c3 organization is eligible and now we're offering a single $50,000 award. So money that really can make a difference for organizations and the best part is it's unrestricted. So this is not, when you think of grants and awards we aren't saying that you have to use this in a certain manner. We just want to recognize nonprofits and they know how to use the dollars best. So it's $50,000 towards whatever they choose to use it for. That is so impactful. And it brings me back to trust-based philanthropy which we're starting to hear and see more and more of this. You shared with us how many applications were presented and I mean, there was just so much. Representation also across the nation. Talk to us about that because I was really fascinated to hear. In 2023 we had more than 430 applications and it was either 49 or 50 states. I mean, the scope and the national reach of this has just been so fun to see and it's organizations of all size. So there's again, no stipulations that you have to be of a certain size organization. If you're a new nonprofit or one that's been in existence for many years as long as you're doing something creative we invite you to apply. Well, and last year's applicants, as you said, over 400 and the judges had to narrow it down to one and that must be super hard. But tell us about the winner of 2023. So our 2023 winner was Project Chimps and they are an organization located in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Georgia. And what really stood out to the judges for this organization is again, they're thinking outside of the box. So their winning initiative was their Chimp Trails. And they have, I think it's about 230 acres in North Georgia where they are sanctuary for chimpanzees who had been formerly used for research purposes. And so they aren't a zoo-like setting. You can't just come and watch the chimps in that type of setting. And they had volunteers who had started to work on some trails and then the pandemic hit and they still really wanted to be volunteering but things had to be outside socially distanced. And so they continued to build out these trails and then decided on Earth Day of 2021 to open those publicly. And it's over four miles of trails. There's three different loops from easy to hard. And I think if you go all the way up to the peak there's an overlook when you're hiking these trails that you can actually see the chimps in their sanctuary setting. And so they won for the idea of leveraging the community that they live in. There's a lot of tourists in that area that are looking for those unique hiking trails. And so they were able to create this to not only bring awareness to their organization but also again to leverage their community and the volunteers around them. That is so inspiring. And I'm familiar with North Georgia quite familiar but to have the inspiration, the innovation and then to galvanize the community in a way during such a difficult time speaks volumes truly to I'm gonna say like really the community that was built with the community for the community but all of this really built a bigger community is what I'm sensing and feeling is there were so many people that played a role in this success. It is just, it is so inspiring for me to hear that. It is. And to think that they now are attracting supporters and donors who really just wanted to hike a unique trail not having any awareness of the chimps sanctuary right there and they're converting those individuals into ambassadors of the organization. So it's really a unique and clever idea. Yeah, the education that goes into that additional revenue model streams that goes into that. I got to meet the executive director CEO of the organization and she even mentioned that there's a rental property on site that you can go through a popular rental platform to stay there. And it was just really interesting for me to hear that because again, this isn't just local community members now it has the potential of touching so many different people along their journey and their path as they drive through. So there's just so much good that goes into this. Talk to us more Deb, the criteria and the application. So you mentioned earlier this is an award that has been I'm gonna say a very prestige award since 2013. And there's some criteria and application we have here on the slide, sustainability, creativity, impact, impression, as well as implementation. Tell us more about these pieces to help, you know determine that one $50,000 winner. Yes, and I should mention the criteria is judged by external judges. So while I Bailey offers this award we are in no way the ones making the decision. So I love that piece too. All in individuals who are really recognized for their thought leadership within the nonprofit sector to do the judging. And so when they're looking at sustainability they want to see, is this an idea that's going to continue to be able to support the organization or was this just a one-off type of initiative? And is it something that other organizations could look at and leverage as well? Just how sustainable is that idea? And the creativity I would say plays the biggest part in this criteria, you know we're really looking for something that's not just fundraising, you know not your typical Gall for Gala event really something that's unique. And I think the best winning strategies are pulling in community and awareness for the organization. An impact we're looking at it from a financial perspective. Again, I mentioned these awards we were trying to, you know help the financial sustainability of nonprofits. So we look to see what is the financial impact of this initiative. Or are you doing something that has created substantial cost savings? That's also a financial impact. And then the implementation is just how well did you execute on it? You know, there's a lot of ideas that never quite come to fruition. So it's exciting to celebrate organizations who do find something and then can bring that all the way to final execution on it. And then impression is just the judge's overall impression of the initiative. And, you know, we try to make this a non burdensome process. This isn't what you think of as a typical grant application that you're filling out. It's a very short application because again, we want organizations to not have to spend a lot of time to do this and submit their idea. Good, I love that because I think sometimes and I love that you use the word burdensome sometimes these applications get so over the top that it's a frustration because in the nonprofit sector we have to judge every action in terms of what we're not gonna do during that time. We have to give up something a lot of times in order to participate or to, you know, put forth our energy and our talents. Jared, let me put you in the hot seat a little bit because you've been a judge on this. What did it look like and talk about your experience? Yeah, I got to be involved when it was community centric. And so I was really judging and reviewing those applicants in my immediate community. So much great value. What I loved and I've been here for over 20 years is really, you know, to see and we talk about this, Julia, to see what organizations are doing that I was unaware of, right? To know that they had implemented a new program, a new project, a new revenue source, something that I just wasn't aware of. And that to me was fascinating, you know, to see. And then to have the open dialogue with the other judges, with me there was two additional judges, get to have like this open dialogue conversation, what drew your attention, what got you excited, you know, where are there maybe some more questions that we have? So I can't imagine what it's like to be a part of the review panel for all 400 plus applications and proposals, because there's just, there's so much good happening in our world, in the U.S. and to see this, you know, to that next level. And I commend you and the whole team at I-Bailey because I just want to reiterate for those watching and listening, you do not have to be an I-Bailey client. So this is open, inclusive to all 501C3s, regardless of age, is that right? So they could be a newer organization or a more seasoned, mature organization. Yes, really, I mean, the basis of the criteria for applying is you just have to have done your initiative. So it can't be a thought or an idea. We want to make sure that when you apply, you actually have done and executed on that idea so that the judges have something to evaluate. Yeah. I love that you said that. You know, the group that I was on the board that won, and you said something really interesting and it just brought this back. We won, we were an opera company and we rented sets out to organizations that were doing, you know, the operas that we had done. And it was like a really, it wasn't a completely unique thing, but it had not really been done. And we just made it a lot easier for other organizations to navigate this huge cost of putting on some of these productions. And we think about the timing. We were just coming out of the great financial collapse of 2008, 2009, right? So I mean, culture was hit hard. And I remember at the luncheon, the number of other nonprofits that came up to our group and said, do you think we could do this? For completely different, you know, they weren't performing arts companies, right? But like, oh my God, we do have things that maybe we could rent out or that we don't use. And it was a really interesting thing, Deb, because it started a conversation to Jared's point about how you can think outside the box. And that's pretty magical. And that's part of what I love the most about these awards is being able to share all of these really creative ideas out into the sector for others to think about, how can we do something like that? You know, it goes back to that phrase of mining your diamonds, like what are those assets that you have that you can really leverage to benefit your organization? So share with us how I'd Bailey does that. How do you communicate out what some of these great ideas are that maybe, you know, this organization in North Georgia creates some excitement or awareness about a group for Montana? I mean, how does this work? How are you taking this national award and really moving it across the country? So we hold a webinar every year after the winner has been announced. Typically it's in that January, February timeframe. We have that coming up on Tuesday, February 27th, and we're lucky enough to have Jared be our keynote for that. So I'm really excited. And as part of that, that's where we look through and share some trends and just start the discussion on those really creative ideas. And we're going to be hearing from the winning organization who can talk more about what really, you know, set that initiative apart and how are they able to execute on it so well and what are the benefits still that the organization has seen today? Yeah, I love it. Yeah, and we'll be diving deep into, I love that we'll have the organization there to speak to their personal experience, organizational experience from that standpoint, some best practices, because as we've heard with nearly a thousand episodes, Julia, right, how organizations have approached challenges differently now than four years ago, right? And just to see the innovation, the ideas that come about, technology, how that's advanced it, you know, all different opportunities. So really leaning into, I love mining your diamond, like really knowing what is unique to you because granted, Julia, you and I do live in a very large golf capital of the world, right? Like we have tons of golf tournaments that charities benefit from. And then there's, you know, some communities that maybe, that's not their jam, you know, that's not where they would thrive is to have a golf tournament. So there's so many different opportunities that innovation and to be resourceful with two L's is really important. Well, back to our 2022 winner. And again, such a creative organization, they did kind of an amazing race concept with vehicles and they really pulled in social media and that's how they were able to achieve really great revenue generation for their organization. So it's just fun to see all of the ideas. I love it. I love it. Well, now that you've gotten us all excited, we all wanna get involved. Let's get to the meat and potatoes of this because now we're in 2024. Walk us through what we can expect, what we should mark down on our calendar so that we can participate. So the award application is going to open up on July 11th. So obviously there's a lot of time between now and July 11th, which is great because you can start to think about what is that winning initiative that you're doing? And if you go out to our website and you can just search resourcefulness and it'll pull you right up to the landing page, you can download what that application looks like so that you can really spend some time and start to think about how you want to present that idea. I would say be as clear and concise as you can in that application. It's very short, so we're not looking for a lot of detail but you can open or you can submit those applications starting July 11th. And then we are going to close the submission period on August 9th. So it's just about a month for everyone to get their applications in during that window. So is this strictly a narrative or is there a point where the judges can meet digitally to interview or how does that process move forward? So once we have all of the applications in, then we turn those over to our judges to evaluate and we have a discussion on kind of how they ranked organizations. And really we start that discussion on whether there were any similarities and tap organizations amongst the three of them. And what's been so fun is our judges every year come with their own unique perspectives to how they apply those criteria. We don't give kind of a standard guide of this is how you should apply these. We want them to interpret it and be subjective in how they're looking at these. And then really come together as a group to determine the winner. And so there is no interaction with organizations other than submitting your application. And that's why I just stress trying to be as clear and concise and really portray the benefit of that initiative. Yeah, it's really fascinating. So February the 27th, it's a virtual webinar. So make sure you sign up now. The registration is open. It is free. It's an hour long. You'll hear from Deb myself as well as last year's winners. So you'll hear directly from her the experience, how it's impacted their organization. And I think it'll also give everyone really some new ideas to think, to think for your own organization, your own community maybe even start to think of some innovative collaborations. Julia, I loved your personal experience of organizations saying, can we do this? Like, is there something that we can offer for a revenue exchange, right? That would benefit all and really make this win-win scenario for our community. Right. Well, and I think in the case of this, a lot of times we work so hard in the nonprofit sector just to get through the day, right? And there's not a lot of time to be creative and thoughtful. And so to get with other professionals that are experiencing your same level of pain or concern or joy, and then to get some different viewpoints, it's really powerful. And Ida Bailey has always done such a beautiful job at taping pieces about these prior winners and really communicating firsthand what they've done. So it's a great, great opportunity. I think to get some new ideas. And I think, dare I say, new inspiration, right? Because it's very uplifting and it is full of new and different ideas that don't cost a ton of money. I think that's the other thing, Deb. I wanted to bring up before we moved on. I mean, these are community-based projects. I mean, my gosh, the Chimp Rescue. I mean, those were volunteers that went out there and carved through, you know? During a difficult time, right? When everyone else wanted to stay home and bake bread, they're out there, you know, really just pickaxing and making trails. So just phenomenal. Let's pull up the Ida Bailey website. I just want to encourage everyone to check out IdaBailey.com. That's E-I-D-E-B-A-I-L-L-Y.com. Also, thank you, Deb. Deb Nelson, partner, nonprofit industry leader at Ida Bailey. Just really excited to have you to talk about this. The 27th is right around the corner, and then July will be here before we know it. So there's some big milestone dates to keep in mind. Yes, well, thank you so much for having me. I love sharing information about the award, and I'm hoping we can hit more than 500 applications this next round. Let's do it, absolutely. And then before we sign off, I just want to make note that Ida Bailey will be back for an intimate nonprofit Power Week where that entire week, all five days, will be dedicated to Ida Bailey. So Deb will be back. We're looking at a week in October, so we will hear more from Ida Bailey and the team at that time. And again, just thank you for all the great work that you do to strengthen and support our communities. Well, thank you. And likewise, I think it's so amazing that you are on the 1,000th webinar of this podcast. It's just such good information for nonprofits. So thank you. Well, thank you. You're part of that great information, you and your team. And so we've been thrilled to have you be with us from the beginning. Again, I'm Julia Patrick, CEO of the American Nonprofit Academy. Been joined today by the nonprofit nerd herself, Jared R. Ransom, CEO of the Raven Group. Again, amazing partners that we have had along this journey. And 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. Again, without these folks, we wouldn't be here having these robust discussions and really digging down into what makes the sector special and unique and really excel. So the resourcefulness awards, $50,000. I want to say I knew you when. That's a big jump, my friend. That's exciting. Yeah. It is. Thank you so much. You know, as we end every episode of the nonprofit show, we want to remind everyone to stay well. So you can do well. We'll see you back here tomorrow. Thank you, ladies.