 Fundraising Academy is our sponsor for Fridays, so let me start and let me welcome all of you for joining us today for a Friday episode with Fundraising Academy, ask and answer. So this is that dedicated day of the week that we collect your questions, anything that you send in to us, and we save them, we curate them, we ask some experts if we are not really, you know, knowledgeable, even though Julie and I will tell you that we'll make up something if we do, but it's always a good episode because we have seen the change of the questions over the last two, and you know everything from going to how do we allow staff to work from home to what do our events look like now at the end of this year. So we of course want to extend our gratitude to our presenting sponsors. These companies exist for your well, good and being in and out the community. We are so excited and thrilled to have their continued investment in these conversations and the sector at large. So I do encourage you to check them out because these companies are here to help your organization. Just as Julia Patrick is CEO of the American Nonprofit Academy. I'm Jared Ransom, hopefully your favorite and only nonprofit nerd and a CEO of the Raven Group. So again, Friday is dedicated to our ask and answer. If you have a question that you would like to ask, we encourage those of you that have joined us live. You can ask those live using the Q&A or the chat. It's the Q&A button. I just checked and then send some questions into us and we can make sure to put them on a future episode. Julia, this is one of our favorite days. You know, it really is because I think you said something really profound. I mean, you say something profound all the time that kind of rocks my world. But you did say something very interesting in the beginning of the show and that is the transition of questions, tenor, frantic attitude, all the things, you know, the tone. It has really changed since we started and it's almost two years of this. And I hadn't really thought of it that way. In the beginning, it was like, how do I get my employees to your point to show up on time for Zoom meetings? How do we get our employees to turn on their camera? Do you remember the number of questions we got about that? Yes. Every week. And now I see more questions about that with boards and then donor relationship strategies, you know, things of that nature. But you're right, you're very interesting to look at how these questions have changed. So I have a comment about the video opening, right? So like allowing staff to turn down the video or off or on. And it was a LinkedIn conversation. And someone replied basically saying, and I wish I had a piece of paper in front of me. Like, if you were talking in real life to someone, do you put a piece of paper in front of your face? Yeah. And I thought, what a great visual, you know, representation. Because if we were in person and let's say someone walks into my office and it's like, no, I'm not, I don't want to be seen today. Nice, nice manicure, by the way. Thank you. Yes. Yeah. You know, I would say it's, to me, it's tantamount to going in, sitting down at the conference table, and somebody turns their chair around and faces the other way. And it's like, for me, and I'm old school. So I mean, I wigged out about this from the get go. And you were like, Oh, Julia, have grace, have empathy. And I was like, Oh, show up, you know, our community needs us now more than ever. I'm sorry, you might be distressed, but we got to get to work. I think now it's also going into this mindfulness. And I have followed Miko Whitlock. Is that his last name? He's been on the mindful techie, right? He's been on two, three times. Phenomenal guy. And so I only set so many zoom calls a day so that I can show up, right? So that I can be like literally in person in a virtual world. So there's a lot around that still in conversation. No, I'm showing my age when I get all freaked out over these things. Okay, well, let me go ahead and show my age some even more with some of these questions that have come in to the ask and answer. Marcus from Fort Worth, Texas writes, Should I do it in a Texas accent? You're like, I don't think so. Marcus writes, I was, you know, born in Georgia, raised in South Carolina. I'm sorry. You can't tell it's Friday. What's his name? Marcus. Okay, right. We have a few board members who wanted to be a requirement that all new board members being voted in have some previous nonprofit board experience. This seems like it will reduce our board member pool. Hmm. Question. Question. So I forget who I heard this from but essentially, and I know I've said it on the show before, when you've seen one nonprofit, you've seen one nonprofit. When you've seen and experienced one board, you've seen and experienced one board. So every board makeup is a little different. We all have to start somewhere in our experience, right? And so what I would prefer to see is open the talent pool to individuals that have previous board experience, regardless of the organizational size, maturity, as well as individuals that have never had the opportunity or experience to serve on a board. But this is where I would love for the organization to invest in board training for this particular governing board because again, the makeup is different. The mission and the cause there that they are advocating for is different. The budget is probably different. And so I would really like to see Marcus that your board focus on the training that you provide your makeup of governing board members. I think that's a brilliant comment. And I hope that that does help you, Marcus, because when I see when I read this question, it makes me think that it is a training issue that these that you're being disappointed by what new board members are doing. So that leads me to be to the thought of what does your onboarding look like? What are your board expectations? You know, I maintain and I know I'm a little bit of a Pollyanna, but I do believe that people go go on to boards to serve their communities and do their best. I think what happens is they don't know what that best is. And so then the expectations are all whopper job. And that's what leads to disengagement. And so it seems to me that to your point, training and then understanding what the expectations are, you know, this is this is the deeper question. What would I I think and I love that you said, have you seen one nonprofit board? You have seen one nonprofit board. I'd like to know if you've ever played whopper job on Scrabble and how many points that would get you? Whopper job's a great word, sister. Can you imagine playing that in Scrabble? No, I I don't even know how I would begin to spell that. Okay, Marcus. Good luck, my friend. Okay, name with help. You know how I love these. Yes, you do. I think I think our guests are doing this on purpose because no, your excitement behind these. That's right. They know they'll get on for sure. Okay, this comes from name with help and Des Moines, Iowa. We're doing our budget. The final draft for our department. Is it is it bad form for me to share this with a contemporary from another nonprofit? I need some feedback on what I've prepared. There is someone who does a similar job as I but they were they are with another organization across town. What do you say, Julia? Well, first and foremost, I love that this person is a collaborator at heart and understanding that maybe they need some help. First and foremost, not asking for help is a big problem. But I wouldn't do anything like this without talking to the CFO or the CEO. Because I don't know it really comes down to what they think. But you know, it seems to me that there's two issues here. Are you looking at another nonprofit in your same sector, one of the nine main sectors that we talked about? Or are you just talking about somebody who's figured out kind of, you know, how to operate within your same size of organization? But if you need some feedback on what you're doing, first and foremost, I think you need to go back to your organization and see where you are in line with previous budgets. I mean, because if you feel like you've forgotten something, or you haven't amplified something, it's there's a sense of history there that should be at your fingertips. Right. So I also, you know, so we don't know name withheld your role in the organization. But I'm seeing that this is your department budget, right? So I would even like to ask if you have a committee from the board that plays a role within your department. So for instance, fundraising, you could have a fundraising committee, they might be able to provide some, you know, sage advice in regards to where they would like to see the department budget go. I think when it comes to sharing this in a collaborative open space, you know, it, it made me first of all, Julia, think about our dear friend Rita Sorenen with the Dave Thomas Foundation for adoption, and how collaborative and transparent they are with other organizations. Yeah, I'd like to go with this is perhaps you don't share the exact dollar amount for your line items in your departmental budget, but you could share percent of X, Y, and Z, right? So you could say, based off of my department budget, let's say $100,000, X percent is dedicated towards this X percent is dedicated towards that and you only share the percentage and not so much the $100,000 because then that makes it a little bit more intangible. I don't know, are you shooting from the hip here? No, I really like that. So when I read this, my sense of it is like, I'm almost going back to like, what's the chart of counts? What are their expense lines? But I like that in terms of understanding a percent total, because the reality is, that's a good exercise so that if your budget does shift, you pretty much know, okay, we understand that these are the percentages that we should be following and not just money and money out, but really in a conceptual basis, where, what are we investing in and what are we managing? So that's really an interesting, I love that anyway, Jared. I think that's like really smart. Well, I say I'm shooting from the hip, but these hips have 20 years of experience, right? I mean, the dark, but I'm just coming at this from hopefully an educated guess of how might we share information without sharing all of the dollars and cents to you know, to the penny. And I do I do think you know, if you have someone on the board that serves within this departmental committee, that might be a good litmus test to pass through that individual or the entire committee. Right. And I agree with you. You need to make sure that you're securing the approval of your, you know, CFO and CEO before you share any of that information. Okay, Marlene from Knoxville, Tennessee writes, I just hired an assistant role for my department and the person is a Gen Z or I can't wait. I feel like I heard Julia or Jared say there's a period of time that it takes for a new employee to do their job. At the time, I did not believe this number. So it's not to do their job, but it's to learn the culture where the bathroom is where the parking spaces are, you know, the roles of the other people on the team, the names of the board members, you know, client expectations, it's a lot. And that number Marlene is six to nine months. And that is an HR number that I know we've repeated on this show for since the beginning of time. For a board member, that number is going to be is going to skew more to 12 months, because they're not coming into the office every month, every day, you know, or every week. I mean, so really, it's kind of one of those things. And I would err on the edge of moving towards that number, moving that number out, if you are still in an environment that's, you know, WFH work from home, because some of that cultural part, did you think I was swearing? No, but I'm like, what the heck? So I'm curious the what the Gen Z here has to do with a question. So I don't know if that's based off a generational like, was there do you think Marlene's thinking that based off of each generation, there's a variation of kind of ramp up time? Or is your six to nine months Julia standard across the board? You know, it's a really good question. And I have always heard that in forever and a day, no matter the generation or the gender. So but you know, I think it's an interesting question to explore. Yeah, because And I agree six to nine months, you know, and we've also shared another number. And maybe this is coming up, Marlene, in the development world, so fundraising, director development, that employment tenure ranges on average about 18 months. So if you are looking at a new employee, regardless of role, regardless of age and gender, six to nine months to ramp up, well, then you add essentially that same amount, and you may, yes, be turning into, you know, a new higher opportunity. Yeah, churn and burn. It's brutal. Yeah, Marlene, I can sense your frustration here. But that's the way it goes, sister. Okay, Lane from Los Angeles, California. Is anyone scheduling in person gala events now? We have canceled our canceled out or it should be our annual black tie gala. And we're wondering if we should move forward or back to the traditional late spring event that we have always done. Hello, even as of today, this morning, the 19th of November, things are changing. Yes. So I know, black tie galas galas data data. I know that these are taking place. Now, in the community where I reside, it is lovely outside right now, especially in the evening. So we have the beautiful opportunity to have events in an open outdoor space under the stars under some beautiful, you know, patio lighting. So I'm not sure I mean, LA might offer that same type of venue right now. But for our national viewers that, you know, we have friends in Wisconsin, and some much cooler states, you might not have that ability. So I really think it depends on where you are. But Lane and LA, I think there's a great opportunity to consider a beautiful outdoor venue that could accommodate those individuals that are comfortable attending in person. But we might have a decline in attendance, because there's still individuals that will not come to events. And you need to honor, I think you need to honor respect that choice as well. Yeah, I think that's really good. I actually haven't thought about that the knowing your community and what the climate would be. You're right, there've been some several black tie events in our community, very high end, high ticket item that have been going on successfully. And I think there's some pent up demand. So I think that's helped. Yes, absolutely. Wow. Using your capacity, you know, is something to consider regardless of inside or outside, but having the, you know, just logistics in place of if you had a 500 person gala, maybe you consider a 300. Yeah, I think you're right. I think understanding that. And then I would also say, Lane, figure out what other virtual pieces you can plug in. You know, the standard gala practice has changed. I mean, there are a lot more intellectual discussions, book clubs, you know, lectures, there are a lot of ways that we can be engaging our donors and building those relationships. It's not just the same old same old. And now is the time to be thinking about this. Okay, Thomas from Nebraska, speaking of cold weather, we are, excuse me, yeah, Omaha, Nebraska. We are thinking about instituting an internship program at our nonprofit. We've been looking into this. And then the pandemic halted this discussion. Any ideas where to begin? It's a lot of work, but we want to start outright. So congratulations, Thomas. I particularly love interns. I know that I've had some good ones. I've had some not so good ones. I've had some that needed a lot of hand holding and training and others that hit the ground running and provided some phenomenal opportunities and new possibilities that I I didn't even consider. So I think, you know, really partnering with your local universities to see, are there any classes that might fit alongside your organization? In particular, here in my community, I have worked closely with business schools, so College of Management Schools. And you would think, what does that have to do with nonprofit? Because it's not the nonprofit management school. So there's a lot of different courses and trajectories within our university systems and community colleges that you might want to consider. And I think to have this done in a way, Thomas, that your mission will benefit from this individual service as well as the the individual will benefit from their service within the mission. So it needs to be a win-win. And I like having some type of a formal process. This is, you know, what we expect of you by way of time and commitment. And this, these are the deliverables that we would like to achieve at the end of X amount of time, as well as an evaluation for both you for the individual and the individual for you and the organization to really use this time again to benefit all of those involved. I love it. You know, we have, I think a handful of courses about this very topic on the American Nonprofit Academy that are free. I think this is really critical. I agree with you, Jared. I think that the most successful ones are tied to earning a degree or a stipulated piece of an educational track, meaning you have to achieve so many hours, kind of like if you will student teaching, you know, I mean, it fits in that type of a model through a university system, I think is really important. I also believe that more and more universities and community colleges understand the value of this. And so they have departments and they have their own paths to make this process successful. Because remember, a student is still paying tuition when they do this type of exercise. It's not like it's free. They're paying their institution. So look for that. And then the other thing I would say, Thomas, that kind of echoes what Jared said, but you need to make sure that you are adhering to all of the HR laws in your state, because this is a really big deal. We had decades where we took advantage many, many businesses, for profit and nonprofit of interns. And that's coming back. And I'm saying nonpaid interns, that's coming back through the legal, you know, the court process to determine values and damages. So yeah, don't mess with that. But yeah, I agree. You like to pay interns, there's, you know, Thomas, if you research this, you will find tons of schools of thoughts when it comes to this, but when it comes to an equitable and accessible practice, you know, there's really individuals, some individuals can afford this opportunity without being provided a stipend, however, to really provide an equitable and accessible practice, I would like to add to this conversation, that I highly encourage you to make this a paid internship opportunity. So that also needs to be in your budget, regardless of the individual, if he's here, they are receiving college credit, right? So I still think that the college credit is not the only form of payment, if you will. I think there needs to be that financial stipend. And thank you, Julia, for bringing that up. Well, it's a big deal. And it's, it's been, you know, they're, they're actual, you know, legal cases that are, that are in process discussing this. And a lot of it has to do with the entertainment industry, where, you know, young students were so, you know, amped up about getting involved in this process or this field, that they really became gophers or assistants on set and didn't really learn anything. I mean, there are a whole bunch of things that are going on. But yeah, I agree, Jared, I like what, where you said, what you said about that. I think that's really, really important. And you know, the thing of it is, is that the equitable aspect, you know, if you only, if, if you provide an internship, that only well to do families can put their kids in because they have to send them to a new city and pay for their tuition and pay for their living expenses and all that. It's just not a good way, not a good way for our sector to be behaving. I think, you know, so, you know, yeah, really, really interesting. Well, this has been an amazing week. I mean, we've really had a diverse group of guests and topics next week is going to be action packed. One of the weeks, one of the days of the week, Jared, we're going to actually have a discussion about whether or not or what the process and the value of getting and attaining a CFRE is. Our friend, Jack Alotto is coming back. He is with fundraising academy. He's been on a couple of times with both you and I before, financial thought leader in our sector. And he has helped probably tens of individuals achieve and earn their CFRE. So I'm excited to learn from him. Yeah, I think it's going to be really interesting. And I think that it's extremely expensive, you know, in terms of like a cash outlay and the cost of the materials and the trainings and all this. And so it's going to be interesting. Pardon me. I'm to invest in the studying and the test taking. Yeah. Yeah. So I'll be really, really intrigued by that. So Jack Alotto, again, with fundraising academy, will be joining us. And so another fabulous week. Thank you, my friend. It has been great. Again, we want to thank all of our presenting sponsors who allow us to have these amazing conversations. Even our silly Fridays. I know. Thanks for all of you that join us either live or watch the recording. We really enjoy our Fridays, if you cannot tell. And we will have another episode next week for our Friday Ask and Answer. The only day next week that we will not be live is Thursday. So happy holidays to everyone. We are in the final few miles of the marathon. So don't give up. Just take a quick water break, catch your breath, and we're going to keep going. Keep going. And as we end every episode, we want to remind you to stay well so you can do well. We'll see you back here next week, everyone.