 Well, hello and welcome. Thanks for joining us today. Another episode of The Nonprofit Show, we again have Julia Patrick here in the hot seat. Julia is the CEO of the American Nonprofit Academy and is going to share with us how you can build a network of influential support for your nonprofit. So again, the hot seat is in your hands, Julia, again, CEO of American Nonprofit Academy. I'm Jared Ransom, your nonprofit nerd, CEO of the Raven Group. And I'm always grateful to serve as the co-host here of The Nonprofit Show each and every day as we continue to have conversations. Thanks so very much to our presenting sponsors. Those of you watching, I know you can see their logos. Those of you listening, I'm gonna give a huge shout out to Bloomerang, American Nonprofit Academy, Fundraising Academy at National University, Be Generous, your part-time controller, Staffing Boutique, Nonprofit Thought Leader and Nonprofit Nerd. If you haven't checked out these companies, do yourself a favor and check them out as soon as the show wraps up, not yet, because you're not gonna wanna miss today's conversation. And if you have missed any of our previous conversations, you know where to find us, Roku, YouTube, Amazon, Fire TV, Vimeo, as well as podcasts. So if you're a podcast listener like I am, go ahead and queue us up wherever you stream. Your podcast. So Julia, we have to put you in the hot seat and you are coming to us to share with us, you know, really about building our influential Rolodex. I'm gonna use that word. It's a little vintage, but that's okay. So tell us a little bit about where you're taking us in conversation today. Well, thanks, Jared. You know, we spoke recently about getting ready for the fall and building relationships and alliances with media, but this is kind of like that next level. Like what do we do to build influential support because it drives impact and ultimately funding. And a lot of times we think, oh my gosh, we're doing the work of the angels and everybody knows about us, but there's an alignment somewhere else out there that can really help us on impact and ultimately funding. And here's a little secret. A lot of big funders are getting tired of giving money to so many little groups and they're coming back into the ecosystem of the sector and saying, okay, you know, the 30 food banks in your state, you need to work together. And so we're gonna give our money to a food bank association as opposed to all these little different groups or we're going to not give money out unless there's some sort of coordination or collaboration. Go out and find that. And so, you know, nonprofits aren't really well known for working well together, right? I mean, we have competition and we have competition for a lot of things, sometimes even competition for clients that we serve. So that's one of those things. And I love this image. Tell us what this image represents. So this image is one of my favorites. It is by the famous I Am Pay. It is the dome that is over the Louvre. And when you look in Paris and when you look through or you're going into the Louvre Museum, you will see the new and the old. It's a really interesting confluence of what was in the past, what's available to the future and how the two need to work. And so this is one of those things. This is a new concept. It shouldn't be, but it is for a lot of nonprofits, a new concept. Yeah, and kind of speaking to that new guard and the old guard, which brings us to a leadership list. And for those of you again listening, we're going to talk about, you know, who do we need to know and who needs to know us? So talk to us about this leadership list, Julia. So a lot of times we get all bogged down, especially with our development folks of having a portfolio and getting all of the data fields filled in and all that. And what I'm saying is, set aside another list and it should, it can only be an email list if you have to. And it should be who it is that you want to know and who should know what you're doing. And so we're going to go through that today. Who are those groups that we need to get on that leadership list? Doesn't mean that we're going to necessarily put them in somebody's portfolio to try and develop a funding relationship, but they need to be part of the ecosystem with which we work in. And are we asking our board to help provide this list as well? Are we doing it like internally? Absolutely. I've seen it start with volunteers and filling in certain groups, if you will. And then I've even been on a board where they printed this off every six months and passed it out during a board meeting and set aside 15 minutes, which is a long time to say, who are we missing and who do you know? Fantastic. Yeah. So who do we want on this list? Are we talking, here we have a political base. I'm thinking that can get a little dicey. So how do we want to include our political base? So we call this a political base, but it's really a lot more than that. It really should be a government base in many ways. Because yeah, we have elected officials and they change, they come in, they go out, they have different things. But you know who doesn't change often is the bureaucracy. So I'm saying, who is the director of housing? Who is the director of arts and culture? You know, who are these people that are really on the front lines of where you are engaging? So for example, maybe you're a domestic violence shelter. Well, you need to know who's in the management system of the police department. Technically that's a government agency. It's not really, it certainly has its politics. I'm not saying it doesn't. But the reality is you need to know who the chief of police is, who the commanders are, who the head of the union might be. All of those things really need to filter down. And again, it's a leadership list. It's people who need to know you and who you need to know. I love that you phrased it that way because you're right. There's often turnover when it comes to campaign seats. But when you think of staff and how it relates, for instance, looking at that department of housing, looking at the department of economic security, looking at the Victims Crimes Act, like there's so many different individuals that are that administrative role and they are not changing quite as frequently. No, and they're educated people that are committed to the same topic that you are. So let's say you run an after school program for kids, you should have everyone that you can get their email addresses to from the department of education. Right, in school districts perhaps. In school districts, absolutely. I mean, so you can kind of see where we're going here with the spiderweb of influence. Yeah, no, I like that. And then are we putting them in an Excel spreadsheet or how are we capturing? You know what, absolutely. And I know the data managers out there are gonna be like, Julia, you're killing me, no way. But truly, if you just start with that, and this is something that you could really get some stay at home volunteers, work from anywhere volunteers, that you can say, look, these are some of the areas that I need help with, it's research. It is. And then you also want us to include faith leaders, is that correct? Right, now this is a little dicey because for some organizations, whether they're faith-based, faith originated, or maybe they're agnostic, there's a big piece of this that can be somewhat controversial. But I'm here to say that it is the ecosystem of compassion and empathy, and what is something that faith leaders have? They have a congregation. Yeah, they have a congregation. So you can get one person that can then share your message. And so that's the power of it. Another thing that's really, I love to look for when I'm talking about this, is the ecumenical organizations of faith leadership. So that might be the associate, and I'm just making this up, but the association of Christian ministers, or groups that have a lot of people aligned to them. It could be multi-faith. So you have imams, you have priests, and you have ministers. Do you know what I'm saying? It's like the concept is it's the faith construct. It's not one faith construct, it's not your faith construct, but what it is, it's that sector, if you will. Well, I think you hit the nail on the head, right? Is these leaders, then they have a constituency base in and of themselves as that congregation. And I know many faith-based organizations, they do an active service, either monthly, quarterly, annually, depending on the congregation. And so there could be an opportunity to share your work with that congregation. And then as you say, grow that tin-fold. Yeah, it's really great. And I think the thing of it is, is that the ideals of compassion and empathy are pretty rudimentary. I mean, we look across the nonprofit sector, right? Yeah. That's kind of one of the cornerstones of our work. And so it kind of makes sense. So we definitely wanna get the faith leaders on our leadership list. And then another group of people you're talking about here, are groups that volunteer or meet. So service organizations, talk to us about how we can really engage with these groups. So this is a really overlooked group within the sector. And this can start everywhere from individual schools, parent-teacher conferences, to the Greek system, sorority, fraternity, all the way to things like suroptimus, Kiwanis, Rotary and all that. But Jared, there's a really interesting movement that's really picking up speed in the last decade. And that's giving circles. And these are, in essence, service groups. And a lot of times they come together, they might have an event, or they might have each pony up 100 bucks every month or every year, whatever. And then that group decides or votes on who they want to give that generous gift to. And again, it can be cash, it can be time, it can be a commitment of services, right? It might be a group of say, you know, accountants. It might be a group of welders, who knows? But do you see what I'm saying? It's a service group at the core, and it's how do you reach them so that they can learn about you? So I have to give a shout out. One of the groups that I've always been so impressed by is the National Charity League. And this is a mother-daughter organization that has been around, I don't even know how long, were you involved in this? You know, it started more, I think, in the 80s. So it started a little afterwards for myself and my mom. And then my daughter and I didn't do it. We did something else. But yeah, NCL has been doing great work in our community there across the country. And again, imagine, they're looking for volunteer opportunities, projects, and they fund things. So again, that is a, I'm thrilled you brought that up because that's a great example. Yeah, and there is an equivalent for mothers and sons because again, you know, for me with my kiddo, I was like, well, I wanna do this, but how do I do this with my son? And so there is an equivalent, I forget its name, but there's so many organizations that we should be considering from that service lens and these groups that you say they get together, they give up their time, they also give up their treasures. You know, so it's a great organization to get to know. What about subject matter? Are we talking like subject matter experts? You know, a little bit of everything. So for example, groups who might align to your mission might not be a parent. And again, this goes back to the very beginning of our conversation about how sometimes we tend to be a little competitive. So let's go back to our example of the food banks. Food banks, oh my gosh, doing the work of the angels, keeping that community on track and helping the most vulnerable of our community, undoubtedly. But what if you are missing a big piece and that might be the Farm Dairy Association of your state or the cattle that you always used to call in Arizona, the cattlemen's, I'm sure they don't call it cattle persons, but the cattlemen's association, right? What about the Organic Farmers Association? What about the Grocers Association or the unions that support the grocery industry? You see where I'm going here, Jared? There's linkage there. And again, it could be in the form of cash, product, volunteer, service. I mean, there's some really strong components that are natural that we just turn off. We don't pursue those. And then that could become a major, major part of your success in many, many ways, right? So think about this. Let's say you are in the shelter services, right? Dog shelter, animal welfare, animal welfare. Imagine what would happen if your animal shelter connected with the veterinarians association in your state? And not only the veterinarians association, but the vet tech association, which I guarantee you, there is one. And if you have a veterinary program or school or education connecting with them, do you see what I'm saying? It's about thinking outside the box as my sister, Jamie would say, flexible thinking. How do we look at people who might have the same tie-in to us and are looking for something to get on board? And there's so many things available on the internet because I'm listening to you, Julia. And I'm thinking, this is a lot of rabbit holes to jump down. So how are we finding this information? But you also mentioned this could be a great opportunity for someone to do remotely in a volunteer capacity. So can you talk to us a little bit about, you know, how we even get started? So first and foremost, I would figure out what are the main inputs to your particular nonprofit sector? So for example, we go back to our food bank. You know, who would be interested in supporting a food bank, right? And I would say bisector, right? In the bigger scheme of things. Might not be anybody you know at all. But what does that look like? And you might want a brainstorm on that with not just yourself, but with other people. Another way to go about this, Jared, is to Google the word associations because association management, association is a word that pulls together a group of like-minded people, right? And so that will help you refine some of those pieces and then you can narrow it down even more. Culinary associations in my state or in my region, you know, things of that nature. But you do have to kind of twist your brain a little bit and then once you start thinking like a sleuth in that respect, it will help you to figure out kind of what's going on in that. What are the possibilities, I should say? And you had given an example where at a board meeting every six months for about 15 minutes, you know, this list was shared because I'm thinking how often do we need to update this leadership list? So this is a great question and thank you for asking. I think this is a fabulous summer project because again, what we're after our email addresses so that we can at minimum communicate to these groups or reach out, send them our e-newsletter, you know, let them know what we're doing things of that nature. And then we move on to, you know, getting them engaged in social media and some of these other aspects, getting them to maybe collaborate with us, get on a tour. I mean, you know, if you've been watching the nonprofit show for now three years, you know, these inputs that we'd like to kind of help promote, how do we build engagement? But the reality is we gotta start somewhere. And I bet 92% of all nonprofits in this country don't have anything close to this. They think about it or maybe it has just been serendipity that they met somebody and then they got, you know, an alliance or they struck up some sort of working relationship. But this, Jared, is a game changer. When you change your mind about how you're gonna reach out and why you're gonna reach out and how you build influential alliances, it is magical. And that's the key, influential alliances. So we talked about having this leadership that includes a political base. And I love that you said it's not necessarily those running for office. It's also the people in the administration that, you know, that's their job. They're doing it 24 seven faith leaders. So if all religions of all backgrounds are really looking for the diversity of faith leaders to be on this leadership list. And then also that tie into their congregation, which is a win-win. You mentioned service organizations. So we're gonna think about who in the community is part of a service organization. And I'm thinking Rotary and Kiwanis, right? Like those are some great opportunities, the National Charity League that I gave a shout out to. And then also that subject matter. So, you know, looking, if we're looking at, you know, food insecurities, what associations perhaps are part of that structure and to create a list. So we mentioned an Excel document. And I'm curious, when, if ever, we put them into our database, is there like a time when we should include them? You know, we started to kind of talk about this and maybe we need to drill down a little bit. But, you know, as we are talking, it's the fall. We are now into Q4. For most of us, I know it's like hair on fire moment. Did that happen? No, I know. But for most of us, this is our final push. And we're trying to get into front of the media. We're having events. We're doing our big asks. We are working more with our clients in many cases, right? And so this is when your leadership list needs to be good to go. So I always like suggesting calendarize this event as something, I call it an event, is a task that you want to achieve in June. And this is like all hands on deck. So everybody from accounting to programming knows that you're working on that leadership list. And so it is maybe a five day drill down where leadership says we're not gonna work on anything, but this, which is kind of scary for a lot of organizations to step back and focus in on one thing, but it's pretty magical. And then you get through it, you're good to go, and then you can refine it, you know, as things happen. But that's the reality. This is how important it is, Jared. This is how you build your influence. And you know, Jared, it's really interesting, but you don't just do this for the good times. You do this for the bad times. So that if something has happened in your community that's a tragedy or really requires you to step up or step forward, that you have an alliance of people that can help you to solve these emergency type problems. You know, that's exactly what I thought. It really galvanizes the community. And what we've learned throughout the last couple of years or three, right, is really about that return on relationship. So being just as invested in our community as our community is invested in us and to have that relationship conversation in the good and the not so good. Yeah, yeah, you gotta work. In my mind, you gotta work for the hard times. You got, I mean, it's easy to work when everything's unicorns and rainbows, but the reality is you're gonna have tough days. And what does that look like? And if you have this foundation of influence and alliance, things are a lot easier and they move faster too. You can solve problems a lot more quickly. I'm curious, so we're ending with a subject matter. Is there a certain area that we should start with, like the subject matter, or should we start with a political base? Should we start with a faith leaders? Like, which of these individuals should we start with? Like, is there a priority? It's a really good question. I would start with government because it's probably the easiest to research, figure out and get on. And then the next thing is I'd go to these other areas, but subject matter, absolutely. And that can be a little bit of a moving target because people change, but the alliances, the associations don't. And they have professional managers, and that is always a great way to get moving. You know, as you're saying this, Julia, it makes me think about a great opportunity truly for us to consider board development because I've been around many boards and many board tables, and they say, you know, we really need someone from housing on our board. We really need someone from the restaurant association on our board. And so what a great opportunity to compliment your board development with this leadership list. Have you seen that happen? You know, absolutely. In fact, we have a great tool that we've used with the nonprofit show and it's an assessment that talks about who you have on your board, who you need on your board, what the skill sets are. I think it's up to like three pages. It measures even languages and geography of where your board members live and work. So absolutely. I mean, this is something that it's always, it's ever changing because remember most nonprofits have a board seating of three years and maybe two terms of three years, but then you're always having to replenish. So yeah, I think this is, I think that's a great, great comment, Jared. That was very astute. Well, thank you. That's why they call me the nerd, Julia. And you just need that tape and you're super nerdy as well. Hold my finger like that. Well, this has been fantastic. It makes me think about that leadership list and having that influential contact for all the times, you know, the good, the bad, the in-between and it gives us a really clear path on who we want to add to that list, where these individuals come from. So Julia Patrick, as always, thank you for sharing your many years of expertise in this sector. You make it seem so very easy, but I know that it really is hurting cats to get all of this information together. Yeah, it's not easy, but it is so ding-dang impactful. It might be one of the best things that you do for your organization. Well, you heard it here. If you don't have your leadership list, you know how to start. And of course, if you missed any of our conversation, this is recorded, you can go back, press pause, press play, press pause again, whatever makes sense for you. And again, thank you so very much, Julia. It's an honor to be here with you thanks to our presenting sponsors, which include Bloomerang, American Nonprofit Academy, Fundraising Academy at National University, Bee Generous, Your Part-Time Controller, Staffing Boutique, Nonprofit Thought Leader and Nonprofit Nerd. So thank you so very much. These companies are certainly on our leadership list as they help us keep the conversation going and growing. But truly, if you missed any of today's episode or you wanna go back and figure out, okay, how do we put this in place? Roku, YouTube, Amazon Fire TV, have so many platforms where you can find this episode. So Julia, what a great way to start off our week. Thank you. Yeah, thank you. I mean, I'm really energized and I love this topic. I've seen it work. I know it works. And so yeah, thank you for letting me talk about it. We have our marching order. So I hope you join us again tomorrow. We've got a week, a wonderful lineup for this week and we're looking forward to that as well. So again, thanks for kicking us off. And until tomorrow, please stay well so you can continue to do well. Thanks everyone and we will see you here tomorrow.