 excited for today's episode. It's a Friday on a Thursday. Ask an answered. And we promise today that we would have a little bit of fun. Pop some bubbly. So cheers to all of you to all of us to all of our sponsors to the entire year. To be honest, mine has kombucha in it. That's my fizzy for drink. Mine has tea iced tea, which it looks stressful. I thought that it would be maybe a little bit darker and it would just be a good sell. But it's not like I said to Jared in the chat chat. What are we going to call it the green room chatter? Green room chatter. Yes. Green room chatter. I told Jared that if I had real champagne in my drink, we would lose all our sponsors like 10 minutes into the show because I don't really drink very much. All the here all of our amazing sponsors that have kept our conversation growing and growing throughout these last two years. I always like to say these companies really exist for you and your mission to help you do more good in and around and throughout your community. So please do check them out. As you move forward with your day, your weekend, we will not be broadcasting live tomorrow. So you will miss both Julia and myself tomorrow. But we have moved tomorrow's episode of course to today since many of us will be taking tomorrow off. Hopefully getting some rest because that is much needed after you know this year. But as I keep saying it is the finish line. It is in sight. We are literally right there at it. So again, cheers to all of you. We this is our bubbly. This is our our promise. We said that we would have some fun and so cheers to the new year. Cheers to all of your accomplishments and successes that I hope you are celebrating from this past 1112 months. And just as we always end the week, we have our ask and answer episode. So many of you continue to send in questions. Thank you very much for playing a part, a huge part in fact in these episodes. And we're just so very grateful to have your continued investment and interest as we all continue to navigate forward. Julia, you know, it's amazing. Yes, send us your questions. I know Jared that you and I when we're out and about people and that's pretty limited, but people do ask us questions. And that's a lot of fun. But you can get to us to our website through Twitter, you can email us. I mean, there's so many different ways linked in. So definitely, definitely want to hear from you. As we are hearing from from miles from Lexington, Kentucky today, miles writes in Have you heard of a policy that details how our employees can engage with clients? I have just learned that one of our team members had invited a client over to their home for a holiday party. We don't have an HR department, but I run the operations department. Really interesting. Yikes. Really? So I got to tell you, Miles, I speak a little bit of Spanish. In my community, there was a huge surge. Several years ago, you might remember of migrants that were coming mostly from Central America. And they were being dumped off by ice, one of the big, big shelters. And they put out an an APB for anybody that could speak Spanish. And they needed people like to work, you know, like two in the morning to like 7am type thing. So I was like, Yeah, I'll do it. And I witnessed, and they had asked for all different types of people. And they asked for medical medical help. And I witnessed a doctor, a young doctor take a woman and her child home, because the child had become horribly ill. And he's like, I need to get this child in an IV situation. And I'm afraid because they're undocumented if I take them to the hospital, they'll get put into a loop. And it was like a morality thing. And I didn't know what to do. And I would never identify the organization where this happened to the person. I think he did the right thing. But it was one of those things that I stood there and I was like, is this going to is this woman and her child going to be victimized? And I asked, I said, Does anybody know this doctor? And the team said, Yeah, he comes and he volunteers. And he's of Hispanic descent. So he can speak Spanish. And it was like one of those things that was just it haunts me because I don't know what happened to that to that woman and her child. So sorry, I had to tell that whole long story. But I feel like this is something that happens. Well, and you're right. And it's not just during the holidays, right? It could be literally during a crisis situation while your organization is providing service and programming to the community in which you serve. My clients, Julia, that I've worked with are in that human service space. So homelessness, you know, food banks, things like that, in which there's actually staff has different phone numbers, even for outreach, so that no client actually has the direct phone number or personal phone number of the staff so that there is that, I don't know, I'm going to call it a buffer, right? But there's the operation that separation. And miles, I love that you're asking this. And again, my greatest opportunity is for all of us to get ahead of any potential risk or situation that might come about. So the fact that you've brought this up as a great question. Again, you know, we jokingly state how two years ago we were talking about how to how do we get on zoom? And now we're talking about what policies exist, right, for us to interact with clients. So I would highly encourage you, I'm a huge researcher and benchmarker to see what other organizations are doing, how they have responded to this. And again, you know, Julia scenario where it was right there in the thick of service delivery, and then yours particular miles, you know, it's a more festive gathering. And you need to know the answers and how to approach this moving forward. I prefer to err on the side of caution that we don't engage with that client so to speak in a personal manner and then it stays within the organization. And to have that set up a little similarly to your story, Julia, I was in an earlier life of mine. I was a college soccer coach. And I had a couple of the girls show up at my at my house and you know, they they were having trouble at their dorm. It was the semesters, they weren't are, you know, a final review kind of exams. And they were asking if they could stay the night and I was like, no. So you really need to make sure that you have some kind of, you know, a separation in place, the policy and again, always something to fall back on, I think is really important. So miles, thank you for asking this question. Thank you for realizing that it's something that needs to be addressed. And again, to really get ahead of and to mitigate any potential risks. Yeah, I think that's your that's good advice, because, you know, we are compassionate people by virtue of serving in this sector. We are going to open our hearts and our homes and our wallets and our minds and our spirit to clients. I mean, that's what happens. But I think you are right. We need to have these policies and to get ahead of it and to research this miles. Good luck. And, and I hope that you share with us what what occurred because this is really an important thing. And I would, I would take it a step further miles, you know, it's not are we able to transport clients? Are we able to do that in our personal car? Are we able to do that with a company car? So really understanding, you know, what that looks like, because many ways, phone numbers, that's another, are we able to give our personal number? So really, this policy should encompass any and all potential risks. Good job, Jared. You are the nonprofit nerd. Okay, let's go to Nicole from Bangor, Maine. I bet it's so cold. I'm cold just hearing me. I have to have a sip of tea. This really is tea. Just in honor of that. Okay, you read this one, getting liquored up on iced tea. I want to propose the head of our marketing and communications part department be on the nonprofit show. We are honored. She has done wonders for our fundraising campaigns. And I would like to hear her share her insights. How do I go about this? Well, that's nice. That's nice. Nicole, thank you. Well, Jared, you take it away. So there, we are looking for a guest. We love, as you know, Nicole, thank you for being a viewer of our show, of our multiple episodes. We do have on the American Nonprofit Academy website, so American nonprofitacademy.com. There is a form where you can fill out to nominate yourself, nominate someone else to come on and be a guest. As we continue to build out our 2022 episodes, Nicole, we would love to hear from your, your head of marketing and communications. So, and this goes for any of you any, any other Nicole's out there that wish to submit a nomination again, either for yourself or for someone else. There's a form on the website. And again, we are really looking to diversify topics, voices, geographics, really just everything as it relates to the nonprofit sector. So our Q one is booking up quite fast. Thanks to many of our sponsors that you see here in support of the nonprofit show. And again, we'd love to hear from you, Nicole. So thank you. Thanks for asking. Yeah, and Nicole, that's great. And just to heads up, you know, there's no charge for this. So we, you know, we, we say no a lot. If we, if we think that it's not going to be a good fit. But yeah, we're looking for all types of people in across really the nation. But even globally, we've had guests on from other parts of the country. Bless our hearts. They have to come on at really weird times because we hold fast to a live show date of 9 30 a.m. Pacific time Monday through Friday. So yeah, Nicole, I hope that we get to hear from you and be nice to Jared because hint hint, she's the one that does most of the bookings. A lot. But we are getting more and more. So it's it's it's been fun to watch it grow. It is. It's really remarkable. Next week, we have a great, great group of guests. So yeah, absolutely. Okay, now you know how I love name with help. Let's see what name with help has. I want to move into a CEO position within our nonprofit. I know that our CEO will be retiring in 2022. Any suggestions for the roadmap? We have answered this question, but or and this is really, really important. I think you need to be looking at what is out there in the marketplace. And you need to be very transparent about this. Bring it up. Ask share with the management around. There's such a problem finding top leadership. We have the great resignation going on. And I think that if you go before your organization and say, Hey, I'm going to throw my hat in the ring. What do I need to do? I think that that's the best thing to do. And I would ask, you know, the the existing CEO to share his or their succession plan. What is currently in place? What have they considered? What have they thought about? I'm also going to put a plug in for fundraising Academy because a huge piece of the CEO role is fundraising. It is being person of position, power, and it really drives philanthropy for your organization. So if this is something that you're not quite savvy on, or you want to brush up on your skills, there is a 2022 Accelerate program that is starting February, maybe. And again, this I think will really be an asset and a benefit add to that CEO track. Again, continuing your education because that CEO does maintain a lot of fundraising constituency based relationships. So I would say, you know, to add on to Julia. Yes, have that conversation. Let them know you're interested. Ask them what you can do to really get ahead and in a place of potential consideration. I think that's wonderful. And then ask what if there's a current succession plan in place? If not, what you can do to help to evolve that into a more, I don't know, secure kind of an outline. And then again, maybe, you know, just get ready to all the things that you absolutely can to address your desires. We've talked a lot lately, Julia, the last couple of weeks about goals, personal and professional goals. So again, great opportunity as you move into the new year and into Q1 of 22 to address what your personal and professional goals will be. And you know, I really like that you said and we don't say this enough. I think we know it. But I don't think anyone's ever said this piece about how much the CEO does in fundraising and how big part how much of part that is. And so, you know, if you're not good to go with that, and if you just think it's going to be, you're going to be the big boss and telling everybody what to do and how high to jump. That's not what you're going to be doing. I mean, you'll be doing that some of the time. But I love, love, love that you brought up that fundraising and that the relationship to the donors. That's great. Thank you, Jordan. Absolutely. Absolutely. That Accelerate program with Hannah Berger, who's leading that. It looks like it's going to be a really great training program. We'll, we'll put a slide up at the end to remind everyone on that. Okay, Francis from Arlington, Virginia. We have a new board member who wants us to have a board liaison. Okay. This is my jam. Brink in your I'm loving this new board member, whoever they are. As the board chair, I guess it's my responsibility, responsibility to get this. However, I don't really know what this person does. Is it someone on the board or a staff person? Francis, good question. Yay team sister. I think you're a woman, maybe not. Okay. Francis, the board liaison oftentimes is the administrative assistant to the CEO because they do a lot of those types of pieces. They put a lot of those pieces together. So they are going to be the person that they attend all the board meetings. They do not have a vote. They are not a fiduciary, but they will make sure that all of the meetings are posted, that all of the requirements that you need to be taken care of. So monitoring your policies, making sure that things like your COI conflict of interest policies, your DNA, you know, NDA, I always say DNA, NDA policies, whatever policies that you might have that they're executed and they're ready to go. Hopefully you're using a digital board portal, such as like our friends, Jeff Banner, affordable. I mean, those types of things that person will take care of it. When I hear this, it makes me think that your board member that you just brought on has come to you with some board training and they've seen how really strong boards perform. So that's the good news. They might be able to help you with this, but absolutely, this is the best practice. And if you want your board to be working well for you and navigating the things that are new and different in this time since the pandemics, this is one of those things you need. In Francis, there are several episodes that we've done for the nonprofit show, as well as additional training and resources available through the American nonprofit. Find out what exactly the board liaison is responsible for and can assist you as the board chair and this incoming board member and truly all boards, all of the board members that oversee and govern this nonprofit. There are so many resources that are available to you from the American nonprofit Academy. And you're right, Julia, it really is that existing executive assistant or the person that is playing in that in that role or position with the CEO slash executive director. Those two terms are typically interchanged in our sector. So take a look to see who that person is. If they have truly been serving as this role and maybe you have not named them officially, the board, the, but chances are they have played played this role. Right. And I love that you said that, Jared, because I think that's true that, you know, for a lot of people, they'll be like, well, shoot, that's what I already do. But it is, it is a title and it helps to find things. Yeah, I like that you said that. Okay, let's move on to, do you need a sip of your fake champagne? I do. For those of you that might have joined us a little bit later, we are celebrating. We told you we would pop some bubbly, which means I have kombucha in my, in my goblet and Julia has tea. So we're celebrating our final episode of this year, but we will be back next year. We will, we will be. Okay, Irina and Zach, I love it when we get the two first asking question. Columbus, Ohio, it is apparent to us that we're going to have to extend our work from home policies in 2022. We need to have a budget item for staff to have access to funds that help them with their technology at home. Maybe everything to an office chair or desk, any suggestions, any amounts that we should budget for. You know, this is interesting. We've had guests that have been talking about this a lot more, and I would say in like the last four months, saying, look, you need to set something up. It might just be a fund that if they need a chair or they need a divider or they need a new light or they need, you know, a desk or something and so that they're not sitting at their kitchen table trying to do their work. And I think it's a really good thing. I really do. What are you seeing, Jared? You know, I've heard the same and I want to say your part-time controller did share with us a bit about what that stipend might look like. And that was something that was available for any and all employees as they continue to work remotely. So, Irina and Zach, as you move into the new year, yes, there's still that work from home component. And to be honest, I believe it's here to stay. That is now one of those negotiating opportunities for your current and future employees using that to leverage and to sweeten the pie, as we like to say, for the new hire and to attract and retain your existing staff. So, these work from home policies in 22 and beyond, I believe should include some type of a work from home stipend. You know, I would highly recommend you also take a look at your cybersecurity. If you joined us yesterday and we talked about the best of 21, cybersecurity was one of the big topics both Julie and I admitted. It set our hair on fire. And so, as you look and consider technology, you know, perhaps it's that information technology support and staff member that can also help with your remote connections. So, not just your aesthetics and, you know, perhaps your ergonomics of working from home, but also truly being in touch with that technology and software side. Right. I think that's a, I think that's a brilliant idea. And I think that should be separate from, you know, that should be a line item that is just in there for everybody because it's so important. I think the other thing is, if you have any ideas on amounts, it seems to me that Jennifer from your part-time controller, and I don't know if this is true, but I think she said somewhere she's been seeing amounts between $500 to $2,000 a year depending on the organizations. And so, really is a function of your budget. But just a work chair, as you know, is going to quickly eat up 200 to 300 bucks. And that's going to be like a lower level chair. That's right. You know, so it's expensive to get yourself situated for work from home space. Not to mention a lot of people now are going for those raised desks. Yeah. I know several people that have the, oh gosh, the not an elliptical, but you know, one of those walking desk and I don't know how I can do all of that at the same time. I would fall flat on my face. I would too. A lot of people. Of course, stability ball as well. So, you know, again, it really does depend, I think, on what is comfortable for that person. When I sit on a stability ball, again, I might very well fall off the ball. So I could do nothing but sit quietly, calmly on a chair. Well, and that speaks to the issue. You might have a list of things that work that you can say, okay, yeah, we'll fund a chair, a desk, a light, you know, whatever. And so I think that's that's kind of one of those things. You have to take a look at what you're doing. And I think also to not, we need to mention this, you know, really depends on what you're doing. So for example, if you're an organization working in Health and Human Services, and you have HIPAA policies that you need to, you know, observe, that means that you need to be conducting your business, even when you're working from home and somewhat of a secure area. You're not supposed to have an area where people can overhear what conversations you might be having with clients. It's really an interesting thing. And so, you know, I think those will be the things Jared that that leak into HIPAA and some of these things as we navigate these things. We've been in such a crunch mode and crisis that that hasn't really been addressed. But I think we'll be hearing about things like that. I think you're right in the VPN, right? Having that VPN. Yeah, exactly. So I mean, we'll be we'll be hearing more and more about this. And that was a great, great question. Hey, before we sign off, I really do want you to share more about this cause selling accelerator, because you know more about it than I do. And this comes to us from our friends from Fundraising Academy. It's a cohort. It lasts several months. So that I'm not sure, but we should definitely want to something that did catch my attention. I named dropped her Hannah Berger. She was on for Friday, Friday, asking answered, and she will be the one overseeing and truly guiding this Accelerate program. So a 2022 online meaning remote, you can do it from anywhere. Hopefully you've received a stipend to have your work from home set up. And I want to say it's about $400 as an investment. So when I recall hearing from Hannah, it's not a huge investment, but it definitely is something work considering. I also believe it's for more of a higher level advanced person, you know, looking at their cause selling model in fundraising development philanthropy at large. Perhaps you're the one looking for that CEO track and you want to again brush, you know, brush up on your fundraising. This looks to be phenomenal. And what it provides also is that cohort, as you mentioned, Julia, so many nonprofit leaders from across the nation. So much like we have learned so very much from the vast amount of thought leaders across our nation, this program also connects with, you know, professionals in the field across the nation. So it's not just, you know, your geographic community, you really are put into a national workforce. I think this is going to be great. And I love the idea that it is it has some study prep work, but then it does have time for discussion. And this is what's so powerful with all of these different things that have been changing and are continuing to change. You will have real time opportunity to discuss this with the Fundraising Academy leadership, but then with your peers. And you know, we learn, we learn the most from our peers, we learn the most. So it'll be a lot of fun. And we'll have Hannah on, I think, to talk more about this. Hey, what a great year. Thank you so much to all our viewers. I'm Julia Patrick. I've been joined today by the nonprofit nerd herself again without our amazing sponsors. We would not be here. And because of our sponsors, that's why I chose to drink iced tea from my champion flute. And I think you're drinking kombucha. Yes. Yes. It's been great. As many of you know, you're raving fans. You join us either live or recording. These are unscripted episodes. So we come on, you know, truly with an episode guide of the topic with our thought leader, with our guest across the nation. We have talked about the topics. But these are organic conversations. So these are real time live. We will continue to be live in the new year. And we will not be on tomorrow because we will be taking that time off as well as Monday. But we will be back on Tuesday, January, quattro. Yeah, and we have a rock and roll and week lined up. We have Jeff Schreifels coming on talking about it, how to identify if you're working in a toxic environment for your nonprofit and how that impacts fundraising. I think that's going to be fascinating. We have somebody coming on talking about grants for good or the grants for good organization and what the grant perspective looks like in 2022. It's changed a lot. We just have so many exciting things coming up. And so we want you to join us. And as we sign off as every day and we have pretty much from the beginning, right? Absolutely. We say this little mantra and we really mean it. Stay well so you can do well. We have a lot to do. It's going to be an exciting 2022. Thanks for joining us and being a part of our family on the nonprofit show. Thank you, Julia. Thank you, Jarrett. Happy New Year. Yeah.