 Again, we want to thank our presenting sponsors. You make this show possible. And we can't say that enough. We are very, very honored and touched that you do support us. And I got to tell the story really quick. We were doing this show. I was so naive. I'm like, this will only be a couple of weeks. Jared, you can do it. And you're like, I don't want to do something where I have to be somewhere every day at a certain time. So I'll give you two weeks. And then I was like, OK, give me two more. And then it went on and on and on. And Steven Shaddick, a bloomerang, was like, hey, you guys, you want to sell sponsorships? Because this is rockin'. And so when I say thank you to our sponsors, that's really the genesis of it because it's pretty powerful. Again, I'm Julia Patrick, CEO of the American Nonprofit Academy. And today, as always and ever, except on a rare occasion, I'm joined by the non-profit nerd yourself, Jared Ransom, CEO of the Raven Group. OK, this is going to be a go and blow show because we have a lot of questions that came in. And I want to forewarn everyone. Jared does not see these. I do because I work on the show decks. And a lot of times these are coming in right before the show starts, or I mean, they come in from a lot of different ways. But anyway, so when you hear Jared give an answer, it's pretty damn impressive, I think. It is just, you know, some people might say, are you just winging this? And we've talked about this, Julia. Yes, I'm winging it with 20 years under my belt. I was going to say, I think we're winging it with a combined 50 years in sales. When you look at it that way, my husband always reminds me, you know, when I'm like, I can't believe how successful the nonprofit show is. And he's like, yeah, you're a success 50 years in the making. 50 years in the making. Right. So anyway, let's get to it, sister. Makayla from Charleston, South Carolina. Kind of in your neck of the woods. Yes, I've lived there before. Yeah, that's pretty cool. Our nonprofit has determined we won't be needing as much office space moving forward. We have been successful with the work from home WFH concept that was forced upon us with COVID. What should we do with our current office space? I love that this is being considered. I was on a Facebook forum, which I'm always on, just kind of like looking and seeing what are some of the top questions. Someone even asked if they could have like a development associate, a remote position, send donor acknowledgement letters from his or her home. So meaning this would not be a wouldn't even necessarily be a local position, which would typically be housed, right? Which is exactly what Makayla and Charleston is asking. I'm going to say downsize. I'm going to say you probably don't need as much brick and mortar as you currently have. It really depends on your program, your services and how you offer those programs and services. Obviously, if it's something like, you know, a domestic violence shelter, an animal shelter, something where you really need to have, you know, bodies and pets and families, like on your campus, you might be a little bit more restricted. But if your programs are done elsewhere, right, then this is a great opportunity to pare down some of those overhead costs and really embrace this virtual component that I believe is here to stay in some form and fashion. It's not going to go away. So I say, Makayla, this is a great opportunity to truly assess what are the true needs? What are the square footage, the brick and mortar, that you truly need to be successful? And then where might you be able to continue this remote opportunity that would lessen the overhead? Right. So in all transparency, my husband, as I like to call him, my long-suffering husband of 42 years, is in commercial real estate. And so a couple of things. This is the time to be very transparent with your landlord. And at this point, landlords are losing so much occupancy that they might be willing to work with you in a way that you never dreamt that might require you or allow you to redo your lease, number one. Number two, this is an opportunity for collaboration. So maybe you can find another nonprofit that needs to downsize or wants to work in a different type of environment and do a co-share space type of situation. I think it's really, really important to think outside the box. And a lot of times this is gonna go directly to the heart of your relationship with your landlord. So don't make this something that is like a decision that gets made in the middle of the night and everybody loses. Make sure that you can communicate what your pain points are and ask for help and see if there's gonna be something else out there. I just had a nonprofit reach out to me not 24 hours ago that said, we need to find some office space but we're too afraid to sign a huge lease. Do you know of anybody who we might be able to rent a room? Now this was very interesting. Again, they wanted to have four walls in a locked door, right? I mean, they wanted to be able to secure their work space. So they didn't want just like a seat at a table. I mean, they wanted something that was more protective. But- They wanted a corner office with a window and a view. Yeah. In a private bathroom in a direct elevator but hey, who's being picky? But no, yeah, I think this is really an important thing. And again, a lot of times in the nonprofit world, we are very, very timid about moving forward again into the corporate environment or the for-profit. But this is a time to be bold and to go forward and say, look, how can you help me? And then shut up, as my dad used to say. Say what you need to say and then be quiet and listen because there might be some other entity that you can work with that will help everyone, will help everyone, so. Now that you've got, and thank you, there are so many organizations that are smaller and have been working from their home, from their living room, used their garage as storage and the like, they have dreamt of having an office space, right? So this might be an opportunity where you could partner and collaborate as you were saying, Julia, with an organization perhaps of a smaller size that would give them the opportunity to have that space as well as board and conference rooms so that they could meet with major donors or any donors, funders have their own board meetings. So this is a great opportunity. I think so too. And then really quickly before we move on, I would not advocate for donor correspondence or any corporate correspondence to be coming from a personal address. I don't think it's safe. I don't think it's strong with branding. And I don't think that a donor who looks and says like, what, you know, I thought they were in Des Moines but this letter is coming from Miami or whatever. I think that's just not a good message. And so be very, very careful about that. I mean, yeah, the work from home thing is great but you could simply have a lot of things put together by somebody in Des Moines and then literally, you know, put in an envelope and mail to Miami where then it's postmarked because I don't think it's a healthy thing to have these different addresses nor home addresses. So I just had to say that because I'm a real stickler for that, by the way. If you hadn't figured that out, I hope you feel better. Yes, I do. I've just now stepped off the soapbox. Okay, Nick from Albuquerque, New Mexico. How important is it to notify the media when we bring in a new employee? We contract with an outside PR firm and it seems that the cost of this type of work is not truly a value. We have this question come in kind of like PR stuff every couple of months. I'm gonna let you take the first go. This is your wheelhouse. It is, you gotta do this. It makes the new employee feel better. It makes donors and board members know that you're moving forward. We have a great course and we've actually talked about it on the show about the golden leadership list. Yeah, get this information out. You don't have to write a novel. You should, everyone, all of you watching this should have a very precise and simple press release template so that you can get things out and that press release or that information should go to your stakeholders, not just the media, but your employees, your board, your big donors, definitely. This is good news, especially now when we're concerned about labor in our nation. Right, and is this organization staying? Have they been severely impacted? I just got an email, so this is perfect timing, Nick, that you asked this question and it was not announcing an employee, but rather an intern. So it was meet our intern, right? And I thought that was great because it doesn't always have to be an employee full-time, part-time, or the like. Celebrate your internships, celebrate your board members, right? Celebrate some of these individuals that are wonderful, committed stakeholders and share who they are into the community. Now, if your organization allows for this, something I've enjoyed, and I know that some of our partners have done such a fabulous job, is to take like very organic photos of your new employee, your new board member, your new intern with a photo of their dog, right? Or like sitting outside on their patio or something that kind of gives a sneak peek of who they are as a person. I think that is a wall, Julia, that has been broken down because of the pandemic, because of this work from home environment that we now get a little bit of an added glimpse into who is this person beyond their job? Yeah, so I don't, I disagree with you on that. But that's- I knew you would. Yeah, and you know what? I have to think about it because that's a little bit more, I'd probably be training my age, but I don't think that's professional. So that's just where you and I, and this is the wonderful world of you and I working together. I just, I would run from that. I really would. So I went to the business journal. Right, I wouldn't send a picture of me and my dog to the business journal. But something in a social media post. So I think it depends on the channel that you're using because I also, you know, I have a very LinkedIn, professional LinkedIn that's not, you know, duck lips as some might say. Yeah, please help me. Yeah, I agree with you. Now, I also do think though that I think this is an opportunity to get images of your board member, your employees. I love the intern aspect on your campus. And so if you are working, for example, let's say, you know, in a museum or a cultural institution, it would be really cool to do that. I've seen organizations that have to deal with pets and they have pictures of their folks with their animal. And that's cool. I think that's great. But I'm not totally against the idea. No, but I mean, I, yeah, but that's a very small part of the sector. Yeah. I mean, with the 1.8 million nonprofits, I would say, no, it needs to be a professional thing. I mean that, but again, I'm betraying my age. And so I know it's a clutch your pearls moment. Full show. Okay. Well, Nick, we've exhausted you. So we got to go on. Because I obviously have not roped Jared to my side. Nor have I, and that's okay. That is why these ask and answer are so perfect. Okay, Shonda and Franklin. I love it when we get two people asking me a question from Miami, Florida, from Miami, Florida. Okay. As our team is getting fully vaccinated, we are thinking about doing a group trip or tour to a partnering agency we have worked with. Do you think this is a good idea for a team building activity or is it too soon? Wow. Interesting. That is a good question. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know what to say. I will tell you what I've heard. There are some organizations that are meeting in person. They're having strategic planning meetings. They are having team development lunches or something like that. So I think this is really a case by case basis. It is such a tricky situation. And I just, I don't want you to forget that some individuals are still extremely uncomfortable, rightfully so, whether they've been vaccinated or you've been vaccinated. So I don't have a crystal ball for this answer. I don't think anyone does. So it's really a touchy subject. It really is. And I love that Shonda and Franklin are thinking about doing something to engage their team and show and talk about what another organization is doing. But maybe to do that in a virtual piece where the CEOs get to interview each other or the development directors or whatever, what type of information is wanted. I mean, it would be really cool to, if you're say running a food bank in the southern part of our country to have a chat with the food bank and maybe the Northwest and compare notes and see what's going on. You wouldn't travel to do that, but you could do that online. And I think it might be a really good practice to learn and share. But yeah, Jared, I think you're right. I think there's still a lot of fear. And I think we need to be careful about how we are engaging in the public. So wow, interesting. But good job, Franklin and Shonda for trying to do something to engage your team. Okay, from Jacinta or Jacinta from Las Vegas, Nevada. Last week, oh, we're in the hot seat. Jared and Julia spoke about using a mission moment. Didn't we talk about this? I think we did, but it's always such a great. Yeah, for meeting and board meetings, I like the idea of having our team meeting begin with the same concept, but maybe something like this is why I serve. Do you think this is too personal? Not at all. I love, and most of you have probably heard this before, but Simon Sinek of the TED Talk of knowing your why. And if you just Google Simon, Sinek, TED Talk, why, you will see this. And I think this is such a great topic to bring up. Maybe not everyone shares what exactly, why are you serving? But maybe you do get a couple of volunteers. We just had a guest on earlier this week talk about getting these stories. You want to know the personal stories. What inspired you to serve on our board? What keeps inspiring you to serve on our board? And then what I like to say with this mission moment too is have it relate back to the program somehow, back to the impact. So where did you see the service and action? Where did you see this mission really taking place into a moment? So that's the mission moment. Where did you see your mission really take fruition into a specific moment? Are you able to tell that story with the board or with the team so that they too get to visualize and feel what that might have been? Well, and I like that Jacinta is bringing this up because I get the feeling she's talking more about her team meeting. And you don't hear that very often. You hear this a lot with boards and with committees and stuff like that, but the actual employees and staff, you know? That's, I think it's a great, great way. We talk often about how the development team and the program team might be siloed. This is a great opportunity to get those teams talking amongst one another and capturing those stories because there could be something that you're like, I wanna know more about that. You know, go a little deeper, tell me more about the specific moment because you never know that might turn into a story that can be told with many of your constituents or just supporters. Whether you're asking for money or not, it's a great, it could be a great piece to share. Yeah, I think so. I think it's a vulnerable thing and I think that's a vulnerable action and I think that's okay. I really do. We need to find inspiration where we can find it and internally that could be something really good. Okay, name withheld from Omaha, Nebraska. Dun, dun, dun, dun. Your favorite kind. My favorite kind. I always love the name withheld. Okay, we have ended the year ahead of where we thought we would be in terms of our budget. Yay team. Our board is suggesting we give a small bonus to all staff and they want it to be noted that it comes from them. T-H-E-M. Yeah, and all in caps. Does this seem normal? What are you gonna say? I'm gonna push it to you. I'm gonna say yes because it would be a board decision to make that expenditure in that way. But I'm gonna tell you the dirty secret here. You know what? This is taxable. Yes. I was hoping that this would come up. Yes. This is taxable. So if you give a gift card, or you give cash or whatever, and so the board needs to know that this could be depending on what they're giving that there are repercussions to this. But, you know, I don't know. I mean, in terms of governance, it is coming from them. What do you think, Garrett? It is. I've been in this situation where I have received a bonus knowing that it came from, you know, not only the CEO, but from the board as well because it was a standard bonus depending on performance or budget or, you know, something like that. And it is very clear who, you know, who it comes from. But I never knew until just recently, thank you, Brenda Blunt and I Bailey. Yes, yeah. That this is taxable. And so I myself, I don't think as an employee when I received this, ever acknowledged that, you know, with my taxes, but this is something to be mindful of. I read this great book and the author is the same author of the five love languages. So many of you, Steven Doyle, is that the name? Anyway, it's about five management styles or five ways to manage your team. And one of those ways that he goes into in this book, specifically, is how does your team like to be rewarded? And this is an individual decision. So it might be named withheld in Omaha that you have an option for the staff to choose. So they will receive a bonus of some type and they're able to choose between A, B and C. A could be, you know, the money. B could be a day off. C, you know, C could be, I don't know what, I don't know what else you want to be. Get cards, get cards. Get cards, right. It could be anything, right? So I think that's something worth looking into. It's very different, very alternative to think of it that way, but I wouldn't be the nonprofit nerd if I didn't think alternatively. And that was a great book and it changed the way that I looked at management, realizing that everyone, every individual employee, really prefers something different. So I think that you should ask and see if there's a way that you can kind of have, you know, options. Yeah, that's really, you know, I think that's a great comment. And it's really an interesting thing because, you know, we don't know what the amount of money is and the size of the team and the staff and all that, but I do appreciate you bringing that up. It's like, what is meaningful to one person? It's not the same across the board. And so yeah, very, very interesting. You know, I think too, Jared, I think that it's in the case of this question, I think it's really important to be going back to the concept that even though this was a really tough year, nonprofits in this country were incredibly supported. And so the celebration of flourishing or thriving and not just surviving is, warrants a celebration or acknowledging that sort. It absolutely does. And you're right, some organizations have had pinnacle years where they have highly exceeded many goals, not just fundraising, but other goals. Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's not just fundraising, but many, many other goals. Wow, well, it's been another great episode. And again, I always am like stunned when I watch my little, you know, timer here and it's just like bing, bing, bing, it goes by so fast. Again, I'm Julia Patrick. This is Jared Ransom. And we wanna chat briefly about a couple of things that are coming up because we have some really exciting things on the horizon. We have Jennifer Hudson coming next week to talk to us about crisis management. Now, she was a woman, a fascinating woman, a great guest who came on, talked about something else. And then she was a part of a board that had a complete meltdown. And so we were communicating, you know, offline about this. And I think both of us were like, wow, you know, we should bring her on to specifically not talk about what she went through, but as a PR professional, how you navigate crisis. It's not when, it's if, or it's not if it's when and these things will come to your door and how you can prepare and how you can kind of set yourself up for management of it. Do you want to be proactive? You wanna, as they always say, get ahead of the story. And so I'm really excited to have her on. Super cool woman, very dynamic. And she's seen it all. And because of her profession, it's gonna be really fun to hear what she has to say, a great learning moment. If you've got questions for us, you have four ways to get to us, please do. We love getting these questions. We get a lot of them. We can't always get them onto every show, but we'll try our dangdust. And if we can, a lot of times one of us will reach out just through email directly and go directly with that. Again, we wanna thank our presenting sponsors. Without you, we would not be here. And as we are navigating towards a year of this, Jared. A year. A year, but it seems like two weeks. Or four weeks, because I kept getting, I kept dragging you down the road for another two weeks. So we're gonna take March 11th. And we're gonna take that day, that episode, and we're gonna talk about the things that we learned through the year. And that for both of us, they might be different. But more importantly, we wanna know what our viewers have learned. So we are asking you to email us. You can tweet us, you can answer us. We'll post us on LinkedIn and Facebook. Let us know what you learned. Maybe what surprised you, what made you stronger. But this is something that we think will be really great for all of us to explore and acknowledge. The year has gone by incredibly quickly for some, incredibly slowly for others. For me, it's been a mix. Sometimes it's like boom, boom, boom. And then others, it's like really, you know. I mean, so it's a fascinating thing. And we just thought we would honor, just take one episode and just kind of amalgamate all of these different thoughts and lessons. So that would be really fun. I'm excited. March 11th, make sure you set that on your calendar. But more so, reach out to us and let us know what you've learned. What are some of the aha moments, silver lining. We really love to focus on that element that did bring a positive emotion or impact. Let us know because we'd like to talk about that in your specific success story on air. And absolutely, I'm looking forward to that, Julia. I am too. And I think that we have such a wide variety of viewers from all over the world. But I think it'll be very interesting to see what the response is from different folks because it's been a year of a lot of different changes. As you always say, we have the social, you know, justice pandemic, we have the COVID-19 pandemic, we've had political pandemic. The political, I mean, so it's really interesting. It's not just one singular event, if you think about it. And so, so many of these things have been intertwined. In some cases they've been standalone. And so what did you learn? And, you know, what's on the horizon in that respect? As Jared always says, what's been the silver lining? So we're super, super excited to have everybody participate in that. Because we think it'll be a lot of fun. So, hey, another great week. Yes, thank you so much. I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend to get some much needed and deserved R&R. Exactly, exactly. This is the time to regenerate, get going. It's gonna be a really busy week next week as we are moving through March. And we are right here with you. And we can't wait to see you back here tomorrow as we end every show. Oh, God, that's right. I'm sorry, Monday, Monday. What am I saying? I will be in my office tomorrow, but no. Yes, Monday, thank you. But as we end every show, we wanna remind everyone to stay well so you can do well. Thanks, Jared. Have a wonderful, wonderful weekend.