 And I am super thrilled to have this conversation to be with you. Again, I'm Julia Patrick, Jared Ransom, the non-profit nerd CEO of the Raven Group. We want to thank all of our amazing sponsors, Blumerang, American Non-Profit Academy, your part-time controller, Bee Generous, Fundraising Academy at National University, Staffing Boutique, Non-Profit Thought Leader, and the Non-Profit Nerd. If you have missed any of our 700-plus episodes, find us on Roku, YouTube, Vimeo, or Amazon Fire TV. You can even speak into your smartphone and say, Non-Profit Show, and we will pop up. It's pretty cool. You can also queue us up where you like to consume your podcast content. So we are in a myriad of platforms there. So let us join you as you're vacuuming your car, walking the dog, yeah, anything, whatever, trip, all the good stuff. All the good stuff. Okay, my friend, new year goal number one, crafting and managing a strategic plan. What say ye? Well, you know, this is an interesting one. So yeah, we have five that we're going to share today and there's probably so many more, but just to be palatable in our 30 minutes, right? Because it goes by super fast. Really creating this strategic plan is so, you know, it's so critical. This is absolutely a service line that I do. I know you know that and I'm not sure about the viewers and listeners. So I've spent many of days working on crafting and managing strategic plans for clients around the globe. And what I like to do really is like a five year plan or a three year plan, but I have to be honest, Julia, and this is where I think a lot of consultants miss the mark or a lot of organizations miss the mark is they also do not include a 12 month tactical plan. So we have like a five year, we have a three year, but what the heck are we going to do in the next 12 months to get there? So that's a big take away from the sessions that I offer is really that 12 months tactical that goes alongside to adhere to the long term three to five year goal. And you know, this, I believe we should all be doing this annually, even if you have a five year plan, you still go back and you do it every single year with your board and leadership team. And so it gives you, you know, it just says, Hey, here's our focus. This is what we're focused on. This is what we're committed to doing. So when things come in the peripheral, you can kind of like block them away and say like, no, that's not part of it. I mean, you can see it, right? It's like, you're all these different angles, whether it's a board member or a volunteer or community leader, you're just like, nope, nope, you're just kind of blocking them by saying, this is our plan. We have intentionally and mindfully created the strategic plan for our future. And we have to stick to that. I agree with you. You know, we do a monthly e-newsletter to those people that are part of, you know, the American Nonprofit Academy. We send out almost 60,000. And I always write a little intro letter and I wrote this year, if wishes were fishes, we'd all have a fry, something I was raised with that little saying. And I think too many people, it's easy to make a goal, but they don't do the strategic plan aspect of how do you get to the goal. Sure, the goal might sound great, but if you don't set yourself up for the path and the strategic way that you are going to get there, you're going to have nothing but frustration. And I think that's why a lot of non-profit boards and board members are like, oh, kill me now, the strategic plan. I hate this. Because they never realize it and they don't measure it moving forward. You know, moving across every board meeting through your board portal, all of these different things, leadership, understanding what is that path that we're going to, you know, be taking so that we can achieve these goals. Because undoubtedly to your point, things are coming at you and you've got to absolutely. And that's why I do in my strategic services. It's actually a four-part opportunity. So it's an annual partnership. It's not a one and done. So it really keeps that laser focus through the year. It holds accountability. It provides refocus. And I will guarantee you, my clients have the last three years that have done this annual partnership. I mean, one client, as you know, Julia, in the last 24 months, they've grown from one million to eight million. And they've really just focused on their plan. And they've held accountable to each other, meeting quarterly, meeting with the executive team, meeting with the board. So you're right. I mean, it can't just be a check mark, one and done, where that's it. We've now we're done, you know. No, you've got to know the path. You've got to know the path to it. Well, let's talk about defining a goal for your New Year's number two. This is one of my hot buttons, defining board expectations. You know, Jarrett, I believe in my core that board members want to do right and they want to do well. They just don't know what that is oftentimes. We in the nonprofit sector don't define this. We are are setting everybody up for failure and disappointment. Setting those board expectations up front, huge. And they change, they morph, they need to be addressed. It's not easy because it involves sometimes some confrontation. Do you remember, Julia? We had a guest on and they stated that it takes each board member about 18 months before they truly feel comfortable in their position to speak up at a board meeting. And so if you think if you have a board of, let's say, 21 people and it takes each of them, depending on when they roll on and roll off, 18 months and let's say their term limit is three years. We've lost so much time from that board member, right? So defining those board expectations, I like to say, do it annually. You're I just witnessed this and I told the board member of the board chair. Actually, I was like, you are a rock star board chair because they mentioned that they're going to meet one on one with every single board member in the new year to reengage their commitment, you know, reconfirm, I should say their commitment, you know, really tap into those expectations. This is also the time that you want your board members to sign those documents like a conflict of interest, you know, all of those documents that keep you in compliance with your bylaws. Now is the time to do that. If you have a give or get policy, which I hope that you do. You better get that. Yeah, confidentiality agreement, right? Like now is the time to get these signed. And if you do, I do think the board chair should meet one on one with every single board member and, you know, reengage and recommit these board members for their next year. Absolutely. And, you know, I have always believed that that process and I'm always championed that process. And I think it was this last year that we had a guest on who said, yeah, but guess what, do this in December. Yes, so that you're rolled up for the January. And I was like, oh, my God, I never really I always think of it as like a January action. But no, hello, roll it back so that as you move in, you can you can honestly declare all of your policies are in compliance. You have defined all of these things and you're ready to go. You're not waiting until February, March. So I'm going to take that a step further. And I had coached this one of my executive coaching clients, Julia. So she and her board chair were going to meet with every board member. And so at their November board meeting, they sent out a piece of paper of their availability and they asked every board member to sign up then. And they're at their November meeting for, you know, these next January, January, February lunches or coffees. So I love that advance notice like, let's get ahead of this. You know that this needs to happen every year. It's not a last minute thing. It shouldn't be a last minute thing. So yeah, do it in advance of the new year. Yeah, absolutely. OK, well, we're rocking and rolling and really sharing some great things. Now we're on to New Year goal number three, creating a leadership succession plan. I would say, Jarrett Ransom, the number of a nerd is living this. So much. Yeah. So much about this. Well, the one thing I want to say here, Julia, it's not just that CEO position that I talk about in a succession plan. This also needs to happen. I believe these top five we're sharing today really rolls into the strategic planning discussion. So we're talking board members. We're talking executive level, you know, individuals, definitely that CEO. Like, where are you going in this five year, three year trajectory? And what does that succession plan look like? Because the chances of your same board members there for the five years might be slim to none, right? You might have a portion of those board members, Julia, but you may not have all of your board members throughout the entirety of that five year or three year plan. And then in addition, as we look at the changes in our workforce, we have seen this, you know, I really believe that this succession conversation needs to take place at all levels for all individuals. And then that way, it also makes it not so scary to where the CEO or the executive director feels like he, she or they are saying, hey, look, I might not be here at some point. And then the board panics, this really needs to be encompassed for a holistic approach for the organization. It really does. And I think to your point, we need to be looking at that other sweet, sweet talent. I mean, it just in terms of the sector, if you look at accounting services, that the CPA world is bleeding off talent. And that is happening with people that are retiring. You know, it's not that they're they're not liking their profession. It's just that they're literally aging out of the system and we don't have enough talent coming in. Now, we have a lot of different ways to go about that with outsourced accounting, your part time controller, one of the nation's largest nonprofit accounting firms accounting firms serving the nonprofit sector. But this is a real thing. So you can't just be looking to your point, Jared, you know, those key pieces that you think you'd fall apart with. You know, if you have a chief development officer, we know from AFP, the average tenure of a chief development officer is 18 months. Hello. I mean, how horrible is that for our sector? So we absolutely, I agree, need to be looking at this and it can be a tough conversation, but it must be had. It must be had. OK, well, we're zipping along. I mean, we're just like full of all sorts of great advice here. You know, we always have an opinion on the nonprofit show. Of course. Yeah, we have we have a lot to say about this. Well, our number four for the New Year goal for all of you watching and listening to the nonprofit show is really determining your fundraising plan as well as those goals. Now, the thing here I want to bring up, Julia, and I definitely want you to add on to this is, you know, whether you do this as an annual year or a fiscal year and some of you might that might be the same. Your calendar and your fiscal might, you know, coincide and be parallel with one another. So many of these fundraising plans and goals should be set, I believe, on a fiscal year. And you can measure them in two ways if you have a different fiscal than a calendar. You can measure your fiscal versus your calendar, right? And so many of these dashboards and including Bloomerang, one of our amazing partners, you can set the parameters on your donor database, yes, to pull your donor retention for your fiscal year, your donor retention for your calendar year. You can see that percentage year every year, you know, the comparison, but determining your fundraising plan and your goals, I have to say, like you have to go back and analyze your data. Was it a fundraising event? Was it a fundraising event? What was the cost per the event? Is it worth continuing, right? What is the goals and how do you measure success? And then again, this builds into obviously that strategic plan is this something we will continue. Do we have the capacity to continue? Do we have the audience that wants us to continue? I was going to say the interest. I know. So you see Ms. Julia, like so many of us are tired of the rubber chicken circuit. And so we're looking for different ways of engagement. We're also looking at different demographic ways of engagement, right? Like a younger audience, which really, to be honest, like they don't always want to go to a fancy gala. They want to do something a little different. So what are you seeing here? And especially your lens from the board perspective, what are you seeing for this one? You know, I think one of the biggest things is it goes back to the percent to total or the increase that you choose. And I see too many leaders say, oh, well, you know, we need to set 20 we need to increase 20 percent or 25. And it's just like those random numbers. And if you go back to Wall Street and you look at what a really significant, well achieved, you know, strongly achieved goal is in American business. It's generally between five and nine percent. And we think, oh, well, we just need to double our goal. We just need to, you know, add this. And that's really, as my mother would say, stinking, thinking, because that's really hard to do. If you look across the sector of American commerce, those are pretty big increases, right? Huge, huge, but we don't a lot of times we're just like, oh, well, we need 20 percent more money or, oh, my gosh, we need, you know, another an extra, you know, two million bucks or whatever. And these things are very easy to say. And they have no strategy. It goes back to our goal. Number one, doesn't it, Jared, to say, look, what's the strategy? OK, you want to improve by 20 percent. What do you need to do by week, by month, by average, you know, donation? I mean, what does it look like? And then also, like, what have you been trending? If you've only been trending a 3 percent increase, you know, projecting a 20 percent is probably unlikely. I have a client, Julia, they're coming up on their 25th anniversary event. But 25 years ago, the board literally said, we would be happy if 20 people showed up. And now 25 years later, it's a 300 plus person event. It's definitely an entry point as a friend raising event. There are sponsorships, there are monetary donations, but they really use that event that was created 25 years ago and took a lot of momentum to get to where they are today. Yeah, and I think you do need to look at this as a as a plan. I think a lot of times we we hit the word we hit on the word goal. And then we were like, oh, it's one and done, and we'll check in six months. And at the end of the year, we'll either have a kiss or cry moment where we've gotten to the goal or not. It's to me, Jared, the plan is the number one thing. What is the plan? How are you going to do this? What are you going to do? What are you not going to do? And how are you going to be reporting back out? Because otherwise, it's like a shame situation. Well, you didn't meet your goal. OK, well, that's a bummer. What do we do? Right? Next. Yeah. And the other thing I see, too, is consistency, right? And that is one thing you and I have done here at the show. Thanks to our amazing sponsors. Stick to the plan, work the plan, be consistent with the plan. And we're talking your fundraising and your goal plan. Like there's a reason you have that goal identified with those metrics, with those timelines, with those resources in place. You have to be consistent with it, right? You absolutely have to be consistent. That's where you see the results, consistency. I agree. And I think, you know, understanding what the plan is and following the plan and almost putting the word goal secondary because the goal is either, you know, positive or negative, yay, nay, A or B one or two. Yeah. And in versus the plan, I think that's where when you look and we have this luxury of looking at incredibly successful organizations and people across this planet dealing in the nonprofit sector. Those folks that work their plans are the ones that get things done. And I'm going to interject one more thing for the goals, because you're right. And I did an episode on this this year at some point. I can't remember the title of it, but it was absolutely about setting goals. And if you remember, Julia, I always coached three layers of goals, good, a better and a better. So there's always room for improvement. There's always a stretch goal. So, for instance, if you're fundraising goal, let's say for your returning, you know, donors, your returning constituents, let's say that's a five percent increase or a three percent increase, right? That could be your good goal, a better goal, something like, you know, five. So three percent for a good five percent for a better. And your best would be like eight percent, right? And that's really something, one, you're celebrating your win because you should absolutely reach your good goal. That is like your bare minimum and then you're better and your best. Though I'm all for celebrating, you know, we all want to we all want to kiss. We all want to have those opportunities of celebrations and those wins, the accomplishment feeling. So, yeah, I would say with this tip number four, fundraising goal and plan set three layers, a good, a better and a best. I love that. I, you know, you've taught me that and I really shifted my own personal system and, you know, as well as is our internal goals. Absolutely. I think it's a great way to do it. I also think, too, you don't want to stop. Right. You're like, oh, my gosh, it's June one. We made the goal. OK, I'm just going to kick back. Right. And I mean, I think it's human nature. It's easy to do that. OK, New Year goal number five. And for those of you watching and joining us today in the nonprofit show, you know that the two of us could be at 100 by now, but we're only going to do five for this episode. And we came up with improving employee retention strategy. We know that we are in a labor shortage and crisis, if you will, across all sectors. It's not it's it's not just the nonprofit sector. Right. It's everywhere. So let's talk about this, because this is a really interesting thing that never ever has this been discussed. Yeah, this has been a big one. Also, staffing boutique has been instrumental in providing some insight on this. So thank you to our amazing sponsor there, Katie and Dana. You know, that employer retention, first of all, it's not my main wheelhouse. So I've really been learning through many of our leaders and guest speakers that we've had on the show, Julia, what I am seeing those stay interviews, right? Instead of an exit interview, you're kind of you're not kind of you are having these regular touch points with your staff. What's working? What's not working? Where can we support you? And then I also have to call out Muhe that's with Fundraising Academy. You know, he works 100 percent remotely, many of the times international. And he's also of an age demographic that like many of our workforce in our nonprofit sector, they enjoy and it's not just a certain age demographic. Many of us have gotten used to working from home or working remotely. And, you know, I travel quite a bit as well. And so really having that autonomy when possible. Now, I realize not all of your staff can absolutely work on a remote situation. But I do think now is the time to really consider your environment, your expectations. We talked about that for the board. Now let's talk about it for staff. Where might we be flexible and how we do work the way we work now? And I think that's going to be really the biggest piece for our staff. The other thing that I see trending. So really these top three things is to require vacation time, right? We really have to empower our staff to take off. And when they're off, we need them to be off, right? Don't don't send them a barrage of emails. Don't send them a barrage of phone calls. Like take off because they need someone right now is not honoring your vacation time. Julia, I can see I can hear it in the background. You know, but it's just we we need to honor that because burnout, self care, mental health, that has got to be something that we focus on in the new year for a part of this retention strategy. Right. And we know this. We know in the nonprofit sector that we have a higher level of burnout. We have, you know, vicarious trauma. We have a lot of really tough, tough issues that we deal with that really can impact our teams. And so if we are not honoring this and understanding it, then we're going to be saddled with even more problems. I also think, too, that we need to be looking at our sector and cultivating next gen leadership and bringing people in. I mean, we still have too few higher ed opportunities to become educated in nonprofit management in this country. They're really only about five organizations or five universities that have really robust organizations. And so we need to be doing this because if we're not cultivating this next leadership and great engagement, they're going to go into other sectors, you know, and we can be tapping these these talents and helping our nonprofit sector, you know, past my lifetime and past your lifetime. We need to be doing this. I think the other thing, too, is that I think that we need to be looking at our places of work as a great place to be. You know, the destination, right? Destination employer employment. You know, the for-profit world has really gotten on board with this and it can be as simple as Taco Tuesday and every Tuesday we have tacos delivered or we have a food truck or whatever the hack. Because who doesn't love tacos? I mean, Taco Tuesday, hello, is there any is there any better day? But, you know, we haven't done that in the nonprofit sector. We have we have we've thought that was a little bit too fancy and a little bit too expensive. And it turns out it's a low cost thing to do because we know how expensive it is to replace people and talent. So I think it's these sorts of things that we need to really be looking at. Whew, there's a lot we could keep going on with, sister. Maybe we will. Maybe in the new year, we'll tell you five more and then we'll tell you five more. We'll just continue. But, you know, the American Nonprofit Academy, you've done a fantastic job, Julia, with really capturing a lot of the best practices, the trends across the country. So that is really curated into, you know, across the country. We could absolutely go on. You and I partner each and every day here for the nonprofit show. I also provide tons of free resources as well. And between the two of us, our mission, our commitment, just like it is with our amazing presenting sponsors is each and every one of you, the nonprofit community, the nonprofit leaders, each and every one of your missions. Like we are here to support you in that we're committed to another year, another 365 days here in the hot seats each and every weekday, Monday through Friday, we're going to continue that 9 30 a.m. Pacific time. So wherever you join us, we hope that you'll be here again. Absolutely. You know, it's been a lot of fun. We definitely want you to reach out. As we said, you know, Jared and I have an abiding passion for this. We live this daily, quick story. We went to lunch just the other day, which we do not get to do very often, only a couple of times a year. And we encountered a person that was phenomenally compromised and causing some upset in the area. And it was like the two of us, we could identify what was going on. We ended up talking to the management of the restaurant. You know, it was a really interesting thing. This is something that we live with. Oh, yeah. We can identify it and we see it in that was in practice. And so it was a crazy thing. But anyway, hey, you know, again, we're on this journey day in and day out with our folks, the folks that have come to us and said, this is a good idea. And we want to be a part of it. And they include Blumerang, American nonprofit Academy, your part time controller, be generous, fundraising Academy at National University, staffing boutique, nonprofit thought leader, and of course, the nonprofit nerd. Again, these are the folks that we march with day in and day out. And as I always like to remind everybody, they do not hog tie us to editorial. We we talk about what we want and what we identify as interesting or necessary, necessary and that what a gift, huh? I mean, what a gift. Yeah, trust, rapport, so lucky to have them, you know, on on our side, each and every month, every single one of our sponsors come on. Our representative comes on and shares about what's going on, what they're seeing. And and similarly, Julia, these companies have staff across the the nation. Oh, yeah. So it's amazing. It's amazing. Absolutely. Well, my friend, happy New Year, happy goal setting. And we will reconvene together in the new year. Absolutely. I'm looking forward to it. It's such an honor. And I'm excited to see what 2023 we talk a lot about that crystal ball. We'll see what that crystal ball is presenting. It's going to be fun. I know it's going to be fun, not without its challenges, but it'll be amazing as we like to end every episode. We want to remind ourselves, our viewers, our listeners, our sponsors, our guests to stay well so you can do well. We'll see you back here tomorrow. Ask and answer it, everybody.