 I'm really excited for today. It is Friday. Julie and I always like to have some fun. We like to bring some levity and we are so glad to Fundraising Academy for bringing to all of you nationally the Ask and Answer episode. So thank you so much to Fundraising Academy and thank you of course to our other presenting sponsors. We are so grateful to have each and every one of you, all of you equally hold a special place in our heart and of course, you know, continue these conversations. Now 347 national episodes, so 347, that means we hit 350 next week and we are super excited, not a single stress line, frown line, any like age marks on us, I'm sure. So it's been a lot, it's been a lot of fun but thank you of course to our presenting sponsors and thank you to Julia Patrick for coming up with this wonderful idea. She ripped me in by saying, come on, it's gonna be fun. We're only gonna do it for two weeks. And again, this has been the longest two weeks of my life but I really do love it. I'm Jarrett Ransom, also known as the non-profit nerd, really excited to continue this journey and ride this roller coaster right along with you Julia. So I'm CEO of the Raven Group, my own consulting firm but each and every day, Julie and I come together, we join forces and you can go back to the questions. We join forces to really provide that levity, which really comes on Friday because Monday through Thursday, we are talking to so many amazing experts across the nation and really, really grateful to have their voices, their time, their expertise. And Fridays are reserved to provide you some answers, some solutions as we all continue to navigate this journey. So we've got a set of questions prepared for today. There are always four ways, more ways, more ways than four ways to get in touch with us. I know I feel like I just wrote my own Dr. Seuss book. That's actually really good. Right, there are always more than four ways to get back to this. So yeah, let's do get us started. Of course I say that right as you take a sip of coffee. It's really good. So I have a couple of things I wanna talk about. First, I was unable to attend at the last minute an AFP conference in my community. I reached out to one of the organizers for that day who happens to be Moves Management, Sasha Lewis, one of our sponsors. And I said, hey, something's come up. I can't get downtown. Please, if you can give my ticket to somebody else. And so I got this hilarious email from a viewer whom I've never met and she was clutching her pearls and she sent me a picture and she's clutching pearls and she's like, I got to meet Julia Patrick today. Clutching, I clutch your pearls. I got to meet Julia Patrick today. So anyway, I just wanna say thank you very much. You know, we're big supporters of AFP globally. They do amazing things. And I was really looking forward to being a part of a larger discussion, but thrilled that one of our viewers could actually attend and do well. We had a really interesting viewer, our viewer guest on yesterday, Jared. Yes, Mitch Stein, CEO of Pond. Okay, now give us some background about him because he had a really interesting thing that he was doing for all of his clients. Yeah, so he's a tech startup. We met on LinkedIn. I loved his authenticity and just his true transparency to his true self, but we met through our guest that's coming up next week, Jessica Campbell. And again, that is a, Jessica's doing a virtual conference. So Mitch is one of her presenters. I'm one of the presenters of the three-day conference as well. And he jumped on board to a comment thread, but essentially created Pond. Pond is for a lack of a better term and he used this. It is like a dating site for nonprofits. So it is a nonprofit in need of a service, a consultant or service provider that can provide content and product solutions essentially to that organization. And so it's a match made online, match made in heaven, match made online for organizations and providers to assist one another in this nonprofit space or in Pond as he refers to it. And so Mitch was on, he was doing this, is doing currently, he's in New York right now doing a tour of Pond meeting with constituency bases. And I joked around and I said, oh, this wasn't on the show, but on LinkedIn. And I was like, I wanna buy that tour t-shirt. Like when can I get that tour t-shirt? Cause that sounds like a really fun tour, right? Like a band concert. So he shared with us yesterday that literally last minute, you know, he received, I don't know, a call stating that his event had to really shift in shape in a whole new form. So he got back to you. He got back to us and he, this was all about the resurgence of COVID. He had a very large venue space. It was an art space for a very large group of people. Everybody was excited. He had all these RSVPs. The mandate came down, but they had to shift the number of people that could be assembled at any one point in time. Very creatively, instead of just canceling their event or hoping that not everybody who RSVP would show up or denying guests at the door until other people had cycled out. They came up with a three-tier system. They broke their event down into three different periods. They emailed everybody, got on the horn and said, hey, we've got to readjust. Can you pick one of these three times and we'll cycle you through? And what he found, what he was hoping in this email he sent to us, he said, yeah, it reduced the number of people in the venue space, but it allowed our team to have better quality time with those people that we were entertaining. So it ended up actually being something very positive for everybody. The guests had more room. His team had more room. It wasn't just that mad cocktail party kind of rush. So I really appreciated what he had to say yesterday, Jared, because he was like so many nonprofits to work really hard to get on an event going, really put a lot of financial hope into that event and then it changes on a dime within 24 hours, less than 24 hours. Right, all completely out of his control, all completely out of his realm, right? But what I loved was he had that mindset of, there's a solution, right? You may not know the solution, but there's always alternatives and there's always solutions. And he applied that to the tech industry and to Pond, which he's the CEO of. But yes, you and I were talking about how we are consistently navigating now the Delta variant, navigating this inner space. And you aren't alone, right? But we did have our guest yesterday, literally like live in this transition in the moment. And he still took time out to honor his commitment to us, which as you said, you were like, I would have been a little more frantic. I was like, dude, I would have like said, I can't do this, go away. You crazy ladies that are asking me all these questions, no. It's part of the process, right? Yeah, and he was lovely and he was, I felt like he would have given us all the time in the world. He was calm. I was like, wow, I was super impressed. Okay, all right. So two other things before we get into some questions. I've had some people that have emailed us and said, we do not believe that you actually have an executive producer, Kevin Pace. And so I'm going to ask Kevin Pace, you don't have to come on camera. Oh! I just want you to say hello. Is it you? Apparently we don't. Kevin Pace. He's still here. Oh! Also called The Voice of God. The VOG. Okay, VOG, thank you for making sure that we know you're a real person. I do realize that you haven't shown yourself on camera because you are actually editing on the fly. As we every day for 350 shows, our executive producer has been there without fail. Jared and I get to take days off once in a while, do other things. Kevin Pace does not. So I just wanted to say yes. It's a real human being. Okay, Jared. Yes ma'am. This question came in, I don't have a slide for it because it just came in yesterday. And it says, so I have a question for the Friday show and I'm not certain it is appropriate to ask. What is the best? Maybe the best. This is like, you know this is going to be good when that's how they start. Of course. What is the best way to address and thus be able to work with an unvaccinated colleague who refuses to wear a mask in meetings or when gathering with donors? This person infers she is vaccinated by what she does not say and by not wearing a mask. Are others experiencing this dilemma or am I too wedded to messaging from Dr. Fauci and the CDC? Wow. I can imagine that this is not the only situation happening. There's a lot going on in our world. There is a lot. But I also know there's a lot of hate going on and that really does not sit well with me. It really unsettles me. So I don't know the best answer to this, but I would think that we, this is an HR policy issue, a personality issue, right? Yeah, I did reach out to Sky Mercer. Oh, good. Who is an HR consultant in the middle part of the country who deals with a lot of nonprofits and she have a bunch of different things to say, but the boil down is what I took from her response was understanding what the expectation is and developing a policy. And that's a typical HR response. I mean, HR people are really good, I think at distilling what a course of action should be, whether everyone agrees with it or not, the concept is that if we all understand what it is, then we can measure ourselves against it, right? We can determine if we're gonna follow it, if we're not, you know, that whole thing. And so this is a new problem, if you will. We're talking a lot about it across the nation in regards to schools and all of this. But I'm wondering, Jared, what your thoughts are about this because you've been such a good leader, thought leader in how we communicate to our teams and how we bring them together. What are some of your thoughts on this? Well, so I always like to go to, you know, the system, like what's the policy, what policies do we have in place so that it's not a people issue, it's a system issue, right? So like what do we need to do as an organization to create a better system policy procedure standard? And I think it needs to remain standard. I often use the analogy of, you know, if you allow someone to do something even though that's outside of policy or outside of bylaws, it is equivalent to letting a dog jump up, right? So if you're training your dog not to jump, but you let your dog jump every now and then, you are inconsistently training this dog, right? And so I'm not calling your board or your staff dogs, but I am used to a very similar training style and consistency. So it's all about consistency, right? So this goes to, you know, so you train your dog not to jump and then this elderly neighbor walks up the door and because you've allowed this dog to jump on you, the dog now jumps on this elderly neighbor and now we have a catastrophe at your front yard, right? Or your front door. So to me, it's consistency, right? And again, I use that dog behavior because I think many of us, you know, we can relate this and boil this down to what happens in our home. I have another story, very similar, but it's like, you know, if you allow your toddler to walk around with grape juice, that time you go visit your great aunt, I don't know, Pearl, right? And now the toddler's sitting on the white couch with this grape juice, like scary. So I have a couple of those stories that I like to enter mine. So for me, I think it's that consistency. This is our policy, this is our standard, this is what we need to stick up for. Now I also know there's a lot going on now, even restaurants requiring vaccination cards, right? So having that proof of vaccination. And so again, that goes to a policy. That goes to, you know, the restaurant itself is stating a policy for its dining patrons. And so if you're meeting with a donor, you know, I really think it comes down to what is our internal policy? And how are we keeping that policy consistent at all times and enforcing it at all levels? Right, I agree with you. And you know, I think it's bigger than the virus. I think it manifests itself in how maybe a dress code or whether you are, you know, it's appropriate. I don't like to use the word loud, but whether you have a policy for drinking while you're entertaining donors or travel expenses. Work schedule. Yeah, I mean, showing up on time for meetings, whatever it is, my sense of it is that it is a policy issue. Now, having said that, this is going to be a heavy lift. You know, getting to the point where you have a policy, that's where it's gonna get to be a sticky wicket. And that's okay. But I think that without some sort of policy and you could set a policy that will be for the next two weeks or until further notice or until the first of the month or it gets reviewed every Friday, Friday. I don't know what, but yeah, the vaccine Friday. I mean, I think that that's probably the best step to take so that you can defer this hurt feelings and anger and upset that is really escalating in our country. Yeah, and it's really, you know, again, I've said over the course of the last two years, we've been navigating pandemics plural. And oftentimes now the mask mandates, the mask policies have become political. And so it adds that other layer of the pandemic, right? So we continue, I think we all continue to watch the CDC guidelines as that is the platform and the expertise to provide these policies. And I know here in our community, right? Like our children are going back to school, our city and official offices are now mandating policies of the mask wearing again. So there's a lot changing. And I know so many of us are looking forward to fall events. We've put them on our calendar. We've planned to have an in-person event because we are all craving connection and desire to see one another in the flesh. And so now this is adding that layer of anxiety, added layer of stress. But if you joined us on the Chitty Chat Chat, the thing I did say is, and I have to look down because I wrote it, is change is mainstay. Change is not going away. That is the one consistent is change. And I like that you said that because I think that allows you to get some perspective on this unsettled times because these unsettled times are gonna be with us. And then the repercussions of going through all of these pandemics are gonna be with us for a while. So, you know, understanding that we need to look at the ecosystem of change and how we react and how everyone else around us reacts. And no one likes change. Like there's, I shouldn't say no one, the majority of people don't like change. Some of us actually embrace it, but it's still, and I would say I'm an embracer of change. I actually welcome change, but it doesn't mean that it sits well with me, right? It still makes me unsettled. I'm a very type A driver personality, go figure. So in my home, I know, shocker, I really like to have things in place. I like there to be consistency. I thrive on a level of normalcy and a level of having that routine, but we are living in a time where our routine is out of our control. So there has to be a bit of willingness, right? Willingness to continue to navigate this change. And again, as we said 18 months ago, Julia, provide grace, right? Ease and grace, give it to yourself, give it to others, give it to the situation. So I do feel like we're going back to 18 months ago. It's like groundhog day and the same alarms going off. Yeah, hey, I'm with you, sister. I think it's really, really, really concerning. And I think it's going to test the metal of our sector. I think that we are in this period of the great resignation for many reasons which we've talked about and we will continue to talk about, but the reality is the nonprofit sector is even more in a perilous situation because we have emotional and physical fatigue and we have economic fatigue too for a lot of our team players and staff workers. So yeah, this is a really going to be a really intense time. Well, let's get into a couple of the questions that we have today because these come in all the time. As Jared mentioned, we have four ways that you can get to us. And Josie from Dallas, Texas writes, we have a board member who wants us to start a retired board member board. Have you heard of this? We talked about this a lot, the emeritus board. What's emeritus Latin for? Old soldier. Yes. I'll be ding-danged. Good job, Jared. Yeah, emeritus Latin for 400, please. That's it. That's the only Latin I know. Oh, yeah. Josie, you know, emeritus board, we have courses on the American nonprofit about it, nonprofit Academy website. We've done episodes about this. You've got to investigate this. It will be really a great tool, I think, for your organization. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Check out the AmericanNonprofitAcademy.com. I know, thank you. Okay, name withheld, Scott Still, Arizona, you know how I love my name withheld. Can or should a staff member also serve as a board member for the same organization? I personally think this is a conflict of interest. I personally agree with you and I professionally agree with you. That is a conflict of interest, right? And I think you should have your staff attend board meetings. I don't know if it's policy on attendance. I have attended many board meetings of, sorry, as a staff and I don't have a voting rights. Certainly don't have a voting right. And I, in fact, walk into that feeling as if I don't even have a voice right, which sounds weird saying that out loud, but literally I'm going to observe, I'm going to kind of like listen and watch what's happening. I tend to take a lot of notes. If on occasion, you know, I am asked to provide my opinion or feedback on a certain thing, I certainly do that. I do think once you get to know the culture of the board and how they're run, if there's something that you feel you could add to the conversation for the greater good. I have on occasion said, you know, if appropriate, I would love to add some comments here, you know, if that's of interest to you and the board. But I ask that permission because as a staff member, that's not, you know, that's not the place to be present and vocal. No, so now this is where our 20 years of age is going to come into play. I know clutch the pearls, clutch the silver collar. Hey, first and foremost, I believe as you staff should be at the meetings, not at the table literally, but they should be there as source experts in case there are questions or data points or concerns that only a staff member can ask. But this is the gig. If you, pardon me. Only a staff member could answer perhaps is what you. Yeah, what did I say? Ask or answer? Yeah, I'm sorry, answer. Okay, see, there is a 20 year age difference. We are source experts, that's what you're saying. You're source experts, you're there and you should come with your data or information or reports. You should be prepared so that you can accurately answer a question. And of course, if you can't, then you have to say, I can't answer that, but I'll research it and get back to you. Bottom line, that's what they're there for. This is where the rubber meets the road. Your board meeting should be run by Robert's rules of orders because this is a fiduciary commitment. It is a legal component of how your organization is operated and reported back out to governmental agencies, contractors, donors, all of that, funders. In Robert's rules of orders, when you are discussing an action that's gonna be voted on, there is a point in time where you can ask for, you open the floor for questions or comments. And so that is a structured point where staff could then engage. Now, I'm not saying you bring, you know, 45 people. You bring your C-suite, your executives, you know, the people that are in charge of the things being discussed for the most part, but there is a process for that. And that, I think, is how you protect the entire discussion. And Jared's like, oh. I know, I'm smiling because all of this consistency is process. Our whole episode has been about staying the course with the process. There are procedures in place and it is to, you know, build value, to build culture, to build consistency. I do like Robert's rules of order. And there are some individuals that are really sticklers on it and they know it so very well. And that's wonderful, right? And just so all of you know, there are books, Robert's rule of order. There are Robert's rule of order for dummies, I wanna say, like there's, you know, as we would call them the Cliff Notes version. So yes, but what I'm hearing and kind of like smugly, you know, smiling about is the process. Absolutely. Everything has and should, I just should it on you. Everything should have a process. Well, you know, and I think the other thing too is it breaks my heart to think that you as an educated, intelligent, engaged woman of an organization who has a lot of insight. And frankly, a lot of times this is what's missing with board leadership. They don't have boots on the ground insight. Yet they're making decisions that impact the performance and the management of the organization. So not to have that voice is really a missing link for many, many organizations. You know, and we talked yesterday with Mitch sign of Pond that there is an evolution happening right now. So I had mentioned the innovative disruption but Mitch really took it further to say, you know, it's an evolution. And I agree our sector is in an evolutionary time. And so that means even some of these, you know, board operations, the policies, the procedures of how the board meetings are run is also in an evolutionary time. Absolutely. And if you think about just the movement to virtual board meetings, you know, like our friends are boardable. Okay, we got time for one super quick question. Okay, thank you again. I know it's really, it's good and short. Sherry from Cincinnati, Ohio writes, who should pay for professional membership specifically looking at AFP? Oh, how interesting, we brought that up earlier. We have some differing opinions in the office. What say you? So typically I am aware of like professional memberships, personal development, professional development budget lines. And from my experience, most departments have this. So the organization has figured out kind of what that amount is. And then it trickles into various departments. Now, Sherry, one of the previous ask and answers, I was a huge proponent for asking your staff what they want. What do they want? What do they need? What are the cost of that to help you build this budget? So that's kind of taking your question to a whole nother level, but really assessing with your team what it is that they are seeking and building that opportunity. So I do think it comes down to the departmental budget, but that should be included with building your overall organizational budget. Right, I think that's important. But the organization, by far, the organization I think should pay the membership. I do too, because I think it's gonna be who the organization, it's a lot of times these groups don't have membership packages that work for under the umbrella of an organization. So you'll have to kind of explore that. I'm also gonna just, because I know time is short, I would also Sherry recommend that you, your team, whomever look into sponsorships or look into a reduced rate because those do exist, especially in the Jedi space when it comes to organizations looking to diversify their membership base. So I would look and see if there's any way you can cut corners and dollars by receiving some of these sponsorship dollars. Love it, that's very wise. You are the nonprofit nerd. Hey, hey, I'm Holly. I was gonna say I'm here all day, but really we're not, because we're signing off. Peace. We're signing off. Hey, I'm Julia Patrick, CEO of the American Nonprofit Academy. I've been joined today by the nonprofit nerd herself as evidenced by her eyewear. Jarrett Ransom, CEO of the Raven Group, really one of the great luminaries of our sector and we are thrilled that she's with us. As Jarrett mentioned, we have four ways to get a question in. Kevin Pace, our executive producer is actually the man who runs our Twitter feed. And so- And you heard his voice earlier. He heard his voice today. So he is a legit person. Hey, again, our thanks to Fundraising Academy who stepped up to be our premier sponsor of Friday Ask and Answer. It's a lot of fun and they are an amazing partner with us. Again, all of our presenting sponsors, we could not do this without you. So we wanna say thank you. And Jarrett, a great week. Next week is gonna be really interesting for many, many reasons. And we want to remind everyone to stay well, so you can do well. We'll see you back here. Have a restful weekend. You too. Thanks everyone. Thanks.