 Welcome back everybody to another great episode of the non-profit show. We're really excited to have our friend Jackie Tiso, founder and CEO of JMT with us today. Okay, Jackie, spill the tea because this is not your average day. What's going on in your world? So we are blessed with having our tornado watch in place right now until three o'clock central time. So I have my two apps on my phone. I have the American Red Cross app, and so if you hear a loud noise going off in the background, I will be disappearing very rapidly. Right. Well, we want you to get to shelter. I can't even believe you're doing this right now, but I want to warn everybody, more than a thousand shows, this is the first, but as we say, safety first and so if we need to stop what we're doing, we will and then we will get you back and we will conclude the conversation at another time that we'll schedule forward. But it's an interesting time in the weather as it goes across the country, and so we want to certainly be mindful of that and certainly be safe. Wow, what a way to jump into the non-profit show, Jackie. Right. And especially our topic, which can sometimes feel like a tornado. I love it. And I think that's just like the perfect thing is where do you find answers? So Jackie's going to help us to find out sources, the people and the skills that we need. How do we even keep up? And then we don't want to let her go without talking about Innovate 2024. So we are thrilled that you're here. We're also thrilled to have our sponsors. They include Blue Morang, American Nonprofit Academy, Nonprofit Thought Leader, Staffing Boutique, Your Part-Time Controller, 180 Management Group, Fundraising Academy at National University, JMT Consulting, Nonprofit Tech Talk. Speaking of JMT Consulting, what's your middle name? Marie. Okay. Well, that's where we get JMT, I'm assuming, right? That is correct. That is correct. You know, Jackie, talk to us about what JMT Consulting does. And I want to start off with, you mentioned this very lightly, but this is pretty significant. You're a 30-year-old company and you've pretty much been remote the whole time. Yes, we, you know, I started the company from my dining room, worked in nonprofits, had a passion for nonprofits and a technology, a recognized technology could be a huge benefit. And so, JMT just sort of grew over time and added wonderful team members with nonprofit experience. And, you know, we didn't have a brick-and-mortar building. We really wanted people that understood nonprofits and that's how we basically got started. It's a fabulous story, but in so many ways, it talks about technology and that you had the presence of mind to be even thinking about this. I mean, I've got to believe that there were people that were like, what? Remote? What? I mean, was there even the vocabulary to explain how that ecosystem worked for you? You know, you're absolutely correct. People really didn't understand how we were able to do it. And technology at that time, you know, when you think about windows, just came out initially in 93 and, you know, we were starting in 91. It's such a path. And I can remember looking at the cloud in early 2000, the Y2K, when everyone thought their computer was going to die and their systems were gonna shut down. And, you know, looking at the cloud at that time and it wasn't like even a twinkle in anyone's eye, only the most really innovative individuals really had a vision about where it could go. I've got to believe that most of this was like government-oriented, Department of Defense, things like that. I know that I've been an Adobe client my entire career in publishing. And, you know, the PDF system came through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission because they were trying to lock down certain documents that, you know, and so if you think about now, people are like, what? That's just something we do to make fun of. Correct, you're absolutely correct. You know, so much of it came through the military and the government, but so much else of it came through individuals. And, you know, it's very interesting because a lot of times we think technology drives individuals and drives learning and drives that, but actually humans are driving the technology. And then many of us, myself included, are then running to catch up with those very, very smart humans that are driving it. Wow, I love your perspective. And I love that you said that because it totally changes the framework in many ways of this conversation. And I would kind of argue that it reduces some of the fear that so many of us have and with our institutions. And so let's kind of run with that theme a little bit and get your advice on where are the best places? Because if you're kind of introducing the level of the human drive, you know, and ambition and knowledge, how does that fit into all this? You know, there are so many resources that are available to us. And, you know, and here again, I think back to 20 years ago, and who could we go to? Who could we look to? And there really wasn't that much. And, but now there is. And, you know, like when we talk to organizations, we talked about your partners that you're working with right now. You have your CPA, your consulting firms, your software vendors. All of them are really good sources of information and are a resource available to organizations. There's also fabulous online resources that are right there and specific for nonprofit organizations. You can think about Idealware, TechSoup, N10. There's a great show, a website, it's called the Generosity Freaks Up Show that has very unusual information and addressing challenges and things like that. And they all offer insight into technology and also, you know, and pricing, that can be very beneficial for organizations and it crosses the gamut, you know, financial management, reporting, fundraising, just anything that'll be operational help for nonprofits. Right, and I think this is what's so interesting is that it's not just one thing anymore. You know, it's not just payroll or it's, I mean, it's just everything, even talking with a guest recently, Civic Champs. I mean, they're a whole new industry for managing volunteer labor and, you know, beyond just checking in, right? Correct. I mean, so, yeah, it's a wonderful, I think it's a wonderful time to be in the nonprofit space because of this. It is, it's really a great time. It is a open field, if you think about the potential of what's in front of organizations. And never before has there been what I call the great equalization that's available to nonprofits with technology that we have now. It used to be, again, you went back 10, 20 years ago, it used to be, okay, there's this technology over here that nonprofits can afford, but it's not advancing, it's not streamlining, it's not automating. So we can't get everything we need because we have budgetary constraints. We have a mission and we need our funding to go to that mission. But now technology is the great equalizer because all of that strength and those feature sets are available to every organization at the same price. You know, no one said that before on the nonprofit show and I think that's a really good touchstone because so many, I think, so many times we have opportunities to change our business or grow our business and we're like, oh, that's not in the budget. You know, we just automatically discount something. And I think sometimes that's an easy out too, right? You know, you're coming from a place of fear, it's just easy to say, no, we don't have it in the budget next. Let's go on, I mean, speaking of technology because definitely this is... Well, there's a perfect example of it. Yeah. You know, here we have, I have a couple of apps on my phone. And that's, you know, that's part of that ability to streamline and automate that what we were talking about before, Julia, about the ability to really have cost savings. So a dollar investment over here will absolutely result in a cost savings over here. Yeah. And we need to be thinking that way. Yes. So how do we, I mean, as wonderful as you are and as generous as you are with your time, you can't be everywhere at all times, my friend. So how do we get access to the people and dare I say the skillset so that they can help advise us? Because again, we have fear. We have fear based on, can we use this technology, how does it work? I, you know, I can see people are like, I struggle, I struggle with my iPhone. How am I gonna do all this? Like what's the path that we should be taking? So, you know, I mentioned, you know, the online sites previously, like Idealware and TechSoup. And they're not just about tools, but they're also resources for, you know, connections with others, consultants, blogs, all of that. One of the best places that I find personally is, you know, more and more remote is wonderful. But I go to events and conferences and it could be a small, a lunch and learn in, you know, locally, it could be if I'm going and visiting a client or a prospect, I will see what's going on. If I'm visiting a client or a prospect, I will see what is happening in that area. I look at conferences, I find them very, very helpful. And especially when we are so remote, the value of that time actually sitting with other people, hearing other people face to face is absolutely huge. It's absolutely huge. And the people that, you know, I look for, that I know my clients need are areas of like financial analysts. You know, we're all focused on like accounting, but accounting today isn't any longer accounting. It's financial management. And financial management is forward focused. You know, accounting is sort of like, well, I closed the books and here's where we were. Financial management is where are we gonna be next month, three months, six months? What are the things that could change and impact us if we had a 10% increase in our demand for our programs and we don't have a corresponding amount of funding? So when I'm talking to people, I'm looking at attending sessions and things like that online. I also do lots of webinars. I'm looking for financial analysts as an example. I'll look for donation software specialists. And by that, the software donation and donor management software, those platforms, who are the experts using those platforms? Because it's a real art. Fundraising and, you know, it's so important and people have so much coming at them all the time. I'm sure you are the same as myself. We're getting bombarded all the time. So what's gonna get our interest? Well, you need someone who really understands donation platforms and digital marketing to be able to cut through all of that to get our attention. You know, it's interesting that you say that because it seems to me that it's not one thing, it's more the integration and that bigger concept, versus back in the day where it was like, oh, I only do Mac products. Oh, I only do the Microsoft products or whatever. And it would be just like an immediate shutdown. Okay, and versus this ecosystem that we have now that there's all these new and exciting things, but they have to work together. And I think for the most part, they're doing a heck of a good job. Yes, and I think it's also brought to the surface the importance of exactly what you were saying. We used to have just one internal microcosm that was just here. And now there was a wealth of experience, of knowledge that's available to us that we can get the very best. And they're not in our office. We're paying for that very best just that we're using. Yeah. And versus having someone on payroll, spending all these dollars, because we cannot all do every single thing. We can't be the expert on every single thing. No. So we have to have the availability of those resources for an expert here. And, you know, JMT, we do this ourselves. We identify, okay, we're gonna be the expert in this one area. And now we're gonna contract out. So marketing as an example, you know, well, there's content, there's creative, there's digital, there's website. Yeah, there's a lot. You know, I love the spirit with which you're taking us on this journey. And I've gotta then kind of add this next layer because the change is just astonishing. It's very exciting. I feel like you said something super magical and that was the very beginning of our conversation, that this is one of the great equalizers of our sector. And I hadn't really thought of it that way. But in that same thought, how do we keep up with this immense and exciting change? I mean, it's great, but it's kind of overwhelming to think that we gotta be, you know, hopping and popping on this. Yes, it's really, really hard. There is so much coming at us all the time from every direction. Things are changing and evolving so rapidly. I myself, I have to personally set time aside to invest in educating myself. So I structure where I will, for example, register for webinars and I structure it to make sure I will go back and watch those webinars. I will view a newsletter, a blog. I will dig through and it's a discipline that I've had to develop because I am involved in technology and finance. And I want to keep on understanding and pushing the envelope for our clients. I also, as I started at the very beginning, I do rely on our partners and consulting firms. Perfect example are the sponsors. These are my peers and so I rely very heavily on my peers. I really am one, and I think this is part of the nonprofit environment as well. I believe when the water rises, all boats rise with it. A lot of people use that expression, but I don't believe they really embrace what it means. I, this came to pass. Hey everybody, we almost had Jackie on with us the whole time for the nonprofit show. Jackie, if you were joining us is in actually Tennessee where there is a tornado warning. And so it looks to me like she lost power, which we thought might happen. And so we will get Jackie back on another time to continue this conversation. You know, I had told her from the very beginning, if there was any shred of doubt or anything that came up that she needed to jump off and get to safety. And so Jackie, we're gonna be thinking about you and your team. Hey, before we go, and we will get Jackie back on at another time to talk about this amazing conversation. I do want to chat very briefly about Innovate 2024. It's gonna be held in Boston this year. It's hosted by JMT Consulting. They have a few tickets left. You can register at JMT Consulting's website. But it's a really interesting environment because it brings together a lot of different people that will be talking about technology and their nonprofits. And so you don't wanna miss it. It's gonna be a really exciting time coming up in the beginning of May, that last few days of May. And so I'd hope that you could join us because I will be there actually conducting one of the panels, which I'm very, very excited about. I have really grown to admire the JMT Consulting team and family of experts. And so when that opportunity came up, I jumped and I will be there. Again, you can check out JMTConsulting.com to get all the information that you want or need to participate. Now that things are opening up and we're able to meet and greet and be in person, this can be a really valuable time and investment for your company. Again, Jackie, Tisa, I wanna make sure that you're safe and sound in this bizarre time of weather. And I know that you were given the tornado warning and so we had to get her off and it looks like she lost power at the same time. So time to seek shelter. And we wanna make sure that before we leave you, we thank our sponsors. They are here to support us day in and day out. As Jackie said something very interesting, these are her peers and they include Blumer and American Nonprofit Academy, Nonprofit Thought Leader, Staffing Boutique, Your Part-Time Controller, 180 Management Group, Fundraising Academy at National University, JMTConsulting and Nonprofit Tech Talk. Wow, you know, I use this mantra every day when we end the show and it kind of gives me chills honestly right now and the message is to stay well so you can do well.