 Thank you for being here excited for another Friday for the fundraising Academy cause selling education ask and answer episode. Thank you again to fundraising Academy for being our exclusive sponsor and allowing Julia and I to truly have this amazing conversation where the entire episode. We are answering your questions so thank you again for joining us today. We want to make sure that we think our sponsors again thank you so very much for your investment not only here in the episodes and the show but truly in our community and sector at large. So I want to give a big bold shout out thank you to Bloomerang your part time controller fundraising Academy nonprofit nerd American nonprofit Academy staffing boutique nonprofit thought leader as well as the nonprofit Atlas. We say thank you thank you thank you for helping so many of us continue our mission forward. All of our episodes if you miss them or want to watch them again perhaps you want to have a streaming party with your with your friends and colleagues. You can find all of our episodes archived on Roku YouTube Fire TV and Vimeo. Those are available 24 seven so you don't have to worry about when you sign on for us here these are available at your beck and call and on demand. We are also streaming and plat sorry podcast platform to over 20 different podcasting channels. So if you are a podcaster like I am please go ahead and tell your podcast to queue us up the nonprofit show and you can listen to us wherever you might go. Julia Patrick it's great to be here with you CEO of the American nonprofit Academy I'm Jarrett Ransom your nonprofit nerd CEO of the Raven Group and we've got a deck of questions we've got so many questions that have come in you know we have been doing episodes now for going on three years. So again over 500 episodes over 800 video elements and these questions still stump us there's still questions that come in and we think that's a good one so what do we have today Julia well first before we move into this I want everyone to know that you know on the production side we see these questions and we see them in advance and so we're they're not a total shocker Jarrett Ransom the nonprofit nerd my nonprofit nerd your nonprofit nerd does not see these in advance yeah put those glasses on sister I have to because I have to be able to see clearly right I mean you're right I I do not see these questions so they literally are you know impromptu coming from my 20 years of wisdom in the sector yeah it's pretty ding ding dang impressive so let's go to Bridget from Los Angeles California I'm moving forward to another nonprofit in my community to lead a finance department I would like to send an email to my contacts to let them know about this exciting change but I gather from my associates in the fundraising department that this is wrong can you please advise me as to what is proper protocol oh that's interesting very interesting well and even more so that fundraising department in particular is the one saying no no that we're not going to do this so so again interesting here my recommendation is that there is an email that is sent out right so that one of the things I've learned in media and rick de brole has shared this with us here Julia is if you don't tell someone the story they will make up their own story right so Bridget I would love for you and any other staff member that is parting in a very amicable way to send an email to your contacts letting them know that it's been a pleasure working with them thanks for their partnership you have taken on another opportunity that you have sought out right like you're seeing this as a as a personal professional development opportunity and to let them know who they should contact in your absence so that I think is is great I have seen in these emails Bridget where maybe they'll say would love to connect with you on LinkedIn here's my professional profile on LinkedIn so it's really not connecting you know to your next mission or to your next organization you're maintaining that individual return on relationship that we've talked about so very much so for me that's good etiquette that's good business practice it's not poaching it's not saying hey come with me to this other organization it's literally saying it's been an honor to work with you I've chosen the next chapter in my book you know and if you'd like to stay in touch with me personally and professionally I asked you to connect with me on LinkedIn and here's who your contact will be going forward I love that I love everything you said and I agree it especially in finance where people can get a little skittish like oh my god they're having problems you know to say to make it positive and then to make the introduction to the next leader you know which is I think really a valiant thing because I would imagine Bridget has a strong sense and tie to this organization that's not going away it's just a different opportunity and keep it you know positive and keep it connected and I love what you had to say good job good show over that's a wrap that's a wrap hey I have a question for you do you think that the interesting part of the second part I gather from my associates in the fundraising department that this is wrong do you think that this is because fundraising folks have a very strict protocol about taking their their donor investors with them and so that's why that he's or she's getting this message yes I do mm-hmm and again fundraising or not to me we are stewards of the community right and so for me even as a fundraising you know professional I have moved around to different missions especially in the role in which I serve right that's that's my whole jam that's what I do but I subscribe to the code of ethics the donor bill of rights and I it was talking to someone the other day I've seen a lot of donor databases I've seen a lot of capacity opportunities I do not take that information from one client or one non-profit to the other so you have to truly trust in the people and what you hire and what you work with that they too subscribe to that so you know that's what's really important because you know even as a board member you see some pretty information and you don't want that to go with them to the next you know to the next company so it's really doing good in an ethical core value kind of way well and to your point I mean I hadn't really thought of it that way from this from Bridget which is a in the finance area that person knows how quickly people pay their bills who's pushing who's you know what's the financial strength of their relationships and their contracts and their grants and so yeah that's that's an interesting thing well okay let's go on because you know how I love myself some name with health uh oh here we go name with hell but it's from Baltimore so at least we know where they're coming to us from I know I heard I had I heard I had a division in a cultural organization I just found out that the CEO has a dashboard with a lot of data on it apparently this info is distributed to the board of trustees and not to me I think the whole staff needs to see this info why is this so secretive that's a word that is loaded secretive that is fascinating first of all I'd be curious where the data is coming from right so it's program related I'm working with an organization that every month we update you know essentially this dashboard of data points that you're talking about here but it's provided from the staff right so it's provided from the program team uh and the fundraising team the accounting department all of that so it's really fed to the CEO for for their dashboard so maybe I'm gonna play devil's advocate here maybe it's not intentional that it's secretive yeah maybe it's the fact that oh yeah I can share that not a problem I didn't know you wanted to see it um the other thing is most board meetings are open not all so you might want to ask you know if you're able to sit in observe one of the next board meetings kind of like you know be the fly on the wall to hear the conversations I always find those extremely valuable because you can hear with another lens you can you know like you're really listening from a different angle so I'm going to play the devil's advocate stick with that final answer I don't need a phone a friend that the secretive is truly a lack of thoughts yeah like oh I I never even thought of that that's a great idea here you go so I would come I would approach it from that angle I agree and I think that um I love what you said you know that CEO dashboard that information is coming from somewhere in multiple places but I also think yeah you know a lot of times CEO dashboard is so board driven that it's like that the board needs us this is part of the pro forma this is part of your job description this is you know where it always goes in the board packet um you know the board liaison one of my favorite topics you know they're responsible for getting that and distributing it before the meeting so that generative discussion can relate to what's been on that report you don't just distribute that board dashboard at the meeting that's bad bad form you need to get that in advance so it could be that all the function and for and formatting has been board driven and I think it would be a super cool practice for the CEO or the board liaison or board chair to post meeting do a recap that gets sent out to you know C-suite or your entire staff depending on you know the size of it that says hey this is where we're going this is what we discussed you are right these are transparent things except when it is not and generally that will be um something like something such as a CEO performance review or salary or something like that where they they leave the meeting and then they come back to public record you don't see that very often it's not exercised a lot because it's not really a best practice but you are right this information is public anyway so for the most part so it also makes me think about name withheld the strategic plan in which the organization is operating from and there should be KPIs or key performance indicators built into your strategic plan that might be a great way to enter the conversation what metrics could I help to provide you based off of our strategic plan and the goals and objectives in which we've set forth so I think that's a great opportunity again to help you bridge that conversation I love it really interesting really really interesting and especially in a cultural organization like I have like HIPAA issues or something that they can't be you know talking about yeah that that just permits a different set of issues when I hear that okay um Michael from Miami Florida I'm a board member of a nonprofit that serves children and after-school initiatives we are struggling with keeping our development officers they don't last long somewhere I have heard this is a common issue this can't be true is it AFP reports that the average tenure across the United States of a development officer is 16 to 18 months I'm going to repeat that 16 to 18 months is a tenure that's right and any HR professional will tell you that the common wisdom is that it takes a new employee about six months to learn their job the culture where to park where to have lunch everybody's name and general processes so imagine if you bring on a new employee in development a new strip off let's just be conservative four months four months for that person to become comfortable and fully functioning you're left with maybe 12 months of activity I think it's horrific I wonder if that's changed now and for those of you who who stands for the association of veteran professionals that provides the the data on that and I have heard you know 18 months I've definitely heard that and I wonder if that's changed since the pandemic I truly wonder over the last two and a half three years if that number has skewed in any manner so it's a lot to think about here is turnover that's it's standard it's common there's of course ways and how you can help to retain your staff and so that's really what I would what I would focus on is you know really for that continuity is how can we support you what does your tenure look like here you know how can we make this a win-win a successful opportunity so it's frightening Michael I wish you the best I know it's not probably the answer you wanted to hear from us and yes it is true that there is um you know there is some turnover but there are so many great ways to you know keep any of your team including your development officers so I have a question I mean he identifies himself as working for a nonprofit that serves children and after school initiatives that this is just anecdotal but it seems to me that when you talk to or you work with universities their folks stay forever have you have you noticed that yeah is that just me no that's true like a higher ed yeah yeah university kind of like you they don't seem to leave well one of the things I know we're facing and many of the the opportunities that I work within it's the vulnerable of the vulnerable right and so it's a very uh trauma informed community it's very heavy and it's exhausting it's exhausting emotionally it's exhausting spiritually so really baking in and and supporting self-care opportunities personal development opportunities I I do not like it when anyone brags that they have X amount of pto hours saved up to me that's a problem that that says to me take your darn day you need a break there's a reason we have these breaks right and that we literally need to decompress and so it could be you know in light of the recent um days we're facing that this individual is truly struggling with the current events and the current times and we know that our children certainly have when it comes to our educational systems yeah so there's a lot in there there is it's really interesting um we need to kind of be open to what we're hearing about that you know from sector to sector I really like what you said I mean I don't like it I'm horrified by what you said but I agree with you that it is it is um a division within the sector you know what's harder work what's a harder mission trauma informed work it's really an interesting thing I never thought about it I think I was just lumped fundraising development all together with those people but I think you're right I see your point you are the non-profit nerd thanks hey my glasses okay sister let's go to the next question and this comes to us from shell or Shelley I don't know how you say it sorry Denver Colorado our COO is thinking about combining an organization-wide training session with the board the thought is that board members would learn what we require expect and track from the staff we would also address policies and procedures that we all need to follow do you think this is a good or not so good idea I think you're opening a big can of worms I was like I think this is a great idea I do I think that is too many cooks in the kitchen um I think there's a great opportunity to pair this down maybe you have you know some of your board members some of your staff members again like I just think it's too many people at one given time you know I always say one person has five different opinions so you put all your staff and all your board and you've got a million opinions I love what you're intending to do now that I love when it comes to the transparency of the processes the educational component that I love but I just see this as opening a can of worms wow okay well I totally disagree great I totally disagree and I'll tell you why for the very phrase that you use one person has five different opinions yeah I think that in a policy strategy training if you have a good trainer right if you have a good trainer that the message needs to be cohesive and heard the same there are too many board members that are out of touch with what the policies and the procedures and the structures are of an organization and in my way of thinking they need to maintain that same strategy right there might be some nuanced things or more or less that they need to take on but they need to be precisely held to the same standards if not more and so I don't know I just love this idea I thought it was such a great idea I did this once early in my career as a as a trustee of an organization and a cultural organization and I learned things from that joint meeting that might have taken me years if if maybe never even learning them and it was a lot of things that were more germane to the operational side of the institution but it was really powerful for me but it was not a discussion format you know it was a training it was like somebody's a professional speaker delivering the message and the policies and and all of that so I'm fascinated Jared well I'd love to hear what other people think too yeah that's my thought yeah that's my thought I have not obviously swayed you okay okay well I'm not inviting I'm not inviting you I'm not inviting you to my joint meeting then apparently oh my gosh okay let's talk oh another name with help this time from Santa Fe New Mexico we have a CEO who's retiring and we have not found a replacement yet this is a marketing question of sorts but should we send a press release saying she is leaving we want to honor her service perhaps get some interest from job candidates and yet we don't want her to become a lame duck during this remaining time what do you suggest really good question because we're talking about the great resignation and yeah really interesting quack quack quack quack um I'm going to say yes send a press release send a thank you a gratitude because this person has been a community champion and that needs to be recognized I believe I think it also gives you a great opportunity to talk about what's next even if you do not have that replacement perhaps this you know speaks to a national search perhaps this speaks to the opportunity of bringing in a professional interim executive director right so this is a very strategic opportunity that if done properly will absolutely help during your transition of the CEO and I don't think that they will be a lame duck I think you know again that comes to perception probably in the final couple of months it's a lot of meeting and greeting and thank you and kind of passing that baton which for others it might seem like this person's only having lunch and coffee and cocktails and I mean are they really working yes yes they are they're working relationships and that is what is so valuable to the organization and the legacy of that person the mission and the incoming person I agree I think that's beautifully stated and and I think too that I liked what you said you know honoring that champion spirit of leadership and letting them have a graceful exit and you never know I mean it's positive marketing if the way you present it and move forward also sometimes we associate bad things with people leaving like oh were they first out or oh is there a problem or are they not a good enough leader and to to say no this has been great and even under you know the banner of what were some of the impacts and achievements during this stellar tenure you know it's a good thing you know it goes back to what we said again another shout out to rick de brule people will make up a story if you don't give it to them right so tell them where this person is going tell them why their tenure is ending celebrate that right provide the story right I love that really really an awesome commentary well hey Jarrett it's been another great week it's been another great episode yes it has oh my gosh great questions keep them coming you can reach out to myself or to Jarrett we always want to know what you're thinking we were chatting not too long ago Jarrett offline and we were talking with somebody saying how it's been really interesting now in our third year to see how the questions have changed that's right now I mean they're really reflecting a point in time with these pandemics and the maturation of our sector and so you know we're we're excited for any questions that come our way so keep them coming again we want to thank all of our presenting sponsors without them we would not be here answering the questions that come in bloomerang your part-time controller the american non-profit academy non-profit nerd fundraising academy staffing boutique non-profit thought leader and the non-profit atlas they are here with us day in and day out as we march forward 500 plus episodes whoo Jarrett yes amazing well hey everybody have a great and restful weekend and remember as we remind ourselves stay well so you can do well we'll see you back here next time everyone