 Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of the non-profit show. We're really excited because we have Mui Kwaja coming to us from Jordan today. He's been on this fantastical world tour, if you will, pretty much Mui since we met you. It's always been really fun to find out where you're joining us today on the Ask an Answer episode. Being in Jordan, a place of amazing antiquity and in the cradle of Muslim society. Super cool. Welcome to you, coming to us all the way from Jordan. Thank you so much. I'm honored to be here with you all. Okay. Now Mui, we know you as one of the co-founders of the American Muslim Community Foundation, which is such a fascinating thing. You're a man of Muslim faith. You've really been a leader within your community, but this is a really interesting time to be talking to you because it's Ramadan. If you could explain to us the links to Ramadan and the nonprofit sector, the social sector, I think there are a lot of things that are connected that we don't necessarily know about. And could we start that way and ask you to share with us about this? Thank you for asking such a thoughtful and personal question. Ramadan means many things to many Muslims, so I can't speak on behalf of two billion Muslims, but what I do know is that many of them enjoy increasing their acts of good in this time. They are encouraged to volunteer, to give charity more, to refrain gossip, to try to be a better person overall. So most of them have a concept. One of the pillars of Islam, including fasting, is the fact that we're thriving. So Muslims are expected to give two and a half percent of their wealth annually. And many Muslims prefer to give it because of the increased amount of goodies. No, I would say that it's highly linked to charity giving, to philanthropy and everything that we talk about. Right, you know, and I really appreciate you explaining that because I feel like the international charities and let's back up, 25 percent of the world's population is Muslim. I feel like the NGOs and the charities that have figured out that they can tie into Ramadan do really well because of this faith construct about working in support of charity or good deeds. And it's shocking to me that we're so disconnected to that. I mean, is that just more of an American thing? Do you see this more like with your travels that you've been on, that there's been more of a connectivity? There's definitely a camaraderie and connectivity with Ramadan globally. There's a kinship. But what I would say, what I've seen are organizations like UNWR, UNHCR, even doing Ramadan appeals and reaching out to their Muslim donors. So I think it's really fascinating in the opportunity that nonprofit organizations have. Similarly, as you say, happy holidays or happy holidays or happy Easter, we just have now, Merry Christmas and all of these things that should be appreciated when people like college, Ramadan, and reaching out to Muslim donors. Yeah, I think it's a really interesting thing to look at. And I feel, again, it's fascinating to me about these disconnects. Ramadan is a month long, which I think is another thing we don't realize. We think that it's maybe more truncated. And before we move on to the connection to the nonprofit sector, you educated me about you fast during the day, sunrise to sunset. Your good deed is tied to the breaking of the fast? Or is that just a constrict that goes on throughout the day during that fast? Yeah, throughout the entire day, throughout really the entire month. And the idea is, if you're doing these good habits for 30 days, you should be able to do it all year round. Super cool, super cool. Well, it's really going to be, it's great to hear from you having this journey, being in a really revered place during the sacred time for you. And so I love it that you shared with this. Mui will be back with us as part of the Fundraising Academy family. And we were talking earlier in the Green Room Chatter, he's going to be back in San Diego during the big conference that Fundraising Academy is going to be hosting in June, which we'll talk about that as well. Hey, everybody, before we get going, again, Mui, thank you. I'm always up for becoming more educated and knowledgeable about these things that impact our sector. And so I'm super excited to be talking to you about this. I'll share a little background, a little behind the scenes. Mui was just breaking as fast as we were coming on and getting ready. And he's like, I got to eat really fast and drink water. So please, please do not stop and go forth, my friend, as we're having this conversation. Again, we want to thank our friends at Bloomerang American Nonprofit Academy, your part-time controller, Nonprofit Thought Leader, Fundraising Academy at National University, Staffing Boutique, Nonprofit Thought Leader, and Nonprofit Tech Talk. These are the folks that allow us to be with you day in and day out. We also want to remind everybody that you can get to the Nonprofit Show through any of our streaming broadcast platforms. We're marching in towards 800 episodes. You can find us on podcasts, wherever you'd like to queue up your content. And then we have a super cool, if I do say so myself, new app that you can download. And our teams worked really hard on this, led by our executive producer, Kevin Pace. So we're super excited about that. Hey, this is Mui, what we were talking about. Cultivate, it's going to be on June 1st, Thursday at the Spectrum Campus, which is in beautiful San Diego. It's right on the water, isn't it, basically? I'm looking forward to being there and spending time with everyone. It's going to be a great day for professional development, whether you are in fundraising directly or have you're a board member or engaged in some sort of way in a nonprofit organization as a program manager, this is for you, if you want to be together. Good. Well, we will be broadcasting from there. So we're looking forward to meeting everyone. And really, there are so many opportunities we're lost together and learn during COVID. And so this is really going to be one of those first things that is coming up. And definitely use this QR code or go to Fundraising Academy and you'll find more and more information about this and how you can register yourself and your team. You'll be hearing more about this from us, but Cultivate is a great word anyway. So we hope you'll be there. Okay, are you ready, my friend, to get into some questions? Okay, Cindy from Boise, Idaho. I bet it's still cold there. writes in, we just had a member of our nonprofit staff submit a receipt for an expense that is from fall of last year. While I'm confident that the expense is legit, it's a problem because we closed our books. Any suggestions how to work around this and prevent it from happening again? Yeah, you know, this is a question that stumped me a little bit and I had to do a little bit more research. So and what I found was, you know, a lot of the times universities and other institutions fall into this even in smaller profits as well. But what I've seen is larger institutions have enacted reimbursement requests for over a year. So it's like a separate process. Like, especially if your books are closed, especially if your organization is going through an audit, like, you don't want to have this issue. So the separate way in which older expenses can be approved. And so look into having some sort of additional form and then having executive senior management be on approval for that. So it is you. It's highly encouraged to submit no later than three weeks. So that is my advice. And that is what I saw online as something that is a regular and to prevent it from happening again. Like, you know, it's hard to try to implement a hard rule if it's after the three weeks or something. You just got it. As long as paper is like how that be a cyclical thing that is taking care of, yeah. Yeah, I agree with you. I think it's it's all about in your accounting and finance department's policies. But I think it's incumbent upon that organization to start sending out reminders to everybody when these deadlines are coming up. Because if you're running like a fiscal year, it might not be like, oh, yeah, that's right. Our accounting phase is ending. And so I think you do need to do a little bit of education. But I would use the word prompting. So it's a little bit kinder, gentler poke to say, come on, everybody get these things done because you're right. You need to get these things moved across. And I like what you said about having a policy so that everybody knows what that might look like going forward and managing it. But yeah, to getting those things pushed through is really an important thing. Because it affects so many other reports and processes that your accounting and finance people have to do. And so yeah, keeping that going is super, super important. Cindy, I hope that helps. And I hope that helps other folks. You know, one of my favorite things is name withheld. And that means that those are juicy, spicy questions. This is coming from Houston, Texas. And I'm going to man up and say or woman up, I should say. Sometimes I take these names off. Because I think they're like a little dicey and I don't want to get anyone in trouble. So the question is super interesting. We have a board member at our last meeting suggests we open multiple bank accounts to ensure that our balances are all below FDIC thresholds. This is obvious a response to the Silicon Valley banking issue. Any suggestions on how to proceed with this? I mean, for some organizations, that threshold is about $250,000. For some organizations, that's going to be payroll. I mean, this is not going to be an easily, managed thing for large organizations. Super interesting. Yeah, definitely. You know, this is very prevalent, especially with what happened last month. I think that, you know, in the case that the government decides that they wouldn't be allowed, then yeah, you're in a tough spot. My recommendation would be if you had a specific purpose for that account, like maybe that is your restricted programmatic dollars and you can easily keep track of what its intended purpose is and the answer to that might be a reason to. I know that's what we did at American Wilson Community Foundation. Our endowment accounts are in one. Our donor advice farm is in another. We still have a sale forward. So, I would say that is one thing to do. I don't know how many other nonprofits are behind the scenes doing this type of thing. So, I'd be curious if Julia, if you would add any others implementing this as well. Well, I think it's an important conversation to have. My first thing is, you know, this is a relationship issue with your bank that you need to have this discussion. I mean, there's been a lot of discussion recently about the federal government moving that dollar, that insurable amount up. Just to be very clear, Silicon Valley and Republic Bank were, you know, those funds and accounts were all covered, but they didn't need to be covered, right? I mean, because technically the FDIC insurance is very specific. I think, Mukhi, it has to be posted on the external window or the external side of every banking or financial building. When you walk through it, it'll say what those deposits, you know, what that insurable amount is. So, I mean, this is very public, but it's extremely problematic for certain organizations. I think, no matter if you're being responsive to this issue, I think it's smart what you said about having different accounts for those specific engagement pieces and fundraising. I think that's probably just wise anyway. And so, to have those conversations with your finance committee, I would also say, Mukhi, probably, you know, your CPAs and any of those folks that you work with to get that feedback and know what the ecosystem is to see kind of what's being thought about and discussed. It's a really interesting, interesting question and something that will be following because I think changes are going to be coming. And we need to be thinking about that. Before we go on to our next question, we are, I want to make sure that everyone knows that we have Mukhi Kuwaja coming to us today from Jordan. Super cool. He's actually finishing up his fast for Ramadan. And so, I was like, friend, you need to eat and you need to drink because you've been observant all day and Wright is the nonprofit show came on air. He was ending his fast. And so, I was like, please, please continue to go forward. So, it might seem like, wow, this dude is eating during the show, but I want everyone to know this is why. Did I get it right? Yeah, you did. Thanks for the disclaimer. Yeah. All right. Okay. Michael from Lexington, Kentucky writes in, how would a CEO know if they need a chief of staff versus an executive assistant? It seems that these are quite different jobs, but there does not appear to be a lot of information about this in the nonprofit sector. Very interesting. I like this question a lot. You know, the C-suite is becoming more common in the nonprofit arena, whether it's a chief financial officer, development officer, operating officer. So, chief of staff supports that entire team. An executive assistant more or less supports one person. Sometimes it's shared, but a chief of staff role does so much. I think that they take on a lot of operational tasks beyond what an executive assistant normally would as well. I think that they are different jobs, as you say. But I think really look at what the job description is. What are they asking this person to do? And what is the salary range? Is it in relation to the C-suite, or is it significantly less? So, I think those are some hints that can maybe help determine whether a chief of staff title is more appropriate versus executive assistant. Right. You know, Mui, I agree with you. You know, C-suite comes from the word chief, chief suite. I mean, it's like, so yeah, chief of finance, chief of HR, chief of philanthropy or development, whatever the heck. But I'm seeing this more and more. I'm seeing this being discussed more and more. And I would recommend anyone who's looking at this structure to really go to the U.S. military. Because the U.S. military has used the chief of staff concept. Sometimes you use the word aid. And it's not a clerical position. You know, I like to think of it almost as a champion. Like they're championing almost accountability. You know, did that get done? You know, this project management. Yeah, that's the word. That's the word. That's the word. Yeah, project management. I mean, do you think that that's just kind of my gut reaction? Do you think that that's a true portrayal of that? Yeah, definitely. I think that's very fair to say. Yeah, I think it's where growing organizations need to be really looking at this. And I think for organizations that have a lot of different components, a lot of different chiefs, I think this is a really smart way to go. I really, really do. And you know, I think before we move on to this question, from this question from Michael, I got to believe that it's one heck of a training environment that somebody that's in a chief of staff role can learn so much or get engaged with so many different parts of the entire organization because they're, to your phrase, you know, project managing areas that maybe they wouldn't otherwise be involved in. I think they would be well positioned to become a chief operating officer or something similar to that. So I think they're very versatile at very critical pieces of the team. Yeah, I agree with you. I agree with you. Well, Michael, I hope that helps you to figure out the direction that you want to go because it's really an important thing to be looking at as any organization grows. Okay, another name withheld from Denver, Colorado. I'm in development and recently gave my notice as my husband has a job transfer to another city. I'm in the fortunate position of giving a three month notice. At this point, I'm concerned that our CEO has not begun to post the job. I feel that I will need to train up my replacement. Wow. You know, this is a sticky one because you want to leave on good terms. You want to make sure that the incoming person is successful. You know, it may be worth having a conversation with the CEO to see when they hope to post. I think that's the best thing is always open and honest communication. But at the end of the day, it's not your responsibility to train them if they're not going to post it while you're there. So don't feel guilty. You know, always do your job to the best of your ability. And if you're having roadblocks, you have roadblocks, then you can't put yourself down for that. So I would say that three months is plenty of notice. Yeah, I agree. Usually unheard of. So, you know, I think that you are somebody who is responsible. You care about the mission clearly. And if they are not looking to replace them in a timely manner, that is their loss. Yeah, you know, I love the approach and the attitude that you took. I especially like the idea that you said in terms of communication to say, I'm willing to train. I'm willing to, you know, not just leave, but to help stew it in the next person. And I think that's to your point. I mean, that's the value of having, you know, an ethical tie to your profession and what you think is right and to supporting the organization. So, yeah, I like that you said it that way. I think that's a really, I think that's the right thing to do. And again, as we've been spending time with MUI, for those of you that might have jumped on a little late, MUI is coming to us from Jordan, which of course I think is like spectacular and fabulous. And he's just ending his fast for Ramadan. And so I was like, dude, you need to keep eating because it happens from sunrise to sunset, no liquid, no water. And then, you know, you need to guard your loins for the next day. Ramadan lasts for how many days? Remind us? 29 to 30. 29 to 30. Follows the lunar calendar. Again, for those of us as we were kicking this another episode of Ask and Answer Off, there is a tie to philanthropy. There is a tie to good deeds. And I would love to end this episode with you reminding us what that looks like. Yeah, definitely. Muslims are encouraged to increase their good deeds and habits in the month of Ramadan so that they can become best practices free throughout the entire year. The opportunity for zakat and adhaka is highly looked up on in Ramadan. Many Muslims choose to distribute their charitable giving in this time. So, you know, I know what we do at American Muslim Community Foundation is help families distribute. There was, like, I think some of them, which we've been able to over the last few years, give over $10 million away since 2017. We are really encouraged to support all causes, and there's research out there that shows that Muslims are willing to support causes outside of the Muslim community just as life causes within the Muslim community. So don't be afraid to create Ramadan giving strategies if you have some time. You know, I'm going to call you out on this because I would like to at some point just do an episode just about this. You know, you brought to our attention at the beginning of the show. 25% of the global population, you know, follows the Islamic faith. And yet we don't know enough about this call to support philanthropy and good deeds during this sacred time. And how nonprofits can look at this as maybe an opportunity to engage with this donor profile more or create some new engagement pieces. I think it'd be really cool to do a show, just an episode just about that, so that we could understand more how it works and how we can have a stronger relationship with our donors who might be Muslim. Because I think that, you know, in so many parts of the world, we don't tie those things together. And that's really a missed opportunity. Yeah. We'll say you do have some Muslim listeners because I did have somebody reach out to me saying, hey, I heard you on the nonprofit show. That's awesome. Well, I think it's a really cool thing. And I love that we, you know, we have your voice being the co-founder of the American Muslim Community Foundation. I think it's such an interesting, interesting connectivity and leadership voice. Again, like I said, that we don't really get to hear enough about. And so really, really a fun opportunity for me. I love all things in the study of faith and philosophy. So this is like, this has been a great day for me. I so appreciate it. I really, really do. A few quick things. Yes. 30 percent of American Muslims are Black. And traditional philanthropy, mainstream philanthropy, does not give to Muslim or Black or minority causes as much as the population is in the United States. So there's a big opportunity to chat about philanthropy. We'd love to come back on to talk about this as well. Thank you. I think that would be a really great conversation to have. I would love that because I feel like, you know, we kind of moan and groan about always doing the same thing and seeing the same thing. And a lot of that's just based on education because we don't, you know, we're not thinking in these, in different ways, I guess, is maybe the better way to say it. So yeah, I would love to have that conversation. So we'll get on that, my friend. Hey, Muikwaja coming to us from Jordan in the Middle East, where he's also observing Ramadan and representing Fundraising Academy coming to us as we start our day in the Western United States in the morning. He's ending his day in the Middle East in the evening. And we are so delighted that he would take this time and join us from such a faraway place. Just as we're delighted with the sponsorships of our friends at Bloomerang American Nonprofit Academy, your part-time controller, Nonprofit Thought Leader, Fundraising Academy at National University, Staffing Boutique, the Nonprofit Nerd and Nonprofit Tech Talk. These are the people that support us day in and day out. All right, my friend, I'm going to let you go so that you can end fast. Thank you so much. All right, as we like to remind everyone in every episode to stay well so you can do well. Thank you, Muikwaja.